More Islands and Atolls
despite a wide difference of opinion @ Segullah
- One of the blessings of the pandemic is my front row seat to my sons’ YSA ward at my...
Joseph Fielding Smith on Scriptural interpretation and Scientific Conflict @ Ben Spackman
- My dissertation involves a lot of President Joseph Fielding Smith, particularly the way...
A Gift From an Early "Anti-Mormon" Attack on the Book of Abraham: Clear Evidence About the Source of Joseph's Translation @ Mormanity
- In several posts over the years here at Mormanity and on my website, I've noted that the...
Insurrection @ Segullah
- Insurrection When I was 10 in 1962, I was aware from overheard news reports of something...
Run and not be Weary? @ Josiah Reckons
- Among members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the phrase “run...
Nacle Notebook 2020: Funniest Comments @ Zelophehad's Daughters
- Twenty twenty was a decidedly unfunny year. To me, though, this meant that we had more...
Understanding the God of the Old Testament: An Evangelical Scholar Explains the Meaning of "God Is Love" @ Mormanity
- Evangelical Bible scholar Ben Witherington has written a deeply interesting essay on the...
Loss, or When Where is No Doctrine @ Segullah
- “I just don’t want anyone else to tell me what to believe,” my friend said with...
The only True and Living Church @ Josiah Reckons
- In D&C 1, the section prefacing the Doctrine and Covenants, it talks of “the...
Quick Notes on a New Year’s Sale at Logos @ Ben Spackman
- Logos is my preferred source of electronic books. I’ve used it for 20 years. You...
More on the Limits of "Endless" and "Eternal" in the Book of Mormon: Awaking from "Endless Sleep" and the "Eternal Band of Death" @ Mormanity
- In a recent previous post, "'From Whence They Can No More Return': What Lehi Teaches Us...
Janus Parallelism in Alma 32 and 33? @ Mormanity
- Alma uses the verb "spring" in an interesting way in his sermon to the Zoramites in Alma...
I read 2200 comments on the Church Newsroom post so you don’t have to. @ Zelophehad's Daughters
- Two weeks ago, the US Electoral College voted Joe Biden in as the next US President. The...
Christmas Mother Decorations @ Josiah Reckons
- What do Christmas trees mean to you?
The Jewish Copper Plates of Cochin, India and a Hint of an Ancient Jewish Tradition of Writing on Metal Plates @ Mormanity
- A recent post here critiqued an attempt to explain the origins of the book of Ether based...
Esther Hi’ilani Candari – Artist’s Statement @ Segullah
- Esther Hi’ilani Candari was born to a mixed Asian American family and raised on the...
Just Receive @ Segullah
- My ex-husband bought me a waffle maker for Christmas. Well, technically, my kids...
Winter Journal Poetry @ Segullah
- The Field Is White By Kelly Burdick Oh Lord, your field is lacking definition, her...
Most correct book on Earth @ Josiah Reckons
- In 1841, Joseph Smith told the council of the twelve “that the Book of Mormon was the...
Small Acts Matter: Microfitness and Microservice @ Segullah
- The pandemic has complicated every area of my life, which has increased my levels of...
Meet Co-Editor-in-Chief, Jessie Christensen @ Segullah
- Getting To Know Jessie Sherilyn: Your day job? Jessie: I work as a library cataloger in...
Winter Journal Editorial @ Segullah
- I admired a snowflake decoration hanging in a co-worker’s cubicle remarking how I...
Three short memories of gifts and service @ Josiah Reckons
- “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under...
Mary and the Annunciation as a Model for Scripture Study @ Ben Spackman
- At the opening of BYU’s 2019 Reconciling Evolution workshop—which focuses on...
More Christmas Classics, Mormonized @ Zelophehad's Daughters
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The Polar Express
A young boy is surprised to discover a train stopping right next to...
Religious Liberty: Have We Forgotten the Pain of the Hutterites? @ Mormanity
- College students these days learn what a wise leader President Woodrow Wilson was, a good...
Of Advent and Angels @ Segullah
- This coming Sunday is the 3rd week of Advent. LDS liturgy (such as it is) tends to rotate...
Canaanite Santa Claus, Handel’s Messiah, and the Real St. Nicholas @ Ben Spackman
- I’ve plugged Biblical Archaeology Review (BAR) before, a great magazine (with...
"From Whence They Can No More Return": What Lehi Teaches Us About the Book of Mormon's Harsh Language on Hell @ Mormanity
- The Book of Mormon's teachings on hell sometimes sound much harsher than what we...
