More Islands and Atolls
Trying to Quit God @ Zelophehad's Daughters
- The year that I was 23 years old, I wrote in my journal that I had made some progress on...
Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 15 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Political Dysfunction Last week, Ezra Klein had a fascinating column in the New...
Metaphors in the Gospel of John @ Segullah
- John’s gospel bears testimony of the divinity of Jesus the Christ. The manner of his...
Ratings of Mormon Books on GoodReads @ Zelophehad's Daughters
- I wrote a post a couple of years ago where I looked at how Mormon-related movies were...
Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 14 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- A Regressive, Backward-Looking Philosophy If we look at the underlying philosophies...
Thou hast revealed thy gospel hobbies. @ Zelophehad's Daughters
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The Church announced last month that second hour meetings should now begin with prayer....
Modernising the standard works with machine learning (part II): ChatGPT AI @ Josiah Reckons
- How would ChatGPT modernise the standard works? Would there be doctrinal changes or loss...
Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 13 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Guns With this past week’s 15-vote misadventure of the GOP in the House...
Nacle Notebook 2022: Funniest Comments @ Zelophehad's Daughters
- This post is my annual compilation of the funniest comments and bits of posts that I read...
Come Follow Me: Genealogies in Matthew and Luke @ Ben Spackman
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Arvo Pärt’s magnificent Magnificat, one of many songs based on the Latin...
Studying the New Testament: Cross-cultural Contexts @ Ben Spackman
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As we begin our year in the New Testament, we naturally start with the Gospels…...
Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 12 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- “Ultra”: Insurrection in America, Then and Now During the holidays, I’ve been...
Sacrament Service in Slippers @ Segullah
- When 2022 began, I never imagined that before 2023 arrived, I’d find myself in a...
Mary, did you know . . . you need to cover up? @ Zelophehad's Daughters
- As part of the Church’s “Light the World” campaign this year, they...
Attending Church on Christmas @ Zelophehad's Daughters
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The Church announced back in November that as Christmas falls on a Sunday this year,...
Parts I Like in the New For the Strength of Youth @ Zelophehad's Daughters
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As you know if you read ZD at all regularly, I’m mostly a complainer when it...
Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 11 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Distrust of Science and Expertise in General The COVID-19 pandemic not only...
Studying the Bible: On Strong’s Concordance and Biblical Languages @ Ben Spackman
- Let’s talk about languages, particularly, Biblical languages: Greek, Hebrew, and...
Gaudete @ Zelophehad's Daughters
- It has been such a hard fall. The weather is getting to me; it is so gray, and it feels...
Studying the New Testament: Top 5 Books @ Ben Spackman
- This is the first of several posts talking about studying the NT and resources to do...
Covenants and Kinship: Jesus as the Father? @ Ben Spackman
- I chat with a lot of missionaries, and have heard this question repeatedly recently. I...
Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 10 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Abortion There are many Latter-day Saints who are Republican for one reason only:...
In need of lesser gods @ Segullah
- Reading the Old Testament this year with its condemnation of useless idols and rituals, I...
Pet Projects GAs Might Endorse @ Zelophehad's Daughters
- Ronald A. Rasband recently dedicated a new campus of the American Heritage School, which...
Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 9 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Corporate Self-Regulation If I could recommend just one book for you to read...
Promoting Unity through Interfaith / Interpath Efforts @ Segullah
- I have lived in nine different US States, which has afforded me the opportunity to meet a...
Ancient Christians: An Introduction for Latter-day Saints— A Brief Review @ Ben Spackman
- I had elaborate plans for this review, and just don’t have the time. The Maxwell...
Come Follow Me: Amos @ Ben Spackman
- I really like Amos; so much, in fact, that I’m ignoring Joel completely today. I...
Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 8 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Government Is the Enemy At a press conference on August 12, 1986, President...
Honor All Who Serve @ Segullah
- HONOR ALL WHO SERVE Veterans Day holiday – formerly known as Armistice Day (so...
Old Testament Gospel Doctrine lesson 34: Hosea @ Ben Spackman
- First off, my very old podcast and transcript on Hosea are here. The (old) manual...
Rough Stone Rolling: Daniel 2, The Church, and Joseph Smith @ Ben Spackman
- Today we focus on Daniel 2, a vision. The story goes like this.
In King...
Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 7 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Health Care Among all developed countries and many un- and underdeveloped...
