I admit to holding a belief, up until recently, that is false. I thought that there was no expectation or legal claim to confidentiality in Mormon confession. This is false. Mormons have essentially the same legal protection of their repentant communication as Catholics. There are some interesting ramifications that result. (more…)

We all know the narrative that set our world into motion. Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden and given two commandments. Eve was beguiled (i.e., deceived by treacherous cunning) and consequently Adam ate the fruit as well. God then kicked them out into the world and voila Mortality. (more…)

It is not uncommon to find a discourse that laments the current state of Mormon music, art, etc. There are many reasons. We have previously discussed why there may never be many great Mormon practitioners of the arts. Now I would like to discuss why there may never be a great Mormon artistic tradition…period. (more…)

Clark over at Mormon Metaphysics has responded to Grasshopper’s recent post on foreknowledge. It is an excellent dialogue on a topic that I am not even close to resolving for myself. Clark has also promised to post in the future on causation. I look forward to it.

As you may have noticed, there are some changes around. I’m very pleased to announce the birth of the Mormon Archipelago. (more…)

We Mormons love the Tao. Yin and Yang, light and dark, hot and cold, suffering and joy. Opposition in all things, right? This bivalency is even manifested in Deity. We have God the Father and his antithesis (though subservient) Lucifer. These are the grand archetypes of this great struggle though mortality. The thing is, though, that I don’t think the Adversary is necessary to the Plan. (more…)

We don’t use the words “Israel” and “gentile” like they did back in the day. I have several hypotheses as to why that is the case, but let us look at how it was used. First we have brother Brigham explaining the relation to missionary work: (more…)

Alma 7 seems to me to make a differnece between the omniscience of the father through the spirit and a special kind of knowledge that the son has through the atonement: (more…)

There are those who fear the blog. I know a numberof people who feel that blogs that discuss doctrinal issues are useless if not risky or even dangerous. I am aware that noone reading this is likely to feel this way, but I wonder if we consider the ethical implications of our words. (more…)

Let me first define what I mean by sacrifice. I mean the popular usage: forsaking something you want. Why is this immoral you say? Well it doesn’t technically have to be, but I’ll bet the vast majority of it is, and this is why: (more…)

I am stoked to announce Splendid Sun’s first guest blogger. Please welcome Steve Hancock. (more…)

No self respecting Mormon themed blog can go without a post or two on The Word of Wisdom. As I am teaching enrichment tomorrow on a related topic, I believe that my time has come.

My thing is obesity (more…)

Those who know me, or are familiar with my bogging, probably know how I feel about this topic. However, while I feel pretty comfortable with my beliefs, there are several areas that I am still struggling with. So the question of the day is: How do you believe God became God? (more…)

I’ve decided to keep shamelessly copying Dave and continue offering the hebdomadary essay. This week we get to take a look at what happened to the inimitable Sidney Rigdon. Sidney Rigdon: Post Nauvoo [Gregory,T.J. (1981) BYU Studies, vol. 21, Num. 1] follows Bro. Rigdon from the time of the Prophet’s death to his own demise. He started several churches and the article chronicles his interaction with other post-Nauvoo splinter groups (Strangites, RLDS, etc.).

In Mormon locution, closing a discourse with the phrase, “in the name of Jesus Christ, amen”, or a variation thereof, is standard practice. However, this practice, as currently employed, is a relatively recent innovation in the Mormon tradition. After having my interest piqued while reading a post on LDS-Phil, I took my down-time on this most recent business trip, and researched the history (1852 to 1970) of this now ubiquitous phrase.
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We are temporal beings. More explicitly, we are subject to time. We have a linear existence. We observe cause and effect and are bound by them. And I propose that God is as well. (more…)

My brother Craig recently defended his doctoral thesis. He has authored a work that I speculate will have a grand effect on world dynamics…seriously. It is entitled:

NGOs in the Crosshairs: Non-Governmental Organizations and the Terrorist Threat
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If young men are lucky enough to stay in one ward as they grow up, the will likely be schooled in the True Order of the Sacrament. (more…)

I have no hard data, but from the amount of students sporting one of Ayn Rands many titles on the BYU campus, it seems that Mormons have quite the affinity for her work…So she was a godless hedonist, who cares. (more…)

I have commented elsewhere on what I consider to be our moral imperative to assuage as much human suffering and pain, using modern technology, that we possibly can. In most cases, this seems very perspicuous. However, there are instances when employing all the technology available seems to attenuate life and prolong suffering. (more…)

If I may, I am going to steel a page out of Dave’s playbook and offer an online essay of the week hebdomadary essay. The thing is, I don’t know if I will do it every week or not (or even again). Anyway, it is entitled The Development of the Doctrine of Preexistence, 1830–1844 [Harrell, C. (1988) BYU Studies 28:75-91]. A while back, there was a mega thread by Nate Oman on Our Ambiguous Origins. I only just stumbled upon this article which would have added a lot to that conversation. Interesting are the early (1844) references to MIH and the extensive retrospectives of Orson Pratt.

I’ll wager that the median Mormon appreciation/connoisseurship of the Fine arts is well above that of the rest of the population, but that we produce less if its authors per capita. (more…)

Steve was one of my closest friends during grad school and was a doctoral candidate in the English department (he is published and has a tenure track position – so no snide comments ). One of our conversations that I frequently go back to is an email dialogue about the State of Israel.

The Book of Mormon has plenty of commentary on “Israel” and “The Jews” and it is easy to project these words onto the contemporary State of Israel. As short examples of possible scripture we can look at: 2 Ne 6:12-15 and 2 Ne 10:7-8.

Empirically, I think that Mormons give the State of Israel carte blanche. (more…)

A recent post at T&S by Gordon has focused my attention on a topic that I have been pondering for awhile.

My dad served a mission in Hawaii and was probably one of the last to learn the language and use it for the bulk of his mission. I grew up with the almost fantastical stories that are the narrative of his service. I also had a good friend that served in New Caledonia and related some very similar history. These experiences were the Exodus to my Leviticus. I served in France. Now, I love France, but there is a definite disparity in spiritual experience between the respective average citizen. (more…)