Category: Uncategorized
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I’ve recently had a few conversations with Latter-day Saint friends and defenders where I’ve heard some variation of the following criticisms: Both of these arguments sound compelling on the surface, and indeed I once embraced them and found great meaning in the LDS narrative of a restoration. But they both stem from the same foundational…
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Coal in the Stocking: A Harmless Bluff? Every December, parents everywhere tell their kids that if they misbehave, Santa will leave coal in their stockings instead of presents. It’s an empty threat, of course. The coal never comes. Eventually, the kids realize it was just a bluff—a tool to encourage good behavior during the holidays.…
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As a Latter-day Saint I used to love to speak about the United States Constitution as “divinely inspired.” Although I didn’t see it on par with the scripures, I still saw God’s hand in the document in a very direct manner. Today, I still view the Constitution very highly. But I’ve grown uncomfortable with that…
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“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!”—Romans 11:33 (ESV) The Trinity is a doctrine that is simultaneously relatable and yet beyond our comprehension. It is beautiful and yet mysterious. It reveals a God that is infinitely worthy of our worship.…
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We’ve already looked at a variety of Biblical images that reveal aspects of the Trinity and push us to imagine our great God with awe and reverence. We’ve looked at father-son imagery, marriage, the body of Christ, and Angelic beings. In this post, I want to look briefly at two non-scriptural examples that help me…
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Mysterious Visions and Glorious Purpose A few Biblical figures received powerful and life changing glimpses of the glory of heaven.This imagery is not meant to be a literal picture of heaven. Instead, this is apocalyptic imagery meant to stretch our imaginations and and reveal transcendent truths that ordinary language cannot capture. One of the most…
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One additional scriptural metaphor that reflects and echoes the trinity is that of the Church as the Body of Christ. This metaphor not only teaches us about Christian community, but it also quietly echoes the eternal relationship of Father, Son, and Spirit—three persons united in perfect love and purpose. Paul expands on this metaphor in…
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In a recent post, I pleaded with my Latter-day Saint friends to defend the Bible—not just parts of it, but the whole of it as God’s Word. Sadly, some current trends in LDS scholarship threaten to do the opposite. Recently I have seen an explosion of popularity among Latter-day Saint apologists of the theory that…
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Just as the image of Father and Son reveals God’s eternal, loving nature, so too the Bible gives us another intimate metaphor: Marriage. Marriage is not a human invention—it’s a God-ordained image meant to reflect something greater. Our earthly marriages therefore are intended to give us a glimpse of the “profound mystery” of heaven–the eternal…
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Grace is one of the most difficult topics for Latter-day Saints and Evangelicals to talk about. Even though Evangelicals Latter-day Saints use the same terminology, there are some pretty significant differences that are difficult to fully unpack. But often, it’s not our definitions that say the most—it’s our metaphors. Metaphors paint with vivid colors. They…