Monthly Archives: March 2008

BYU Religion Dean on Premortal Life, Part II: Scripture “Mastery”

Posted on March 31, 2008 by jupiterschild

This is part II of a post begun a week and a half ago in response to a devotional lecture given by Terry Ball, dean of the BYU college of religious education. That discussion centered on what I argued to … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, BYU, Scripture | 18 Comments

Jesus and the Sabbath

Posted on March 27, 2008 by TT

Jesus is depicted in the Gospels as healing on the Sabbath. This healing frequently caused disputes between Jesus and his contemporaries. Why? There are a few options to explain these episodes. 1. The popular view is that the Jews were … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Doctrine | 24 Comments

Toss the Milk and Lose the Meat

Posted on March 26, 2008 by smallaxe

I think most of the people that frequent the Bloggernacle believe that classes such as Sunday School and Priesthood/Relief Society fall short as far as how engaging they could be. This has been discussed in numerous places. Most recently at … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 18 Comments

EQ–Ethical Intelligence

Posted on March 21, 2008 by smallaxe

Are we all born with the same amount of ethical intelligence?  I would imagine that most people believe that “intelligence” or IQ is not something all people are born with equal amounts of (although an interesting argument anyone is welcome to take … Continue reading →

Posted in Doctrine | 9 Comments

BYU Religion Dean on Premortal Life, Part I: Race and Nobility

Posted on March 19, 2008 by jupiterschild

Last week Terry Ball, Dean of the College of Religious Education, gave BYU’s weekly devotional address (mp3 file available here, Daily Universe report here). His talk raises many issues relevant to recent discussions here and elsewhere. My reaction to his … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, BYU, LDS Church History, Leadership, Speculation | 75 Comments

Reject and Denounce: Obama and his church

Posted on March 18, 2008 by Chris H.

Am I accountable for the crazy things that people say at my church? Luckily, I tend to disagree, and disagree strongly with most political statements made at church. Was Mitt Romney responsible for racist practices that existed with the Church … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Uncategorized | 63 Comments

Mormon Literalism and the Body

Posted on March 18, 2008 by TT

Recently, Terryl Givens has celebrated one of the Mormon “heresies” (his term) of “literalism.” He argues that Mormonism has eschewed the modern movement towards metaphorical understandings of religion, insisting upon its “literal” relationship to certain “facts,” such as the First … Continue reading →

Posted in Doctrine, Feminism, Sexuality, Speculation, Theology | 9 Comments

Church Education as Consequentialism

Posted on March 13, 2008 by smallaxe

For a long time I’ve felt a disconnect between the concept of “education” employed by programs such as the Church Educational System, and “education” in the context school learning (be it post-high or not). I think I recently have been able to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments

Judah, Joseph, ‘Chastity’, and Authorial Intent

Posted on March 12, 2008 by jupiterschild

Most LDSs who have actually read Genesis 38 and 39 have undoubtedly had the thought, or heard the thought, that the juxtaposition of these two chapters teaches important lessons about chastity (see the OT SS manual, where this is made … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Scripture | 18 Comments

What readers bring to texts

Posted on March 10, 2008 by jupiterschild

Last week we learned of the discovery of another example in an increasingly long line of forged memoirs: Margaret “Jones” Seltzer was discovered to have forged the story of her life as a gang-affiliated, drug-running youth in LA, when her … Continue reading →

Posted in Scripture | 6 Comments