Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Religion’ Category

The Moon Landing and The Book of Mormon As Hoaxes?

Posted in Religion, tagged , , , , , on May 12, 2013 |

Does the Book of Mormon make sense as a hoax?  Compare it to the 1969 moon landing.

I just saw about the billionth joke on TV about the moon landing being a hoax.  This old conspiracy theory is usually referenced as a crackpot belief these days, and rightfully so.

Consider all the logical problems with the moon landing being a hoax:

  • Motive.  Beating the Soviets in the space race?  Couldn’t it have been achieved with far less effort and risk in many other ways?
  • Benefits.  What did we really get out of this?  A brief bump in pride and some cool photos?  Again, these could have been achieved in far easier ways.
  • Costs.  Absolutely staggering amounts of money were sunk into building and executing this project over many years.  Not sensible if it was fake.
  • Means.  Did we really have the ability to pull off this scam?  It would have required tons of complicit agents, sets and props, bribes, image effects, and a host of lying witnesses, to say the least.  The whole scheme seems very implausible.
  • Secrecy.  With all that would have been involved, nobody blew the lid on this hoax, ever?  Even when there would have been huge financial rewards for doing so?
  • Odds.  What are the chances that all this worked out, if wasn’t real?  History shows that such attempts fall apart.  The singular legacy of this project attests to its reality.
  • Repetition.  Where else has our government pulled off a hoax on this scale?  If they were able to do it once, they would have done so again.

Of course, each of these seven things also testifies of the reality of the Book of Mormon as an ancient document, divinely delivered to and translated for the modern world, and not as a 19th century hoax by Joseph Smith: (more…)

About these ads

Read Full Post »

Winter Light and the Light of Christ

Posted in Religion, tagged , , , , , , on May 5, 2013 |

This week I finally saw Ingmar Bergman’s Winter Light.  What a beautiful film, in many ways.  I absolutely loved it.

The most striking part, though, was a scene near the end where a supporting character gets his screen time to talk to our protagonist, a pastor plagued by doubt and melancholy.  The church sexton confesses to the pastor that our apparent understanding of Christ’s suffering is superficial, limited to the cross.

He wonders if the emotional suffering of Gethsemane, and the spiritual elements of the crucifixion might not have been worse.  He describes these scriptural details in a way that deeply intensifies the Lord’s suffering.

I sat up pretty straight during this scene.  His confused reaching for truth brings him so close to a Latter-day Saint knowledge of the Atonement.  I wanted to tap him on the shoulder and talk about the Book of Mormon.  I wanted to show him Jeffrey R. Holland’s Easter talk below.

Sadly, YouTube doesn’t have a clip of just this scene.  It starts around 7:00 in the 7th video in the linked playlist, and runs about 40 seconds into the 8th.

Winter Light YouTube playlist

Read Full Post »

How the Bloggernacle Apparently Watches General Conference

Posted in Humor, Religion, tagged , , , , on April 15, 2013 |

Imagine a general conference that hypothetically includes a discussion between the general authorities delivering the addresses, and “the bloggernacle”  as an entity hearing them.

GA: Church members should be loyal to the church.
B: Absolutely. Church members should definitely focus on minor doubts that are only tangential to the major tenets of faith and discipleship, and use them to publicly undermine the church.

GA: What? No, that’s not at all what we said. Church members should be visibly loyal to the church, striving to be part of the mainstream body of belief and service.
B: Yes! Finally, someone came out and said it. Church members need to be encouraged in striking out on their own and forging their own path to salvation, whatever that means for them.

(more…)

Read Full Post »

Testifying of Testimonies

Posted in Religion, tagged , , , , on April 14, 2013 |

The book of Mosiah starts with a testimony of three important things, and a wonderful observation about the nature of faith.

In Mosiah 1:3-5, King Benjamin refers to his family’s copy of the Hebrew scriptures, and he teaches his children about how crucial the scriptures are in preserving spiritual culture.  In the next verse, he says:

O my sons, I would that ye should remember that these sayings are true,

and also that these records are true.

And behold, also the plates of Nephi, which contain the records and the sayings of our fathers from the time they left Jerusalem until now, and they are true;

and we can know of their surety because we have them before our eyes.  (Mosiah 1:6)

Here, Benjamin testifies of the truth of three things: his own teachings to his children, the ancient scriptures, and the collected teachings of recent prophets.

(more…)

Read Full Post »

“I Love to Say My Testimony”

Posted in Religion, tagged on April 14, 2013 |

There’s a little girl in my ward who gets up almost every fast Sunday to speak, and this is what she starts with.  Most small children say something like this, but it’s almost always, “I like to bear my testimony,” where the dropped “would” after the “I”  also makes it cute, but this one is special: I wish I loved saying my testimony more!

“And a little child shall lead them.”  Isaiah 11:6

 

Read Full Post »

Lehi, King Benjamin, and President Monson On Why We Follow the Prophet

Posted in Religion, tagged , , , , , , , on April 7, 2013 |

It happened again last night, and not for the first time: I re-read a familiar section in the Book of Mormon and noticed something that had never arrested my attention before.

