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I. How Can I? O Lord my God How can I question your wisdom?When you have intricately woven me from my mother’s womb How can I boast about my own strength?When I am clay in the potters’ hands How can my heart grow cold?When every beat is a gift from you How can I not…
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I recently saw the new movie Nuremberg. The movie is about the trial of Nazi generals at Nuremberg after the Second World War. It was a well-crafted film that featured an incredible performance from Russell Crowe as Nazi leader Hermann Göring. I would recommend watching the film for Crowe’s performance alone. But the movie also…
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Last year, when the first part of the Wicked movie came out, I wrote about how Elphaba’s longing to stand in the Wizard’s good graces—and her eventual discovery that the man behind the curtain had no real power—deeply resonated with my own journey out of Mormonism. Yesterday, I saw Part Two. I enjoyed many of…
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Abraham and Grace: Chosen, not Earned Should Abraham be seen as a model of religious striving, or a recipient of God’s sovereign grace? Abraham is one of the most important figures for Jews, Christians and Muslims. He is seen as the Father of the Faithful who trusted in God and developed a deep covenantal relationship…
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In a recent conversation with Jacob Hansen, I was asked why a perfect God would allow humanity to fall and require redemption. I responded that our redemption through Christ reveals the fullest glory of God. Had humanity never fallen, we would have known God only as Creator and Sustainer. Yet, because we sinned and were…
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1. A Misused Prooftext Latter-day Saints and other restorationist movements often quote 2 Thessalonians 2:3:“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.” They see this as proof the true Church vanished…
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Last night, I had a lengthy conversation with Latter-day Saint apologist Jacob Hansen about the nature of God. We covered a lot of ground — from creation ex nihilo to the Trinity, from the death of Egypt’s firstborn to hell and eternal punishment. I know I didn’t always express myself perfectly, and there are answers…
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According to LDS teaching, plural marriage was a divine principle restored in modern times and practiced anciently by prophets such as Abraham. Doctrine and Covenants 132:34 states: “God commanded Abraham, and Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to wife. And why did she do it? Because this was the law; and from Hagar sprang many people.”…
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One of the common debates between Protestants and Latter-day Saints is whether human beings are by nature children of God. It’s a well-worn topic with familiar arguments on both sides. On the one hand, Scripture does speak of all people as God’s creation. In Acts 17:28–29, Paul reminds the Athenians that “we are His offspring.”…