President Durrant, Ponderize, and an Invitation to Chill Out

Last updated on: October 13, 2015 at 1:18 pm By Blair Van Dyke

A post to those critical of President Devin Durrant’s most recent conference talk wherein he introduced ponderize to the Church. Yesterday, I wrote about cultural curiosities within Mormonism. What we buy, what we sell, fads, jello, etc. I recommended that ponderize creates opportunities to discuss Mormon culture with children and friends. The response to yesterday’s post was varied and interesting and leads me to what you are about to read, for good or ill. I want to provide a civil... Read more

Pondering Ponderizing

Last updated on: October 12, 2015 at 5:51 pm By Blair Van Dyke

It has been just over one week since the fateful day that a new word was coined for Mormons everywhere. I’ve been pondering ponderizing. I like the idea. Many of my students have been ponderizing since Devin Durrant introduced the curious, yet very memorable term to the Church. I applaud the intentions of ponderizing and her simple and effective application. I am most interested in the opportunity this provides to explore Mormon culture. I want to briefly consider aspects of... Read more

Yes! Jesus’ Wine Was Alcoholic!

Last updated on: October 10, 2015 at 10:22 pm By Blair Van Dyke

Wine in the New Testament is alcoholic. Period. Historical revisionists, that are also Mormon, are prone to overlay Joseph Smith’s 1833 revelation—the Word of Wisdom—over first century life and biblical texts. Well, the Word of Wisdom was not applicable to the first century so please stop it. The ancients had their own eating code situated in the Law of Moses and fermented wine was not problematic under that code. Rather than forbidden, wine was essential to daily life and a... Read more

The Olympic Games of World Religions

Last updated on: October 10, 2015 at 10:24 am By Blair Van Dyke

It has been 22 years since the Parliament of the World’s Religions was held in the United States. It has never been held in Utah. Next week (October 15-19) 10,000 people representing 80 nations and 50 different religious traditions will converge on Salt Lake City for one of the largest, if not the largest, religious and interfaith conferences in the world. It will be held at the Salt Palace. My observation up to this point is that many Utahns are... Read more

Women at Church

Last updated on: October 9, 2015 at 8:42 am By Blair Van Dyke

Just over one year ago Neylan McBaine published Women at Church. A few notes about the book. First of all, it is a timely publication that reached Mormonism at a high-point of the Kate Kelley ordain women movement. Neylan provided an alternate voice enlisting recommendations to heighten the status of women in the Church but doing son while working with the framework of the hierarchy. Her approach is cooperative and conciliatory and her tone is constructive and removed from the... Read more

Mr. Priest, I Refuse to Call You “Father”

Last updated on: October 8, 2015 at 3:00 pm By Blair Van Dyke

I grew up in anti-Catholic Mormonism. Catholicism was the “Great and Abominable Church” and it was the “Whore of All the Earth.” The Catholic Church damaged the Bible. Priests tampered with and lifted large blocks of the text out of the Bible leaving the sacred book only partially complete and difficult to interpret. It went from plain to opaque thanks to the work, over many centuries, of the Catholics. The Catholic Church was like a tree rotten at the roots... Read more

Hey Mormons! No Such Thing as an Evangelical Church

Last updated on: October 7, 2015 at 12:31 pm By Blair Van Dyke

This blog is intended to correct a common misperception about Evangelicalism on the part of many Mormons. It is this: there is no such thing as an “Evangelical Church” yet Mormons frequently operate under the assumption that there is such a church. Let me explain. Generally, when a Mormon thinks of a church they visualize a central organization with a building, an address, a headquarters somewhere in the world, perhaps even a hierarchical structure to look to in order to... Read more

Jesus, the World’s Greatest Champion of Women

Last updated on: October 5, 2015 at 9:50 pm By Blair Van Dyke

Jewish women of first century Palestine were severely limited. Like the greater Greco-Roman world, Jewish culture of Jesus’ day was staunchly patriarchal and, generally speaking, a woman was to remain unobserved in public life. Prior to her marriage she answered entirely to her father and it was preferred that she not leave the home at all. Furthermore, if the situation warranted it, her father could sell her into slavery before she came of age to marry. It is not surprising,... Read more

Gun Control, the Second Amendment & Christian Pacifism

Last updated on: October 4, 2015 at 1:38 pm By Blair Van Dyke

I am a gun enthusiast. I own several guns—rifles, handguns, shotguns. If you’re not a gun aficionado you likely cannot appreciate the tactile pleasure associated with picking up a finely crafted gun. Balanced, solid, and ergonomically designed to create oneness between the shooter and the firearm. I suppose you either get this or you don’t. I don’t know if President Obama can appreciate my affection for guns. But that’s really not relevant to support nor refute what I am going... Read more

President Nelson’s Blood Money

Last updated on: October 2, 2015 at 5:48 pm By Blair Van Dyke

Concerning sacrifices. Biotic rapport is a distinct tie between the life and livelihood of the sacrificer. J. H. Kurtz, a biblical scholar, explained that “it was not sufficient that the sacrifice be merely the property of the person offering it; on the contrary, it was requisite that it should stand in close, inward, essential relation . . . to the person of the worshipper.” President Russel M. Nelson provided a good illustration of biotic rapport. He explained that as we... Read more