Who Then Can Be Saved?

In Matthew’s chapter 19 is recorded Jesus’ confrontations with the pharisees, but also the young man, who was rich, and who asked Jesus what he should do to inherit eternal life. Jesus’ answer that he should keep the commandments, provoked the question, which?

Does a Prophet Always Know Everything?

Lately I have pondered some issues relating to revelation, the privilege of having the Spirit communicate to us things that are sacred in nature, or at least able to help us in ways unseen at the moment.

I ran into the Mark Hofmann story again. If you read the linked Wikipedia story, you’ll learn that he forged documents which he was able to pass as real,

From the Manger to the Cross; the Adult Jesus and Sacrament

(Don’t miss my last year’s prequel titled Praise to the Man.)

I come back to this subject again. Most of the Christian world celebrates Christmas, and at the center is supposedly the Baby Jesus (made of cheapest possible plastic in China or Bangladesh or wherever kids will do it for a nickel a day). Let me stress this differently: the Baby Jesus. As far as the majority interest goes, he’s left in the Manger with the cattle lowing, and the miraculous baby not crying.

About Beginnings And Ends

I like to study philosophy (“dabbling”, I guess is what it’s called). It helps me to express myself a bit more precisely, if nothing else. There are some blogs about things more or less related to it that I like to follow intermittently. I’d like to refer you to two discussions on a blog I read now and again; they are about the nature of spirits, and the limitations of analogy.

This Is Life Eternal

Most Christians know about the intercessory prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane recorded in John 17. In it Jesus says,

[T]his is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Families And Freedom to Choose — Otherwise Called Moral Agency

Families are forever!

I watched a movie (beside the point which one) where a guy says, “if a man doesn’t have family, he doesn’t have sh*t.” (excuse my french here… I usually don’t use that kind of language) I couldn’t help agreeing with that. Even Hollywood can hit a homer at times…

Who Am I — Who Are We in the Eyes of Others

I know that I might get burned — in a number of ways — by letting this out in the open here, but here goes: My great grandmother was not a “white” person; rather, she was what her peers considered a “person of color” although she hardly really stood out of the crowd. She was of the Roma people — the most widespread European indigenous people AFAIK.

Commandments; The Why, Part 3

Well, I find it hard not to come back to this idea again. Why has God given us commandments? Let’s reiterate:

• He wants to protect us. Some may be trying to convince you that the commandments are holding you down, keeping you from reaching your full potential. Let’s look at this proposition.In my 30 years as a Mormon, I have never once regretted not having a drink. I have done so after taking one.

Commandments, the Whys Part 2

Okay, so I didn’t talk much about the whys of the commandments. Why do we need them? There are a few ways to look at it. Commandments protect us from our own follies, for example. Like, if we want to steal something, and don’t have any other reason (fear of getting caught etc.) not to, we have a commandment.

Now, you can see that the same commandment protects the one I would steal from. Moreover, I would say that there is another side to the commandments. A spiritual side, that is. The Lord states quite clearly, for example, that the law of tithing will prepare us for the law of consecration. We get used to the idea, that what we have is not necessarily all ours.

Commandments; What And Why?

I watched the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with a question in my mind. I wanted to understand the role of commandments better. And what, specifically, our commandments are. Let’s start with the “what”, because that seems a bit easier.