My musical tastes are… eclectic. But on days like Good Friday, when I want music to orient myself towards the sacred, the holy, the divine, the cosmic, the music I like tends to share several imprecise elements. Continue reading
Author: benspackman
Come Follow Me: Enos, Jarom, Omni, Words of Mormon
Sundown over Galilee (my pic)
We often assert that the Book of Mormon is historical in nature, and necessarily so, in my view. But we must equally recognize that it’s historical nature certainly does not mean it was written as modern history, with our expectations about what history-writing means. Continue reading
Joseph Fielding Smith’s Assumptions
I’m happy to report my proposal for the American Academy of Religion (AAR) national conference has been accepted. AAR traditionally meets with the Society of Biblical Literature in a massive multi-day conference attended by thousands. This year it’s in Boston, mid/late November. I pray by then we’ll be back to some kind of normalcy. (NB: I withdrew due to covid, and never presented the paper.) Continue reading
Suggestions for Missionaries in Lockdown
I have a young friend currently serving a mission in Norway, who is confined to her apartment except for groceries and cabin-fever prevention walks. She asked me to send her some reading, which prompted this post.
Missionaries tend to be out and about. Being in an apartment with minimal internet or personal connection can lead to feelings of wasted time and lack of utility. But it’s also a real opportunity for missionaries to dedicate time they wouldn’t otherwise have to some intensive and important study, about our own scriptures (especially the Book of Mormon), scripture we share with other Christians (especially the New Testament), or Church history and doctrine. Continue reading
The Most Important Question I’ve Been Asked
March 2020 I recently did two firesides: one on how Latter-day Saints came to read scripture in stark anti-evolutionary ways, the other on making sense of LDS creation accounts in light of what we know about both scripture and science.
During the Q&A, a young sister missionary assigned to the Visitor’s Center asked a practical question.
As missionaries, what can we do to promote this kind of understanding as we teach the simple truths of the Gospel?
March Madness! With books and deals!
I’ve been a user of Logos for almost 20 years. It’s my research library. I’ve written about how to use its free software; you buy the books, and can buy extra functionality, but you can download and get a lot of usage out of it for free. My previous posts about using Logos to get at Greek and Hebrew (instead of using Strong’s) here and here. I made some video demos, and there are many more on the logos.com site.
Every March, Logos holds March Madness uh, March Matchups. It’s a little different every year, but books, authors, or collections go into a bracket, and users vote. Every week, the winners move forward, with increasing discounts, until there is only one. The winning books/collections this year get 60% off, which can be significant. Below is my “voting guide” for LDS users. Continue reading
Two Firesides in the DC on the Temple, Science, and LDS Interpretation of Scripture
It’s been a remarkably good Monday morning. Chilly, but I scored a $72 long-sleeve Merino wool bike jersey for $18 recently, and so went out for a 24-mile ride in 40 degree weather.
Chilaquiles!
Made myself chilaquiles afterwards. Bit of a foodie here. (This has been rewritten afterwards, since it was an announcement.)
Come Follow Me: 2 Nephi 11-25
Today, like the Titanic and the iceberg, we arrive at the dreaded Isaiah chapters. Continue reading
Robert Alter, at BYU and Amazon
Robert Alter is an emeritus professor of Hebrew, Literature, and Jewish Studies at UC-Berkeley. He recently completed his entire translation and commentary on the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament, in traditional Christian terms). It’s a lovely 3-volume hardcover set retailing for $125. However, [ad link] Amazon frequently sells it for about $65, sometimes with a checkbox coupon for another $20 off. That’s is a screaming deal on the magnum opus of a wonderful scholar, Continue reading
How to Build Resilient Faith: An Almost Ensign Article
In late 2014, I heard the story of a friend of a friend who had lost faith and left the Church. I wished there was something semi-authoritative I could have pointed to which would have shifted this person’s paradigm in healthier and more robust directions. Yes, there’s lots of material like that… but not directly published by the Church. Frustrated I couldn’t find something, I decided to write it myself, for catharsis. I did a little research, wrote up an article in Ensign style, and passed it around to some academic and Church-employed friends, who encouraged me to submit it. To my surprise, the article received enthusiastic acceptance, was given a contract number, and set to run some time in 2016…
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