Lesson 36: 3 Nephi 1-7 We will concentrate on chapters 5-7.
The Challenge of Adam-ondi-Ahman
Various debates about the historicity of scripture have captured a fair chunk of the Mormon intelligentsia (and pseudo-intelligentsia) for the last decade or more. The “Big Issue” of course is the Book of Mormon. This seems to have replaced evolution and the creation story of Genesis as a situs for conflict about the scriptures. Lost in all of this is my question: What are we to make of Adam-ondi-Ahman?
Feminist Mormon Housewives
I just noticed this new LDS blog (“Feminist Mormon Housewives: angry activists with diapers to change“), maintained by two self-described feminist Mormon housewives. The blog has some funny and thoughtful posts, such as: –The Prozac Relief Society: “Is it just me, or does it seem like every LDS stay-at-home mother is on some anti-depresant or another?” (So that’s what they do in homemaking meeting!) -“sweet, innocent, and pure” — should a thirty-year-old mother take that characterization as a compliment? (Representative quote: “Is my purity really the best thing about me? I beg to differ.”). -and a post about being appreciated as an “independent thinker.” FMH looks like a great new (ish) addition to the bloggernacle!
So, what did you do today?
This is a 911 call in which one of my former colleagues at Lewis & Clark, Jack Bogdanski, is receiving instructions for assisting his wife in the delivery of their baby. This is absolutely incredible, and I dare you to make it through the whole tape without crying.
Best Books for New LDS Converts
I live in a relatively mission-field ward, which has a lot of new members. Several months back, one member asked about reading material. I happened to have an extra copy of Truth Restored on the shelf, and it seemed like a good new-convert book, so I gave it to the new member. It was a big hit. Now, in interactions with other new members, I’m thinking I should get them some reading material. But where to start?
Pop Quiz: What Not to Do
Do you ever wonder exactly how you’re doing, as far as keeping the commandments goes? Well, now’s your chance to find out. Get out the pen and paper, and simply go down the following list of sins (from Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness, at 25), checking off each infractions, to find out how you are doing:
Filtering software
We’ve just got a new filtering software, WP-Blacklist, installed. This should save the bloggers lots of time and energy deleting spam. Filtering software is an imperfect tool. Kaimi just noticed fixed a bug in the software that caused certain entries with multiple dashes to erroneously show up as spam. If anyone notices any other glitches or problems commenting, please let us know. (Thanks!) Meanwhile, if anyone wants to see what happens to comment spammers, try making the following comment. “online-casino” . Enjoy!
Geosense.net
I just discovered a most productive way to waste time.
Three Years Ago — One person’s story
The past two years, around this time, I’ve reflected on what happened to me three years ago. I was headed into work for my second day as a law clerk. My route was the A train from 207th to Brooklyn. I was on schedule to be in Brooklyn just before 9.
Primary Songs: Articles of Faith, Part I
Today we’ll discuss a topic near to my own heart: Primary music. I come to this topic with no particular expertise, other than eight years as a primary and nursery pianist, in four different wards. I do, however, have some strong feelings on the subject. We’ll start with some ground rules. What should a primary song be? How should it sound? Perhaps those with more expertise can correct me (Kris, Jeremy, D.), but I’ve got a few ideas:
“Being Loyal Citizens”
I have found that my children behave much better in Wal-Mart if we review the rules before we go into the store (no running, use inside voices, no pointing at morbidly obese people and saying, “Look, Mommy, that guy sure is fat!�). So, brief review: at Times and Seasons, we are polite, we avoid ad hominem attacks, we do not call into question each other’s righteousness, and we do not make comments about girth. (I will exercise no restraint in deleting comments that I feel violate our posting guidelines.)
It’s 4 p.m. Do you know where your blogchildren are?
Readers may have noticed a new feature on the sidebar — under the blogroll, we’ve got a link to a list of our blogchildren. What are blogchildren? As noted in the link, they are the “blogs and bloggers who have stated that they were inspired to start blogging after reading Times and Seasons, and/or who have stated that they modeled their blogs (in whole or in part) after T & S.”
Around the Blogs Flashback: JL’s post on Singles in the Church
I just noticed the new snazzy template over at Celibate in the City. One of the links (new, I think) is to JL’s first post from six months ago. I remember reading it at the time, and laughing at her dating misadventures. This time something else stood out to me — her poignant lament about the plight of single members.
