Author: Jim F.

  • JEF Sunday School Lesson #1 (Studying the Old Testament)

    Jim F.

  • JEF Sunday School Lesson #1 (More Background)

    Jim F.

  • JEF Sunday School Lesson #1

    Jim F.

    Moses 1 For a variety of reasons, including having been heavily involved in BYU’s London Study Abroad program, I’ve been without the time to generate study questions for the Sunday School Lessons.

  • JEF Sunday School Lesson #1 (Background)

    Jim F.

    Some Reasons Why Reading the Old Testament Can Be Difficult

  • Meanness

    Jim F.

    Though this horse is not dead yet, it still needs a good flogging.

  • Jim F: My Conversion

    Jim F.

    Thanksgiving seems a good time to think about my membership in the Church and my gratitude for the Gospel. In other words, it seems to be a particularly good time for me to reflect on my conversion.

  • Theology and Idolatry

    Jim F.

    Let me present a sketch–though only a sketch and a very broad one at that–of how one might think about theology, both about a problem with it and one of the possible responses to that problem.

  • Sunday School Lessons

    Jim F.

    Those who may have been using my notes for Sunday School lessons deserve an explanation, though a late explanation, to be sure.

  • Thinking about the Trinity

    Jim F.

    It is hardly news to this crowd that Mormons don’t accept the traditional understanding of the Godhead, the Trinity.

  • Jerusalem

    Jim F.

    Last week Janice and I spent several days in Cornwall, Great Britain, with the BYU students doing London Study Abroad.

  • Sunday School Lesson 38

    Jim F.

    Lesson 38: Doctrine and Covenants 38:30; 42:30-31, 42; 44:6; 52:40; 56:16-17; 58:26-28; 88:123-125; 104:13-18 I owe an apology to those who have been receiving these by e-mail.

  • Sunday School Lesson 37

    Jim F.

    Lesson 37: Doctrine and Covenants 1:38; 20:21-26; 21:1, 4-6; 43:2; 68:3-4; 101:43-54; 107:22, 91-92

  • Sunday School Lesson 36

    Jim F.

    Lesson 36: Doctrine and Covenants 58:2-4; 64:33-34; 82:10; 93:1; and 130:19-21

  • Crystal Palace Ward

    Jim F.

    Janice and I went to a new ward Sunday.

  • Tithing the Mint?

    Jim F.

    I have a small herb garden: a couple of varieties of thyme, some tarragon, chives, basil, dill, oregano, rose geranium, parsley, lavender, sage, rosemary, and two kinds of mint, regular and chocolate, though the chocolate is gradually disappearing, replaced by the spearmint.

  • Sunday School Lesson 35

    Jim F.

    Lesson 35: Doctrine & Covenants 4:3-7, 18:10-16, 52:40, 81:5-6, 138:58

  • Sunday School Lesson 34

    Jim F.

    Lesson 34: Doctrine and Covenants 136

  • Sunday School Lesson 33

    Jim F.

    Lesson 33: Doctrine and Covenants 107:22-24

  • Sunday School Lesson 32

    Jim F.

    Lesson 32: Doctrine and Covenants 135

  • Sunday School Lesson 31

    Jim F.

    Lesson 31: Doctrine and Covenants 131 & 132:4-33

  • Sunday School Lesson 30

    Jim F.

    Lesson 30: Doctrine and Covenants 2, 124:25-55, 127, 128, Joseph Smith — History 1:36-39

  • Sunday School Lesson 29

    Jim F.

    Lesson 29: Doctrine and Covenants 124: 1-21, 87-90, 97-110; Doctrine and Covenants 126

  • Sunday School Lesson 28

    Jim F.

    Lesson 28: Doctrine and Covenants 121:1-33; 122 Sections 121, 122, and 123 are each part of a letter written by Joseph Smith from Liberty Jail to the church leaders in Quincey, Illinois. Read about that experience in a good Church history.

  • Metaphysics and Mormonism: Transcendence

    Jim F.

    Very roughly and tentatively, but good enough perhaps for the purposes of a blog discussion or an introduction to philosophy, one could say that there are two basic metaphysical positions, with a third that is a variation of one of those two.

  • Sunday School Lesson 27

    Jim F.

    Lesson 27: Doctrine and Covenants 101, 103, and 105 For more understanding of these sections, read about Zion’s Camp in a church history.

  • Sunday School Lesson 26

    Jim F.

    This is an odd post, to be sure, but so that no one wonders: since there are no scriptures associated with this lesson, I’ve not prepared any study questions for it.

  • An Experiment in Blog Discussion

    Jim F.

    One thing usually missing from discussion on this blog and, from what I have seen, all others, is extended, thoughtful discussion.

  • Sunday School Lesson 25

    Jim F.

    Lesson 25: Doctrine and Covenants 84:33-44, 121:34-36

  • Sunday School Lesson 24

    Jim F.

    Lesson 24: Doctrine and Covenants 26, 28, 43:1-7, 50, 52:14-19

  • Sunday School Lesson 23

    Jim F.

    Lesson 23: Doctrine and Covenants 88 Notice that section 87, on war, was given only a few days before this section, “an olive leaf [. . .] plucked from the Tree of Paradise, the Lord’s message of peace.” How is the message of section 88 one of peace to the Saints?