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One verse that I frequently am asked about by my LDS friend is Matthew 5:48 and Jesus’s admonition to “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” The argument goes, if Jesus commands us to achieve sinless perfection, then surely he expects us to keep that commandment — at…
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When I was a Latter-day Saint I was very proud to carry my temple recommend with me at all times. My recommend signaled that I had been interviewed by a priesthood holders and been found worthy to enter the house of the Lord. It therefore signaled assurance that my course of life was pleasing to…
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The Bible taken as a whole shows that God is the ultimate source of all goodness and truth and indeed that he is the epitome of those things. It therefore can be said that not only does God love, but “God is love” (1 John 4:8,16), not only does God speak only the truth, but…
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I used to love the story of the City of Enoch found in Joseph Smith’s Book of Moses. It was a city so righteous that the whole city was translated into heaven. Another favorite story of mine was the society depicted in the Book of Mormon book of 4 Nephi which enjoyed generations of peace…
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Hebrews 9:11–14 (ESV):11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but…
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The writer reflects on their experience as a Latter-day Saint preparing for a mission and the subsequent anxiety about achieving full spiritual cleansing. They struggled with the idea of being fully cleansed through missionary service and felt guilty when succumbing to worldly temptations. However, they ultimately realized the true Gospel of grace: salvation is a…
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I recently wrote a lengthy post about the Adam-God Doctrine. When I shared it in a Latter-day Saint group that I’m a part of, one response that I got was why does this issue matter given that it was so many years ago. Why not give Brother Brigham a break? I wanted to try to…
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On Sunday I participated in a debate with Hayden Carroll where I argued that the Bible is the ultimate source that allows us to know God’s will. Hayden defended a variety of sources including LDS Apostles and LDS scriptures, personal revelation, spiritual impressions, logic, reason, etc. During the debate I asked Hayden about the Adam-God…
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One of the common arguments that Latter-day Saints frequently raise when shown Joseph Smith’s many false prophecies is that the Prophet Jonah in the Bible would also be a false prophet because he prophesied of the destruction of Nineveh, but that didn’t come to pass because the people of Nineveh repented. This is a really…
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Today I’ve been thinking about the various ups and downs of life and how our perception greatly changes our reaction and our experience. My mind turned to one of my favorite things – riding on roller coasters. Since childhood, I have always loved the thrill and experience of speeding through the air on a roller…