Latter-day Saints typically see the Atonement of Christ as comprising the suffering in Gethsemane as well as the crucifixion. I’ve been wondering if there’s some kind of duality implied by the contrasting details in these two halves. Consider the following chart, giving some details from Jesus Christ’s suffering in the garden of Gethsemane and on [...]
Posts Tagged ‘scripture study’
Does the Atonement Have Masculine and Feminine Halves?
Posted in Religion, tagged Atonement, Bible, crucifixion, gender, Jesus Christ, scripture study on March 11, 2012 | 1 Comment »
What Was the Mark of the Curse in the Book of Mormon?
Posted in Religion, tagged Atonement, Bible, Book of Mormon, Book of Moses, Cain, curse, figures of speech, Jesus Christ, LDS Church, mark of Cain, race, racism, scripture study on March 6, 2012 | 10 Comments »
A comment on a news article last week called the Book of Mormon racist because of its references to dark skin in conjunction with a curse. I responded with the usual explanation: the curse is spiritual separation from God (2 Nephi 5:20), and the dark skin was just a useful way to distinguish those who’d [...]
How Scripture Study Counteracts the Negative Effects of Sensory Overload
Posted in Religion, tagged brain, media, scripture study on February 12, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
From a great essay at Segullah: Input always travels the path of least resistance. So the second time we see the new image, it will travel the same route. And before long, the new neural pathway has been stimulated enough to “desire” of itself continued activation. A habit is born. After that, when the brain [...]
Chiasmus in Helaman 13:29-39
Posted in Language and Literature, Religion, tagged Book of Mormon, chiasmus, Helaman, materialism, poetry, Samuel the Lamanite, scripture study on June 5, 2011 | 4 Comments »
In studying the Book of Mormon, it seems that everybody and his brother is familiar with chiasmus, that Hebraic form of poetry where key words and phrases in the first half of a text are repeated backwards in the second half, done to aid memorization, to signify a whole unit of thought, and, especially, to [...]
Role Models From the Early Life of Christ
Posted in Religion, tagged angels, Anna, Bible, discipleship, Jesus Christ, joy, Luke 2, Mary, missionary work, praise, scripture study, shepherds, Simeon, wise men, worship on January 16, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I drafted this chart based on some of our discussion in Sunday School today. We studied the birth and early life of Jesus Christ (mostly from Luke 2), and found basic patterns in the lives of those involved in that period, setting clear themes and models for us to follow in our own devotion to the Lord:
The Pattern Of Our Spiritual Journey
Posted in Religion, tagged Atonement, Bible, chiasmus, Doctrine and Covenants, James Ferrell, Jesus Christ, Millennium, Plan of Salvation, scripture study, Second Coming, The Hidden Christ on December 28, 2010 | 4 Comments »
I’ve been reading James Ferrell’s The Hidden Christ, which is extremely excellent, and I just read chapter 19, “The Dispensation’s of the Lord’s People,” where he gives a chiastic chart of Earth’s history. It’s very good, and it reminded me of something I’ve been thinking about for a month or so, since my wife and I [...]
Mission Statements For The Scriptures
Posted in Religion, tagged mission statements, scripture study on November 14, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve been wondering how one could best summarize the overall “mission” of major collections of scripture, in the vein of “preach the gospel” or “perfect the saints.” Of course, this is just a novelty exercise on my part, and in no way does justice to the power of scripture or, for that matter, mission statements [...]
The Right Thing, At the Right Time, For the Right Reason
Posted in Religion, tagged Bible, discipleship, King David, Neal A. Maxwell, scripture study, warnings on July 6, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
This phrase came to mind as a title for this post as I thought about its practical application. Two weeks ago our Gospel Doctrine class in church covered the fall of King David. As much as this dramatic tragedy is studied throughout the world, the part of this story that resonates most meaningfully to me [...]
The Condensed Book of Mormon, In 15 Verses
Posted in Religion, tagged Atonement, Bible, Book of Mormon, discipleship, First Thoughts, Jesus Christ, scripture study on April 23, 2010 | 10 Comments »
Today I read the most amazing blog post, courtesy of our friends at First Thoughts. A seminarian named Sarah Wilson thought to abbreviate the Bible by selecting just one representative verse from each book, resulting in a breathtaking tour through the highlights of scripture. Her method was basically to find the verse in each book [...]
Two Great Resources On The Atonement
Posted in Religion, tagged Atonement, General Conference, Hugh Nibley, Jeffrey R. Holland, Jesus Christ, Richard G. Scott, scripture study on April 4, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
During this morning’s session of General Conference, Elder Richard G. Scott of the Twelve Apostles spoke about applying the Atonement of Jesus Christ in our lives and improving our understanding of it; he said near the end of his talk that we should all “establish a personal study plan to better understand that Atonement.” Two things [...]
The Purpose of Astronomy In the Book of Abraham
Posted in Religion, tagged astronomy, Book of Abraham, Hugh Nibley, James Ferrell, Pearl of Great Price, scripture study, symbols on January 24, 2010 | 2 Comments »
This post is not meant to explain the many astronomical references in the Book of Abraham. I’m not a scientist; I’m an English teacher. My interest is in analyzing why those astronomical references are there: what function do they serve? After studying them, I find that they consistently testify of the doctrines of Christ. The [...]
Answering Alma’s Questions
Posted in Religion, tagged Alma, Book of Mormon, discipleship, goals, scripture study, self improvement on January 1, 2010 | 6 Comments »
For a long time I’ve wanted to go through the 50 questions that Alma put forth in Alma chapter 5 in order to spur people back into spiritual activity, and answer them based on where I’m at in life. I feel like I’m active and serious in my faith, but I know that I have [...]
Recommended: Sperry Symposium Classics: The Old Testament
Posted in Religion, tagged Bible, BYU Religious Studies Center, Deseret Book, Old Testament, scripture study, Sperry Symposium Classics on December 6, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Last year I got this book for Christmas–it’s a fantastic, useful, easy-to-read greatest hits collection of works about a basic work of scripture. However, it’s also about language, doctrine, and history, without so much as a single page about supermoms, heroic pioneers, or vampires in sight, so of course it was on Deseret Book’s bargain table [...]
A Scriptural Warning Against Navel Gazing and Hand Wringing
Posted in Religion, tagged blogging, discipleship, Doctrine and Covenants, parables, priorities, scripture study on October 18, 2009 | 3 Comments »
In our Sunday School class today, the parable of the nobleman and the olive trees in Doctrine and Covenants 101:43-62 was brought to our attention to help teach about following the prophets. I hadn’t paid much attention to this story before, but it strongly underscores some things on my mind lately. This parable is meant, in [...]
The Book of Ether and “The Power Cycle”
Posted in Religion, tagged Book of Ether, Book of Mormon, Hugh Nibley, power, pride, scripture study on October 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Students of the Book of Mormon are familiar with the “pride cycle,” that part of Helaman edited to warn us about society’s tendency to become morally slack in times of wealth. An equally important observation is given in the second half of Ether, a sequence that might be called “The Power Cycle,” or even “The Politics Cycle,” [...]
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