Tag: Book of Mormon
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Words and The Word
I got in a short argument with my homeless friend Raven. We were talking about The Book of Mormon, the Bible, and the Quran. He said there is only one word. He wasn’t completely clear but I think he meant that Jesus was The Word. Could have been the Bible since The Word is obfuscating…
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The Works
It can be successfully argued that the Christian Bible (as opposed to the Hebrew Bible) preaches a religion based on grace not works. Since at least the Reformation there has been a tension among Christians between faith and works. The Book of Mormon clearly teaches the importance of good works. Mormonism leaves me with little…
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Calling Myself a Mormon
I have been called a Christian several times in the past few days. I usually don’t argue about that because I am at the very least a “cultural Christian.” If I’m arguing with an atheist it’s not worth the trouble to correct him that I’m a Mormon not a Christian. But I make the distinction…
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Baptized Twice
When I was a few months old I was baptized as an Episcopalian. It’s pretty easy to be Christlike as a little kid. I was thirteen before I learned the Ten Commandments. That was right around the time that I was confirmed as a member of the Episcopal Church. The bishop had powder on his…
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The Bible is Sometimes Wrong
I reject infallibility and inerrancy. I reject it for the Bible and I reject it for the Quran. The Book of Mormon acknowledges the faults of men in it. That is how I can hold all three books in my head at one time. There is only one good, one pure, and one perfect and…
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Not so Sola Scriptura
Today I has been thinking about the Protestant concept that the Bible alone is the only source of divine truth. I was discussing it with a Catholic friend who rightly points out that the canon of the Bible we have comes from Catholicism and that the Catholic tradition is bigger than the Bible they gave…
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Knowing Scripture
I use the term scripture loosely. When I started reading one of the first things my parents got me were Bible comic books. I think the brand was called Arch. I have a distinct memory of the battle between David and Goliath in soft pastels. I’ve been studying the Bible ever since. Over the years…
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Idolatry of Books
At one point a few years back I expressed my love for the Quran to the bishop of the ward. He had me set up a private council between his first counselor (who knows almost as much about Islam as I do) and the elders quorum president (who was there to observe). The counselor and…
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Orange Cream Coca-Cola
I’m sitting in the easy chair drinking an Orange Cream Coca-Cola. I started several theological arguments today. But they are with two people I have never met in real life. The theology in my head is not the theology of my hands. I change diapers, I cook food, and I wash laundry. Sometimes I help…
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A Chapter from Alma
“7 Now there was no law against a man’s belief; for it was strictly contrary to the commands of God that there should be a law which should bring men on to unequal grounds. 8 For thus saith the scripture: Choose ye this day, whom ye will serve.” Alma 30 (Book of Mormon) It would…
Latter Day Sinner 