Here and at many other blogs, there have been debates over what should be constituted as Mormon doctrine. The Mormon tradition relies on its prophets as promulgators of truth. It was through the Prophet that, over several decades, revelations transformed a scraggly band Protestants into the palladiums of our faith. Things have slowed down a wee bit - in the last 87 years, there have been two revelation based doctrinal pronouncements. (more…)

Honestly, I’m not sure if this is a discussion that we are not supposed to have. I know that certain practices are discouraged in relation to the Female Deity, but I think that discussing our perspectives is legit. That said, I still can’t figure out how they are able to sing Oh, My Father whenever there are investigators at church. (more…)

Some, in their quest to rectify the free agency/foreknowledge paradox have proposed a god who derives his prescience from superlative statistical skills. Invoking an analogy to the uncertainty principle, this god cannot know for a certainty what an agent will do at a certain time. Instead, this god is aware of all possible actions and has a contingency plan for all of them. However ironically, invocation of the uncertainty principle illustrates that we have a fixed and predetermined future. (more…)

From the History of the Church we have Joseph Smith quoted as stating:

…It is the first principle of the gospel to know for a certainty the character of God, and to know that we may converse with Him as one man converses with another, and that He was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ Himself did.

I’m interested in the first portion of his statement. It seems that there is currently a plurality of views on the true character of God. (more…)

I recently cracked open my copy of Joseph Smith’s “New Translation” of the Bible. Among other things I found myself considering the ramifications of the titular verbiage. As Mormons, we use the word “translate” rather conspicuously. Joseph used the word to describe the rendering of the Plates of Gold into English, the inspired revision/augmentation of the Bible, and the papyri induced revelations of the Pearl of Great price. These three examples give us a very dynamic definition. Moreover, it would seem that understanding how Joseph used the word should color how we comprehend it in such applications as the Articles of Faith. (more…)

Well, the first of these was received in interesting ways. Anyway, here goes again. I said last time that there were three things I thought it was essential God have for us to have faith in him: Foreknowledge, Power, and Love. I’d like to move on now, to discuss love because I think it is the most essential of the three. (more…)

This post was written by John Mansfield. John is a regular in the nacle and has contributed greatly to the tenor here at Splendid Sun. Enjoy.

President Hinckley has changed the place of temple worship in the lives of the Saints in the most profound manner since the creation of the Hawaii temple. In late 1997, he announced plans for the Church to increase its temples from fifty to over a hundred to usher in the coming millennium. There are now 119. This radical increase was accomplished by paring the structure of the temple down to the functional minimum. An inevitable consequence of this change in the number and size of temples is that the temple is no longer a special place in the way it was previously; it is a more common and ordinary part of our lives now. (more…)

Splendid Sun is a decade old. As I looked back this week on the music that I produced 10 years ago, I realized something that I didn’t then – this music is Mormon. I tended to write a lot about change (read repentance) and being outside because of it. I think that these ideas play into the overall theme of Exile. Without making a complete tool out of myself by attempting to do something I have not the training to do, I will simply say that I believe that the idea of Exile is at the core of what it means to be Mormon. (more…)

The Book of Mormon seems to present the idea that the Americas have been saved as a special place. Specifically, it was a place whre the conditions were created under which the gospel could be restored and could flourish. For a while the saints were accordingly asked to gather here. But the saints are no longer asked to migrate. (more…)

I promised I would post on this, so here goes. It seems like the hot doctrinal topic for bloggin right now is foreknowledge. I won’t list all of the posts on it because it seems so many have touched on it. In his book on the topic, Blake Ostler opines that while foreknowledge would be neat, it isn’t necessary for faith in God. I would like to set down here my 2cents’ worth on why I feel foreknoweldge is one of three essential traits that allow us to have faith in God. (The other 2, as my title implies, are power and love.) (more…)

In a continued effort to bring a satisfying blogging experience, we have been making some changes. Paramount is the comment area. At the instigation of Kaimi I added a decent Spam barrier and you no longer need to type a key. Note the live preview of your comments and the added formatting button (other HTML works as well). We have also shamelessly followed Dave’s lead and added a comment policy (because I am a complete follower). I also added a bio for Steve. Looks like we may keep him.

As a people, we pray in the name of the Jesus Christ. Priesthood holders bless, ordain and set apart in His name. There are, however, a few ordinances of the Gospel that are not performed in His name. These sacred ordinances are effectuated in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, baptism being the most obvious. My question is this: What does it mean to do something in the name of the Godhead compared to simply doing it in the name of the Savior? (more…)

As this page receives significant search traffic, I would like to refer all readers to my essay on Mormon feminism at BCC. It is a much better and complete piece.

I don’t know how to approach this sensitive subject. To be frank, I am surprised that I actually need to. The internet is an imperfect medium of communication, which is compounded by the imperfection of this author. Within every community, there are issues that are difficult navigate unscathed. Paramount among the rocks that lie about our shores is the issue of Gender…and it looks like my vessel is in need of repair. (more…)

I received my Patriarchal Blessing just before I turned eighteen. It was truly a powerful experience and I will forever cherish it. Such wide spread dissemination of prophecy is rather unique to the Mormon Church (I believe). This prophetic distribution is a strength to the members, but it also raises many interesting issues. (more…)

General Conference is the time for mission reunions. Everyone seems to make their pilgrimage to SLC and for at least the first six to eight months after the mission we gather at sundry locations. We gather to show off our post-mission wares, our significant others and to share in communal post mission neuroses. I made it to two, then the season passed (as did my neuroses (at least I think they did)). Now, I have not yet attended one of the infamous Bloggersnackers (to my regret); however, if I were to prophecy, I might say that General Conference may again herald the reunification of neurotics…it may signal semiannual Bloggersnackers. (more…)

One of the evanescent institutions of graduate school was Man-Books. Man-Books was intended to be a weekly gathering of three people (Steve, Josh – my devout Catholic friend – and myself) where we would delve into sundry texts and be edified. We met once (it was time that lacked more than volition). On that singular meeting at the tri-chi we delved into the pseudepigraphal Gospel of Nicodemus. It was not until a couple months ago that several aspects of this book came flooding back. (more…)

Why do we bless food? I once had an institute teacher issue a challenge for anyone to find scriptural support for the practice of blessing our food, and I’ve not been able to find any. That’s not to say we shouldn’t be thankful for our food, but thanking the Lord and blessing our food are two different things as I see it. (more…)

I guess we all have issues that we struggle with. It is easy to judge the infidelity of others when their struggles don’t overlap with ours. The bloggernacle is rife with discussions on when one is justified in dissent. I guess it is my turn to confess a secret (okay not-so secret) loathing in hopes, not to be justified, but perhaps to be clarified. My subversion: antipathy towards trek. (more…)

So, you’ve been wondering what the heck the Mormon Archipelago is. Behold!

Note the sweet search feature. We hope that this is useful and would appreciate any feedback on improving it. Cheers.

The Holy Father’s recent malady follows a theme that has flowed throughout his tenure: Suffering is salvific. While we Mormons are not too fond of flagellation, we have our own traditions that extol suffering. And while I am cognisant of how my own suffering has infused me with a measure of wisdom and compassion, this doctrine leads to a place where I am not sure that I am willing to go. (more…)

I had some pretty disturbing spam and consequently took some drastic measures here at Splendid Sun. You’ll find that you need to type a key (the last info field) in order to post a comment. This has caused much consternation (for the record if you are using Firefox and mis-type the key, you don’t lose your comment when you press the back button.) Is this extra measure too great a sacrifice? If so, please let me know. Also, I would love any help in fighting spam, so suggestions are appreciated (either by comment or email).