Baptism for the Dead
Doctrinal History of Vicarious Work
A friend asked me about the doctrinal history of why Mormons, and specifically Joseph Smith, came up with the doctrine of baptism of the dead, and vicarious ordinances. He noted that in Elder Bednar’s 2011 General Conference talk, Bednar tied vicarious work not only with the visit of Elijah to Joseph Smith in the Kirtland […]
Sealed Servant?
This past weekend, I had occasion to attend an unusual sealing ceremony. One of my wife’s co-workers is in her 70s. Her husband passed away last year. Yesterday she was sealed to her dead husband. Her son served as proxy for her deceased husband. (Incidentally, she has been married and divorced to 2 other men […]
Tools to get rid of Genealogy Guilt
I’m sure that lots of you have had a guilt-inducing lesson about doing you genealogy. (We had one today.) The thing that I hate about these lessons is that while they provide “inspiring” (more like “guilt inspiring”) quotes from prophets and apostles, they offer no tools on how to help people actually DO genealogy. At […]
The Worth of $ouls
“Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God” (D&C 18:10). But how much is a soul worth? Freakonomics tries to answer the question. For those of you unfamiliar with Freakonomics, it was originally a book written by two Steves: Dubner and Levitt. Levitt is an economist for the University of Chicago […]
Woodruff's Vision of the Founding Fathers
Stephen Taysom put together a collection of essays in a new book titled Dimensions of Faith: A Mormon Studies Reader. Topics include biographies, theory, experience, memory, and media/literature with authors such as Newell Bringhurst, Larry Foster, and Jonathan Stapley (to name a few.) Many of us are familiar with Wilford Woodruff’s vision of the Founding […]
Interview with the Community of Christ
Over the last year, I have come across a few bloggers who are members of the Community of Christ (formerly known as RLDS). I have always been curious about the Community of Christ, and have often wondered the differences in worship between their services, and LDS services. I wanted to share some of the stuff […]
Mormon Heretic 