8: The Mormon Proposition is described as being “an indictment of the Mormon Church's historic involvement in the promotion & passage of California's Proposition 8”. Directors Reed Cowan and Steven Greenstreet (This Divided State) – both former Mormons -- have spent the year and a half since the November 2008 election researching and compiling this documentary.One basic question, before we dive into the details: what’s the purpose of this documentary?You might consider that a … [Read more...]
Archives for June 2010
Gospel Doctrine Podcast 24- 2 Samuel 11-12, Psalm 51 (u)
June 23, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Lesson 24- 2 Samuel 11-12, Psalm 51[audio:http://media.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com/Media/MormonPodcast8.mp3]Right-click here to download.(Opening clip- Allegri, Miserere Mei, King's College Choir.)Transcript (trying something new with the transcript. Let me know what you think.)Notes and references … [Read more...]
The First and Great Commandment
June 23, 2010 by Leave a Comment
“Master, which is the great commandment in the law?" asked the Pharisees.Jesus answered, "Thou Shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all they soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”I like this exchange between Jesus and his detractors quite a lot. I like that Jesus has given us one unifying concept for all … [Read more...]
Gospel Doctrine Podcast Lesson 23- 1 Samuel 18-24 (updated)
June 18, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Lesson 23- 1 Samuel 18-24 [audio:http://media.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com/Media/MormonPodcast7.mp3] Right click here to download.Transcript (wasn't linked before)Notes and References … [Read more...]
Gospel Doctrine Lesson 23: “The Lord Be Between Thee and Me For Ever”
June 18, 2010 by Leave a Comment
One of the most famous stories of the Old Testament includes the account of David killing the Philistine Goliath. This event serves as an important segue to Lesson 23 in the Sunday School curriculum for the Old Testament. This lesson covers the origins of the Davidic monarchy and king Saul’s fall from divine favor. From a literary perspective, David’s victory over Goliath served an important political purpose in terms of the book of Samuel.The material from 1 Samuel 8 through 2 Samuel 8 fo … [Read more...]
Mr. Blanchard Was Right – Failure is Inevitable
June 18, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Science appeals to me because of its ability to identify objective truths. You can describe something true about carbon in a way that’s much harder to do about a novel or a painting. But although I like science, I’m not a math person - I studied biology in college because it let me learn science while mostly avoiding equations. So it took a special teacher to make me like a really math-oriented science like physics. Mr. Blanchard (I changed his name), my high school physics teacher, was able … [Read more...]
The State of LDS Cinema — 2010
June 16, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Let’s take a quick glance at box office figures for LDS films released since 2000: (films are arranged chronologically by release date -- box office figures are in thousands) … [Read more...]
Gospel Doctrine Podcast Lesson 22, 1 Samuel 9-17
June 11, 2010 by Leave a Comment
[audio:http://media.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com/Media/MormonPodcast6.mp3] Right click here to download.Below are the podcast notes on Lesson 22, 1 Samuel 9-17. … [Read more...]
Is God Omnipotent?
June 9, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Timothy Ferris concludes his book on cosmology, The Whole Shebang, with a "Contrarian Theological Afterword." Here, he writes that if God is omnipotent, then He must have free will. And if so, He was free to make the universe in any conceivable way. But if God was constrained in some way in making the universe, for example if He could only make it in the most reasonable way, or a way that promoted human existence, then God can’t be all-powerful. To punctuate his argument, Ferris quotes … [Read more...]
Lesson 22: “The Lord Looketh on the Heart”
June 8, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Gospel Doctrine Lesson 22 presents students with an invitation to see others in the way God sees them, by looking carefully at the human soul rather than a person’s physical appearance. The lesson title derives from the story of the anointing of David as king over Israel, when the Lord declared unto the prophet Samuel,"Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but th … [Read more...]
