temple - Mormon Matters

If They Tarry…

Mormon Heretic August 24, 2010church, death, doctrine, LDS, Mormon, questioning, revelation, spiritual progression, spirituality, temple, theology 27 Comments

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 …

Discussing the Temple Initiatory from a Faithful Feminist Perspective

Bored in Vernal August 5, 2010Mormon, temple 59 Comments

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 …

Feminist Musings on the story of Jephthah

Bored in Vernal May 20, 2010feminism, LDS lessons, Mormon, scripture, temple, theology, women 24 Comments

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 …

Squaring the Circle, balance and ideals

Brian Johnston January 29, 2010doctrine, eternity, history, metaphor, Mormon, mormon, Mormons, mysticism, ordinances, religion, restoration, temple, theology, thought 34 Comments

A discussion of Squaring the Circle, a geometric puzzle.

Adam & Eve as UFOs (Unidentified Figurative Objects)

Bored in Vernal January 20, 2010LDS lessons, metaphor, Mormon, mormon, Nephi, scripture, symbols, temple 29 Comments

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 …

In the Shadow of the Temple by Guest

guest December 22, 2009apologetics, apostasy, apostles, baptism, Bloggernacle, book of mormon, burdens, christianity, church, cinema, Culture, curiosity, depression, Discrimination, doctrine, doubt, education, faith, families, Folklore, General Authorities, Happiness, historicity, LDS, Leaders, liberal, Logic, marriage, media, Mormon, mormon, obedience, ordinances, polygamy, questioning, resignation, righteousness, spiritual progression, temple, tesimony 283 Comments

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 …

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 …

Romantic Paternalism

guest November 17, 2009BYU, feminism, LDS, Mormon, questioning, temple, women 130 Comments

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 …

A Baptism for the Dead Dilemma

Jeff Spector October 28, 2009baptism, LDS, love, Mormon, ordinances, plan of salvation, religion, salvation, temple 41 Comments

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 …

Trading Polygamy for Statehood

Mormon Heretic September 27, 2009civil disobedience, history, marriage, Mormon, mormon, Mormons, politics, polygamy, temple, Utah, women 67 Comments

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 …

LDS Grass-Roots Interpretations of the Eve Archetype

Bored in Vernal September 22, 2009doctrine, feminism, Mormon, symbols, temple, theology, women 21 Comments

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 …

What Bothers Me, and Why I Still Believe

AdamF June 3, 2009book of mormon, doubt, faith, families, General Conference, God, historicity, Logic, marriage, mormon, ordinances, questioning, religion, sacrament, scripture, seminary, spirituality, temple, testimony, thought 120 Comments

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, …

Good Man Gone

Ray May 21, 2009accountability, Beatitudes, burdens, Charity, death, eternity, faith, families, Happiness, love, marriage, Peace, plan of salvation, questioning, righteousness, salvation, Sermon on the Mount, spirituality, temple, testimony 15 Comments

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 …

LDS worship skills

guest May 16, 2009church, diversity, doubt, feminism, inter-faith, temple 15 Comments

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 …

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 …

Temples Unbuilt

Jeff Spector April 30, 2009community of christ, General Authorities, LDS, Mormon, Mormons, temple, Utah

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 …

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

Filtered Visions by guest Reuben Collins

James March 2, 2009apostasy, baptism, Bible, Bloggernacle, book of mormon, books, christ, christianity, church, Culture, curiosity, death, diversity, doubt, education, faith, families, fear, Folklore, general, General Authorities, historicity, liberal, Logic, love, marriage, Mormon, Mormons, obedience, prayer, religion, sacrament, salvation, spirituality, temple, tesimony, theology, thought, Trinity, women 9 Comments

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

The Symbolic Image of Christ

Arthur February 1, 2009blacks, christ, christianity, church, Culture, diversity, historicity, Jesus, Mormon, mormon, Mormons, race, racism, religion, symbols, temple 25 Comments

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? …

Stop Baptizing Our Dead!

