Tag: christianity
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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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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…
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For the introduction to this series go here. A Revealed Relationship: Father and Son One of the best places to begin contemplating the divine mystery of the Trinity is with the most concrete and tangible imagery God gives us: the titles Father and Son, which describe the relationship between the members of the Godhead. This…
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Posts in this Series Introduction (this post) Echo 1: The Father and Son Echo 2: Marriage Echo 3: The Body of Christ Echo 4: The Angelic Hosts Echo 5: Echoes in Nature Conclusion The Trinity has been at the center of Christian doctrine and Christian worship for centuries. At its heart, the Trinity is a…
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One of the most compelling reasons I rejected the LDS idea of a Great Apostasy boils down to a simple question: If the apostles died without successors and priesthood authority was lost, why don’t early Christians express alarm or lament? It very much strikes me as a dog that didn’t bark. The phrase “the dog…
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As an Israeli-American Christian with deep ties to both the land of Israel (including many family members living there now), and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I’ve often found myself caught between two extremes. On one hand, some Christians feel the need to offer unqualified political support for modern Israel as though every government policy…
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As I’ve talked to Latter-day Saint friends or had online conversations with Latter-day Saints, I’ve often said that the biggest difference between the LDS faith and biblical Christianity is how the two understand the nature of God I tell my friends how I came to see that God was far bigger, holier, and more majestic…
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I’ve noticed a curious pattern in the way some Latter-day Saint apologists engage with the Bible. When it comes to the Pentateuch—the first five books of the Bible—many are quick to embrace the conclusions of the documentary hypothesis or historical-critical methods. They seem more than comfortable suggesting that Moses didn’t write the Torah, that Deuteronomy…
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One of the most distinctive teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the belief that we lived with God before being born on earth. But does this teaching actually appear in the Church’s foundational scripture, the Book of Mormon? While there are a few passages that Latter-day Saints cite in support…
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Recently my wife and I made a down payment on a new home. As I signed the documents, I couldn’t help but think of Paul’s words in Ephesians 1:13–14 and 2 Corinthians 1:22, where he describes the Holy Spirit as a guarantee, a deposit, a down payment—the Greek word arrabōn—on the full inheritance God has…