Losing a Lost Tribe
The 2nd post ever on this blog was Why are the 12 Tribes of Israel important? I’ve seen some interesting documentaries, one from a Jewish-atheist journalist, Simcha Jacobovich asking Have the Lost 10...
View ArticleChristmas Celebration and Sadness
Christmas is supposed to be a time of celebration of the Savior’s birth. For many, however, it can be a time of depression and sadness. My wife likes to go to Festival of Trees every year to view the...
View ArticleA Different Take on the Samaritan Story
I want to subtitle this post: Defending the Priest and the Levite. Not long ago, we had a lesson in priesthood on the Good Samaritan. This is one of my favorite parables, but the lesson quickly...
View ArticleBook Review: Joseph’s Seer Stones
Book cover contains artist’s painting of Joseph’s white seer stone I was pleased that Deseret Book sent me a copy of Joseph Smith’s Seer Stones to review. I know a lot of people have complained church...
View ArticleThe Prodigal Daughter
My daughter is going to girls camp soon, and the stake recently invited Al Fox Carraway to speak. I have seen people post info about her on Facebook, but wasn’t really familiar with her. It was...
View ArticleSunstone Testimonies 2015
I’m a few weeks late with my recap of Sunstone. The one thing about Sunstone is that you can find all kinds of different sessions, both pro and anti church. People seem to concentrate on the...
View ArticleMormon Pageant Season
This year my family has tried to attend several pageants (Manti Pageant, Hill Cumorah Pageant) but schedules haven’t worked out. Last night, we attended the Clarkston Pageant. Never heard of it?...
View ArticleAtheist in a Foxhole: The Tillman Story
Pat Tillman pictured as a soldier, and NFL linebacker I watched an interesting documentary last week, The Tillman Story. Pat Tillman played NFL football for the Arizona Cardinals, and unexpectedly...
View ArticlePosts Restored – Back to the Present
Many of you have noticed a blast from the past on my blog. Back in Feb 2013, my host server crashed and I had to back up my blog and try to restore it. I picked WordPress.com, thinking that was a...
View ArticleDan Vogel takes on Mormonism Unvailed
Mormon scholar Dan Vogel and Signature Books have teamed up to produce a scholarly update to the first anti-Mormon book ever written, Mormonism Unvailed. The book is due to be released on April 20,...
View ArticleD&C 132 and Other Men’s Wives
One of the things I love about blogging is that it helps me learn, and better articulate my positions. I’m not sure why polygamy is such a hot topic lately, but it is. I enjoyed Kristine A’s post at...
View ArticleThe Christmas Star in BoM
When I was a child, I was always excited about putting the Star on top of our Christmas tree. The story of the Christmas star is found in the Book of Matthew: Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of...
View ArticleHebrew in America?
It’s been a long time since I discussed Book of Mormon Geography Theories. Every so often, I get an email from the FIRM Foundation. Basically Rodney Meldrum has proposed a theory in which he believes...
View ArticleThe Circumstances of Evil
We would like to think that we would always choose good over evil, but is that always the case? This is part 3 of my series on a documentary, The Science of Evil. In Part 1, I discussed Jeffrey’s...
View ArticleMormons Being Proselytized
Kody and his 4 wives from left to right: Meri, Robyn, Jeanine, Christine Mormons are know for proselytizing other faiths, rather than being the subject of being proselyted. I hadn’t considered why...
View ArticleThe Book of Mormon: An Imperfect Book?
Signature Books sent me an advance copy of An Imperfect Book by Earl M. Wunderli, and it is due to be released tomorrow, June 17. (Perhaps it’s a great gift for that non-believing dad for Father’s...
View ArticleEaster Mourning
A 73 year old man with arthritis, failing kidneys, and other health problems died last Tuesday. I didn’t know him very well (I’ll call him Gene), but I knew his daughter. During the funeral yesterday,...
View ArticleMagi from China
A few years ago, Revelation of the Magi was first translated into English. I’ve wanted to blog about it for a time, but now seems appropriate. According to ABC News, An ancient text called the...
View ArticleReassessing the Birth of Jesus
In a 2010 article in BYU Studies, Professor Jeffrey R. Chadwick of BYU made the case that Jesus was born in December of 5 BC. In the most recent issue of BYU studies, professors Lincoln Blumel and...
View ArticleQ&A with Terryl and Fiona Givens
What a week! I had the pleasure of attending sessions with both Ron Paul and Terryl Givens. Now I have to choose whether to write about Ron Paul, or Terryl Givens. Tough choice. Given that...
View Article