President Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994). A friend of mine posted this on Facebook, and I want to repost it here. President Benson once taught: “Sometimes we hear someone refer to a division in the Church. In reality, the Church is not divided. It simply means that there are some who, for the time being at … Read more
One of the frescoes on the ceiling of Karlskirche in Vienna (completed in 1737) depicting either: (A) an angel burning the heretical works of a Protestant theologian or (B) Moroni torching the collected transcripts of John Dehlin’s podcast interviews and Kate Kelly’s “Six Discussions.” It has just been reported by the New York Times (and picked up … Read more
Why else do you think we Mormons call it a Stake Center? Elder Bruce R. McConkie gave a devotional speech in 1980 titled “The Seven Deadly Heresies.” Here are the titular heresies, presented in the order given by Elder McConkie: “Heresy one: There are those who say that God is progressing in knowledge and is … Read more
[Cross posted from the FairMormon Blog.] An anonymous author* writing at the MorningStar Post blog “had an awful time putting [a] story together” on “the number of Latter Day Saints [sic] that are actually considered active,” and that Mormons are, per the title of the post, allegedly “leaving their religion in record numbers around the world.” (Link) … Read more
I’ve been working as a student intern with the Joseph Smith Papers for a few weeks. It’s been a fantastic experience, and I’ve come to learn and appreciate, from personal experience, the amount of time and energy those working on the project put into ensuring that each volume of the Joseph Smith Papers is done … Read more
Volume 1 of the Journals series of the Joseph Smith Papers, published in 2008. I continued to be very impressed with the work being undertaken by the Joseph Smith Papers Project. In case you haven’t had a chance to, I’d recommend that you be sure to check out the introductory material in volumes 1 and … Read more
Here is a clip from the new movie Noah portraying the creation. Is it just me, or does this seem to have an eerily Mormon flavor to it? Take out the reference to creation ex nihilo and I’d swear this is right out of the Pearl of Great Price, with perhaps some allusion to B. … Read more
Elder Boyd K. Packer (b. 1924). Elder Boyd K. Packer gave an address (“The Mantle is Far, Far Greater Than the Intellect”) at a CES symposium in 1981 where he said, “Some things that are true are not very useful.” This soundbite has been gleefully reproduced by anti-Mormons as evidence that Elder Packer was promoting … Read more
Stephen Colbert – American Hero and Prophet of Shamash. As Ann K. Guinan explains, many forms of divination were especially common in ancient Mesopotamia. The rationale behind ancient divination was the belief that the gods had encoded their will or the fate of the world in signs found in everyday objects or occurrences, and so by … Read more
Heavenly Mother by John Hafen. “Come to me, here’s the myst’ry that man hath not seen; / Here’s our Father in heaven, and Mother, the Queen.”– William W. Phelps, “A Voice from the Prophet: Come to Me” (1844). One aspect of Latter-day Saint doctrine that distinguishes Mormonism from other contemporary Christian sects is the Mormon affirmation … Read more
Russell Crowe as the prophet Noah in Darren Aronofsky’s 2014 adaption of the biblical tale. “That was one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen.” “Yeah, it was absolutely horrendous.” That’s what I heard from a sweet elderly couple as I left the movie theater in Idaho Falls, Idaho after watching Darren Aronofsky’s new film Noah. … Read more
Below is the link to my latest article with the Student Review. Link. I had to be objective and impartial in my reporting for the Student Review. Now that I’m on my blog, however, I get to be opinionated. 1. I thought the panel discussion was largely a disaster. The original intent of the panel … Read more
Nauvoo’s East Grove. I visited this site in July 2013 as part of a church history study program. It wasn’t very windy when I visited, but it was very hot! I am currently reading Alex Beam’s new book American Crucifixion: The Murder of Joseph Smith and the Fate of the Mormon Church. Although I have … Read more