A Different Kind of ‘Likening’
There is a great conversation over at that other blog about that classically difficult story, Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac. Among the many excellent comments, this one from danithew stood out to me: “In my Quranic Studies course today the professor talked about how one of the first things Islamic scholars used to do was look at a test and identify the problems/challenges/dilemmas that were imposed on the reader by the text.” This concept seems as if it would be more at home among the reader-response-flavored lit critics than it would among Islamic scholars, but I am nonetheless intrigued by the idea and I can’t recall it being applied in an LDS setting. I think it has a lot of potential for expanding the (sometimes stale and shallow) practice of likening the scriptures unto ourselves. I think it might be a less-threatening way to introduce a subject to a class that might otherwise be controversial: BAD: “I can’t buy the idea that God would want Nephi to violate a major commandment.” GOOD: “When we read that the Spirit tells Nephi to kill Laban, what challenges does it place on us as readers of this story–and how do we resolve them?” So, now that we have a new tool, let’s trot out our favorite dead horses and see what we can do with them: Judah and Tamar, Nephi and Laban, Abraham and Isaac, Abraham and Sarah’s identity in Egypt, Rebekah and the…
A Matter of Taste
I just received an announcement for a talk next week in our business school. The title is “Practicing Polygamy with Good Taste: The Evolution of Inter-organizational Collaboration in the Life Sciences.” The paper on which the talk is based has a different title, but the reference to polygamy has me wondering about this person’s perception of polygamy. Given the implicit contrast, I assume that he views polygamy negatively, but I have never thought of polygamy as being a matter of taste. Then again, last week in priesthood meeting, the subject of the Church’s website was raised by the teacher, who was marveling at the various ways that he could sort information. I asked whether we could sort conference talks to hear only the ones discussing commandments that we like. To which the natural response was, “We don’t need a computer filter to do that.”
Difference, Disagreement, and Contention
If I were a self-disciplined person, I would be preparing my lessons right now and preparing the presentation I’m supposed to give to new faculty tomorrow afternoon. But when we were courting, my wife, then a graduate student in educational testing, made me take a personality test. She was shocked at how low I scored on self-discipline, and things haven’t changed. So, instead of preparing for work tomorrow, I’m going writing about something that has been bothering me for a while. I’ll figure out the lessons and the presentation later, meaning a long night. Over the last several months it seems to me that there has been a turn for the worse in the comments at Times and Seasons, a change in overall tone, a turn toward more and more bitterness, cynicism, anger, and self-righteousness.
Brigham Young, Frontiersman
In 1940, 20th Century Fox released Brigham Young, an extravagant epic starring Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, a 29-year-old Vincent Price (as Joseph Smith), and Dean Jagger as the title character. The film’s world premiere was in Salt Lake City, and the studio spared no expense in promoting the film. The stars were flown into Salt Lake, took part in a parade down Main Street, and dined with President Heber J. Grant in the Lion House. The film premiered simultaneously in seven theatres in Salt Lake — unheard of at the time — and each was filled to capacity. When released to the rest of the nation, the title was changed to Brigham Young, Frontiersman, and it did fairly well at the box office. Last year, the film was released for the first time on DVD, with a great commentary by BYU professor James D’Arc, and other interesting features. I watched it last night. There are two distinct threads to the film’s plot: one involving a young, stalwart believer (played by Power) and his gentile sweetheart (played by Darnell); and the other being Brigham’s determination to lead the saints to a safe new home in the aftermath of Joseph’s martyrdom. This latter thread has some interesting wrinkles, as it plays up Brigham’s self-doubt as a prophet. As portrayed by the filmmakers, Brigham is not assured that God is truly on his side until the climactic moment when the seagulls blacken the…
Seventies and Apologetics
I’m not really an apologist (if you want real apologetics, try Jeff Lindsay or Ben Spackman or Dan Peterson), but I just had a short, humorous, quasi-apologetic thought. I’ve seen a claim that the Book of Mormon can’t be true because it requires too many people. I believe the numbers used are generally those from Mormon 6: And we also beheld the ten thousand of my people who were led by my son Moroni. And behold, the ten thousand of Gidgiddonah had fallen, and he also in the midst. And Lamah had fallen with his ten thousand; and Gilgal had fallen with his ten thousand; and Limhah had fallen with his ten thousand; and Jeneum had fallen with his ten thousand; and Cumenihah, and Moronihah, and Antionum, and Shiblom, and Shem, and Josh, had fallen with their ten thousand each. That’s a lot of people — when you add in Mormon’s ten and the other ten in the next verse, over a quarter million. But let me ask you this: Do we have a First Quorum of the Seventy? Yes, we do. And how many people are in it? Err, thirty or so. Maybe forty. Second Quorum of the Seventy? Hmm, another thirtyish. And these quorums have been even smaller in the past. So isn’t it possible that Moroni’s “ten thousand” is about as numerically accurate as the Seventy? I can imagine the conversation now: Mormon: Congratulations, son. You’ll be…
Sometimes God is Funny, or, It’s True that You Should Be Careful about the Movies You See
Last night I was reading Haggai (*really* bad insomnia). I actually woke up my husband with my bed-shaking giggling after I read “I smote you with blasting and with MILDEW…” (Haggai 1:18) I just couldn’t help picturing a guy with a bad French accent, yelling from a tower, “I smite you with mildew, you silly Englishman…” Come to think of it, maybe this suggests that Haggai was actually a woman–after all, men don’t think about mildew, do they? Hmmm–I feel a dissertation coming on!
