Category: Features
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Divine Comedy, Divine Tragedy
The Bible, as we have received it, sets out the drama of salvation with its wrenching fall and crucifixion, but joyous resurrection and exaltation. Though its compilation is in many ways ad hoc, there is a satisfyingly comedic structure to the whole. As Terryl Givens puts it in his The Book of Mormon: A Very…
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Some Notes on the New Spanish LDS Bible
My copy of the new LDS edition of the Bible in Spanish arrived yesterday, one of the 750,000 copies printed recently (according to a contact I have in the Church department that prints these materials). So I thought I would pass on my impressions.
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The awesomest youth object lesson ever
Want to really knock the socks off of your youth with a fun and very different object lesson? Then try out miracle berries.
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12 Questions and a Book by Royal Skousen
5 years ago we published one of my favorite “12 Questions” posts, in which Royal Skousen discussed in some depth what he has learned from his extensive work on the earliest editions of the Book of Mormon. His book, The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text, is being published in September by Yale University Press…
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Notes From All Over For Week Ended August 2
Comment here on the Notes From All Over for the past week.
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Notes From All Over For Week Ended July 25
Comment here on the Notes From All Over for the past week.
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Some Thoughts on How to Approach a New “Place”
I reside in Alexandria, Virginia, about 10 miles south of Washington, DC.
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Times & Seasons Welcomes Jayme Blakesley
Times & Seasons is pleased to welcome our newest guest blogger, Jayme Blakesley.
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Marriage and gender roles
I suppose we have Mark Sanford to thank for the recent frenzy of articles about marriage (or was it Jon and Kate?). There’s Caitlin Flanagan’s piece in Time, Aaron Traister at Salon.com, the Women’s Day/AOL living survey, Amanda Fortini wondering “why would anyone submit to the doomed delusion that is marriage?” No surprise then that…
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Notes From All Over For Week Ended July 18
Comment here on the Notes From All Over for the past week.
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Divide? Maybe not so much — Part 2
(See my disclaimer in Part 1 concerning the title) So, let’s discuss some of the less-acknowledged ways Mormons and evangelicals are alike. First we’ll start with things in evangelical thought which bear an unexpected resemblance to LDS thought.
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Favorite Lessons from my Favorite (reformed) Harlot
Incidentally, Jewish tradition lists Rahab the Harlot (of Joshua 2) as one of the four most beautiful women in the Bible. That’s only one of the reasons I like her.
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Notes From All Over For Week Ended July 11
Comment here on the Notes From All Over for the past week.
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Worshipping a dead law
A couple of years ago I got really interested in the Law of Moses. It’s hard to read the scriptures and miss it—particularly the Book of Mormon or the Bible. I can’t help but feel like it was the issue of the day. The thing that, for one reason or another, many members of the…
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Faith’s Fear Factor
I recently had a co-worker ask me how many wives my husband had. “Just one,” I answered. Red-faced, I hurried to explain that Mormons don’t practice polygamy. By the end of our conversation, he looked unconvinced and I felt uncomfortable because I belong to a church outside the mainstream. The innocuous encounter gave rise to one…
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Times & Seasons Welcomes Rebecca McConkie Smylie
Times & Seasons is pleased to welcome our newest guest blogger, Ms. Rebecca McConkie Smylie.
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Notes From All Over For Week Ended July 4
Comment here on the Notes From All Over for the past week.
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Divide? Maybe not so much — Part 1
(See my disclaimer about the title) There are many similarities between Mormonism and evangelical Christianity which are generally uncontested by both parties. I thought I would cover these prior to doing a post on the similarities which I suspect will be more controversial.
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What death can teach us about heaven and hell
People are always making assertions about what heaven must contain in order for it to qualify as heaven for them, some of these assertions being more jokes than anything else. “It’s not heaven without sex.” “It wouldn’t be heaven if [insert name of favorite pet dog] isn’t there.” “If heaven doesn’t have Egg McMuffins, I…
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Why We’re Confused
An old adage among outsiders who study Mormonism states that determining what is and is not Mormon doctrine is a lot like trying to nail jello to a wall—except that the latter feat is entirely possible while the former remains a struggle to this day. Evangelicals who interact with Mormons often express frustration to that…
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How Wide the Divide . . . and can we ever Bridget?
We’re pleased to welcome Bridget Jack Meyers as a guest blogger.
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The Revisionist Reformation
A favorite perennial topic of discussion is the ever-elusive distinction between church culture and doctrine (or officially sanctioned practice or attitude).
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Times & Seasons Welcomes James Olsen
Times & Seasons is excited to introduce our latest guest blogger James C. Olsen.
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Reflections on the Islamization of Knowledge
The historical grandeur of Islamic intellectual achievement has been both a blessing and a burden for modern Muslims. There is, on the one hand, a great and justified sense of pride in the accomplishments of the giants of the tradition—the Sibawaihs, Ibn Sinas, Ibn Haythams, and Al-Ghazalis.