What types of questions might differentiate types of Mormons? @ Zelophehad's Daughters
- I was intrigued by a guest post at W&T a couple of weeks ago where an anonymous...
Come Follow Me: Daniel 1,3,6 AND Esther 3-5, 7-8. @ Ben Spackman
- Obviously from the fact that the chapters I’m covering today don’t match up,...
Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 6 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Tax Cuts For a variety of reasons, we are experiencing a bit of economic...
Parables Read from Multiple Perspectives @ Segullah
- When I encounter a hardship in my life, I benefit from turning to the scriptures for...
Conference Sisters Speak @ Segullah
- It’s October – that time when we think about pumpkins and goblins … and General...
Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 5 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Racism Is the Republican Party racist? Is even asking this question out of...
Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 4 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- The Anti-democratic Party There was a time when the Republican Party was the...
Ripple and Blow @ Segullah
- Ripple and Blow I am feeling Too much these days Clients yell at me Too much! I yell at...
Do babies need a name to be blessed before the church? @ Josiah Reckons
- I can imagine D&C 20:70 being followed to the letter, but in a variety of different...
Return and report: My River Trip @ Segullah
- Last month I was nervous about my 5 day trip Salmon River trip in August. Since it was...
Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 3 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Global Warming In Salt Lake City, since temperatures have been recorded, there have...
A Time to Save, A Time to Toss @ Segullah
- Over the weekend, not at my house, I dumped 24 bottles of fruit juice down the drain and...
Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 2 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- The Party of Disinformation Politics doesn’t have a reputation for honesty. Even when...
Latest from the New Blog at AriseFromtheDust.com @ Mormanity
- In late June 2022, Mormanity officially moved to Arise From the Dust at...
Is It Possible for a Believing Latter-day Saint to Be a Republican? Part 1 @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- In a newspaper interview in February 1974, Ezra Taft Benson, president of the...
Strengthen ye the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees @ Josiah Reckons
- When I was a deacon, I sometimes passed the sacrament to older people whose hands...
Taking half the sacrament @ Josiah Reckons
- We were late for church on Sunday. We use public transport, and there is no direct route...
COVID, Motorcycles, Mormonism and Rebellion @ Small and Simple
- Our unnecessary and absurd over-reaction to COVID had a dramatic effect on me. In the...
Rights, Responsibilities, and the Case for Repealing the Second Amendment @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- This year we have once again been shocked by the endless string of mass murders of...
Mormanity is Moving to AriseFromTheDust.com @ Mormanity
- I've been wondering how to abandon the name "Mormanity" for a while. As a member of...
Will a man rob God? Tithing and temples @ Josiah Reckons
- "Paying a full and honest tithe leads us to the temple." - Elder Yoshihiko Kikuchi
Modernising the standard works with machine learning (part I) @ Josiah Reckons
- Could we use the KJV and another version of the bible as training data, and create a...
Preparing for Inflation and Yearning for Zion: Thoughts From My Visit to Turkey @ Mormanity
- The New Mosque (Yeni Cami) in the Eminönü quarter of Istanbul, on the Golden Horn at...
Lessons from Bulgaria: The Dangers of Censorship @ Mormanity
- During the Communist era in Bulgaria, the annual May Day parade was a major spectacle...
Spare the rod @ Josiah Reckons
- "I am persuaded that violent fathers produce violent sons." - Gordon B. Hinkley
What Day Was Christ Crucified? Dr. Jeffrey Chadwick Argues That the Book of Mormon Provides Valuable Information @ Mormanity
- An archaeologist and professor at BYU, Dr. Jeffrey R. Chadwick, published an article...
What to Make of "Plagiarism" of the Bible in a Purportedly Ancient Text? A Jewish Scholar Offers a Thoughtful Perspective @ Mormanity
- The Book of Mormon's frequent "plagiarism" of passages from the Bible is one of the most...
About That Burial Marker in Yemen for a Man Named Ishmael: Impossible That He Was a Hebrew? @ Mormanity
- In a November 2021 post, "Recent Discoveries and Advances Published by Interpreter, Part...
The Uchtdorfs visit Warsaw branch @ Josiah Reckons
- "Jesus was a refugee" - Elder Dieter F Uchtdorf
Prayers for China @ Mormanity
- A view from Xi'an, China, the beginning of the Silk RoadChina has been in my...