Church History/ Doctrine& Covenants Resources (and the blog) for 2021 @ Ben Spackman
- First, an update on my blog plans for next year. I do not intend to write a weekly post...
Tales from the Archives 4: Science, Interpretation, and Bad Feeling in 1965 @ Ben Spackman
- In June 1965, the LDS Sunday School presidency informally began a new series on science...
Q15 Members Giving Thanks @ Zelophehad's Daughters
- On the Friday before (US) Thanksgiving, President Nelson suggested that people share...
Four Types of Chiasmus in Deuteronomy and Jeremiah, with Implications for the Book of Mormon @ Mormanity
- Students of biblical literature and of the Book of Mormon can now access an important new...
A Missionary Reminiscence on Christmas in Western Europe @ Ben Spackman
- I repost this every year. When the mission president announced to our small group of...
Jana Riess’s The Next Mormons @ Zelophehad's Daughters
- Of all the discussions I read on the Bloggernacle, probably my favorite are the ones...
A Most Appropriate Thanksgiving Message for This Day: President Nelson on the Power of Gratitude @ Mormanity
- I just listened to President Nelson's short message delivered at noon (Central Time) via...
The Perfect Virus @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- If the Chinese had indeed attempted to design a virus that would disrupt American...
LDS and Science: An Epidemic, a Puzzle, and new Apostle… in 1904 @ Ben Spackman
- I recently discovered an article about “the first real confrontation of Mormonism...
The Human Brain and Rational Thought @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Lately, I have been living a dual existence. By day, I am the editorial director at...
Video of My Presentation with Noel Reynolds, “'Strong Like Unto Moses': The Case for Ancient Roots in the Book of Moses" @ Mormanity
- On Sept. 18 and 19, 2020 in Provo, Utah, the Interpreter Foundation sponsored a virtual...
Sabbath Speeches: Humility, Grace, and Faith @ Josiah Reckons
- Sabbath Speeches is a new feature of the blog where I post sermons I give in church...
Come Follow Me: Ether @ Ben Spackman
- A few general introductory notes about the Book of Ether. First, unlike the other two...
Tales from the Archives 3: The 1934-5 Newspaper Proxy Wars and Writing Hot @ Ben Spackman
- From 1934-5, the age of the earth, evolution, and scripture was hotly debated in...
The Dangers of Censorship: Static Science, Diminished Liberty, and a Population in the Dark @ Mormanity
- A few weeks ago I made a post on Linkedin.com that cited a report on the apparent media...
Captain Trumponi and the Title of Biglity @ Zelophehad's Daughters
- Utah Senator Mike Lee faced some backlash after he compared Donald Trump to Captain...
By Divine Design @ Zelophehad's Daughters
- In one of the most often-discussed passages of almost-scripture on the Bloggernacle, the...
An Update in the Scholarship Regarding the Archaic Language in the Book of Mormon @ Mormanity
- One of the most interesting puzzles about the Book of Mormon is the recent discovery that...
"I Think It Helps Them": A Young Boy with Cancer Teaches Us About Service, Duty, and Patience with Naughty Children @ Mormanity
- Steven J. Lund's talk at the recent October 2020 General Conference focused on "Finding...
The Republican (and LDS) Fascination with Authoritarianism @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- I’ve been wondering lately about the obvious fascination both Republicans and...
A Heretic Reviews Conference, October 2020 @ Zelophehad's Daughters
- Best visual aid: Carlos A. Godoy shared a picture of himself and his sister at the time...
Entering the Kingdom @ Josiah Reckons
- For much of my life, teachings regarding Zion and the kingdom of God just didn’t...
Turning Gems into Dirt: The Case for Adam Clarke as a Source for the "Inspired Translation" of the Bible @ Mormanity
- John Dehlin with his podcasts and videos criticizing the Church has recently stirred up a...
Topics That Might Be Mentioned in Conference, with Associated Probabilities @ Zelophehad's Daughters
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With General Conference, right around the corner, I thought it might be fun to make...
How the Church Sets Members Up to Become Trump Apologists @ Zelophehad's Daughters
- Like many other Mormons, I’ve been appalled in the last several years to see how...
What kind of beehive looks like that? @ Josiah Reckons
- Why the iconic beehive symbol looks like it does.
No, B.H. Roberts Did Not Abandon Belief in the Book of Mormon @ Mormanity
- Sad to see an irresponsible critic of the Church pushing the easily debunked theory that...
Growing Evidence for the Scriptures: Now a Centralized Source to Consider @ Mormanity
- If you've been following the steady stream of interesting findings and insights regarding...
