Posts Tagged ‘ christ ’

23: The King James Version and Changes to Race-Related Book of Mormon Chapter Headings

March 15, 2011
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23: The King James Version and Changes to Race-Related Book of Mormon Chapter Headings

In this episode, Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon and panelists Kristine Haglund, Dallas Robbins, and Philip Barlow discuss two topics: The LDS Church’s recent reaffirmation of the King James Version as is its official Bible translation and The changes it has made to chapter headings in the online version of the Book of Mormon (changes that will be carried forward in future printings) that de-emphasize the idea of darker skin as a curse from God. What is the significance of this renewed commitment to the KJV instead of switching to newer, more scholarly Bible versions based on older manuscripts,...

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Understanding the Atonement

July 13, 2010
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Understanding the Atonement

The atonement is to Christianity what enlightenment is to Buddhism:  the foundational concept.  How do you feel about the atonement?  I admit to some mixed feelings on the concept of atonement.

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Faith & Doubt

June 19, 2010
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Today’s guest post is by Glenn.  When I was at BYU, I got interested in the study of folklore – the way that traditional culture informs our understanding of the world. I worked in the BYU folklore archives cataloguing missionary stories – encounters with the three nephites, miraculous experiences (some easier to believe than others), initiation stories of greenie missionaries, cautionary tales — just a whole bunch of really interesting stuff. I was hooked.

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Mixed Belief Marriages

June 8, 2010
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Mixed Belief Marriages

What should a church member do if their spouse is a non-believer?  This is something that many couples encounter, either because one spouse ceases to believe or because one spouse converts and the other does not.  What should the church advise these believing spouses who ask?  What is the “doctrinal” implication in these situations?  Does this put the believing spouse’s salvation at risk as some fear?

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Absolute Truth, Inclusivism, Lumen Gentium, and Emeth

June 7, 2010
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Guest post by Thomas In C.S. Lewis’ final Narnia book The Last Battle, there is a powerful scene of an encounter between the Christ-symbolizing lion Aslan and Emeth, a noble-minded worshipper of the false Calormene demon-god Tash: “ touched my forehead…and said, Son, thou art welcome.  But I said, Alas Lord, I am no son of thine but the servant of Tash.  He answered, Child, all the service thou hast done to Tash, I account as service done to me.  Then by reasons of my great desire for wisdom and understanding, I overcame my fear and questioned the Glorious One...

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AZ Immigration Law vs. LDS Interests?

May 25, 2010
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AZ Immigration Law vs. LDS Interests?

A recent article in the Arizona Republic highlights the negative impacts to the LDS church of the new Arizona law that steps up enforcement of state immigration lows.  Due to the large population of Mormons in AZ (6% of the state are LDS), and the large population of Latinos (1.8 million, including many who are LDS), this issue is one that poses internal conflicts for members.

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Binding the Broken-Hearted

May 23, 2010
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Binding the Broken-Hearted

Nothing is more painful than a broken heart. When this kind of sorrow gets deep into a person’s soul, all troubles are magnified, blessings are unseen, and it seems almost impossible to bear the daily experience of life. Getting out of bed is misery. Living is torment. A broken heart can cause such an intense reaction that many of us feel our lives have been completely stripped of meaning. Jobs, hobbies, and friends no longer hold any joy for us. In fact, some even experience physical pain with a tight chest, nervous stomach, or terrible insomnia. Nobody understands a...

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Church History: Principles

May 18, 2010
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Church History: Principles

There has been a lot of discussion in the b’nacle about what the church can do from a practical standpoint to address the thorny issues in church history.  The current approach has been to: 1) keep the curriculum uplifting and free from controversy, 2) to never speak ill or contradict leaders of the past or present (even if they have been demonstrably wrong), 3) to let FAIR and FARMS apologetics address any tricky issues raised by external critics, and 4) to remind people that ”we simply don’t know” when it comes to conclusions about the trickiest issues.  With the internet and ready access...

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Mormonism and Catholicism: Who Can Mock This Church?

May 4, 2010
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Mormonism and Catholicism: Who Can Mock This Church?

There was a great article in the New York Times this week:  Who Can Mock This Church?  While it was about Catholicism reeling in the wake of the pedophilia scandal, it raised a few points relevant to critics of any church.

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Is God Still Progressing? (Poll Included)

February 23, 2010
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Is God Still Progressing? (Poll Included)

Last month, one of the RS/PH lessons was about the nature of God.  Since the lesson was only about a page and a half long, the discussion in RS ended up raising the question whether God is still progressing or whether, being God He has arrived and is no longer progressing.  Read and and share your views.