The Words of Gad the Seer: Thoughts on a "Lost Book" Preserved by the Jews at Cochin, India @ Mormanity
- The cover of the Hebrew edition ofMeir Bar-Ilan's The Words of Gad the SeerAn old Jewish...
News from Mount Ebal: An Ancient Hebraic Inscription on Metal, a Chiasmus, Possibly Dating to the 13th Century BC or Earlier @ Mormanity
- An ancient Hebraic text dating to the 13th to 14th century BC has been discovered by...
Dinner with One of Africa's Richest Women @ Mormanity
- My wife and I are friends with one of Africa's richest women, at least by her accounting....
Special Issue of BYU Studies Quarterly on Good Government @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- The new special issue of BYU Studies Quarterly (61.1) is, in my opinion, the best...
Ye shall not print any marks upon you @ Josiah Reckons
- Does scripture forbid tattoos?
"O Captain, My Captain": Walt Whitman's Surprising Role in the Ultimate Refutation of All Book of Mormon Evidence @ Mormanity
- Fond Memories from Before the BlastBack before a massive nuclear logic bomb wiped out...
Be Glad Trump Is Not President @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- As bad as things are right now, at least we can be glad that Donald Trump is not...
Preparing for War: The Folly of Trust @ Mormanity
- The Folly of Trust: A Medical Perspective Some of my more painful experiences in life...
Time and Thought @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Stephen C. over at Times and Seasons has a post this week on time and God that...
Jacob was a heel @ Josiah Reckons
- I apologise in advance, to all people named Jacob.
An Update on Maps of the Arabian Peninsula Showing Nahom-related Names @ Mormanity
- In 2008, James Gee published the results of his extensive search for the rare European...
Free Agency, Ezra Taft Benson, and the Republican Perversion of Freedom @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Freedom has become the rallying cry of the Republican Party, the one banner they...
Taliban Hackers Hijack Salt Lake Tribune Website, Call for Totalitarian Oppression of Unvaxxed @ Mormanity
- Thanks to certain contacts across Asia and the Middle East, I've heard off the record...
Do I Dare Join the Woman in the Boat? @ Mormanity
- "Woman Reading in a Boat" by Arthur Becher, ca. 1910. I just awoke from a dream,...
Science as a Faith: Do We Need Another Restoration? @ Mormanity
- One of our nation's leading bodies of scientific influence, the Center for Disease...
Many Questions about Dementia and Just One Answer So Far @ Mormanity
- An expert on senior care, Professor Thomas Kitwood, once quipped that "when you've met...
May We Follow the Science and Stand for Life @ Mormanity
- From The Chosen, "The Messengers"I began my Christmas Day by watching the "Messengers"...
The Downside of Fitness @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Comedian/actor Red Foxx once said, “Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday,...
Recent Discoveries and Advances Published by Interpreter, Part 1 @ Mormanity
- If you aren't following the journal Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and...
Exciting News about the Annual BYU Studies Poetry and Personal Essay Contests @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Increase in Prize Money To continue the tradition of outstanding poetry and...
Let's Have Some Compassion for Our Untouchables @ Mormanity
- If you grew up in a nation with a formal caste system, would you let society dictate how...
Institutional Bullying and the Question of Religious Exemption from Vaccine Mandates @ Mormanity
- I received a call this week from a father with two children facing intimidation and...
Zeal Without Data: Blaming the Church for Utah's Allegedly Low Vaccination Rates @ Mormanity
- Romans 10:2 speaks of those who "have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge."...
When You Can’t Trust Your Fellow Latter-day Saints @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- My relationship with the Church has been complicated for a long time now. I’ve...
Medical Tyranny? When Your Government Tells You to Abandon Freedom and Personal Choice, It's Time to Speak Out @ Mormanity
- Victory BoydThe mainstream media has largely ignored a chilling story about disrespecting...
A Google Earth View of a Candidate for Bountiful, Khor Kharfot on Wadi Sayq @ Mormanity
- Here is a beautiful view from Google Earth of a leading candidate for the Book of Mormon...
When Selfishness Masquerades as Freedom @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- Sometime in the past 40 years or so, the Republican Party became myopically focused...
Thoughts on a Pandemic Year @ Mormonomics & Mormonethics
- It has certainly been a year to remember. I have to go back a few months before the...
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 humor...
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 that...
Mormon: The New Shibboleth @ Peculiar People
- Here’s hoping Lindsey releases a new, revised video: I’m a member of Church of Jesus...
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 – an...
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...
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...