Mormon

The Brigham Young Papers: (There is a soft side to him)

There has been much press about volumes 1 and 2 of  The Joseph Smith Papers Project.  My wife even spoiled me with a copy of volume 2 this past Christmas.  It contains the actual hand-written revelations of Joseph, along with a typed copy to help the reader understand some of the hard to read handwriting. […]

Why Mormons Hated Republicans in the Late 1800’s

I just finished the book by Sarah Baringer Gordon,  The Mormon Question.  It was a very different book from the previous book I read, More Wives than One, by Kathryn Daynes.  Gordon has degrees in both Law and Religion.  She looked at Constitutional theory and the arguments before the Supreme Court and Congress as the […]

Did Joseph Start a Religion, or Simply a Denomination?

The book for my book club is by Sarah Baringer Gordon,  The Mormon Question.  It’s been a really hard book to find at the library (nearly impossible), so I got a late start on it.   It takes a very different approach to the polygamy question.  Ms Gordon has a law degree, and so she talks […]

Dec 23: Joseph’s Birthday, Emma’s Anniversary

Today is Joseph’s 204th birthday.  (He was born in 1805 for those of you curious about the math.)  Since Dec 22 is the first day of winter, and the day with the shortest amount of sunlight, I’ve heard people say that Joseph’s birth was symbolic.  Joseph was bringing light into the world after a period […]

Cool Mormon and Hannukah Videos

BiV over at Mormon Matters posted a link to the Mormon Song from the Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.  Apparently, Senator Orrin Hatch wrote a Hannukah Song, which I found really catchy, and Conan tried to follow suit, even including his on Tapper-nacle Choir to help him out.  This is my first video ever, so […]

Dancing in the Temple, and Other Changes Over the Years

I’ve been reading some of the interesting changes in temple ceremonies (specifically the Endowment ceremony) in the book, The Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship, by David John Buerger.  (I talked about this in my previous post as well.)  The temple is a place where we are constantly reminded that if we […]

The Mysteries of Godliness

My book club just read this book, The Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship, by David John Buerger.  I have to say that while the book is interesting, I had some real discomfort while reading the book.  As an active Mormon, we have promised not to talk about the sacred ceremonies outside […]

A Mormon View of ‘The Lost Symbol’-Dan Brown

For my birthday, my wife gave me Dan Brown’s newest novel, The Lost Symbol.  I don’t typically read novels–I prefer sports, history, religion, or biographies–but I read The DaVinci Code and loved it.  Angels & Demons was pretty good.  I had heard rumors that Dan Brown’s book was going to deal with Masonry and Mormonism, […]

What are you thankful for Part 2?

Inspired by Hawkgrrrl’s post over at Mormon Matters, I decided to write a post asking what you’re thankful for.  It doesn’t have to necessarily be Mormon-related.  I realize I asked this question last year, and I talked about the First Thanksgiving last year, but I think we don’t talk about our thanks as much as […]

Most Improbable Meeting

I came across this recent article at Christianity Today describing meetings between evangelicals and Mormons.  Here are some interesting excerpts from the article: LDS president Thomas S. Monson and his two counselors permitted Standing Together, an alliance of 90 Utah evangelical churches, to use the historic Salt Lake City Tabernacle for a September 13 revival […]