Plagiarism Made Harder, or, The Book of Ether and the Genius of Joseph's Plagiarism @ Mormanity
- Students of the Book of Mormon have long noted that the brief book of Ether is quite...
How important is the virgin Mary? @ Josiah Reckons
- How important is it for latter-day saints to believe that Mary's virginal conception of...
Provident Living: Are You Prepared for Fire? @ Mormanity
- In late August, I was in my mother's room just chatting with her while also occasionally...
Warren Aston's Search for Shazer: Another Breakthrough for the Arabian Peninsula Evidence for the Book of Mormon @ Mormanity
- Important new evidence for the plausibility of Lehi's Trail in the Book of Mormon has...
The Restoration of the Gospel as a Resurrection @ Josiah Reckons
- While some accounts in the New Testament describe spirits reuniting with their bodies,...
The Passing of My Father, a Man Who Taught His Children to the Very End @ Mormanity
- Every day for roughly 30 years my wife, Kendra Lindsay, has prayed that we might be near...
Further Thoughts on the Nephite Interpreters and Mesoamerican Culture @ Mormanity
- An important new study on relationships between the Book of Mormon and Mesoamerican...
What Does It Mean to Be Conservative in Today’s Republican Party? @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- I’m going to quote three “conservatives” in this column. I want you to know this up...
The Gaping Hole in the Church’s Official Policy on Abortion @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Several years ago, my high priests group had a lesson on a topic I can’t now recall....
Faith, Insurance, and Blessings from Disappointment: How Bad Programming Made Me Healthier @ Mormanity
- Sometimes our little setbacks or disappointments can open doors for big steps forward....
A Book of Mormon Place Name that Teaches Us About Grace: Onidah @ Mormanity
- Both personal names and place names in the Book of Mormon once were a source of...
A Heart on Fire: The Inhumanity of Neglecting Black Lives that Matter @ Mormanity
- Black lives matter. Of course they do. Sadly, the pains and sorrows faced by the victims...
An Open Letter to My Republican Friends @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- The election that is just over four months away is certainly the most important election...
Ancient American Goggles and the Nephite/Jaredite "Interpreters," Part 2 @ Mormanity
- My previous post, "Don't Google 'Spectacles,' Google 'Goggles': The Nephite...
More on Utilitarianism @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Following up on a previous post, let’s look at utilitarianism in the Book of Mormon. It...
Remembering Pvt. Amos Franklin Terry Jr. on Memorial Day 2020 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- The beginnings of Memorial Day are a bit confused. Apparently, the May holiday began as...
A Real Miracle Drug? @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- For many years now I’ve been doing an experiment with a drug that seems to have an...
Opening the Economy, Utilitarianism, Abortion, and Our Pressing Ethical Project @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- One of the best books I’ve read in recent years is, surprisingly, a textbook: The...
Donald Trump, MD @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- There is nothing Donald Trump likes more than being in front of television cameras,...
What to Do with the Money? @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- We live in strange times. Here we were, cruising along, living under the delusion that...
Last Nurse Standing and the Coronapocalypse @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- These are odd times. But sometimes crises have their lighter side. My daughter is a...
Streamlining Temple Ordinances @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- I’ve been thinking about temple ordinances and wondering if we couldn’t streamline...
URLs for My Mormon Studies Articles and Essays @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- I decided it might be useful for me, if not for others, to have the URLs to all my Mormon...
Donald or Jesus? @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- In a revelation given to Joseph Smith on August 6, 1833, we find the following: “When...
Power and Corruption @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Corruption is in the news almost constantly these days. Of course, we’re all aware of...
How Can a Latter-day Saint Vote Republican in Trump’s America? @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- I’ve taken a bit of a break from blogging. Life’s been busy, and I’ve been working...
Statistics, Misconceptions, and the Imperatives of Millennialism @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- The Deseret News ran an article this week about the American Family Survey, an annual...
The Antiquated Second Amendment @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- One of the most confusing, misunderstood, and misapplied pieces of the Constitution is...
Some Thoughts on the Mueller Report @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- It took me a while, but as of Friday I can say—unlike most Americans and unlike 99...
The Book of Mormon Critical Text Project @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- One of the interesting aspects of my job is that I am the primary proofreader for Royal...
Romanticized Notions @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- One morning in the spring of 2005, when I was a senior editor at the Ensign, the new...
Mitt and Me @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Last week we were in San Diego for a little vacation. On Sunday (June 2), we attended...
