Gospel Doctrine Podcast 34- Hosea

September 17, 2010 By benspackman 1 Comment

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Opening clip: Loreena McKennit, “Marco Polo.”

Transcript
Notes and references [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bible, Church teaching, Podcast, Scripture 1 Comment

Jonah- the Insufficiency of the New Testament Argument

September 12, 2010 By benspackman 9 Comments

Other than tradition that Jonah is historical, there is the New Testament argument. This argument is fairly common and made by non-LDS as well as LDS, but on examination, I think it’s insufficient to prove what its proponents claim. This also applies, by the way, to Lot’s wife turning into a pillar of salt (Luke 17:32), and Job (D&C 121:10).

What’s really at stake here? Not much, I think, but perhaps an opportunity to break down a wall. Most often, I’ve seen the New Testament argument used in such a way to accuse those in the non-historical camp of lack of faith, either in God’s power, Jesus, or the scriptures. I fully believe in all three of those , but I’m also of the opinion that Jonah was meant as a didactic Israelite parable. I also affirm that Jonah is true (see my Jonah podcast) I’ll take the Institute manual (and secondarily then-Elder Joseph Fielding Smith) as my example. “That Jonah’s story is a true one, and not an allegory as some scholars maintain, is evidenced by 2 Kings 14:25 and three New Testament references.” [Read more...]

Filed Under: Church teaching, Doctrine 9 Comments

Not a smidge o’ pink here!

September 3, 2010 By Heidi Harris 10 Comments

The LDS church, if you’re new to its intricacies, has a series of programs set up for children and youth to participate in and advance through.  For the boys, this is Boy Scouts.  For the girls, this is Achievement Days for the 8-11 year-olds and Personal Progress for the teens.

This year, a new Personal Progress book was released with a smattering of updates.  I believe that the awards were even upped a notch.  Whereas before, a young woman received a necklace medallion for completing various steps in the progress, now she can add on a worker-bee pendant as well!

The book is also notably, drastically, pink.  And this pinkness is actually an important part of the program…apparently.  At its release, President Elaine Dalton made a point of it when she said, “The new Personal Progress book is pink! [well, yes it is!] It is a reminder that you are a daughter of our Heavenly Father and have unique feminine characteristics, gifts, and roles.”

Of course, this quote sure got a whole heck of a lot of attention when it first appeared–what with all its hints at gender essentialism.   Caused quite a flurry, actually.

But, most of this discussion centered around whether actual, troops-on-the-ground young women in the church actually believed any of it.  Did young women buy into the pinkness campaign?  Did young women see themselves as pink, soft, and feminine?  Would this pink-push alienate young women who felt, well, more like a “chartruse” kind of gal?

No one really, definitively could say.  [Read more...]

Filed Under: Arts, Church, Church teaching, Personal Narratives, Speculation Tagged With: 10 Comments

Easy Bible History for Dummies, with an excursis on why Persia is so much less threatening than Iran

July 15, 2010 By benspackman 9 Comments

Right about now in Gospel Doctrine classes, everyone should nearing the Divided Kingdom stories, when Jereboam breaks off and takes 10 tribes with him, and we get two Israelite kingdoms (Israel and Judah) with two Israelite kings (Reheboam and Jereboam.)

And coincidentally  right about now, it gets darn hard to keep everyone straight. Instead of one  story, we’re now switching back and forth between narrative of the northern kingdom and narrative of the southern kingdom, like in Lord of the Rings where you have multiple groups to keep track of. Worse, actually, because kings get replaced left and right, there’s a series of prophets with odd names in the north and south, and frankly even for Bible nerds and academics, it’s hard to maintain a good mental picture of who’s who and when. And frankly, I’m not going to try on the Israelite side. (Here’s a chart of the kings, dates and passages from the Institute manual. Here’s one with more data and colorized according to empire, not sure where I got this from.) [Read more...]

Pages: 1 2 3

Filed Under: Bible, Church teaching, History, Scripture 9 Comments

Podcast on Gospel Doctrine lesson 21- 1 Samuel 1-3, 8

June 3, 2010 By benspackman 7 Comments

Another one! We just keep coming. As always, if you like it, share it. Tell your Gospel Doctrine teacher, your family, those poor people stuck in Primary and Nursery who crave mental stimulation, etc…..

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Here are the notes and references which turn out to be relatively short today. They may not make much sense without the podcast itself.
[Read more...]

Filed Under: Bible, Church teaching, Doctrine, History, Podcast 7 Comments
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