Author: jonathan
An Unforgettable Conference
I have wondered ever since President Nelson said, …the year 2020 will be designated as a bicentennial year. General conference next April will be different from any previous conference. …general conference next April will be not only memorable; it will be unforgettable. 2019, October, Russell M. Nelsonᵈ, ‘Closing Remarks,’ Liahona, November 2019, ¶¶ 38, 40 > > Read More …
Weekly Whine
Will there ever come a time when I no longer loath writing? Consider this note written to my children on Sunday, November 30, 2008 (highlight added). The big news this week: I finished [my] second “reformat the Book of Mormon” project. This time, it reads in more of a paragraph form. I wouldn’t have expected > > Read More …
Rethinking Alma 32
Joy had been reading here. I was driving. She read to me in order to help me stay alert. It was familiar, but then, it wasn’t. We had to reread it four times. Once again, we spent our entire lives entirely missing the point. Sorry Alma. I used to think the point was to experiment > > Read More …
Take Away the Sins of the World?
How exactly does Jesus Christ take away [erase, eliminate, remove, abolish] the sins of the world? That was a question I asked a few weeks back. The idea of Jesus’ atonement paying the price of sin, or redeeming from the just consequence of sin (i.e., curse; punishment) on conditions of repentance, made sense (to a > > Read More …
The Gymnast — A Parable
An unfortunate accident at age twelve ended any aspirations that Frank, his coach, parents, and others had for him competing in the Olympics. While devastating, the accident did not blunt his love for gymnastics. Though he would never again compete, he continued a rigorous physical training lifestyle. Moreover, although not his original goal, his love > > Read More …
The Chiasmus of Chiasmuses
This is a request for anyone who might happen to follow this blog (I really don’t know that anyone does, which is just fine with me :- ). Am I missing anything significant? Have you seen anything like this before (if so, reference)? It should be self explanatory, but please note the items in column > > Read More …
More Nibbles
The Glory of the World In Sacrament meeting, the speaker commented on how curious it is that Satan tempted Jesus by offering the Creator a portion of His creation (my words, not his): Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the > > Read More …
Stuck In The Middle…
You know the song, right? Last night I was reading a history excerpt about various rational cultures, now extinct (or nearly so) because they resisted signing on to one of the absurd extremes. In this case, those who rejected the Jewish vs Christian polemics are lost. It is an extremely interesting historical interpretation, and provided > > Read More …
Confounded
Several weeks ago in Sunday School, we were discussing the sacrament in context of 1 Corinthians 11:23-34. I’d like to be non-critical, but the discussion was pretty much the same doctrines I have come to loath (not the people, the doctrines). With the topic (and time) winding down, I offered that while all that was > > Read More …