OT SS Lesson #31 Feminist readers of the scriptures are well aware of the passages in Proverbs 8 which personify Wisdom (GK Sophia, HEB Hokhmah). …
Spiritual Guidance: A GC Talk Review
I wanted to try a new feature – going through some of the previous GC talks to discuss some of the ideas put forth. I …
Absolute Truth, Inclusivism, Lumen Gentium, and Emeth
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 …
Does God Squash ETs: How Human is Human?
Distinctly Mormon doctrines relating the physical appearance of humanity to God’s own “preferred” form grew gradually in early Restoration history rather than springing forth in …
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 …
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 …
Joseph Fielding McConkie and the Lens of Literalism
In a recently published book ‘Between the Lines: Unlocking Scripture with Timeless Principles’ (2009), Joseph Fielding McConkie tries to deal with the issue of discerning …
A Marital Confession
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 …
Church as a Social Network
There are those among the disaffected who would like to reap the benefits of the church as a community although they may no longer share the …
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, …
On Being an Apostle but not in the Quorum
‘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 …
Richard Dawkins, God and Santa Claus: Belief as a Form of Abuse
Between Christmas and New Year I had the opportunity to meet with some friends and at one point during the evening we began discussing the …
Gregory House and Emmanuel Levinas: Finding Meaning in Suffering: Part 2
A few weeks ago I wrote a post on suffering. Resulting from a thoughtful critique of that post, by Andrew S, and a recommendation (in …
‘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 …
10 LDS Things I’m Thankful for
Thanksgiving is, IMO, the perfect holiday: good food, a day off work, and no presents to worry about. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I wanted …
De-centralising the Spirit: Between Charisma and Bureaucracy
In a lecture entitled ‘A Historian’s Perspective on Joseph Smith’, Richard Bushman shows an interesting trend in religious cultures that surrounded Joseph Smith. This trend centers …
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 …
Approaching Isaiah 58: Fasting as a Spiritual Practice
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 …
The Genius of Mormonism: Israel is Back, Baby! (POLL incl.)
One of the attractive components to Mormon theology was the notion that Mormons were a chosen people, and both figuratively and literally part of the …
Groupthink
“Groupthink” is what naturally happens when a group becomes sedentary and sluggish. When change is introduced or new people are introduced, they challenge the “groupthink.” …
Spirituality, Rationality, Mentality, Duality
Today’s guest post is by jmb275. In my first guest post, I talked about intellectualism and faith. A few of the commenters pointed out that …
Looking Forward to the Good Life
I’ve spent some time over the years thinking about questions that remain in regards to the logistics of the afterlife.
Intellectualism and Faith: A Would-Be Marriage!
It is easy to think yourself out of a testimony. It’s as simple as saying “well I can’t prove God exists, or doesn’t exist, therefore …
Evidences and Reconciliations 8/11/08
I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat …
Evidences and Reconciliations 06/23/08
So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: …
Our Foundation Stories Part II: The Meaning of the First Vision
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 …
Liberal Mormonism II: Why I am a Liberal Mormon
I was raised in a household of faith. My parents are believers who encouraged discussion of religion in their home. I’ve asked around and found …