For various reasons that I won’t go into here, I find the Nephi-killing-Laban episode to be the most striking story from the Book of Mormon.  If it is read as a retrospective account, it seems that Nephi or some later hand has crafted the story to certify that the killing wasn’t cold-blooded murder but an inspired killing that is beneficial both to Nephi and countless others.  In Nephi’s internal dialogue about whether or not to kill Laban, it is the... Read more

The new book American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us is based largely on a 2006 “Faith Matters” survey, conceived by some of the brightest political and religious studies minds of our time. Using their snazzy sociological doo-dads, authors Robert D. Putnam and David E. Campbell used over 3,000 responses to their two-wave panel study to check the American pulse on matters religious.1 The authors wished to take the temperature of the country’s religious affinity and hostility.  Their “feeling thermometer... Read more

The upcoming Faith and Knowledge conference for graduate students in Religious Studies is now accepting participant registration for those not giving papers. The 2011 conference schedule should soon be finalized and made available to those who register. In the past, qualified registrants have been eligible for a free hotel room for the duration of the conference in order to make it easier for graduate students to attend. The $25 registration fee helps pay for the conference expenses. Click here to... Read more

The recent conversation and Patheos about Mormon feminism is an excellent read. It features a diversity of voices, some old and some new. There are many excellent and thought provoking things worth discussing, but I want to focus on just two of the things that stood out to me. First, the way that we sometime talk about the presumed tensions between feminism and Mormonism, and second the sometimes not-so-subtle resistance to to “theory.” Both of these are issues that matter... Read more

Jesus is asked, “Who sinned, this man or his parents?” about the blind man (John 9:1-12). We take comfort in Jesus’ response that neither sinned, but neglect the narrative that Jesus offers in its place: “he was born blind so that God’s work might be revealed in him.” The story of the man’s broken body is not about sin (though this story is the narrative of many other healing miracles), but rather about God’s purpose that the man’s body may... Read more

It is pretty great being a member of the LDS Church. We have a tightly-knit, caring community. We have satisfying, coherent theology. We have a strong organizational structure that provides us with opportunity to serve and grow. I know of no other institution that better fulfils the Divine purposes of transforming our natures and getting us to care for each other. The beliefs and practices of the LDS Church do an admirable job meeting the deep human needs and longings... Read more

What does it mean to say that Joseph Smith or anyone else saw God, Jesus, angels, resurrected beings in visions? What can be claimed about deity from them? What kind of knowledge does the visionary possess and how is it acquired? Does it matter whether visions happen in the mind of the visionary while asleep, in a trance, unconscious? If not seen and heard with literal eyes and ears, must visions be discounted as non-factual, a-historical, un-true? (more…) Read more

Title: Making Sense of the New Testament: Timely Insights and Timeless Messages Authors: Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Thomas A. Wayment Publisher: Deseret Book Genre: Bible Criticism/Interpretation Year: 2010 Pages: 582, includes bibliographical references and index ISBN13: 9781606416686 Binding: Hardcover Price: 34.99 Deseret Book tends to publish books like this each year when the Sunday School focus switches to a new part of the LDS canon. I was previously impressed by Steven Harper’s Making Sense of the Doctrine and Covenants so... Read more

“S/he knows all the dirt and still believes.” Often this kind of statement is taken as evidence that since someone who “knows” more, is smarter, or more experienced is able to navigate the “dirt,” it must be okay for someone who is less informed to believe too. In some interesting discussions on our back channel, the question has arisen, are these two beliefs in fact the same? One problem that we potentially face in analyzing this question is that often... Read more