Priesthood - Mormon Matters

the Authority of Paul

Jeff Spector September 10, 2010apologetics, christianity, doctrine, Early Christianity, Priesthood, prophets, scripture 11 Comments

For some reason, I was thinking about the structure of the New Testament Church after the ascension of the Savior. What is clear is that …

Sunstone 2010 – A Feminist Recap

Mormon Heretic August 17, 2010community of christ, conferences and symposia, feminism, history, Mormon, polygamy, Priesthood, women 8 Comments

I really enjoyed the last day of Sunstone, since I was able to attend all day, rather than a session here or there. Don Bradley …

Patriarchal Hierarchy and the Kingship Model

Bored in Vernal June 3, 2010abuse, feminism, Government, LDS lessons, Leaders, Mormon, patriarchy, Priesthood, scripture 98 Comments

OT SS Lesson #21 When we lived in Saudi Arabia a few years ago, I obtained a faculty position in the fairly newly-formed department of …

After Action Report: The Community of Christ Did WHAT?

FireTag April 21, 2010apostles, baptism, christianity, church, community of christ, conference, feminism, gay, homosexuality, Jesus, marriage, Mormon, Mormons, ordinances, Priesthood, prophets, resolutions, restoration, revelation, RLDS, sacrament, sacrament meeting, sexuality, social justice, theology 29 Comments

Headline in the Independence Examiner for Thursday, April 15, 2010: “Delegation Takes No Action on Human Sexuality Issues: Church Will Continue Dialogue.” Headline by John …

A Marital Confession

Aaron R. aka Rico March 16, 2010accountability, children, Culture, feminism, Mormon, Priesthood, repentance, women 27 Comments

A recent visit at FMH and John Dehlin’s Mormon Stories interview with fmhLisa (Butterworth) has made me realise something about myself that I am not …

Bombshell at the BYU Studies Symposium

Bored in Vernal March 13, 2010apostles, BYU, conferences and symposia, General Authorities, history, LDS, Leaders, Mormon, Priesthood, prophets, succession, testimony 15 Comments

A small crowd at the BYU Studies Symposium yesterday was on hand to receive Richard Holzapfel’s self-proclaimed Mormon history “bombshell.” He presented the morning plenary …

Prophets, Seers and Bureaucrats

Aaron R. aka Rico March 8, 2010apostles, Culture, diversity, doctrine, General Authorities, Mormon, Priesthood, prophets, revelation, theology 24 Comments

I listened recently to a Mormon Expression podcast with John Dehlin, in which he comments upon the difficult position the Church leaders face. He observes that their are …

On Failed Patriarchal Blessings

Aaron R. aka Rico January 17, 2010doubt, Mormon, Patriarchal Blessing, Priesthood 93 Comments

Some time ago I spoke to someone I knew about a Patriarchal blessing they had received which seemed to have failed to come to pass. …

On Being an Apostle but not in the Quorum

Aaron R. aka Rico January 11, 2010apostles, Mormon, Priesthood, scripture, theology 47 Comments

‘In 1866, at the age of only twenty-seven, Joseph F. Smith was ordained an Apostle by President Brigham Young, and served briefly as one of …

Canonizing Modern Revelation – A Tourist Guide

FireTag January 5, 2010baptism, community of christ, doctrine, gay, history, Mormon, Priesthood, revelation, RLDS, scripture, theology 33 Comments

Over the past year or so, I’ve become blogging buddies with FireTag, a member of the Community of Christ. He has his own blog at …

The Single Mormon Girl and the Priesthood

single mormon chick December 7, 2009church, Culture, doctrine, eternity, faith, families, fear, feminism, general, Happiness, LDS, love, marriage, Mormon, Priesthood, religion, salvation, temple, testimony, women 32 Comments

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 …

Brother Brigham Brother Young

James December 6, 2009abuse, adultery, Anti-Mormon, apostasy, apostles, baptism, blacks, burdens, Charity, christianity, church, Culture, curiosity, death, depression, Discrimination, doubt, eternity, excommunication, faith, historicity, LDS, Leaders, marriage, media, Mormon, Mormons, obedience, ordinances, polygamy, Priesthood, prophets, race, repentance, salvation, tesimony, thought, Utah, women 6 Comments

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 …

Great Expectations: What Are Your Hopes and Predictions for General Conference?