In King Benjamin’s classic speech, a major landmark in the Book of Mormon, he tells the people this about the the coming change of leadership from himself to his son:

…if ye shall keep the commandments of my son, or the commandments of God which shall be delivered unto you by him, ye shall prosper in the land…  (Mosiah 2:31, emphasis added)

Benjamin wasn’t the only Book of Mormon leader to teach about the reason for faithfully following the prophet; Lehi explained it twice:

And now, behold thy brothers murmur, saying it is a hard thing which I have required of them; but behold I have not required it of them, but it is a commandment of the Lord. (1 Nephi 3:5, emphasis added)

And it must needs be that the power of God must be with him, even unto his commanding you that ye must obey. But behold, it was not he, but it was the Spirit of the Lord which was in him, which opened his mouth to utterance that he could not shut it. (2 Nephi 1:27, emphasis added)

Nephi’s brothers, you may remember, resented being ordered around, against their natural inclinations, by a bunch of old white men in Salt Lake City…oops, I mean, by their younger brother.  (/sarcasm)

(more…)

Read Full Post »

Serve From Gratitude

Posted in Religion, tagged , , , , , , , on April 7, 2013 |

Near the end of a truly rousing, inspirational sermon, the Biblical prophet Samuel tells his congregation:

Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you.  1 Samuel 12:24

This has now become one of my favorite scriptures.  Why?  because it explicitly links our faithful obedience to God and our work in His service, to gratitude for all of the infinite blessings that have first been poured out on us.

I actually think that the “thankfulness-leads-to-devotion” relationship is pretty rarely articulated in the scriptures.  The next best one that I can think of comes from the New Testament:

We love him, because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19

It’s good to be reminded of this.  God has shown us great love, and always will.  Obedient discipleship is the least we can do in return; indeed, is precisely the one thing that He does ask of us:

And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,

To keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?  Deuteronomy 10:12-13

Read Full Post »

Volcanoes and Lightning

Posted in Religion, tagged , , , , on March 17, 2013 |

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day, March 11, 2013: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130311.html

NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day, March 11, 2013: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130311.html

And thus the face of the whole earth became deformed, because of the tempests, and the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the quaking of the earth.  3 Nephi 8:17, the Book of Mormon

The huge, destructive storm described in 3 Nephi 8 has long been mysterious to some and derided by others, but in recent years, some scholars have shown that the features described there (wind, earthquakes, darkness, and lightning) fit a volcanic eruption.  (See here and here, for example.)

Certainly, Joseph Smith knew nothing about volcanism.  The existence of this storm narrative makes far more sense as a summary written by those who experienced it.

The photo above, one of NASA’s Astronomy Pictures of the Day from last week, dramatically illustrates the plausability of that story.  Volcanic eruptions do produce lightning.  Pretty cool lightning at that!

Read Full Post »

An Origin of Apostasy

Posted in Religion, tagged , , on March 3, 2013 |

It seems like there’s a pretty standard path to apostasy that some believers follow:

Step 1: “I have an idea about something mysterious or controversial in the gospel.”  Not dangerous–this is a natural result of study and reflection, and undoubtedly happens often.

Step 2: “This idea makes sense to me.  I find it useful.”  Getting a little risky here–it’s so easy to be seduced by our own imagination, hence the ample warnings against such in the scriptures.

Step 3: “Since I find my theory reasonable and attractive, I think that it is true.”  Patently fallacious.  Reason and attractiveness do not make ideas true; these criteria are arbitrary, not naturally corresponding to fact.  Plenty of things could be reasonable and attractive but not true–hence the prophetic warnings against the “philosophies of men.”  At this step, one is rapidly approaching apostasy, if not already there.

Step 4: “I will now enlighten the world with my valuable discoveries.”  At this point, someone is very likely in a state of apostasy.

The lesson is clear: beware of pride.  We must keep a very tight rein on our vain imaginations.  This is important for bloggers–including me–to always remember.

Read Full Post »

Mike’s Movie Ministry

Posted in Religion, tagged , , , on February 10, 2013 |

As I work with the teenage boys in my congregation at church, I often think about Mike.

When I was a teen myself, I was deeply attached to the media, and its messages led me to largely reject the faith I’d so recently embraced.  I didn’t go to church much, and wasn’t always kind towards efforts to reach out to me.

The biggest exception was Mike.  Mike was an older, divorced man in my ward at church.  One day, he called and asked if he could take me to a movie.  I thought it was odd, but hey…free movie.

We talked about the ideas in the film afterwards, and he took seriously my shallow, morose interpretation of things, without knocking them down as he easily could have.

Over the next several months, we got together a few more times.   (more…)

Read Full Post »

If the Mormons Accepted Gay Marriage, How Would the World React?

Posted in Religion, tagged , , on February 10, 2013 |

Imagine that the Mormon church announces tomorrow that they’ve received a revelation from God telling them to accept gay marriage.

