Category: Gospel of Jesus Christ
Thoughts from a Sunday School Lesson on Enos and the Words of Mormon
During our recent Sunday school lesson on Enos and the Words of Mormon, I had the chance to point out a couple of apparent problems in the text that…
Help for My Mother’s Funeral From the Best Priesthood Lesson Ever, Courtesy of Latter-day Saint Poet Elaine W. Christensen
My mother, Mary Lyon Miles Lindsay, passed away a few days ago at the age of 91 years. Many blessings, even small miracles, made it possible for my wife and…
Further Thoughts on Nephi’s Three-Day Journey: Going the Distance with Google Earth
My recent post on Nephi’s three-day journey, the leg of Lehi’s Trail that reaches the River Laman in the Valley of Lemuel, discussed the significance of Exodus themes in Nephi’s…
The Glue of Forgiveness and the Anti-Nephi-Lehies (the People of Ammon)
As I ponder the many messages of Christmas, one in particular comes from a dramatic story in the Book of Mormon about a large group of Lamanites, the “Anti-Nephi-Lehies” or…
Saved by Grace “After All We Can Do”? Nephi’s Context of Reconciliation
2 Nephi 25:23 has the statement, “for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.” Does this mean that salvation is a chore in which we do much of the work, or a transaction in which we pay as much of the price as we can, and Christ only steps in after all we have done or paid to make up the difference? Or does this actually mean that salvation is completely “apart from” if not unrelated to all that we can do? Or something else? I think a plausible answer comes through considering the context.
I Saw Zion, and It Was in Africa (a Dream)
It’s 4:15 AM, but I had to get up and write. I just saw Zion, and it was in Africa. But not just Africa. Parts were from Asia, maybe Mexico,…
“That Thy Faith Fail Not”
In studying the final days of Christ’s life, I was struck by the implications of Christ’s kind teachings to Peter to prepare him for what was to come. He…
“Whole Worlds Are Full of His Glory”: Thoughts on a Passage from the Words of Gad the Seer
In a post on “The Words of Gad the Seer” and in a related book review for Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship, I’ve shared the dramatic…
What Does Jacob 2:30 Say About Polygamy? Is the Church’s Traditional Interpretation Wrong?
One of the many conundrums related to the controversial past practice of polygamy is the Book of Mormon’s stance on the issue. In Jacob 2, the prophet Jacob condemns the…
Cherishing the Book of Mormon’s Teachings on the Fairness of God
One of the most spiritually and intellectually satisfying elements of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ the is fairness of God. Contrary to centuries of tragically misguided theology about the…
