First, if you haven’t read my post on 2Ne 1-2, you need to; it establishes that the implicit background of these chapters is covenantal and Mosaic, which is key to understanding what happens in these chapters. Continue reading
Category: teaching
The New “Answering Gospel Questions,” Part 1: Introduction
On Dec 18, the Church announced a new section, “Guiding Principles to Help Answer Gospel Questions.” This goes along with the updated “Topics and Questions” which include both the longer and older “Gospel Topics Essays” and the much shorter “Gospel Topics.” This is quite interesting.
Scrooge, Jacob, and Forgiveness: A Christmas Message
This is one of several posts I will update and repost each year at the appropriate season. This was originally a Sacrament Meeting sermon I preached.
Christmas is a season of generosity, of new beginnings, of babies, family… and ghosts of the past who haunt our lives and our minds. Sometimes they are of our own creating. Remembering them can help us change.
Continue reading
Covenant, Law, Grace, Works, and Faith: Understanding the Contexts of Scripture (updated)
Let me open by saying that this is a wide-ranging and complex subject. I may well prove to be wrong on this or that point. I may be missing important nuances here or there, and it’s a bit scattered and repetitive. Let’s get those disclaimers out of the way and talk about this important subject. Continue reading
Five Ways We Can Misread Paul and How to Avoid Doing So
Since we’re about to start Paul’s letters, I thought I’d share this. It’s an expansion of a handout I’ve used sometimes about five common ways we misread Paul with modern, Western eyes. (Misreading with Western Eyes is one of the Top 5 I books recommend)
The Longer (and More Important?) Abraham Story
I want to clarify why Genesis 22 unrolls the way it does. Isaac isn’t the sacrifice there just because “it’s the most horrific thing we can think of.” Abraham’s test goes far beyond that, but in order to grasp it, we have to start back in Genesis 12, and see how the events unfold, culminating with Isaac. Genesis 22 is thus intimately connected to the events of the preceding chapters, and if we ignore them, we misunderstand. This is one of those times we look so much at one tree that we miss the forest around it. Edit: As Ardis Parshall pointed out to me, all of this shows that the command to sacrifice Isaac in Genesis 22 was not arbitrary nor is it “out of the blue.”
Implicit Context Revisited: Genesis and Sports Analogies!
I got this note from a friend, and am posting it with permission. I’ve edited slightly for identity and readability. I don’t really do sports analogies. While I am very active in several things, I don’t follow any teams or watch any sports. Everything below is from my friend, until the very end.
Reading the Scriptures Jesus Read: An Old Testament Intro for HS Students who didn’t Get It
Having messed up the audio recording of this fireside the first time, I repeated it over Zoom for some Seminary teachers.
Nels Nelson on LDS Preaching, Teaching, and the Life of the Mind
I’ve been thinking a good bit, and collecting various notes and ideas, around something Betsy VanDenBerghe said to me on Facebook.
What comes out of our mouths, as Jesus said, reflects the state of our hearts and minds, what we’ve been reading and contemplating, and coming to conclusions about…. The quality of your talk, sermon, or lesson will not exceed the quality of what you’ve been reading and thinking about.
If our spiritual diet mostly consists of Twinkies, social media, and a few minutes of scripture before bed, well, that’s not good for the quality of our discussions with family, friends, neighbors, and students. Continue reading
Interpreting Scripture, History, Science, and Creation: A Free Course by Me!
Red brick store in Nauvoo, where the first endowments were done on May 4, 1842.
Edit: I’ve added this syllabus to the main menu at left, and simplified the url for easy access, to http://BenSpackman.com/syllabus
May 4th holds significance in LDS history: it’s the day Joseph Smith introduced temple ordinances in the upper room of the red brick store in 1842. The temple ties together a number of questions, like: Continue reading
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