Author: Jim F.

  • OT Lesson 5 Study Notes: Moses 5-7

    OT Lesson 5 Study Notes: Moses 5-7

    As always, remember that these are questions for studying the reading assigned more than for planning the lesson itself. Even then, you are certainly going to find more questions here than you can deal with in one study session, though not, perhaps, more than you can deal with in a week. However, that said, the…

  • OT Lesson 4 Study Notes: Moses 4; 5:1-15; 6:48-62

    OT Lesson 4 Study Notes: Moses 4; 5:1-15; 6:48-62

    These notes focus on Moses 4, giving less attention to the other scriptures for this lesson. However, the other readings are necessary to understanding chapter 4. (The study questions for Moses 4:1-4 were part of the materials for lesson 2. I repeat them here so that they will be convenient.) Note that if Moses 2…

  • OT Lesson 3 Study Notes: Moses 1:27-42, Moses 2-3

    A reminder about these notes: They are intended to help people study the assigned material for this week’s Sunday School lesson. They are not intended as an outline for how to teach that lesson, though I assume that by studying the material a person might get ideas about how to teach it. And a note…

  • Why It Is Sometimes So Hard to Understand the OT

    Why It Is Sometimes So Hard to Understand the OT

    A different idea of history What I say here about the Old Testament will be brief, so brief in fact as to be a caricature. Those who are specialists in biblical studies, are likely to find this woefully inadequate. I plead mea culpa in advance. In spite of that, I think this will do as…

  • OT Lesson 2 Study Notes: Abraham 3; Moses 4:1-4

    Abraham 3 Verses 1-19: Why did the Lord reveal these things to Abraham? More important: why did he think it important to reveal them to us? Verse 1: Why is it important that Abraham tell us that he received the revelation that follows through the Urim and Thummim? Verse 2: Assuming that the throne of…

  • OT Lesson 1 Study Notes: Moses 1

    OT Lesson 1 Study Notes: Moses 1

    As the title of this post says, these are notes for studying the lesson rather than for teaching it, though presumably one who studies the lesson will have material from which to teach it.

  • Studying the Old Testament

    Studying the Old Testament

    What are the scriptures for? How should we use them? How do we use them? “Proof-texting” is a procedure that begins by assuming we know the doctrines and then searches through the scriptures to find something to back up the belief. Because it begins with what we assume we know rather from what the scriptures…

  • Understanding the Old Testament

    Don’t expect Old Testament writers to have written their histories the way we would have written them.

  • What is the Old Testament?

    What is the Old Testament?

    The version of the Old Testament used by Protestants and Jews today contains 39 books. Catholic Bibles include 9 more books, as well as 2 additions to Daniel and 1 to Esther. At least some of those 9 additional books were used as scripture by Saints of the 1st century AD. For various reasons (mostly…

  • An Overview of Genesis

    It is daunting to be posting anything about scripture when Eric Huntsman is posting alongside. It ought to be daunting in any case, but it is easier to ignore the fact that I am a mere dabbler when my posts stand alone. In any case, I will be posting revised versions of my study questions…

  • Another Conference on Mormons

    Call for Papers: “Interpretation: LDS Perspectives” Sponsored by Mormon Scholars in the Humanities and Mormon Scholars Foundation

  • Graduate Student Conference at Claremont: Call for Papers — CHANGE!

    “May These Principles Be Established”: Mormonism in the Political Arena

  • Grad Student Conference: Mormonism in Politics

    Graduate Student Conference at Claremont: Call for Papers “May These Principles Be Established”: Mormonism in the Political Arena

  • Summer Seminar update

    For those interested in the BYU summer seminar, I’ve revised the post, adding the titles of and abstracts for the papers.

  • BYU Summer Seminar

    The annual summer symposium, this year “Joseph Smith and His Times,” will be held on Thursday, August 9, 2007. The symposium will feature papers by twelve summer seminar fellows on the theme “Mormon Thinkers, 1890-1930,” covering topics ranging from the influence of Herbert Spencer on Mormon thought to Mormonism and Modernity.

  • Whose Woods Are These?

    We moved into our house on the first weekend of January, 1980. One reason we chose it was that it reminded us of Pennsylvania, where we did graduate work. (The other reason? It was the only house we afford because the seller gave us great terms.)

  • What if . . . ?

    What if I didn’t believe in God? Would I still be a Mormon?

  • You Can Go Home Again—Maybe

    Perhaps Thomas Wolfe was right, but I’m skeptical.

  • Why a Second Coming?

    It might seem that there are few Hegelians in the world today.

  • The ordinary

    However well we do in school or our jobs or in our church callings or in any endeavor, most of our lives are and will be ordinary.

  • Nostalgia

    My youngest daughter has discovered a trove of photos at her grandmother’s house, and she has been going through them

  • First day of class

    Today is the first for my Winter semester class, and I’m excited.

  • Sunday School Lesson materials

    Nothing exciting here, just an administrative note: I’ve been posting materials for studying the Sunday School lesson materials on Times and Seasons for a while. However,

  • Science and Nihilism

  • Sunday School Lesson #48

  • Sunday School Lesson #47

  • Sunday School Lesson 46

    Lesson 46: Daniel 2

  • Sunday School Lesson #45

    Lesson 45: Daniel 1, 3, and 6; Esther 3-5, 7-8