Tag: mormonism
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When we think of Christmas, we imagine a silent night, not a battlefield. But in addition to bucolic fields and shepherds, perhaps one image that should come to mind when we imagine Christmas is the Battle of D-Day, when American (and other Allied) soldiers began to take Europe back from Nazi control. (I know that…
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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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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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A Tale of Two Testimonies: From “I Know the Church Is True” to “Jesus Saved Me” How LDS and Evangelical Christians Use the Word “Testimony” Very Differently This evening we went to a baptismal service at a local church. Before each person was baptized, they were asked to share their “testimony.” Each one, without exception,…
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I used to love how well the Book of Mormon seemed to fit into the Biblical narrative. For instance, I delighted in imagining Lehi preaching alongside Jeremiah and warning against the Babylonian captivity. But shortly after I left the Church, I came across an argument that showed how the Book of Mormon actually distorted the…
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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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Preface: A few years ago I wrote an article discussing how the Greek tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice, especially as interpreted by the Broadway musical Hadestown, could help teach about Jesus Christ. At the time I was very much a committed Latter-day Saint and that shows as my original is full of quotes from LDS…
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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…
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When I was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I believed that the Book of Mormon helped to clarify the Bible. One of the ways that I thought it did this was by offering a more accurate, easy to understand, and inspired version of the text of the Isaiah chapters…