temple

If They Tarry…

August 24, 2010
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If They Tarry…

D&C 137 records a vision of Joseph Smith “in the temple at Kirtland, Ohio, January 21, 1836. HC 2: 380–381. The occasion was the administration of the ordinances of the endowment as far as they had then been revealed.” .  There are 2 important pieces of Mormon doctrine to consider here:  (1) baptism for the dead, and (2) children that die before the age of accountability (and baptism at age 8 ) will inherit the Celestial Kingdom.  Since it is a short section, let me quote it entirely.  This section is only in the LDS version of the D&C,...

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Discussing the Temple Initiatory from a Faithful Feminist Perspective

August 5, 2010
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Discussing the Temple Initiatory from a Faithful Feminist Perspective

I recently had my temple recommend renewed and I’ve been thinking about the temple initiatory for women and wishing I could discuss it from a faithful, feminist perspective. Unfortunately, there are some obstacles which stand in my way of doing this. Number one, of course, is the proscription from discussing certain sacred aspects of the temple. I’m a bit more liberal than many in talking of my temple experiences. I think there are certain parts in the temple which we are clearly told not to discuss, and I’m willing to draw the line there. But can we talk about...

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Feminist Musings on the story of Jephthah

May 20, 2010
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Feminist Musings on the story of Jephthah

OT SS Lesson #19 You are going to talk about the Biblical Judges in this week’s Sunday School class, and the lesson’s got it pretty well covered (including a discussion of the Judge/Prophetess/Mother in Israel Deborah, yay!) You’ll have to let me know how your respective teachers covered her.  But some of the Judges are peripheral and didn’t make it into the lesson materials.  As is my wont to do, I’d like to investigate the marginal; the story that isn’t mentioned in the manual — that of Jephthah. Whenever I come across an odd story in the Old Testament,...

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Squaring the Circle, balance and ideals

January 29, 2010
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Squaring the Circle, balance and ideals

A discussion of Squaring the Circle, a geometric puzzle.

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Adam & Eve as UFOs (Unidentified Figurative Objects)

January 20, 2010
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Adam & Eve as UFOs (Unidentified Figurative Objects)

OT SS Lesson #4 Although our SS lesson for this week presents Adam and Eve as two literal, physical characters, the temple ceremony hints that we can benefit by viewing their story as figurative. I am often dismayed that symbolism, while given lip service, is so little understood in LDS circles. Since the majority of Mormons believe in a literal Adam who will return to the earth in his physical resurrected body and fulfill a major role at Adam-ondi-ahman, there is little reason to investigate the allegorical aspects of the Adam and Eve story. Thus, they have become “unidentified...

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In the Shadow of the Temple by Guest

December 22, 2009
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In the Shadow of the Temple by Guest

A close friend of mine who wishes to remain anonymous recently saw in the shadow of the temple his story follows In October, I was fortunate to attend the Portland, Oregon, screening of the movie, In the Shadow of the Temple. http://www.intheshadowofthetemple.com The screening was hosted by the producers, Karen Di Millia and Dennis Lavery. Prior to the screening Dennis and Karen spoke for 10 minutes and explained how they started this project. After the screening they took questions and answers for roughly 30 minutes. Lavery and DeMillia, who are not–and never have been–LDS, originally planned to make a...

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The Single Mormon Girl and the Priesthood

December 7, 2009
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Everybody blogs, right? Why not me? Looking for my niche, my angle, and the one thing that seemed to make me stand out in my corner of the world. I found it: Being single. And 40. And Mormon. In a family ward. In a town where EVERYONE is under 30, sealed in the temple and constantly reproducing. The best humor is found in our painful life experiences. Read about mine and laugh with me. Or at me. Whichever

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Romantic Paternalism

November 17, 2009
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Romantic Paternalism

Mormon Matters welcomes our newest guest poster.  Kate Kelly graduated from Brigham Young University with a BA in Political Science. She served a mission for the church in Barcelona, Spain. She is currently in law school at American University’s Washington College of Law, the only law school in the nation world founded by women. She has had a career of various and sundry amazing jobs. She has been a mortgage counselor, an interpreter, an English teacher and spent last summer in Manhattan working at the Center for Constitutional Rights, as an Ella Baker legal fellow. She and her nurturing,...

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A Baptism for the Dead Dilemma

October 28, 2009
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A Baptism for the Dead Dilemma

Last January 2009, I wrote a piece “Stop Baptizing Our Dead.” I spoke about groups who objected to the LDS Church baptizing the dead that identified themselves with their own religious group, mainly Catholics and Jews. I faced my own personal dilemma after my Mother died in March of 2007. While she and my Dad did not disown me for joining the LDS Church, they were not happy about my decision. My Mother, in particular, made sure that she voiced her opinion strongly from time to time. She told me once that she was afraid I would give all...

