BYU announces that the Institute for the Preservation of Ancient Texts–the umbrella organization for FARMS, the Middle Eastern Texts Initiative, the Center for the Preservation of Ancient Texts, and other entities–has a new name: the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. I doubt that the general character of that name is an accident, and I like what it portends.
Utah(ish) Non-Mormons
Non-Utah Mormons like to complain about the supposed failing of Utah Mormons. Forgotten in this inevitable and highly stylized discussion, however, are the odd tics of Utah non-Mormons. I recently had a deja vu experience that reminded me of this strange breed.
A Letter To My Mistress
My Love, You’re probably surprised to get this letter from me after all these years. Communicating with you has always been a chore due to your aversion to technology (a characteristic I still find profoundly endearing) but I’m hopeful you may someday find this blog and know how I feel. I’ve been thinking about you lately and I miss you.
Nine Moons over T&S
Times and Seasons bids farewell with thanks to our most recent guestblogger, and is pleased to announce that next up is Rusty Clifton, proprietor of the fine blog, Nine Moons.
JMS Sunday School Lesson #10
A temple session
Provo temple. The room is full, waiting for the session to start. Soothing silence in this sea of white.
Book Review: Stand As a Witness: The Biography of Ardeth Greene Kapp
We begin with a quiz: How many book-length biographies of LDS women can you name? . . .
JEF Sunday School Lesson 10
Lesson 10: Genesis 24-29
The Mormon Bankrupt
Utah has a very high rate of bankruptcy. In 2000 it hovered at around 7 filings per thousand people– twice the national average. This lonely fact has launched a thousand explanations for why Mormons have such a problem with defaulting on their creditors. Clearly, the thinking seems to be, this shows some of the rot in the Kingdom. Just as clearly, this view has very little support in the data.
Notice: Dr. Richard Bennett on the Missouri Experience and Mormon Militias
Dr. Richard E. Bennett, Professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University, will be the featured speaker at the Miller-Eccles Study Group tonight, February 24, and tomorrow night, February 25, at two locations in Southern California on the topic of 19th Century American militias and Mormon militias.
Are Mormons Crunchy?
Rod Dreher has a new book out, all about a new countercultural movement which he describes as “crunchy conservatism”–or, as his subtitle eloquently puts it, “How Birkenstocked Burkeans, gun-loving organic gardeners, evangelical free-range farmers, hip homeschooling mamas, right-wing nature lovers and their diverse tribe of countercultural conservatives plan to save America (or at least the Republican Party).”
A French parliamentary commission says ixnay to marriagegay
A French commission set up by the French National Assembly has concluded that homosexual marriage, adoption by homosexual couples, and medically assisted procreation for homosexual couples should not be permitted by law because they undermine children’s rights.
Book Review: The Salt Lake City 14th Ward Album Quilt
In the 1990s, Carol Nielson inherited a quilt. Or, to be more precise, half a quilt. . .
A Wave and a Particle
One of the fun aspects of physics is wave-particle duality: Light behaves as both a wave and a particle.
Tears in the Rain
I’m a keepsake person. I always have been.
JMS Sunday School Lesson #9
The Bread of Life in an Atkins world
Jesus is the Bread of Life: “He that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” How much do we value that promise in an Atkins world?
The Quotidian
Singing Time
I have envy — calling envy. Yes, that’s a sin that’s endemic to Mormonism. Unlike some others, I don’t really want to be a bishop or a stake president of a general authority. I’m deeply jealous, however, of people who regularly get to participate in singing time.
JEF Sunday School Lesson 9
Lesson 9: Abraham 1; Genesis 15-17, 21-22
Understanding and applying God’s immutability
“God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” This was an argument I used often (and with relatively high success) as a missionary. God spoke to prophets in the past; God is unchanging; therefore, God speaks to prophets now. Is it really that simple?
The JST
So what do we do with the JST?
Call and Response
Last night at 6:30 PM Pacific time, most members of my family dialed in to a conference call to Provo, Utah—to the lobby of Stover Hall on BYU campus, to be specific. My brother Benjamin—seventh child, sixth freshman at BYU, fifth missionary, third son, and a few days shy of nineteen—was about to open his mission call.