When most people use their rational faculties to test their testimonies about their religious scriptures, they tend to concentrate on things like history, archeology, or …
Religious Archaeology and Evidence
I’d like to discuss both Biblical and Book of Mormon archaeology. Most people believe the Bible is on solid archaeological footing, but that isn’t actually …
Church history and our quest for the Great Mormon Novel
About two years ago, Carter Hall wrote an article on this very site comparing and contrasting the types of heroes that Superman and Spiderman represent, …
Questions About the Exodus
For more than 1700 years, Christians have been looking for Mount Sinai, the place where Moses received the 10 Commandments. Constantine’s mother, Helena was probably …
A Non-Historical View of the Book of Mormon
Perhaps the time has come in the church to recognize that some members want to openly espouse a non historical view of the Book of …
Book of Mormon on the Baja
When I think of the Baja California Peninsula, I think of the Baja 1000 off-road race where people take lots of vehicles and cross the …
White and Delightsome or Pure and Delightsome? (Cognitive dissonance 2)
I’m 1/16 th Chippewa and don’t even look a little Indian! I figure from my knee down is pure Chippewa and for whatever reason I …
Mormon Myths as Transferable Charisma
Richard Bushman has recently given a presentation on ‘Joseph Smith and the Routinization of Charisma’. One of Bushman’s arguments seems to be that Charisma was …
Dueling Wordprint Studies
This is the 3rd post reviewing By the Hand of Mormon, by Terryl Givens. I’ve taken a bit on an interest in wordprint studies. Givens …
Are Mormon Academics Winning the Debate with Evangelicals?
I’ve been reading Terryl Givens book, By the Hand of Mormon. While acknowledging archaeological data isn’t as strong as other aspects of the Book of …
Dialogue Subscribers and Book of Mormon Historicity?
In 2005 Dialogue conducted research among it’s subscribers. There was over a 1,000 responses which (assuming that everyone answered every question) is a fairly good …
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 …
Temple Wedding Petition
A temple wedding petition to is being circulated to promote love and happiness in the family by changing the church’s stance on civil marriages preceding temple …
Brother Brigham Brother Young
Recently I drove up Little Cottonwood Canyon with my brother and nephew. This is the canyon in which many of your ancestors pulled out the …
Peruvian Setting for the Book of Mormon
It’s been some time since we talked about alternative Book of Mormon geography theories. For those new to the site, you may want to see …
Did Elder Holland Denounce or Carefully Avoid the “Inspired Fiction” Theory?
If someone can find something in the Book of Mormon, anything that they love or respond to or find dear, I applaud that and say …
Scripture Inerrancy, Literalism, and Pres Veazey
There are those (especially among Evangelicals) who believe that the Bible is inerrant and literal. For example a scriptural literalist will claim that Noah’s flood …
What if Christ’s Bones Were Found?
I don’t know why, but I love to learn about archaeology, especially religious archaeology. A few years ago, Simcha Jacobovici came out with a documentary …
Japanese: A Modern Case for Reformed Egyptian
One of the common complaints about and arguments against the Book of Mormon is the claim that it was written in “Reformed Egyptian” – a …
Trying to Understand My Friends Who Didn’t Leave the Faith
Here is a modified excerpt from a 60-page writing that I made for close friends and family members when I decided to leave the church …
What Bothers Me, and Why I Still Believe
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, …
Debunking the Spaulding Theory
In my previous post about Unconventional Book of Mormon Geography Theories, Doug G made a comment claiming that the Book of Mormon is related to …
Unconventional Book of Mormon Geography Theories
It’s been over a year since someone posted something on Book of Mormon geography, so I think it’s about time. Most of you believe that …
Mainstream acceptance of the Mormons’ Easter Story?
Around Easter 2004, National Geographic produced a documentary titled In Search of Easter. The producers interviewed a wide range of scholars about the Resurrection story …
Filtered Visions by guest Reuben Collins
I’ve been thinking about Levi Peterson’s The Backslider lately (SPOILERS AHEAD).
