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? Continue reading…
The NT doesn’t give much insight into Jesus’ life between age 12 and 30. Did he encounter Buddhism and seek personal enlightenment? Or are these ideas just inherently the best ones humanity will continue to stumble upon in our spiritual lives? Continue reading…
Sometime ago Jana Reiss wrote a column for Sunstone entitled ‘Mormonism as Praxis’[1] in which the writers attempted to explore what Mormonism means in terms of ’spiritual practices’. Jana, in a Sunstone podcast with Dan Wotherspoon, has explained that one of her main interests is trying to understand how these spiritual practices can become effective through a Mormon context. This post is a feeble attempt to think in that same vein. I wanted to try and understand how fasting is a spiritual practice. Continue reading…
Does the church teach that we are saved by grace or that we are saved by works? This is one of the most oft-repeated criticisms of the Mormon church by other churches, that we don’t correctly understand the atonement of Jesus. Continue reading…
The mission of the church is to bring people to Christ (it is not the tri-fold mission of proclaim the gospel, perfect the saints and redeem the dead). Yet many members feel that the focus on Christ is missing in our weekly worship. So, what’s the best way to bring Christ back to the center of our Sundays? Continue reading…
I am fascinated by the Book of Mormon’s teachings (i.e. doctrines) about deity. I am almost equally fascinated with the many scholarly attempts to force fit it into pre-existing categories to make it seem safe. [1]
There is a danger in trying to force fit the Book of Mormon into a pre-existing theological doctrine of deity. It is the same danger that exists in trying to force the Bible into a pre-existing theological doctrine of deity.
Scripture — whether the Book of Mormon or the Bible — supplies us points of data. They do not supply us a specific theology. Theology is how we interpret or put those points together into a coherent whole for ourselves. Continue reading…
Now that we’ve discussed the nature of the First Vision, what did it mean?
There are many meanings, the most vital being those which each person can discover for herself or himself. Here are those we are most familiar with, because they have been written and spoken about at length in the official media of the institutional LDS Church: Continue reading…
Loading ...