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Dysfunctional Families or Church?

January 19, 2010
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Dysfunctional Families or Church?

Exit stories are the tales told when someone leaves the church.  The internet is full of these stories, and in many, there is drama in the family as a result of the person’s decision to leave.  Often the person attributes at least some of that family drama to the church itself as an organization.  Yet, it is also true that there have been people who have left the church without family drama or disagreeable behaviors.  So, is the church environment complicit in fostering “bad” behaviors or is it the families themselves who are prone to these behaviors?  Or both?

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Follow the [blank]: A Poll

January 12, 2010
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Follow the [blank]: A Poll

In the church, we learn how to be good followers.  There are many things we are told to follow:  the prophet, good examples, our parents’ instructions, the gospel, the brethren, the Spirit, and the dictates of our own conscience.  We are told, on the one hand, NOT to follow the world or the crowd.  But we are told to surround ourselves with good people and follow their good examples.  So, what do you follow when you sense a conflict between two of these?

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‘Christmas’ or ‘Winter Festival’: I’m not sure I care!

December 14, 2009
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‘Christmas’ or ‘Winter Festival’: I’m not sure I care!

This must be the the third year that I have heard people bemoan government plans to change the name of Christmas to ‘Winter Festival’ or some such other variant.  A little research shows that this is unfounded, in most cases, and seems linked to a gentleman named Bill O’Reilly, but there has been some rumours bubbling in the UK.  But is this really a big deal?

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Like a Virgin

December 10, 2009
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Like a Virgin

This post is a response to Aaron Shafovaloff over at Mormon Coffee. If you go to enjoy the lights on Temple Square, you are likely to see him striking up gospel conversations. From viewing Aaron’s video of himself witnessing at Temple Square I’m getting the feeling that he wants us to believe that if something is miraculous, it has to be completely incomprehensible. But he doesn’t realize that concept doesn’t appeal to us. Mormons are likely to say that God does not defy law, but he works through physical laws, a fundamental principle of the universe. This in no...

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Really Elder McConkie? You think Education is Worship!

December 8, 2009
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From an outsiders perspective, Mormon worship services may be perceived as lacking actual worship.  We spend two and a half  of our three hours in classes or listening to sermons.  We have (maybe) half an hour of singing (most of it – in my ward at least – resembles a death march) and ordinances.  Even our public prayers center around the teacher and the student receiving the Spirit.  Where is our Worship?  In a BYU devotional entitled ‘Lord, Increase our Faith’ Bruce R. McConkie taught that he believed that the highest form of worship is when someone spoke by the...

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“Knowing” It All

November 2, 2009
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“Knowing” It All

Mormons love to use the word “know.”  We say we know God lives.  We say we know that Jesus is the Christ.  We say we know that families can be together forever.  Some say that they know the church is true or that Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet (the middle initial makes him truer somehow).  People say they “know” a lot of things.  What does “know” mean in Mormonism?  Has it been overused to the point that its meaning has changed or that is has become meaningless?

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Egon Friedell and the Christian ‘Bad Conscience’

October 18, 2009
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Egon Friedell and the Christian ‘Bad Conscience’

This photograph was taken by Sebastiao Salgado at a gold mine in Brazil.  I first saw it in a room at the University I attend.  As an idealistic and aspiring academic I felt moved by the raw power of the worker as he resisted the guard.  Ever since then I have had a copy of this picture in my study areas.  It reminds me that my life is not just about doing good, but that I have a moral duty to alleviate as much suffering in this world as I can.  It reminds me that sometimes I need to resist those...

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A Personal Interpretation of Elder Hafen’s Remarks

September 25, 2009
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At the Evergreen conference held September 18-19, 2009, Elder Bruce Hafen gave a talk regarding homosexuality. The talk was reprinted on the official LDS Church Newsroom website. I will not synopsize the talk here but I suggest reading it yourself. Within a very short time, for obvious reasons, the bloggernacle was dissecting and analyzing the speech. These actions generated some interesting discussions here, and one permablogger at FMH did a good job of challenging the less-than-spectacular research here.

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Insiders & Outsiders

August 17, 2009
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When it comes to Mormonism, do you feel more like an insider or an outsider?

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Belief vs. Action

August 13, 2009
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Belief vs. Action

Which is more important – belief or action?  Is faith without action better than action without faith?  Is belief without action better than acting despite disbelief?  Which leads to the better outcome or are both fraught with their own dangers?

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