Andrew September 29, 2009apologetics, blacks, Bloggernacle, conference, curiosity, doubt, faith, families, Folklore, gay, General Authorities, General Conference, LDS, Leaders, Mormon, mormon, Mormons, orthodox, Priesthood, questioning, race, revelation 58 Comments

“It’s the MOST WONderful TIIIME of the YEARRRRRR.” The leaves are starting to change color. The evenings and mornings are a bit crisper. Even the …

A Case for Slavery

Mormon Heretic August 23, 2009books, history, Mormon, Priesthood, race, racism 62 Comments

A few years ago, John Dehlin did a few podcasts about the Priesthood Ban. I wrote up a post which combined about 3 of John’s …

Worship or Whine?

Jeff Spector May 12, 2009accountability, Charity, children, christ, church, faith, families, General Authorities, Happiness, LDS, meetings, Mormon, orthodox, Priesthood, sacrament meeting, testimony 85 Comments

This post was inspired by David Stout’s series of posts on LDS Worship, Part II and Part III as well as HawkGrrrl’s post entitled “More …

April 2009 General Conference – Word Stats

Hawkgrrrl May 3, 2009Asides, christ, christianity, church, Culture, curiosity, faith, families, General Authorities, General Conference, LDS, Leaders, Mormon, mormon, Mormons, Priesthood, prophets, religion, temple, testimony, theology, thought 20 Comments

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 …

Does the LDS Church claim to be “an exclusive conduit to God”?

Andrew April 21, 2009apologetics, apostasy, Bloggernacle, church, God, Happiness, LDS, Mormon, mormon, plan of salvation, Priesthood, prophets, questioning, spiritual progression, theology 141 Comments

Recently, a veritable Icon of the Bloggernacle, who for purposes of anonymity we shall call “Aloysius Miller”, published a post stating: “I don’t see the …

The Untold Story of Black Mormons by Guest

guest April 2, 2009Anti-Mormon, apologetics, baptism, Bible, blacks, Bloggernacle, book of mormon, books, burdens, BYU, Charity, christianity, church, cinema, Culture, curiosity, Discrimination, diversity, doubt, education, evangelicals, faith, families, fear, Folklore, General Authorities, history, joseph, LDS, liberal, Logic, Mormon, obedience, prayer, Priesthood, prophets, questioning, race, racism, religion, resolutions, restoration, righteousness, scripture, tesimony, theology 33 Comments

When I served a mission in eastern Canada in the early 90s, there were many things I was grateful for (warm boots, wool suits, fairly …

Memo To YW Leaders: Thanks, But No Thanks

Shawn Larsen April 1, 2009feminism, LDS, Leaders, Mormon, Priesthood, women 31 Comments

In our current callings, my wife and I spend a lot of time digging through Church instruction manuals. I teach both the 12/13 year old …

Help Wanted: Predicting the Next Apostle

Carter Hall March 31, 2009church, conference, Culture, curiosity, diversity, General Authorities, General Conference, LDS, Leaders, Mormon, mormon, Mormons, President Monson, Priesthood, prophets, religion, service 114 Comments

This Thursday or Friday, someone at the Church Office building will get a phone call and make the long walk to President Monson’s office. By …

Consecrating our Illness

Arthur March 19, 2009faith, Mormon, ordinances, prayer, Priesthood, scripture 9 Comments

I was sick over the bitterest month of the winter. It was just one grueling, annoying, or depressing illness after another. First it was a …

In Praise Of Good Bishops

Shawn Larsen March 18, 2009Bloggernacle, Leaders, Mormon, Priesthood 73 Comments

Here’s the one lesson I learned from my 3.5 year stint as an Elders Quorum President: never, ever aspire to be a Bishop. Seriously, it …

Positive Black History in the Church

Mormon Heretic March 14, 2009blacks, history, LDS, Mormon, Priesthood, race, racism 82 Comments

Much has been made of the LDS Church’s unflattering history regarding the priesthood ban. But there are some positive stories. I’d like to address some …

Big Love -Big News

James March 10, 2009abuse, adultery, Anti-Mormon, apologetics, apostasy, baptism, Bloggernacle, book of mormon, burdens, Charity, children, christ, christianity, church, Culture, curiosity, Discrimination, diversity, doubt, education, faith, families, fear, FLDS, general, God, Happiness, history, inter-faith, Jesus, joseph, marriage, media, meetings, Mormon, Mormons, movies, news, obedience, ordinances, orthodox, polygamy, Priesthood, prophets, religion, resignation, RLDS, salvation, scripture, spirituality, television, temple, testimony, theology, thought, Utah, women 33 Comments

Go to Church or Die!

