Theology
Father Forgive them…Not in Original Bible?
My wife gathered the family together to go over the 1st lesson of the new Home Study program earlier this week. (Note my previous post expressing mixed feelings about the 2 hours block cutting out half the lessons.) Anyway, for Christmas this year I got a copy of Thomas Wayment’s New Testament Study Bible for […]
Things That Make You Go Hmmm…
Fair warning: this post is a downer. But first let me say how blessed I am. I was in a wreck last month and walked away with no injuries. Seat belts are awesome. I am grateful I wasn’t seriously injured. (My truck and laptop weren’t so lucky.) On the other hand, I’m sad. I just […]
Rich Brown: Speak to the Bones
Richard Brown was kind enough to send me a copy of his book Speak to the Bones. Rich is a member of the Community of Christ (aka RLDS Church) and worked there as a publisher for several years. He has published this book himself, and the book discusses some of the less well-known stories from […]
Gays & the 2nd Article of Faith
There was an interview released last week where Paul Reeve admitted being the source behind the Race & Priesthood essay at LDS.org. While I think that was a nice scoop, there was another part of that interview that I think is very important and may have gotten lost in the headline. I have been very vocal […]
Are you a sinner?
In a recent meeting with a counselor in the stake presidency, he asked us all to tell him how we run our families so well. While I appreciate the compliment, I don’t think I’m alone in thinking I do a lot of things wrong, as well as some things right. I didn’t like the implication […]
No Crying He Makes? Re-examining Perfection
Verse 3 in “Away in a Manger”: The cattle are lowing The poor Baby wakes But little Lord Jesus No crying He makes Does anyone seriously believe that the baby Jesus never cried? I mean the first thing every new parent wants to hear is a crying baby emerging from the womb. It indicates health. […]
A Different Take on the Samaritan Story
I want to subtitle this post: Defending the Priest and the Levite. Not long ago, we had a lesson in priesthood on the Good Samaritan. This is one of my favorite parables, but the lesson quickly devolved into the traditional platitudes. People began to point fingers at the “hypocritical” priest and the Levite walking past the […]
When “Forever Families” Weren’t
I’ve heard about the Law of Adoption as an LDS theological point of the past, but never really understood it very well. I enjoyed reading Brian Hales discussion of the concept in his book, Joseph Smith’s Polygamy: Volume 3. (This is a follow up post on the book; I previously discussed Hales position that there is no […]
No Spirit Birth
It’s been a while since I read Joseph Smith’s Polygamy: Volume 3 by Brian Hales. I read volume 3 first because (1) it was the shortest (a mere 281 pages compared to the other volumes), and (2) Brian Hales recommended we read it first since it was the first time anyone had tried to tackle the […]
Book Review: Joseph’s Seer Stones
I was pleased that Deseret Book sent me a copy of Joseph Smith’s Seer Stones to review. I know a lot of people have complained church members have complained that we always reference the Urim and Thummim, but not seer stones. There is also the complaint that the artwork is incorrect concerning Joseph translating the plates. […]
Mormon Heretic 