Mormon Bloggers

In various work environments have established safety policies and procedures. In my former place of employment, an employee had to be cognizant of his/her surrounding areas. If something went wrong, there are specific Lock Out Tag and Try procedures that must be performed in order to safely work on the machine, remove any fiberboard that [...]  Read More →

So often, the argument is made among differing Christian theologies over whether salvation is by faith or whether salvation is by works (i.e obedience / righteousness)?  There are quite a few verses in the New Testament that seem to suggest salvation is by faith only, but then again, there are quite a few that say we’re judged by works and obedience is necessary to gain heaven.  And depending on which idea someone favors the most, those are the verses they point at to “prove” their point. It is rare when any major Christian doctrine can be “proven” by a few verses.  One verse can be interpreted so many different ways.  That is why reading a lot of scripture is so important.  At first pass, a single verse or two may appear to communicate one idea, but when read entirely, with the surrounding verses, its meaning can change when put in context.  And as we gather many verses on the same topic and string them together, they all shed... Read the rest of this entry »

I draw on others’ words a lot.  The most useful are those that belong to Jesus Christ or his representatvies.  I’ve been having a lot of thoughts this week about a certain text from Christ‘s “Sermon on the Mount.”  In Matthew 7:13-14, the Man of Galilee said, “Enter ye in at the astrait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” A while back a friend of mine taught me to solve the Rubik’s cube.  I’ll be honest; I never ever would have figured it out by myself.  There are certain patterns that must be followed exactly if you are to solve it.  There’s no way of getting around it; you have to move it in the right ways even when it appears not to make sense.   But as long as you follow the patterns, it is the... Read the rest of this entry »

The father looks up wistfully from his reading; another argument and another angry outburst of frustration. It had been only a couple of years yesterday when his youngest son announced that he and his young family had left The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And when his son came to visit with his [...]  Read More →

This is a pansy Look to your right.  This is a pansy.   It gets it’s name from the French word pensée, meaning “thought.”  It has been used by some as a symbol for free-thought and the throwing-off of what some call the “tyranny or religion” and tradition.  The axiom of this line of thought is, “It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence,”1   and its titles are many.Faith has been slighted by the pansy.  Faith is sadly misunderstood.  Therefore, faith has been left out in the cold.  Atheists say, “I don’t believe that God exists.”  Agnostic say, “I don’t know whether or not God exists.”  Ignostics say, “I don’t know what you mean when you say, ‘God exists.’”  Or, if invited in, has not been treated as the honored guest it should be.  Every day I meet people... Read the rest of this entry »

Particular doctrines, specific beliefs, and sacred rites of passages of most religions set forth, in what James Talmage refers to as, “formulated creeds” (Talmage, 1976). One of the very first of these creeds ever to have established did not come out of the First Century of the Common Era but came out of the third [...]  Read More →

In 1967 (the year I was baptized), Richard D. Poll delivered a sermon in the Palo Alto ward in which he coined the terms Iron Rod Saint and Liahona Saint. The sermon was reprinted in Dialogue and the Saints’ Herald, and was also later published in the essay anthology A Thoughtful Faith (1986, Philip Barlow, ed.). What follows is one of a few entries on the iron rod, the liahona, and impressions about Brother Poll’s essay. In this month’s general conference, I heard two references to the iron rod. I don’t know if it was mentioned more than usual, but it was enough that I took notice and went back and counted. Sister Wixom and Sister Cook both spoke of it. And there were no references to the liahona that I noticed. The mention of the iron rod got me thinking enough that we had a family night on the two this week. We know the iron rod comes from Lehi’s vision of the Tree of Life. It is a means of conveying people safely from their starting point through... Read the rest of this entry »

Gordon B. Hinckley: Prophet of God. (If you would like to hear the talk without any of the music, which I would rather post, then go here and these remarks start at 9:48)  Read More →

Timothy Plumlee, an Associate Content Contributor, had written an article that makes a very weak attempt at discrediting the LDS Church. While you can still read my response to him at my AC page, the conversations are a bit entertaining, especially coming from him. I have pulled my comments and his comments together to share [...]  Read More →

The other day, I happened to post on Mormon Apologetics Discussion Board a brief and quick topic on the parallelism that exists between some of those on the Liberal side of politic’s and those who are critic’s of the Mormon faith. In full context, here is the original posting. Recently, I started listening to AM [...]  Read More →

  Arthur Henry King by Nathan Florence   Wow! The new semester starts, with new classes and a new calling, and my blogging goes down the drain! I made a goal this week with some wonderful new friends that I would blog, though, so I planned all week to get here. I met with a member of our Stake Presidency a month ago, and we got talking about our common interests in philosophy and education. He pointed me towards a book, Arm the Children, by Arthur Henry King. It is a book of speeches and papers Brother King wrote on teaching and having faith in the contemporary world. From what I understand, Arthur Henry King converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when he was later in his life. He was raised Quaker (which I assume led to his unique perspective on some of our cultural habits), in England, where he learned to love the hundred books or so that his home held. From the love of reading those few books he went on to become the predominant scholar of Shakespeare... Read the rest of this entry »

In my last post I talked about how we obey for different reasons. Lehi was motivated to obey out of gratitude and love for his Father in Heaven, whereas Laman and Lemuel were obedient because of fear. It is interesting to observe the process that Nephi followed to become obedient for the right reasons. Verse 16, in 1 Nephi Chapter 2, explains the process Nephi went through to become more obedient to the Lord: 2:16 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers. The process Nephi experienced, simply put, is a desire to know, and the willingness to ask. I believe the Lord gives this same instruction when He admonishes us to “seek and ye shall find, knock... Read the rest of this entry »