I always got a kick out of the signs in the student body section proclaiming, “The Prophet is a Ute!” After all, so many Mormons proclaim that BYU is the “Lord’s University”, that it was really nice to point out that President Hinckley is an alum of the University of Utah. The cool thing is that the signs can stay up, because President Monson is also an alum of the U, (though he did get an MBA from BYU, so I guess both schools can claim him.) Anyway, I was quite amused to hear on the radio yesterday, that Joseph Smith has officially decided to attend the University of Utah. You can verify the info right here! If BYU is the Lord’s University, it seems that Utah is the School of the Prophets!
Apostle Paul’s remains?
I came across an article about the Apostle Paul. After Emporer Nero burned Rome, he blamed the fire on the Christians. Various apostles were rounded up, and tradition has it that the Apostle Paul was beheaded around 60 AD. A basilica was built to house parts of his body in about 390 AD. (Oddly, his complete body is not there, but spread throughout various churches. Apparently, the Orthodox/Catholic churches felt that bones from dead saints hold some spiritual power, and have often arranged to have bones sent to various churches so that many can share a claim to have various saints bones.)
Niblet Nominations
Over at Mormon Matters, they’re nominating various blogs or post in the bloggernacle. They have categories for various topics: best new blog, best group blog, best post, most spiritual post, funniest post, etc. Anyway, nominations are open to anyone, so if you want to nominate something, please do so over at Mormon Matters.
Bushman’s Perspective on Polygamy, Alger, and Snow
Thanks to Tara, my recent post announcing my perspective on polygamy has received a recent boost of activity (and is my most commented post ever on this blog, currently with 97 comments.) We had been discussing some of the more controversial aspects of polygamy: (1) Was Joseph’s polygamy revelation really a disguise for his real motive as a womanizer (libertine)? (2) What is the true nature of the Fanny Alger relationship? (3) Was Eliza Snow pushed down the stairs by Emma? Let’s look at how does Richard Bushman, author of Rough Stone Rolling sees these issues.
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 I’ve learned.
Amazing CoC Statement
The RLDS church was founded in 1860. Joseph Smith III was the first prophet. Recently, they have changed their name to the Community of Christ (CoC), and have begun to distance themselves from former beliefs and teachings. I found the following statement issued by their current prophet, President Stephen M. Veazey, quite startling. The RLDS church had long held a position that Joseph Smith never practiced polygamy. Many thanks go to FireTag for letting me know about this statement. I want to quote a small part of the interview here, but the full interview can be found on the CoC website.
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Similarities Between the Lemba and Lehi
The History Channel has a show called “Digging for the Truth.” In season 1, they did an episode called “The Lost Tribe of Israel”, which highlighted the Lemba Tribe in South Africa, which claims to be a Hebrew people who were displaced around 700 BC, about 100 years before Lehi left Jerusalem. I couldn’t help but notice many similarities between their story, and the story of Lehi.
Memorial Day Jack Mormon Alexander Doniphan
Michael Quinn’s book The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power talks about many incidents which led to the “extermination order” by Missouri Governor Boggs. These events are often referred to as the Mormon War in Missouri. While there were some armed struggles, it seems more like vigilante and frontier justice than an all out war. But with Memorial Day upon us, I wanted to highlight a person that people know a little about, Alexander Doniphan, who was known as one of the first “Jack Mormons.”
Mormon Heretic 