Hawkgrrrl March 2, 2009apostasy, Asides, Charity, church, Culture, curiosity, death, diversity, doubt, faith, families, fear, Happiness, Humor, inter-faith, LDS, meetings, Mormon, mormon, Mormons, prayer, Priesthood, questioning, religion, spirituality, testimony, theology, thought, Word of Wisdom 11 Comments

A recent article in Time discusses several studies about the correlation between faith and health. Does church attendance contribute to a healthier, longer life? Is …

Revelation & Things

guest February 11, 2009Asides, Culture, curiosity, faith, Folklore, joseph, LDS, Leaders, Mormon, mormon, Mormons, ordinances, prayer, Priesthood, questioning, religion, sacrament, smith, spirituality, symbols, theology, thought 9 Comments

Today’s post comes from The Teacher. Section 8 of the Doctrine & Covenants refers to “another gift” Olivery Cowdery had, called at different times “the …

Where would you go?

Arthur February 11, 2009Bible, book of mormon, christ, christianity, community of christ, God, inter-faith, international, LDS, Mormon, Nephi, orthodox, Priesthood, religion, RLDS 35 Comments

A few posts on MormonMatters got me thinking once about my relationship with other faith groups. For instance, a recent post on why it seems …

Upon What Rock?

Hawkgrrrl February 4, 2009Bible, catholicism, christ, christianity, church, Culture, curiosity, inter-faith, Jesus, LDS, Mormon, mormon, Mormons, ordinances, Priesthood, prophets, religion, salvation, scripture, symbols, thought 33 Comments

There’s a difference in interpretation between how LDS and non-LDS view the statement by Jesus to Peter when he says “Thou art Peter, and upon …

Glorifying “The Good Old Days”

Ray January 21, 2009faith, history, Leaders, liberal, Mormon, Mormons, polygamy, Priesthood, prophets, religion 37 Comments

I think it’s fascinating to watch people justify their angst over prophets by pointing out all the “weird” stuff about which prophets used to speculate, …

Virtual RS/PH #22: Gaining Knowledge of Eternal Truths

Hawkgrrrl December 7, 2008christianity, curiosity, doubt, education, history, joseph, LDS, Leaders, Mormon, mormon, Mormons, prayer, Priesthood, prophets, questioning, religion, salvation, smith, spiritual progression, spirituality, theology, thought, Word of Wisdom 32 Comments

Mormonism has a focus on gaining knowledge that is unique in Christendom, largely due to the emphasis that Joseph Smith placed on learning. Joseph’s total …

Virtual RS/PH #20 – A Heart Full of Love & Faith: The Prophet’s Letters to His Family

Hawkgrrrl November 9, 2008burdens, Charity, children, faith, families, history, Humor, joseph, LDS, love, marriage, Mormon, mormon, Mormons, polygamy, Priesthood, prophets, questioning, religion, smith, women 12 Comments

This lesson discusses the written correspondence Joseph sent to Emma during his frequent absences. IMO, this is a tough lesson for many reasons, so read …

The Church as a Tool

guest November 7, 2008Anti-Mormon, apologetics, apostasy, Asides, Charity, christ, christianity, church, Culture, curiosity, depression, diversity, doubt, education, faith, fear, God, Happiness, history, LDS, mormon, Mormons, new order mormon, obedience, orthodox, parables, Peace, prayer, Priesthood, prophets, questioning, religion, testimony, theology, thought 21 Comments

What is the church to you? A family you must learn to love? A path you must follow? A checklist of items you must do …

5 Cool Things About the Community of Christ

Clay Whipkey October 29, 20085CT, community of christ, diversity, inter-faith, Leaders, Priesthood, prophets, religion, RLDS, scripture 25 Comments

This post is another installment in my “5 Cool Things” series. Today I’m giving a list, again in no particular order, of some things I …

5 Cool Things I Wish the LDS Church Were Doing

Clay Whipkey October 15, 20085CT, education, meetings, missions, mormon, music, Priesthood, sacrament meeting, service, spirituality, surviving, women 64 Comments