Reminiscing about the Arizona Temple Youth Guides, and Mission Thoughts
A few weeks ago, a former church leader e-mailed me. We reminisced a little, it was fun. Then, he sent me the text of a letter I had sent him from the MTC. Talk about a blast from the past. It started me remembering a period of my life, a decade ago, and contemplating how I’ve changed since then. (Warning: Long personal discussion follows — ultimately enlightening, at least for me, but read on at your own risk). While in high school, I participated in a great program at the Arizona Temple Visitors’ Center. It was called the Youth Guide program. A group of about 80 youth participated at the time, as I recall. (I understand that it got a little larger in later years, and it was eventually discontinued). We trained as guides (learning a pre-written temple garden tour, as well as the commitment pattern) and we gave tours of the temple grounds. We worked in pairs, like missionaries. Each person had an assigned night of the week: There was a Monday district, a Tuesday district, and so forth. The tours were about 10-15 minutes in length. During the tour, we would talk with the people to whom we were giving the tour; at the end, if they were non-members, we would invite them to take the missionary discussions (if they were members, we would invite them to bring non-member friends). We met as a group on Sundays, and…
Book of Mormon Family Home Evening Lesson Thirteen
(Completely unreleted to everything but I just had to mention: my three-year-old noticed that the skin on the bottom of my foot is peeling and asked, “Mommy, are you molting?”) BMS: Abinadi and King Noah MBM: Abinadi Theme: We should be witnesses of Jesus Christ. Scripture: Mosiah 16:8-9 Resources: (1) Can’t take credit for this one but the kids liked it: as we read from the story (also available in the Friend), we cheered every time Abinadi was mentioned and boo’ed every time Noah was mentioned. (2) GAPK #308 (3) CS #118 verse 4 (4) If you didn’t use the prophets activity from the May 2003 Friend, you could do it now. (5) We had an interesting discussion about why God didn’t prevent Abinadi from dying.
Bloggernacle Notes
We’re trying out a new feature, which (assuming Kaimi doesn’t break it again) could be quite useful: Bloggernacle notes. It’s on the sidebar, right here. The idea is that we’ll drop quick links to other blogs into the Bloggernacle Notes section (since it seems like those posts don’t usually generate much comment anyway) and free up more space for substantive posts.
Fairies & Ectoplasm
Over the past few weeks, I have been listening to a biography of Houdini as I drive to and from work. Among the many things that I have learned is that Houdini was acquainted with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes. In his later years, Doyle became interested in Spiritualism, a religion of sorts that involved communication with the dead. Doyle attended seances and expressed an interest in other spiritualist phenomenon. Doyle was attracted to Houdini, whose powers seemed to have a mystical dimension. During the early years of their acquaintance, while they were still on good terms, Doyle often claimed that Houdini possessed special powers. Doyle’s gullibility is illustrated by his reaction to one of Houdini’s simple tricks. While riding in the car, Houdini pretended to remove the first joint of his thumb. You may have done this trick yourself, or seen someone perform it. It is very entertaining to small children, but Doyle wrote of the trick in a letter to Houdini, “Just a line to say how much we enjoyed our short visit yesterday. I think what interested me most was the little ‘trick’ which you showed us in the cab. You certainly have very wonderful powers, whether inborn or acquired.” In 1922 Doyle published The Coming of the Fairies, which you can read here. The book was inspired by some photographs that Doyle had received from a friend, showing young girls apparently surrounded by…
Ivan Karamazov Rebutted
I rarely devote much time to the poetry in the New Yorker. Sad to say, if I don’t recognize the poet’s name or the subject matter doesn’t immediately draw me in, I move on. But this poem from last week’s issue grabbed my attention, and I thought it worth sharing. It was written by Nobel Prize-winning poet Czeslaw Milosz, who passed away three weeks ago. If there is no God, Not everything is permitted to man. He is still his brother’s keeper And is not permitted to sadden his brother, By saying that there is no God. –Czeslaw Milosz (Translated, from the Polish, by the author and Robert Hass)