Old Faith Blog

Orson Scott Card's latest MormonTimes.com  column is a reflection on Hugh Nibley. As one who has read most of his work, I can appreciate what Card has to say about him: My father knew I was interested in the Book of Mormon; he also knew that I was frustrated with the amount of nonsense -- bad reasoning, shoddy scholarship, gross overreaching -- that pervaded the books then available that tried to "prove" the Book of Mormon through archaeology. Hugh Nibley's book did none of the things that had made me so unhappy with the others. Instead, he studied the text of the Book of Mormon closely, and treated it, not as something to be proven, but as something that was true. The Book of Mormon, Nibley showed me, is not trying to prove its own genuineness, it's trying to get people to repent of their sins and accept the Atonement of Christ. But the culture is there -- it simply isn't explained or pointed out, because that wasn't the writers' purpose.

Scientists and religious leaders call for an end to the fighting over the legacy of Charles Darwin. This week, the bicentennial of his birth is being celebrated throughout the world. Brigham Young University has a series of lectures planned throughout the week that I will be attending on Wednesday evening. I'm sure this article was timely released. An excerpt: "Evolution, we believe, has become caught in the crossfire of a religious battle in which Darwin himself had little personal interest. "We respectfully encourage those who reject evolution to weigh the now overwhelming evidence, hugely strengthened by recent advances in genetics, which testifies to the theory's validity. "At the same time, we respectfully ask those contemporary Darwinians who seem intent on using Darwin's theory as a vehicle for promoting an anti-theistic agenda to desist from doing so as they are, albeit unintentionally, turning people away from the theory. "In this year of all ...

This video is making it's way around the blogosphere. It's a slideshow collection of the Mark Mabry "Reflections of Christ" photography project. It is accompanied by the hymn "Come Thou Fount". It is a beautiful collection of photos depicting the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Reflections of Christ - Mark Mabry

I delivered this talk in Sacrament meeting on January 25th, 2009: [Good morning brothers and sisters.] I am privileged for this opportunity to speak here in Sacrament meeting and pray that the Spirit has been with me as I prepared this talk. Before I begin though, I’d like to just share a few updates on my family. My son is in his first year of primary and from what I can tell, he really enjoys it. I think there are six or seven kids in his class and knowing how rambunctious those kids are, all I have to say is that the Bishop owes Sister Ferguson big time! Julieta is teaching full time in primary and has quite the class herself. I’m really proud of how well she’s handled her kids. I can see how much she loves them and they love her in the way they’re quick to give her a hug. She has also been enjoying Activity Days with Sister Smith and Sister Parry. For myself, and I say this with true sincerity, I have really enjoyed Gospel Doctrine and the opportunity to lead our discussions on the...

Chris Brown, writing for LDSFreemen.com , gives an excellent critique of the argument that money, and subsequently capitalism, is evil. The article can be found here and includes much on the government's monopoly power to print baseless money. An excerpt: Of course, money is a good thing, although it—like most things—can be used for evil purposes. It is simply a medium of exchange, used to serve as a common denominator, which then makes more exchange possible. Money is actually useful and necessary in a complex society, allowing a society to move from barter to more advanced civilization. It helps the entrepreneur allocate resources according to their relative prices, and provides the ability to calculate revenues and expenses, profits and losses. It facilitates specialization and the division of labor. In short, it makes economic calculation possible. But the love of money is something very different; for the love of anything over God would be breaking the first commandment, of l...

ABC's Nightline  aired an 8 minute special on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints last night. I thought it did a fair job and featured interviews with Apostles Ballard and Cook. It's nice seeing the Church get access to this type of exposure. The link below, I am unable to embed it here. Mormon Temple Revealed - Nightline

A week ago, I saw headlines all over Google News from various media outlets reporting on new findings published in the January 1st edition of  Pediatrics . The headlines included "Virginity Pledges Don't Stop Teen Sex" by CBS, "Virginity pledges don't mean much" by CNN, and "Premarital Abstinence Pledges Ineffective, Study Finds" by the Washington Post. Reading the articles lead one to believe that abstinence pledge or not, all teens were equally promiscuous. The unfortunate thing is that such a conclusion is not based on the actual study used to write those articles. Here to clear up the half-truths delivered by these "elite" media outlets is William McGurn writing for  The Wall Street Journal . The article can be  found here . The introduction: The chain reaction was something out of central casting. A medical journal starts it off by announcing a study comparing teens who take a pledge of virginity until marriage with those who don...

I recently wrote this profile on the topic "Service in the Mormon Church" for my writing class at school. -- Service in the Mormon Church - July, 2008 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon Church, is unique in many ways. From its American founding to its doctrine as a restoration of the original church of Jesus Christ, one of the most unique characteristics of the Mormon Church can be easily observed on any given Sunday. The characteristic of which I refer to is its organization comprised of a lay ministry, that is, a voluntary ministry performed by members both young and old; members who have no formal training and may serve in very different capacities throughout their lives. In the words of Terryl Givens, professor of literature and religion at Virginia's Richmond University, "The value of [this] system is that it prevents religion from ever becoming a spectator sport. One doesn't go to church to be ministered to, but to min...

Church Historian for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Elder Marlin K. Jensen responds to an insidious article by New York Times writer Timothy Egan who claims that the modern day practice of polygamy by the FLDS church mirrors that of the 19th-century LDS church, on May 5, 2008 : "In the April 23, 2008 online-edition of The New York Times, Timothy Egan wrote a post on the Outposts blog claiming that the way polygamy is practiced today by members of the FLDS sect in Eldorado, Texas is the same as it was practiced by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) in the 19th century. While most people know that Mormons abandoned the practice of polygamy at the end of the 19th century, it's also important to understand that the conditions surrounding the practice of polygamy in Texas today bear little resemblance to the plural marriage practiced by Mormons more than a century ago. In fact, a closer look at history contradicts the simple redu...

Hunting Season for the Saints I wrote the below two and half years ago and have decided to post it here. What I wrote is my opinion on the spiritual legitimacy of recreational hunting. As big a supporter as I am of our right to bear arms, as I've recently posted here and here , I consider recreational hunting a sin against nature. I should warn you, what you will read below may be considered controversial for a true-believing Mormon, and it includes statements by a man we Mormons consider a prophet of God. Take them for what they are, and enjoy! -- Hunting Season for the Saints – September 9 th , 2005 "When I visited, a few years ago, the Yellowstone National Park, and saw in the streams and the beautiful lakes, birds swimming quite fearless of man, allowing passers-by to approach them as closely almost as tame birds, and apprehending no fear of them, and when I saw droves of beautiful deer herding along the side of the road, as fearless of the presence of men...