Category: Cornucopia
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The Spiritual Benefits of Sin
Over at LDSLF, Dave Landrith asks an interesting question: can sin ever profit the soul? This is a topic I’ve pondered at some length over the years. Contra Dave, I believe that sinful acts can have real eventual spiritual benefits.
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Enlisting the Snarky Amongst Us
Several years ago I ran a marathon. As anyone who has run a marathon can tell you, training for it is a lot of work. I tend to be a pretty undisciplined person, so when I started training for the marathon, I decided that I needed some sort of commitment device to keep me on…
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Reminder: Summer Seminar on Joseph Smith
Richard Bushman and Terryl Givens are leading a seminar this summer on “Mormon Thought, 1850 to 1920: Dealing with the Joseph Smith Legacy,” at BYU. Applications are due February 15th
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Snarker Unmasked?
With some help from a Random John, I have definitively pinpointed the Bloggernacle Snarker’s IP address. It is:
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A Modest Grand Narrative About the History of Hometeaching
I think that it is fairly well established that Mormonism has deep roots in the religious history of Puritan New England. Of course, how one parses out the relationship between Mormonism and Puritanism is complicated, but I don’t think that there is much argument as to the fact of a relationship.
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It is a truth universally acknowledged…
The setting: An experiment using speed-dates to determine what people want in a first date. These are brief, four minute interactions, after which you write down whether or not you’d be willing to go on a date with that person. The subjects: Columbia University grad students The results:
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We sang one of my favorite hymns in church last Sunday, a hymn that describes a beautiful and intimate way to feel and know God.
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“We did adequately apply oil to all the seats”
The confirmation hearings for Judge Samuel Alito begin today.
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NFP part 2- Summary of methods and effectiveness
Natural family planning (NFP) Part 2- Summary of NFP methods and effectiveness
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Natural family planning part 1- Medical overview
NFP is not a single method. Rather, it is a group of different “methods for planning and preventing pregnancies by observation of the naturally occurring signs and symptoms of the fertile and infertile phases of the menstrual cycle, with the avoidance of intercourse during the fertile phase if pregnancy is to be avoided.” (World Health…
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An Interview with Todd Compton
Independent scholar Todd Compton is the author of the much acclaimed volume In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith (hereafter, ISL) and three forthcoming books: Victim of The Muses: Poet as Scapegoat, Warrior and Hero in Greco-Roman and Indo-European Myth and History (Harvard University Press), Fire and the Sword: A History Of The…
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Praying in another language
“How does one pray in French?” one of my BYU students, visiting in my office, asked. The question took me by surprise.
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What’s in a name?
I am not Gordon Smith. My name is Doug. My father is Gordon. This is the story of why I am using his name.
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Two Missionaries Shot in Virginia
Last night, two Mormon missionaries were shot in Virginia. Morgan Winslow Young of Bountiful, Utah and Joshua Heidbrink of Greeley, Colorado were shot, and Elder Young died.
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The planets which move in their regular form
Do all things denote there is a God? Do the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form, witness that there is a Supreme Creator? Or is the argument for Intelligent Design bunk?
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Tax control
The letter we received from the Tax Control Department was preprinted. Handwritten had been added a date, a number and the addressee: Kerk van Jezus Christus van de Heiligen der Laatste Dagen.
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Elton John in primary
So, who else was having Lion King flashbacks today during primary? The tune to the year’s new song seems awfully familiar. . .
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A Gentleman and a Saint
Today my maternal grandfather, Joseph Arben Jolley, will be buried in Vernal, UT; nearly all my family will be there. This is the third family gathering from just this past year that we haven’t been able to attend, and perhaps may not be the last. Living far away from extended family is hard–a hardship that,…
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Features of an ideal family planning method
Before posting on natural family planning (NFP) or any other family planning methods specifically, I think it is worthwhile to consider a more general question: What would you consider the features of an ideal method of family planning? I am talking here about features, not about any specific method. For reasons that may become apparent…