The term “prosperity gospel” describes an execrable set of ideas in American Christianity, chiefly that wealth is a marker of righteousness, and that believers can ensure material wealth and prosperity through spiritual practices. But “prosperity gospel” is often applied to…
A Simple Religion
You’ve probably noticed I’ve not been around much of late. I was fighting off a case of the flu which seemed to be persisting a tad long. I figured it might be a secondary lung infection as I was also…
10 Questions with Spencer Fluhman
Continuing our work with the 10 Questions team, we are pleased to present Kurt Manwaring’s interview with Spencer Fluhman, Director of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at BYU and an editor of “To Be Learned is Good: Essays on…
That time President Nelson released me from the pulpit
One week before general conference I got up in High Priest Group and conducted the meeting for the first time. We’d moved into the ward six months ago and I’d just been called as the new group leader. Sunday the…
10 Questions with Jonathan Stapley
As part of our work with the 10 Questions team, we will be posting later this week on Kurt Manwaring’s upcoming interview with the Maxwell Institute’s Spencer Fluhman. In the meantime, however, we thought we would highlight a great interview…
Fusion
Meeting with my ward high priests group has been one of my favorite parts of the week for several years.
Maxwell Institute Giveaway
To promote #10questions interviews about “To Be Learned is Good” with Richard Bushman, @spencerfluhman, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich and @patrickqmason, @MI_BYU is sponsoring a book giveaway. FOLLOW & RT on Twitter by April 5 for a chance to WIN A FREE…
Easter Conference
Based on a talk given this Sunday in sacrament meeting. This year, Easter and General Conference are on the same day, which illustrates how we measure time in multiple ways.
Failed Revolutions and Failed Patriarchs – Reading Nephi – 18:17-22
This post is part of a series of reflections on I Nephi. If you’re interested, the introduction to the series is here. To peruse earlier entries, click the authors tab at the top of the page and then click on my name.…
Flourishing Amidst the Storm – Reading Nephi – 18:9-16
Murmuring undermines one’s relationship with God and one’s ability to cope either with the storms of the cosmos or the wounds inflicted by our family members.
Stating the Obvious: The World
In the current unhappy state of online Mormon discourse, stating the obvious is sometimes controversial, and for that reason all the more necessary.
SMPT at Utah State Univ. Next Weekend: The Exaltation Revelations
The Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology will be meeting at Utah State on Friday-Saturday, March 16-17, with a focus on “The Exaltation Revelations,” D&C 76, 84, 88, and 93. The program includes talks on divine justice, the potentially universal…
Review: William V. Smith’s ‘Textual Studies of the Doctrine & Covenants’
In October 2007, I returned home to Texas from my mission in Nevada. In April of the following year, the raid on the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado, TX, occurred. I didn’t think much about it at the time because, you…
Driven Towards the Promised Land – Reading Nephi – 18:1-8
“And they did worship the Lord”—that’s the conclusion to the whole row. I wonder at it. What was the change?
Call for Papers: 2018 Book of Mormon Studies Conference
10 Questions with Grow and Smith
As part of our work with the 10 Questions team I’m proud to announce their interview with Matthew J. Grow and R. Eric Smith, editors of The Council of Fifty. The council of 50 is one of the more mysterious…
Some Thoughts on WordPrint
Just a quick post on the current kerfuffle over wordprint studies. Wordprint studies are a type of stylometry that look at certain connective words that aren’t main words in a sentence. The claim is that they can determine the authorship…
Win the Battle, Lose the War – Reading Nephi – 17:48-55
The eternal cosmological drama in which we’re embedded demands that we work to reflect the divinity of our enemies back to them if we wish them to join with us in our Zionic alliance of apotheosis. And whether we do, that is what we ought to wish.
Hell Part 2: Lake of Fire and Brimstone
Back when I first was invited to join T&S I started doing a series on Hell in the Book of Mormon. This is the long delayed follow up. Last time I discussed the three broad categories of how hell has…
Moral calculus in the gig economy
What will you do the next time your client drops you into a real-world instance of the prisoner’s dilemma?
The Children of Israel – Reading Nephi – 17:23-47 – Part II
This is a powerful ethic. I feel its pull deeply. But there is a second half, a dark side
Defiantly Turning the Other Cheek
On Twitter last week in the aftermath of the whole Porter situation someone mentioned the issue of turning the other cheek. Now first off I don’t think in any legitimate interpretation of turning the cheek it means submitting to abuse…
Journalistic Malpractice and BYU-Idaho
First the journalistic malpractice, then BYU-Idaho.
Mythology, Apology, and Plausibility – Reading Nephi – 17:23-47 – Overview
In mythically promoting our history we risk undermining it—at least we do so in today’s information age. But this chapter with Laman and Nephi sparring makes me think that perhaps this is always the case.
10 Questions
We’re please to be working with Kurt Manwaring over at 10 Questions to bring you some really great interviews. The first one coming up in a little bit will be an April 10 interview with Spencer Fluhman. He’s the executive…
Church History Symposium
The 2018 Church History Symposium will be held on March 1st & 2cd. They’re doing it in two locations. The first day will be at BYU while the second day will be at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City.…
Mormon Social Science Association Conference
The Mormon Social Science Association is having a conference at Utah Valley University on February 21st from 1:00 PM – 6:45 PM. This looks to be particularly interesting. The featured speakers are Marie Cornwall and Jana Riess. Marie Cornwall is…
God’s Demand That We Suffer – Reading Nephi – 17:17-22
I don’t care what kind of faith you have, Nephi’s idea on the face of it is loony.
The Narrative of Divine Command – Reading Nephi – 17:13-15
Two remarkable items: the repetition of Nephi’s mantra concerning the need to keep the commandments of God in order to prosper and to see the hand of the Lord; the placement of this mantra immediately preceding Laman’s criticism.
Helaman 12:15 and Astronomy
Helaman 12:15 reads, “according to his word the earth goeth back, and it appeareth unto man that the sun standeth still; yea, and behold, this is so; for surely it is the earth that moveth and not the sun.” If…