Bad Apologetics, Meet Bad Polemics
polemics: The art or practice of disputation or controversy, especially on religious subjects; that branch of theological science which pertains to the history or conduct …
The Purposes of God Cannot Be Frustrated
The title is from DC3:1. Today’s guest post is from Bouvet and is in reference to this year’s Doctrine & Covenants manual, Lesson 4 is Remember …
Modern-Day Swearing: Will Our Bastardized Words Damn Us to Hell?
I believe we need to take responsibility for understanding and choosing what we say and do – not allowing others to make those decisions for …
The Curious Case of Solomon Spaulding
For years now I’ve heard people offhandedly dismiss the Book of Mormon as a known plagiarism of “the Solomon Spaulding manuscript.” I’ve finally gotten around …
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? …
The Problem of History – First a Fake Example
In my past posts I discussed the impossibility of knowing what really happened in history as well as the problem that, believe or disbelieve, we …
History as Narrative Fallacy aka What Type of Apologist Are You?
“History is opaque. You see what comes out, not the script that produces events, the generator of history. There is a fundamental incompleteness in your …
What is a Black Swan? A Book Review
In my last post I talked about how God helped me develop a more realistic, though uncomfortable, world view that excluded faith in myself. As …
Freak Out! Handling History
What do you do when you learn about something shocking that you did not previously know in Church History? Freak out? Retreat into a stupor …
The Book of Mormon: A 20th Century Text
There are many positions on which century the Book of Mormon originated in, but most seem to fall into two general camps: the book was …
How Active Are You? How Orthodox Are You? A Self-Assessment
Take this assessment and find out: (Taken from D. Jeff Burton’s For Those Who Wonder : forthosewhowonder.com. Similar to a Correlation Department survey on Religion …
A Remarkable Story – But is it Exaggerated?
While reading History of the Church I came across an incredible story as told by Elder Theodore Turley which I wish to share.
In Defense of Apologists
The term “apologist” is often used derisively like the terms “lawyer,” “statistician,” or “telemarketer.” Why are apologists so derided? Is it warranted or just a …
Our Foundation Stories Part VI: The Laying on of Hands
This is the last installment of Our Foundation Stories, I promise! As a child, I heard the story of the restoration of the Aaronic and …
White-Washing
“Whitewashing” is an accusatory term often used against the church to describe efforts to gloss over sticky points in doctrine or history. So, does the church engage in whitewashing?
Our Foundation Stories Part IV: The Book of Mormon Translation
Was the Book of Mormon translated? Was the Book of Mormon revealed? Was it inspired? Was it all three, or a combination of the above? …
The Gospel Caught on Tape?
by Joe Geisner, guest blogger If one had a camcorder in Jesus’ day and had been at the feeding of the multitudes, would you have …
People Who Helped Me Stay Mormon Part I: Jeff Burton
Before John Dehlin, there was Jeff Burton.
Why a Testimony of the Gospel is Not Enough
I have been under the impression over the last 26 years in the Church that if one had a pretty strong testimony of the Savior, …
A Method to our Mormonism
As we know from JS-H 1: 8, Joseph Smith had attended various religious meetings and (in his own words) “In process of time my mind …
The Greek and Roman Testaments: A Scriptural Analogy
One of the interesting panel discussions at last weekend’s Restoration Studies Symposium was entitled “The Future Status and Use of the Book of Mormon in …
A California Mormon visits the other Zion
By Joe Geisner (guest blogger) No I am not talking about Utah. I left Sam Brannan’s Zion for Joseph Smith’s Zion on April 11, 2008. …
Liberal Mormonism III: Prognosis
Count up all the liberal Mormons you know. Now, compare that number to the number you knew ten years ago. Now multiply the difference between …
The Improbable versus the Even More Improbable: The Existence of Jesus
The following article, despite appearances, is not about whether or not Jesus existed. I accept that He did exist as an article of faith. This …
LDS Myths about Reorganized Latter Day Saints
My uncle emailed me the other day. The bishop in his ward gave a talk about the Kirtland Temple and explained how the LDS church …
Episode 17: Book of Mormon Introduction, Lamanites and Native Americans
Recently, the LDS Church made a change to the introduction page of the Book of Mormon that has garnered much press. The change seems to …