- ji on A Review: Picturing Christ: Understanding Depictions of Jesus in History and Art: “I love seeing manger scenes from around the world, where people unabashedly (and even proudly) present Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, and the others as local persons in local dress.” Aug 20, 01:33
- on Legal Doctrines/Terminology and Latter-day Saint Theology and Governance: “The Book of Mormon comes out very strongly against ignorantia juris non excusat. Not only does it teach that those who have not the law will be saved by the power of the redemption, apparently unconditionally, it frequently takes the time to point out that very wicked people were fully aware of what they were sinning against, with the clear implication that that’s what makes them especially wicked. But I think your examples better illustrate another legal concept, malum in se vs. malum prohibitum: some things are inherently wrong, and some things are only wrong because the law forbids them. I’d call the Word of Wisdom malum prohibitum, though you could make a case that abuse of alcohol reaches malum in se. But certainly Christ did not drink wine only because he was ignorant of the law against it. No such law applied to him. The Jews see most of their code as malum prohibitum, My mother used to run the equivalent of Nursery at a local synagogue (a paid position). It was a fairly strict congregation and the lights were left on during the sabbath because flipping a light switch was a sabbath violation. One day a switch was bumped and the room was plunged into darkness, but the children knew just what to do: “We need a gentile over here!” I’ll point out again that the Church no longer uses the terms “disciplinary council” or “excommunication.” For the former, I think the goal was to change how everyone, but especially leaders, think about them. But the latter term was never accurate, as a person whose Church membership is withdrawn is not rejected from the Church community, and in fact Church leaders are given a special mandate to care for them. I had no idea about the Donatist controversy–fascinating! I agree that we’re not officially Donatists, but I’ve heard members say things along those lines, usually about priests and the sacrament.” Aug 19, 23:58
- on Legal Doctrines/Terminology and Latter-day Saint Theology and Governance: “A long time ago, it was nothing but lawyers around here, so there was a lot of discussion about various legal topics – see Nate Oman’s old posts, for example. The Church makes for a useful and interesting sandbox for thinking about ideas and theories in a lot of fields.” Aug 19, 09:18
- on Variety in our Meetings (Or What Did Church Lead You to Think About Yesterday), 8/16: “Wow, that’s great RLD” Aug 18, 20:11
- on Variety in our Meetings (Or What Did Church Lead You to Think About Yesterday), 8/16: “I started sacrament meeting tired and frazzled, partially the result of Church service that morning and the day before, but mostly because I hadn’t taken care of myself properly that week. The two talks were on the law of sacrifice and the law of consecration, and the brother who spoke on the law of consecration made the case that, while sometimes consecration requires us to push ourselves to our limits, usually it requires us to take care of ourselves and get proper rest so that we can continue to be useful to the Lord and his kingdom long-term. I immediately recognized the word of the Lord for me that week. The sister who spoke on sacrifice told about a time when she made a sacrifice pretty much automatically, because it was expected of her, and then resented it. But someone’s offhand comment made her realize she had made that sacrifice willingly–that it was her choice. That changed her attitude immediately. I’ve had similar experiences. Sometimes we fail to take ownership of our good choices!” Aug 18, 08:17
- on A Review: Picturing Christ: Understanding Depictions of Jesus in History and Art: “ideasnstuff, I love that song! I actually quoted it when I wrote about Jesus’s appearance several years ago: https://archive.timesandseasons.org/2021/09/they-saw-the-lord/” Aug 18, 07:59
- on A Review: Picturing Christ: Understanding Depictions of Jesus in History and Art: “Some children see Him lily white, the baby Jesus born this night. Some children see Him lily white, with tresses soft and fair. Some children see Him bronzed and brown, The Lord of heav’n to earth come down. Some children see Him bronzed and brown, with dark and heavy hair. Some children see Him almond-eyed, this Savior whom we kneel beside. some children see Him almond-eyed, with skin of yellow hue. Some children see Him dark as they, sweet Mary’s Son to whom we pray. Some children see him dark as they, and, ah! they love Him, too! The children in each different place will see the baby Jesus’ face like theirs, but bright with heavenly grace, and filled with holy light. O lay aside each earthly thing and with thy heart as offering, come worship now the infant King. ‘Tis love that’s born tonight! Carol by Alfred Burt” Aug 18, 07:06
- on Handbell Music and the Latter-day Saint Hymnbook: “That’s outside any ward’s or even stake’s music budget, but very much within the range of what some people spend on hobbies – look at what people spend on nice pianos or string instruments for home use. It just takes a ward with enough musical talent and one motivated financial backer (who would own the bells). That’s a real possibility in some areas.” Aug 17, 23:37
- on Handbell Music and the Latter-day Saint Hymnbook: “In looking on Ebay, I see a set for $5,000. (Compared to $14,000 for a new set.) The good thing about handbells is that new ringers can pick up the basics really quickly, so that idea is very possible.” Aug 17, 19:53
- on Handbell Music and the Latter-day Saint Hymnbook: “Interesting. In some wards, you could probably find four people with some musical background who might give it a reasonable effort. How much would a decent quality small set of 25 bells cost?” Aug 17, 17:54
