Today marks the 176th anniversary of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. I thought it relevant to post here Joseph's last recorded dreams. The first one is related by W.W. Phelps some 20 years later, published in a Salt Lake City Almanac. The dream was purported to have been two nights before the martyrdom. … Continue reading Joseph Smith’s Last Dreams
“The Standard Works are the Standard”
D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve made a comment a few years ago that has been repeated many times since. "Not every statement made by a Church leader, past or present, necessarily constitutes doctrine. It is commonly understood in the Church that a statement made by one leader on a single occasion … Continue reading “The Standard Works are the Standard”
Light and Truth, Part Two: The Truth Shall Make you Free
Christ says "the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). Why? Free from, what? In Enoch's vision of the world, he "beheld Satan; and he had a great chain in his hand, and it veiled the whole face of the earth with darkness; and he looked up and laughed, and his angels rejoiced" (Moses 7:26). Satan’s chain is a chain of lies. Joseph Smith … Continue reading Light and Truth, Part Two: The Truth Shall Make you Free
Light and Truth, Part One: Rebirth
I recently finished watching The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight rises with my family. Maybe it's because Jordan Peterson (clinical psychologist) has changed the way I look at stories, but there were a few things that really stood out to me this time. The Dark Knight ends with an attempt to cover up the … Continue reading Light and Truth, Part One: Rebirth
“If Ye Cannot Understand Them”
One false tradition we have that limits our spiritual growth is the belief that all of the gospel ought to be so simple that a child can understand it. I've done some research to try and figure out where this idea might come from. I don't think it's ever been outrightly taught, but rather an … Continue reading “If Ye Cannot Understand Them”
What the Book of Mormon Says About Us
As a missionary, it seemed like the Book of Mormon really had one sole purpose. We'd hand out copies to anyone who would listen to our message, ask them to read a chapter (maybe the Introduction, 1 Nephi 1, 3 Nephi 11, etc.), and then pray about it to see if it was true. The … Continue reading What the Book of Mormon Says About Us
“Fly to pieces like glass”
Toward the end of his life, Joseph Smith remarked, "there has been a great difficulty in getting anything into the heads of this generation. It has been like splitting hemlock knots with a corn-dodger for a wedge, and a pumpkin for a beetle. Even the Saints are slow to understand. I have tried for a … Continue reading “Fly to pieces like glass”
The Purpose of the Book of Mormon: Nearer to God
The Book of Mormon is a historic record of an actual civilization who populated the American continent. Their dealings with one another, and encounters with God, are in fact literal events that affected real people. Christ appeared and ministered to many people following His resurrection, and the Book of Mormon is a record of one … Continue reading The Purpose of the Book of Mormon: Nearer to God
Said one Scholar
Harold Bloom, a self-confessed unbelieving Jew, literary critic (perhaps one of the most famous in the world), religious scholar, and Professor of Humanities at Yale University said: "[Joseph] Smith was an authentic religious genius, unique in our national history... I do not find it possible to doubt that [he] was an authentic prophet. Where in … Continue reading Said one Scholar
Elohim
Joseph Smith has gotten a lot of flack for things he said in his last discourse, The King Follet Sermon. Much of the Christian world sees what he taught as heretical, unbiblical, and unchristian. I'm going to make the argument that they do this because they're steeped in their own traditions and biases rather than … Continue reading Elohim
