Somehow, I missed this well-written little essay on the PBS website when it appeared back in late September.  (I think I was traveling.)   If you haven’t read it, take a look:   http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/found-mormon-faith/     Read more

    “Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.” St. Augustine (d. AD 430)     Read more

    And no, just to be clear, she’s not a Mormon bishop:   http://www.truthandaction.org/first-lesbian-bishop-orders-church-crosses-replaced-islamic-symbols/   Incidentally, let me state for the record that I don’t think that Muslims should hide their symbols or disguise their places of worship, either.  Someone wrote to me a couple of days ago, protesting my supposedly long history of contempt for Islam and hatred for Muslims.  I spent roughly four hours in a mosque last night, through two salat prayers.     Read more

    Luke 19:1-10 Compare Matthew 18:11   There are at least two major points to draw from this brief passage:   (1)  The Lord has no hesitation about working with people who are perceived as bad, and neither should we.   (2)  Those who are perceived as bad sometimes aren’t.  Zacchaeus was thought to be an evil man because he was both a “chief tax collector” (ἀρχιτελώνης)and “rich” (πλούσιος).  But, in fact, he was giving half of his possessions to... Read more

    http://liahonaguidedtours.com/gt15u1503ldsmaw/   On Dr. Mark Wright, see here.   Anybody wanna pay my way?     Read more

    Matthew 20:29-34 Mark 10:46-52 Luke 18:35-43 Compare Matthew 9:27-31; Luke 18:31-34   Left to itself, humanity is blind.  So, no matter how much the crowd mocks and derides us (see 1 Nephi 8:26-28 and 1 Nephi 11:35-36), we should all implore the Lord to touch our eyes, so that we can see.  And then, when we’re able to see, we should follow him.  “Immediately,” as these texts say.  (The Greek varies.  It’s εὐθέως in Matthew, εὐθὺς in Mark, and παραχρῆμα in Luke.... Read more

    http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/church-participates-global-interfaith-gathering-salt-lake-city   I participated on a panel there yesterday afternoon.  I think it went pretty well.  At least, nobody threw anything and the questions weren’t insulting.     Read more

    An interesting question and an interesting answer:   https://medium.com/starts-with-a-bang/ask-ethan-110-what-did-the-sky-look-like-when-earth-first-formed-23e4c30082a3     Read more

    Matthew 20:20-28 Mark 10:35-45 Compare Matthew 23:11; Mark 9:35; Luke 9:48; 12:50; 22:24-27; John 13:4-5, 12-17   It’s oddly comforting to learn that even the apostles James and John were very human, flawed like the rest of us.  That offers hope that we, too, can be saved.   What’s also significant here, though, is the thorough “transvaluation of values” taught by Jesus.  Greatness comes not through lordship and status, but through servanthood.     Read more

    Quite by chance, I actually caught a few minutes of the first episode of Quantico, in re-run.  I saw what happened to the Mormon character, though I wasn’t quite as irritated by it as advance notice had suggested that I, as a Mormon, might be.  (I mean, I don’t think it’s altogether impossible that a returned missionary could have some dark secret to hide and, eventually, trying to protect it and ridden by guilt, turn into a homicidal loon.  After... Read more