When asked why life is hard, the Sunday school teachers of my youth replied, “Life is a test. It’s supposed to be hard.” The scriptures support the life-as-test perspective — a “probationary state” where we “prove” ourselves. Of course, if life is a test, then that means it’s designed to prepare us for what comes... Read More »
Organizational Management in the Church
I’m sitting in my organizational management class right now. That (combined with having just finally finished Lengthen Your Stride, which opened my eyes to the challenge of managing a... Read More »
If Glenn Beck followed his own instructions, he’d be an ex-Mormon
Well known LDS political pundit Glenn Beck recently told his radio listeners that they should leave churches with the words “social justice” or “economic justice” on their websites: I... Read More »
Easter Conference
I love General Conference. And not just because I get to have Couch Church. I love everything about it.... Read More »
OT Lesson 11 Study Notes: Genesis 34 and 37-39
Genesis 34 What was the sin of Dinah’s brothers? Was it that they took vengeance? Reread the Abrahamic covenant to... Read More »
Gospel Principles Lesson #5
Chapter Five: The Creation Read More »
OT Lesson 10 Study Notes: Genesis 24-29
I will concentrate my questions on Genesis 25:19-34 and 27:1-45, and I will add Genesis 33:1-20 to the reading... Read More »
Sleep, Success, and Seminary
Sleep: it’s more important than you think, especially for teenagers. Here’s from George Will’s latest column, “How to ruin... Read More »
Nibley vindicatus; or Göbekli Tepe: a personal view
I fell in love almost simultaneously, as a junior in high school, with historical linguistics and Hugh Nibley. Read More »
Polygamy, Natural Law, and Imperialism
I have been researching Reynolds v. United States (1879), the Supreme Court’s first polygamy case, on and off for... Read More »
Forsake Your Sins
On the sweetness of Mormon life. Read More »
Answering Nate
"Once upon a time, numberless spirits inhabited the vast chaos of space and unorganized matter. They exercised their minuscule... Read More »
MR: “You’ll Never Walk Alone: The Mormon Church, Proposition 8, and British Soccer”
A new issue of The Mormon Review is available, with David K. Jones’s review of You’ll Never Walk Alone... Read More »
Genesis and Genre
When we read Genesis, what exactly are we reading? The distinctions and categories we modern readers bring to books... Read More »
OT Lesson 9 Study Notes: Abraham 1; Genesis 15-17, 21-22
I repeat the reminder: these are notes for study rather than notes for a lesson. Of course study notes... Read More »
My God
I love my God. He loves me. Sometimes I suffer, and sometimes there is nothing He can do about... Read More »
Suckers and Monsters
We human beings don’t handle technological progress very gracefully. Those of us who have spent years doing things “the... Read More »
Heresy and Adding Upon
Many Mormons find that many Christian discussions are compatible with Mormon belief. We cheerfully borrow from C.S. Lewis,... Read More »
A Mormon Image: Sweaters for the Penguins
The sweaters that these penguins are wearing are designed to save their lives after oil spills off of the... Read More »
Lineage: A Troubling Concept
Here’s a quote from Lesson 7, “The Abrahamic Covenant,” that caught my attention in Sunday School: The great majority of... Read More »
A Mormon Image: Weighing Eternity
An oft-quoted passage from our Bible Dictionary states that “only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness.”... Read More »
Higher Education and Mormon Culture
While discussing the development of Mormon culture at the recent Brazilian Mormon Studies Conference in São Paulo, Brazil, one... Read More »
Friendship is Unnatural
I love the interactive nature of blogging. I had planned to close this series with a post neatly tying... Read More »
OT Lesson 8 Study Notes: Genesis 13-14, 18-19
Chapter 13 Verses 1-2: Are there elements in Abram’s journey to Canaan that typify Israel’s later exodus from Egypt? If... Read More »





