Category Archives: Book of Mormon

“Have You Been Saved?”

To oversimplify things a bit, Mormon notions of salvation are more consistent with Paul, while Evangelical notions of salvation are more consistent with deutero-Pauline ideas.  In essence, Mormons, like Paul, believe that salvation is a future event; while Evangelicals, like … Continue reading

Posted in Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine, Theology, Uncategorized | 9 Comments

Nephi’s Vision as Tragedy

After viewing the vision of the Tree of Life, as Nephi calls it, the angel shows him a vision that seems to reach far beyond his initial petition.  Nephi reports that he sees multitudes of people, but it is the … Continue reading

Posted in Book of Mormon | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Apologetics Into Doctrine: Romney’s Impact

It appears that Andrew Sullivan published something on Mormons yesterday.  How do I know this without reading Sullivan?  Because there’s a zillion Mormons responding to his comments at sites far removed.  In fact, there’s a bumper crop of Mormon apologetics … Continue reading

Posted in Book of Mormon, Doctrine, History, Mormon Culture, Mormon Studies, Politics | 14 Comments

Nephi, Scrooge, and Knowing the Future

There I was, sitting in my usual seat in Sunday school, watching the instructor faithfully proceed through the lesson plan and observing, as I always do, the various comments made by fellow ward members.  The topic was Nephi’s Vision and … Continue reading

Posted in Book of Mormon, Theology | 12 Comments

Christianity 101, Book of Mormon Style 3

So in this last week we, that is me and the 17-18 year old gentlemen I teach, were looking at the Tree of Life vision and Nephi’s interpretation.  As you know, our goal is to read the BoM and look … Continue reading

Posted in Book of Mormon, Scripture, Studying Religion | 4 Comments

If the Book of Mormon is dull, the New Testament is duller

One recent, sympathetic critic called the Book of Mormon “dull.”  This is not a new accusation.  Mark Twain famously called it “chloroform in print,” and I don’t deny the charge.  Trust me, I’m quite aware of the boringness of the … Continue reading

Posted in Bible, Book of Mormon, Scripture, Studying Religion, Uncategorized | 7 Comments

Christianity 101, BoM Style 2

Another little doorway into Christianity lies, I think, in the second of the three enumerated purposes of the BoM and particularly in the phrase I have underlined: that [the remnant of the House of Israel] may know the covenants of … Continue reading

Posted in Book of Mormon, Scripture, Studying Religion | 3 Comments

Christianity 101, BoM Style

Tis the start of the New Year, and therefore the start of a new lesson cycle for those of us who serve as teachers in church.  What to do, what to do, we think.  A class participant who is 48 … Continue reading

Posted in Book of Mormon, Scripture, Studying Religion | 2 Comments

“Every wo/man that striveth for mastery”: Thinking About LDS Scripture Mastery (A New Series of Posts)

**I wish I could say that my recent lack of posts at FPR has been due to the fact that I’ve been following the newest reincarnation “Further” (Bobby and Phil, minus Mickey, Billy) around the country in a VW Microbus, … Continue reading

Posted in Bible, Book of Mormon, Mormon Culture, Scripture | 7 Comments

Richard Turley and William Slaughter’s How We Got the Book of Mormon

“Although we cite scholarly sources we intend this book for general readers and have followed widely accepted editing practices aimed at ease of reading.”  “Readers can verify the facts in our book by consulting the sources cited in the notes, … Continue reading

Posted in Book of Mormon | 8 Comments