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Trading Polygamy for Statehood

September 27, 2009
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If one searches around the bloggernacle, you’ll find a snarky comment about how the church traded polygamy for statehood, or that the church just wimped-out on polygamy.  Such comments don’t seem to take into account how much pressure the US government was putting on the church–it was literally trying to snuff it out if the church didn’t back down from polygamy. I’d like to get into some of these details leading up to the Manifesto.  (This is a shorter version–more details are found here.)  I talked about the Manifesto previously in the context of whether the prophet would ever...

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LDS Grass-Roots Interpretations of the Eve Archetype

September 22, 2009
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LDS Grass-Roots Interpretations of the Eve Archetype

Since Eve is one of the most powerful archetypes for women, it’s not surprising that this story is at the root of many discussions of womanhood.  Feminists have generally been dissatisfied with how the biblical Eve story has affected values and attitudes toward women over the centuries.  Early exegesis of the creation story became the rationale for rules and regulations guiding women’s behavior.  Because Eve was regarded as a source of sin, there was a perceived need to harness the dangerous energy represented by woman.  LDS theology has attempted to redefine the symbolic Eve by picturing her as a...

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What Bothers Me, and Why I Still Believe

June 3, 2009
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I am an active member of the church, and a believer. I am well aware of most of the controversial issues (Book of Abraham, DNA, Book of Mormon historicity, polyandry, etc.). Some of them occasionally bother me. Others do not. Although according to statistics I am very educated, I probably could not win an argument defending the church on any of those points. I could not support the church on Prop. 8, (if you want to specifically comment on that, please go here). I will probably never understand in this life why we are discouraged from praying to our...

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Good Man Gone

May 21, 2009
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A week ago, I attended the viewing and funeral of a man in our stake who died of an unexpected heart attack.  He was in his 50′s, had just been to the doctor and been pronounced fit as a fiddle, was losing weight and feeling great. He was the Bishop of his ward, and his wife had been cancer free for just over a year.  His son flew home for the weekend, after which he returned to finish his mission.

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LDS worship skills

May 16, 2009
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Today’s post is by The Chorister.  I just read a book called In the land of invisible women: A female doctor’s journey in the Saudi kingdom by Qanta A. Ahmed, M.D. Absolutely amazing read. I’ve been recommending it to everyone I know. Qanta is a British-born Muslim physician, trained in the U.S., who takes a position at a hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She goes to Saudi Arabia feeling pretty comfortable. Not too worried about how it will feel to live there because, after all, she is a Muslim. However, once she gets there, she quickly discovers that many...

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April 2009 General Conference – Word Stats

May 3, 2009
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Based on word count, what was the focus of April 2009 General Conference?  Before you scroll down, see if you can guess the top 3 words that were used.

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Temples Unbuilt

April 30, 2009
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Temples Unbuilt

I happen to be cruising around the LDS Temple website the other day and I was looking at the Temples under construction.  I was wondering whether we the Church had announced a Temple and not built it.  I knew that this happened, so I thought it might make an interesting post.  Most of my information comes from that website, except where noted.

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Big Love -Big News

March 10, 2009
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Big Love -Big News

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Filtered Visions by guest Reuben Collins

March 2, 2009
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Filtered Visions by guest Reuben Collins

I’ve been thinking about Levi Peterson’s The Backslider lately (SPOILERS AHEAD).

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The Symbolic Image of Christ

February 1, 2009
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The Symbolic Image of Christ

Much has been said in church magazines and the Bloggernacle about the image of Joseph Smith. Do we know what Joseph Smith really looked like? Are our statues and paintings truly representative of him? This is not the point of my post here, though. I recently had a conversation with my fiancee about Rastafarianism, mentioning that Rastas believe that Jesus Christ was black. I admitted that, though I personally don’t see much evidence for that, I did concede that Jesus probably looked very different than what most Mormons envision.

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Stop Baptizing Our Dead!

January 13, 2009
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Stop Baptizing Our Dead!

The LDS doctrine of Baptism for the Dead is unique within Christianity. The explanation for the doctrine and additional references on the LDS Church website can be found here. There is also a fairly lengthy explanation on Wikipedia here. It is a controversial doctrine and many groups have protested this vicarious work for the dead, including Jews, Catholics and others. I find a certain ironies in their protestations.

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