De Facto Infallibility and the Difficulty of Deciphering Spiritual Manifestations @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- The reversal of the POX has highlighted a growing problem for the Church. Church leaders...
Pyrric Victories @ Mormon Metaphysics
- JSTOR on Pyrric victories and the origin of the term.
Jerusalem’s Economy in Second Temple Period @ Mormon Metaphysics
- I’ve always had the assumption that the Jerusalem region was fairly poor — perhaps...
Chris on Religious Evolution @ Mormon Metaphysics
- Chris Goble has an interesting Twitter thread on the emergence of monotheism in axial...
Getting the Blog Back Together @ Mormon Metaphysics
- I’ve been posting regularly at Times and Seasons and plan on continuing with that....
To the People Defending the Church’s Decision to Ditch the “Mormon” Nickname @ Peculiar People
- First, I want you to know that I respect your decision to call yourself something other...
The Women Who Enable Abusive Men @ Peculiar People
- After the Kavanaugh hearing last Thursday, an image went viral that depicted a row of...
Joseph, Potiphar’s Wife, and the Truth about False Allegations @ Peculiar People
- In response to multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against Brett Kavanaugh,...
Robert Kirby and Edgy Mormon Men @ Peculiar People
- Like many progressive Mormons, I’ve enjoyed Robert Kirby’s self-deprecating...
To the Men Who Grabbed McKenna Denson and Dragged her away from the Pulpit @ Peculiar People
- To the men who grabbed McKenna Denson without her consent and dragged her away from the...
Why Would a Feminist Keep her Father’s Name? @ Peculiar People
- Back in April I wrote about my experience with software systems and institutions...
Mormon: The New Shibboleth @ Peculiar People
- Here’s hoping Lindsey releases a new, revised video: I’m a member of Church...
Sorry to Bother You: The (Human) Body as Technology @ Peculiar People
- This review contains major spoilers for Boots Riley’s 2018 film Sorry to Bother You....
Do Married Mormon Men Understand Consent? @ Peculiar People
- Image obtained through creative commons. I was 28 years old when I got married...
Making Ministering Holy @ Peculiar People
- My priesthood lesson prompt was very open-ended: “ministering.” My mind leapt to the...
What Will Combined MP Quorums Mean? @ Small and Simple
- In a shocking announcement during the Priesthood Session of the 2018 March/April General...
How Can Anyone Remain a Mormon in the Face of All the “Facts”? @ Small and Simple
- One of the things that you will see sometimes in anti-Mormon forums is what appears to be...
About That Taylor Christensen Video @ Small and Simple
- There is a video making the Mormon facebook circuit by Taylor Christensen. He starts...
The New York Times Thomas Monson Obituary and Fake News @ Small and Simple
- The president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently died, and the...
Perfect College Football Playoff System: 2017 Version @ Small and Simple
- Several years ago I published to the world the perfect college football playoff system. ...
Moderate Worship Losing Ground @ Mormon Metaphysics
- While it’s not really new news, Sociological Science had an interesting story on how...
Philosophy, Science and Religion: The Divine Hiddenness Argument @ Small and Simple
- The fourth week of the Coursera course on Philosophy, Science and Religion focuses on the...
Philosophy, Science and Religion: Friendly Disagreement, Testimonial Knowledge, and the Importance of Fellowship @ Small and Simple
- The third week of the Coursera course on Philosophy, Science and Religion addresses...
Philosophy, Science and Religion: The Conflict Between Science and Religion @ Small and Simple
- In the second week of the Coursera course on Philosophy, Science and Religion, professor...
Philosophy, Science and Religion: The Mind and The Religious Experience @ Small and Simple
- I am taking an online course through Coursera on Philosophy, Science and Religion. In...
Testimony and the Spiritual Experience @ Small and Simple
- I was raised in the religious tradition of my parents, which happens to be The Church of...
Bows, Arrows & the Book of Mormon @ Mormon Metaphysics
- This is just a “holder” post for a discussion I was having over whether...
Salvation in Mormonism @ Mormon Metaphysics
- Robert at Scriptural Mormonism does a good job discussing the place of grace in “old...
Terryl Givens on Mormons at the Forefront @ Mormon Metaphysics
- Terryl Givens has up an essay at First Things called “Mormons at the Forefront.”...
God and Evolutionary Psychology @ Mormon Metaphysics
- Evolutionary psychology suggests God makes more sense than not. I’m not sure he sees...
PEL on Scientism @ Mormon Metaphysics
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“…[scientism] is contributing to a growing trend on the left, quite as ferocious...
