Recently, Dan Ellsworth blogging at Mormon Mentality: Thoughts and Asides by Peculiar People wrote a nice introduction to Peter Enns’, The Bible Tells Me So. His review provides links to some helpful resources, including a Maxwell Institute podcast with Dr. Enns. Read more
“Do not contend or debate over points of doctrine. The Master warned that ‘the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil.’ (3 Ne. 11:29.) We are inconsistent if we resort to Satanic tactics in attempting to achieve righteous ends. Such inconsistency results only in frustration, loss of the Spirit, and ultimate defeat. Remember, ‘We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same... Read more
Anyone interested in the topic of scholarship as a spiritual pursuit should certainly consider the writings of Hugh Nibley. I would especially recommend his classic essay, “Zeal Without Knowledge.” It’s wonderful, to say the least. Yet as great as it is, perhaps my own favorite part of the essay is the introduction given on page 261 in the collection titled, Nibley on the Timely and the Timeless. For Nibley, education was a spiritual rather than a secular pursuit. He writes:... Read more
Mormonism is a cerebral religion. Much like Jews, Mormons worship through education. True, we have sacred temple ritual, and yes, we engage in prayer, sacrament, and hymns, but primarily, our Sunday worship consists in developing the mind. We devote most of our “hour-plus” sacrament meeting to lay persons sharing information they have studied. We then move to Sunday School where we spend a second hour of our Sabbath worship devoted to scripture study, and before we’re done, we move on... Read more
The question of historicity, meaning the actuality of persons and events verified through historical inquiry, is a central concern for many contemporary readers of sacred texts. Ancient authors, however, did not typically share this interest. Biblical authors were not historians, at least not in the modern sense of the term. They were storytellers. Their accounts were certainly sacred, but they were also entertaining, and sometimes even political and crude. Biblical stories tell us something about the way their respective authors... Read more
Classes start January 12th at the University of Utah. I’m teaching a new course that explores issues connected with historical Jesus studies that investigate his life and teachings in the context of 1st century Judaism. Really looking forward to this experience. It’s not too late to register… Historical Jesus Read more
Inspiring thoughts from a prominent LDS philosopher and theologian: “There is no joy in life, it seems to me, except the joy of creation. Creator is a name, an honored name, of Deity, and when God created man, he breathed into him part of his life, the urge to create, to build, to learn, to think, and to take old images and make them new. God has planted deeply in us the need to reproduce, to learn, and to build.... Read more
The Bible was not written in a historical vacuum. It was produced in a world vastly different from our own. To uncover the way an ancient audience might have interpreted a biblical text (or even what its original author may have meant), scholars draw upon archeological and textual sources from the ancient Near East. This approach makes sense. Mesopotamian (and to a lesser extent, Egyptian) texts directly influenced biblical authors, and the archeological record indicates that Israelite culture descended directly... Read more
Biblical prophets were passionately concerned with the working function of the Israelite cult, especially the way external ritual related to personal thought as well as both individual and communal repentance. We see this quite clearly in a number of prophetic texts. Through the prophet Amos, for example, we encounter some very explicit religious criticisms. Amos presents the God of Israel saying: I loathe, I spurn your festivals, I am not appeased by your solemn assemblies. 22 If you offer Me... Read more
It’s essential for readers of the Bible to be aware of the distinctions between ancient versus modern perceptions. This is especially true for prophetic texts and stories that often confuse contemporary readers. The religious practices and traditions in the Bible did not emerge in a cultural vacuum. Studies in Near Eastern texts show that biblical prophecy was a practice related to concepts and performances that existed outside of ancient Israel. Prophecy, in fact, was a widespread phenomenon throughout the ancient... Read more
When Gods Were Men
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