History

McClellin Notebook

By Mormon Heretic February 6, 2009 9 Comments

William McLellin (or M’Lellin) is an interesting figure in LDS church history. He was called as an original member of the Quorum of 12 Apostles, and was excommunicated for apostasy in 1838. At this point, he became a vocal critic of the church. Mormon Times recently published an article about a recently discovered McClellin notebook, […]

Nahom-Archeaological Evidence of Book of Mormon

By Mormon Heretic January 28, 2009 37 Comments

After Lehi’s family left Jerusalem, they traveled in the Arabian Peninsula on their way to the “promised land.”  In 1994, an archeaological discovery in Yemen has the same name as mentioned in 1 Ne. 16: 34, “And it came to pass that Ishmael died, and was buried in the place which was called Nahom. Critics […]

LDS Film Festival 2009

By Mormon Heretic January 21, 2009 12 Comments

While there is much ado about the Sundance Film Festival, here in Park City, Utah, there is another film festival which starts today in Orem, called the LDS Film Festival.  I went last year, and loved some of the movies.  The festival runs through Saturday. Certainly, many of the movies here are not up to […]

Is MLK’s dream fulfilled by Obama?

By Mormon Heretic January 15, 2009 11 Comments

On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King game his famous “I have a dream speech.”  He said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” There has been […]

Rachel and Leah: a Modern Perspective

By Mormon Heretic January 3, 2009 15 Comments

A few months ago, I posted a topic about Marriage Fitness.  This has become my New Year’s resolution.  I went ahead and bit the bullet by purchasing the Lone Ranger course.  The author is Mort Fertel, and he makes no illusions that his method is a quick or easy solution to a better marriage, but […]

The 3 Kings – Part 2

By Mormon Heretic December 25, 2008 2 Comments

I talked previously about the Wise Men and their part in the Christmas Story.  Not much is known about them, but there are quite a few interesting legends.  For example, we assume there are 3 Wise Men, but some ancient painting sometimes show as few as two, and sometimes as many as four.  Names and […]

The Story of Hanukkah

By Mormon Heretic December 21, 2008 1 Comment

My little boy is in kindergarten. Along with the normal Christmas decorations he has been working on, he came home with a menorah, the candle Jews use to celebrate Hanukkah. (Now that I’m finally out of school myself, I plan to post more frequently–it was a tough semester.)

Astrology in the Christmas Story

By Mormon Heretic December 13, 2008 4 Comments

In my quest to find out things that aren’t generally well known, I came across a DVD called Mystery of the Three Kings by Questar Entertainment.  I thought it brings up some really interesting points, some which really add to the Biblical story, while some details are a little strange.  Here are some of the […]

Bible Controversy

By Mormon Heretic November 30, 2008 17 Comments

Many critics of the Book of Mormon claim there is no archaeological evidence.  The Bible is assumed to be completely true.  MSNBC has a link about a PBS show about archeaology of Bible that recently appeared on Nova. William Dever, from the University of Arizona, is one of my favorite scholars.  Let me quote from the PBS […]

Venison for Thanksgiving Dinner, anyone?

By Mormon Heretic November 23, 2008 8 Comments

Ok, apparently we’re eating the wrong stuff for Thanksgiving. According to Edward Winslow from A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, in 1621: “we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed upon our governor.” More can be discovered at the History Channel website. […]