Let’s perform a thought experiment. Pretend like there is no Mormon Church at all. But one day Jesus Christ returns and the Millennium beings. Christians around the world rejoice! They were right all along about Jesus being the Son of God. But after Jesus has been here for a while, word gets out; it turns out that many of the doctrines of all Christian religions weren’t true after all. For example, substance theology turned out to not be true. Instead Jesus and the Father are separate people that share a common will. Their oneness is complete, but so is...
religion
The Parable of the Elephant
Sometimes I recall nuggets of spiritual wisdom but cannot remember when or where I picked them up. One in particular has increasingly taken on new meanings for me as I’ve wrestled with some of life’s tougher questions. You might call it the “Parable of the Elephant.” This is how it goes, as best I remember, with a few adaptations of my own:
Cultural Doctrines: The Unsaid Sermon
In 1991, Dr. Robert F. Bohn gave this great talk at the Sunstone Symposium titled “Cultural vs. Gospel Doctrine and the ‘Unsaid Sermon Phenomenon’”. I recently listened to the recording and found it poignant, practical, helpful, and encouraging. As an illustration of the topic, here’s an example: Original quote from a sermon: “When that earthquake hit when I was on my mission, there were many deaths, but I felt calm because I knew that God protects his faithful missionaries.” The false notion, or Unsaid Sermon: “My son was killed on his mission. I wonder if he was unfaithful.“
Overview and Discussion of Church Growth
According to Beliefnet.com the 10 largest churches of 2007 in the US are:
Peculiar People: Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses
For a religious community that is often misunderstood and sometimes maligned or mocked, we don’t learn much from our experience. I can’t tell you how often I hear underhanded remarks about other religious groups. Its not a common topic of conversation, but when the subject turns to Jehovah’s Witnesses, and in almost any setting, you are bound to hear jokes. Like Mormons, the faithful really do stick out in a crowd. With my background in having studied with them, I thought it might be fun to examine the “peculiar” similarities between Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses. We may be more...
God is a What?!
So many people think they know exactly who and what God is. Most of what they base their certainty on is a combination of logic and a small collection of sources. Very little of what I see is based on interviews with either God or a wide cross section of those who have had recent contact with God. I’ve already written about what metaphor fits the Church, now I’m going to write about God.
Krista Tippett Interviews Robert Millett on Mormonism for “Speaking of Faith”
I love Krista Tippett’s “Speaking of Faith”, and I love Mormonism — which makes this a must-listen. I hope it’s good. What did you think?
As Christ Noted
The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. I thought I’d also note that the same is true of the Church. The Church was made for man, not man for the Church. The purpose of the Church is to support us in seeking God. I guess it is easy for people to forget that, but in approaching the Church it is important to realize that it is only a support structure, a tool, designed to help us become Saints. I’ll do my second half on polygamy next week, but in the context of a number of...
Why I Voted for Mitt in Today’s Michigan Primary
I just got back from my neighborhood polling place, where I voted for Mitt Romney in the Michigan primary. Let me tell you why… Mitt Romney is a terribly weak candidate. He comes off as a phony, primarily because he is a phony. The charge of being a “flip-flopper” has stuck to him (because it’s true) and Romney’s counter message — that he’s legitimately changed his mind and become a true believer in regressionism — has gone no where because it’s not genuine. Ultimately, even if Romney eventually is the last man standing in the Republican primary season and...
I’m Right and Everyone Else is Wrong!
Today’s post is by Zane Chartrand. When I was a missionary I once knocked on a door and after I had introduced my companion and I and identified us as missionaries with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints he welcomed us with open arms and invited us to come into his house and talk to him. We were thrilled because everyone else that morning had rejected us. We went in and were invited to sit in some chairs in his living room and he told us that he was really excited to meet us. I became...
What’s Wrong with the Creeds of Christendom?
After nearly 1800 years of silence, the heavens at last reopened. The boy prophet knelt before God the Father and the Son, who told him to “join , for they were all wrong.” (JS-H 1:19) And why are they wrong? I suppose Jesus could have mentioned any number of reasons for considering no Church His own. The loss of priesthood authority comes immediately to mind. The loss of the Gift and powers of the Holy Ghost is another contender. But Jesus’ condemnation of Christendom was instead rooted in their creeds: “all their creeds were an abomination in ...
Planet Kolob to Mormons: It’s not our weird beliefs, it’s our credibility
We know there’s a problem. Here’s how the bulk of us as Mormons see the problem: SYMPTOMS: Americans have an anti-Mormon bias which manifests itself on the right with Evangelicals who call Mormonism “non-Christian” (and who cost Mitt Romney the Iowa Republican Caucus) and on the left with secularists and atheists decrying Mormonism’s foundational stories as an obvious “fraud.” DIAGNOSIS: Mormons are “persecuted” by non-Mormons for their “weird” beliefs. RECOMMENDED TREATMENT: De-emphasize (or eliminate) weird beliefs. Explain Mormonism using highly-nuanced language, which we (as Mormons) believe will satisfy non-Mormon ears (“milk before meat”). We keep going back to the...
Episode 7 Part 1: The Other “One True Church” and the Obama/Mitt Romney Scuttle over Sex Education
In part 1 of this episode, we discuss: The Pope’s recent statement that says, “other Christian communities are either defective or not true churches and Catholicism provides the only true path to salvation.” The recent Barak Obama / Mitt Romney Scuttle over Sex Education Panelists include: Ann Porter David King Landrith John Crawford Today’s Moderator: John Dehlin
How to Support