(Please note that I am absolutely NOT “agitating” for something like this.  This is merely a thought exercise to make a point.)

In a perfect world, mainstream society would react like this: “They’ve worked so hard for so long to make sure we all know that they love us and want to be friendly with us, we can’t deny that only fidelity to their beliefs was what led them to the policies they had.  Their efforts at explaining those beliefs kindly and reaching out to everyone in welcoming were nothing short of amazing.”

Of course, the more realistic reaction would be: “Well, it’s about time those morons decided to stop being so mean and hateful.”

(more…)

Read Full Post »

Hindu and Mormon Scripture Connections

Posted in Religion, tagged , , , , , on February 3, 2013 |

Last month I read the Upanishads, a collection of ancient Hindu sacred writings whose title, according to the introduction, means “an instruction, the sitting at the feet of a master,” with the Sermon on the Mount then given as an example.

I enjoy reading things like this on occasion, for the beauty of the work and the insight into foreign cultures, and also because I like seeing similarities between these writings and those of my own faith.  Some notes I made are below:

 

UPANISHADS

 

LDS CONNECTIONS

Katha Upanishad 2-3

There is the path of joy, and there is the path of pleasure.  Both attract the soul.  Who follows the first comes to good; who follows pleasure reaches not the End.

The two paths lie in front of man.  Pondering on them, the wise man chooses the path of joy; the fool takes the path of pleasure.

 

2 Nephi 2:27

Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.

 
Svetasvatara Upanishad Part II, 10

Find a quiet retreat for the practice of Yoga, sheltered from the wind, level and clean, free from rubbish, smouldering fires, and ugliness, and where the sound of waters and the beauty of the place help thought and contemplation.

 

 Sounds like a temple to me! =)

(more…)

Read Full Post »

Christmas Without Christ

Posted in Living well, Politics and Society, Religion, tagged , , on December 16, 2012 |

santa-kneeling-to-JesusChristmas without Christ

is like

vacations without work

or

sex without marriage

or

entertainment without edification

or

dessert without nourishment

or

diplomas without learning

or

citizenship without patriotism

or…

 

Well, you get the idea.  There’s nothing wrong with the first part of each pair, but when taken without the second part, we only get a shallower version of it.  These pairs naturally come together, and when they do, the experience is far deeper and richer than when we try to just have the easy, fun stuff.

The tendency to claim the first part without the second is, ultimately, ignoring of the full value of the first part, rejecting the second part entirely, and a sad commentary on the short-sighted immaturity of the world.

Read Full Post »

The Five Missions In the Scriptures

Posted in Religion, tagged , , , , , , , on December 9, 2012 |

A scripture study exercise: if we wanted to summarize the overall message of major collections of scripture, what might they be?  We’re probably familiar with the “missions of the Church” formula–preach the gospel, perfect the saints, redeem the dead, care for the poor and needy–so, can we find similar missions communicated in books of scripture?

Here’s what I’ve come up with so far, with comments below:

 

Old Testament : Obey the law

New Testament : Perfect the saints

Book of Mormon : Learn the gospel

Doctrine and Covenants : Build the kingdom

Pearl of Great Price : Seek the Lord

 

Old Testament: I also considered “keep the commandments” and “follow the prophets.”  The first is similar to “obey the law,” but not as inclusive–there’s more to the Old Testament than the “thous shalts” and “thou shalt nots.”  Saying to “follow the prophets” resonates with us today, and certainly encompasses a major theme, but the largest idea in the Old Testament is that conforming to God’s whole system of living will bless us.

(more…)

Read Full Post »

The Book of Mormon and Gulliver’s Travels As Hoaxes

Posted in Religion, tagged , , , on November 4, 2012 |

The New Republic just published a long article which includes a summary of LDS history.  While repeating many expected errors (why is Mormonism apparently so hard to research and fact-check?), one passage about the Book of Mormon especially stood out to me:

 By the 1820s, the jeremiad had long been a pervasive rhetorical form among American Puritans and their republican descendants. Nor was that the only connection between this supposedly timeless text and its early American context. There were references to debates over infant baptism, church government, and revivalism, allusions to fears of secret societies, and other evidence that marked the book as a product of its historical moment. 

This flavor of brusque dismissal has been around since the book was published: if some fraction of the text can be interpreted as similar to some elements of the environment at the time of publication, then it must have been written at that time.

Such a myopic approach leaves out the majority of the text, evidences in its favor, and alternate explanations.  It’s a desperate attempt to come up with an easy origin for the book—any explanation other than Joseph Smith’s will do—and then forget that the whole issue ever existed.

It’s ultimately a lazy and disingenuous endeavor, one completely divorced from intellectual honesty.

I’ll illustrate.

Imagine that after Jonathan Swift wrote his satirical masterpiece Gulliver’s Travels in the early 1720s, he took it to the American colonies and buried it instead of publishing it.  (more…)

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 133 other followers

%d bloggers like this: