I’ve plugged Biblical Archaeology Review (BAR) before, a great magazine (with pictures!) aimed at laypeople interested in the history, text, interpretation, and archaeology of the Bible. (Notably, there are some LDS in there from time to time!) It’s scholarly but accessible, includes multiple perspectives, and the letters to the editor are illustrative and amusing. Worth subscribing to. Continue reading “Canaanite Santa Claus, Handel’s Messiah, and the Real St. Nicholas”
I repost this every year.
When the mission president announced to our small group of greenies that I was going to Strasbourg, France’s northeastern border, I shrugged the resigned shrug of a missionary who knew nothing about anywhere but was willing to go wherever. One of the sisters expressed jealousy; Strasbourg, she said, was one of the best cities in the mission.
She was right, and it would not be a good thing. Continue reading “A Missionary Reminiscence on Christmas in Western Europe”
I will occasionally post things from the archives, with minimal explanation or point, sometimes. Here’s a fun one recently.
Continue reading “Tales from the Archives part 1: “So, things are normal.””
Today we enter into a very interesting section of the Book of Mormon. Like the Isaiah chapters, it closely parallels a section of the Bible. Like the Isaiah chapters, there are some subtle differences. 3Ne 12-15 parallels the Sermon on the Mount, from Matthew 5-7. It’s been lined up so that if you want to compare verses (and you should!), take the Book of Mormon chapter number and subtract 7 to get the right verse in Matthew, e.g. 3 Nephi 12:48 ≈ Matthew 5:48.
Let’s compare those. Continue reading “Come Follow Me:3 Nephi 11-15”
I’m on the road, and pressed for time, but wanted to leave a brief memory and paean for Armand Mauss, an LDS sociologist, academic, disciple, and wonderful person. Some biography and other memories here from the SLTrib, here from a number of LDS scholars, here from Claremont, where he had been on the Mormon Studies Council. Continue reading “Remembering Armand Mauss and His Work”
I don’t have anything particular to say here, only that I’d like to increase my short posts with a thought, a historical observation, etc., often from my dissertation work. This is from Leonard Arrington’s journals, Dec 4, 1973, talking about the chain of command with the newly reorganized Church magazines.
Continue reading “Leonard Arrington on Church Office Culture and Magazines in 1973”
The Book of Mormon has a variable pace. Occasionally, we skip through decades or even hundreds of years on a single page. Other times, like today, Mormon’s editing moves us into super slow motion, relatively speaking. What is probably only a few hours in real time for Alma to speak to his sons occupies six full chapters, which we slow down further by breaking it up into two weeks of study. (This will be significant for understanding Alma 43 onwards, and I’ll comment further there.)
Continue reading “Come Follow Me: Alma 36-39 Notes and Suggestions”
A candle inside the Holy Sepulcher
These two chapters are loaded. First, we encounter the third member of the Unholy Trinity of antichrists in the Book of Mormon. First was Sherem (Jacob 7), then Nehor (Alma 1), now Korihor. Continue reading “Come Follow Me: Alma 30-31”
My picture, from the Kidron Valley.
This lesson has us jump to Alma’s retelling of his experience being unconscious for three days, in Alma 36. The story of Alma the Younger is actually told in three places, not just two: Mosiah 27:8-37 (roughly contemporary), Alma 36 (Alma jr. recounting to his son Helaman), and Alma 38:6-8 (Alma Jr. recounting to his son Shiblon.) Continue reading “Come Follow Me: Mosiah 25-27, Alma 36”
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 “Music for Holy Time and Holy Space”
