Apocryphal Stories
Lectures on Faith: Science of Theology
“Lectures on Faith” is a set of seven lectures on the doctrine and theology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, first published as the doctrine portion of the 1835 edition of the canonical Doctrine and Covenants, but later removed from that work by both major branches of the faith. The lectures […]
Posts Restored – Back to the Present
Many of you have noticed a blast from the past on my blog. Back in Feb 2013, my host server crashed and I had to back up my blog and try to restore it. I picked WordPress.com, thinking that was a good choice. Well, it didn’t restore all my posts–I was missing about 150 of […]
Jesus had a wife?
I’ve enjoyed reading about a recently discovered document scholars have dubbed “The Gospel of Jesus’ Wife.”  It’s just a scrap of papyrus that dates to around 150-200 AD, but it is causing a bit of a stir.  Dr. Karen King of Harvard University has recently translated the document and it contains the line, “Jesus said […]
Scandalous Behavior of Jesus around Women
Jesus was a social revolutionary.  He gave women a much larger role in his movement than was traditional in ancient Judaism.  In a previous post, I talked about the story in Luke chapter 7 about a woman wiping Jesus’ feet with her tears and hair.  Such behavior would have been considered lewd by first century Jews. […]
Interesting Presentations at Weber State
Due to a scheduling conflict, Sunstone was forced to find a new venue for this year’s conference. Rather than stay at the Sheraton in Salt Lake City as they have for the past few years, the conference moved to Weber State University in Ogden. I was only able to attend the Saturday conference, but wanted […]
The Apocryphal book of Judith
Many people refer to “the Apocrypha” as if it is a clearly defined set of books. Â The work “apocrypha” means literally “things hidden away.” Â In modern usage, an apocryphal book is any book not part of the Bible. Â In that sense, the Book of Mormon could be called an apocryphal book; there is a new […]
Should We Credit Luther for the Apocrypha?
There are many Christian stories not contained in the Bible. Â For example, I have reviewed the First Infancy Gospel of Jesus, the Gospel of the Birth of Mary, and the Gospel of Judas (to name a few). Â These writings are referred to as apocryphal writings. Â Some Christians have referred to the Book of Mormon as […]
A Letter Written by Jesus
No writings have ever been attributed to Jesus in the Bible. However, there is an ancient manuscript that claims to be letters written between Abgarus, King of Edessa, and Jesus. It’s a very short “book”, so I will quote it entirely. But first, here’s a bit of background. The official name of the document is […]
Stories about Jesus’ Childhood
Ever wondered what kind of a child Jesus was? Well, The First Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ tells us that Jesus was part healer, part genius, part brat. It starts out with some interesting stories about happened to the holy family in Egypt (following Herod’s edict to kill all boys age 2 and under), […]
The Untold Story of Joseph and Mary
The biblical account of the interactions between Joseph and Mary is very small. To me, it almost makes Joseph and Mary appear 2-dimensional, and I never feel like I know them very well. When Joseph discovered that Mary was pregnant before their wedding, we know that he considered cancelling the betrothal. An angel intervened, and […]
Mormon Heretic 