Jeff Spector January 13, 2009baptism, catholicism, christianity, eternity, evangelicals, families, inter-faith, Mormon, Mormons, temple 91 Comments

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 …

Temple ceremony, the stabilizer for mystical enthusiasm

Brian Johnston December 24, 2008history, joseph, temple 9 Comments

I’ve been thinking lately about the differences between the LDS Church we participate in today compared to what attracted and retained early members in the …

Unity, Diversity and Conformity

Hawkgrrrl December 21, 2008apostasy, Asides, burdens, Charity, Culture, curiosity, Discrimination, diversity, doubt, education, faith, families, Mormon, mormon, Mormons, new order mormon, orthodox, questioning, service, temple, theology, thought 7 Comments

How do we create and maintain unity at church while valuing diversity and avoiding conformity? Do we have to embrace the diversity of those who …

Are Mormons Better Christians?

Brian Johnston December 15, 2008christianity, church, evangelicals, inter-faith, missions, Mormons, temple 16 Comments

A friend of mine pointed out this blog article to me: http://timwade.wordpress.com/2008/12/02/are-mormons-better-christians/

Virtual RS/PH #21: The Second Coming & The Millenium

Hawkgrrrl November 17, 2008Asides, Charity, christ, christianity, church, Culture, curiosity, doubt, eternity, faith, fear, God, Jesus, joseph, LDS, Leaders, love, Mormon, mormon, Mormons, questioning, religion, temple, theology, thought, war 30 Comments

To the teachers out there, sorry if this one is coming a day late and a dollar short. Our ward is a month behind on …

What is a Testimony?

guest November 13, 2008apostasy, Asides, BYU, christianity, church, Culture, curiosity, diversity, doubt, faith, fear, Happiness, LDS, Leaders, love, missionary, missions, Mormon, mormon, Mormons, prayer, questioning, religion, salvation, scripture, spiritual progression, spirituality, temple, testimony, theology, thought 10 Comments

Ironically, some of you with “strong testimonies” may think that those struggling with their testimony make only a small percentage of us here today. The …

The Irony of Proposition 8

Jeff Spector November 10, 2008blacks, Culture, Discrimination, evangelicals, faith, families, First Amendment, gay, Government, history, homosexuality, LDS, Leaders, marriage, Mormon, Mormons, racism, religion, temple

I hope you can stand at least one more post on Proposition 8 and its aftermath.

FacesEast, an Interview with Prairie Chuck

Brian Johnston October 21, 2008apostasy, Bloggernacle, faith, families, inter-faith, marriage, Mormon, new order mormon, temple 12 Comments

This article is an interview with a woman who goes by the online alias “Prairie Chuck.” Prairie Chuck is the leader of a support group …

How Active Are You? How Orthodox Are You? A Self-Assessment

John Nilsson September 4, 2008book of mormon, christ, christianity, church, curiosity, doubt, eternity, faith, General Authorities, God, historicity, Jesus, joseph, LDS, liberal, Mormon, Mormons, new order mormon, obedience, orthodox, Priesthood, prophets, religion, repentance, restoration, sacrament meeting, salvation, scripture, Sermon on the Mount, smith, temple, testimony, theology, Word of Wisdom 67 Comments

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 …

I’m Okay; You’re Okay

guest July 27, 2008Asides, church, Culture, curiosity, death, doubt, eternity, faith, families, inter-faith, LDS, love, marriage, missionary, missions, Mormon, mormon, Mormons, questioning, religion, salvation, temple, thought, women 102 Comments

I have one component to my life that prompts little discussions from the lowliest church member to most recently the temple president and I really …

Celestial Marriage Amendment

AdamF July 17, 2008love, marriage, polygamy, temple, theology 75 Comments

I read this letter in the Salt Lake Tribune this morning, and even though I know it’s a satirical slam, I could not help but …

Obedience: Virtual RS/PH #13

Hawkgrrrl July 13, 2008Anti-Mormon, apologetics, apostasy, Bloggernacle, book of mormon, christianity, church, evangelicals, faith, God, grace, inter-faith, Jesus, joseph, LDS, Leaders, missionary, Mormon, mormon, Mormons, obedience, orthodox, plan of salvation, politics, polygamy, prophets, questioning, religion, salvation, scripture, smith, spiritual progression, temple, testimony, theology, thought 22 Comments

Welcome to the second virtual co-ed 3rd hour. This week’s lesson is a topic that is often a seething hotbed of Mormon Matters controversy: “Obedience: When …