BrianJ
cherylem
Clark Goble
douglashunter
Jim F.
janetlisonbee
jennywebb
joespencer
Karl D.
kirkcaudle
Kevin Barney
Matthew
Karen
NathanG
nhilton
Robert C.
robfI’ll confess I was a little surprised at how much more exegetical than theological this week’s reading turned out to be—perhaps particularly because I’ve recently read Jim’s remarkable essay “Breathing,” which deals with Romans 7-8 (but especially 8) in a profoundly philosophical way. (It can be found in Faith, Philosophy, Scripture, for those interested in taking a look.) There’s much to learn from Jim’s more exegetical notes, of course, so let me see what I can develop from his discussion. Read the rest of this entry »
Life of Holiness, Romans 7:13-25 (pages 359-375)
Posted by joespencer on June 17, 2013
Posted in Scripture topics | Leave a Comment »
RS/MP Chapter 11: “I Seek Not Mine Own Will, but the Will of the Father” (Lorenzo Snow Manual)
Posted by kirkcaudle on June 14, 2013
Sorry for these late notes on this lesson! And thank you to everyone that requested them. It is nice to know that people use these. Never hesitate to get on us (or at least me) to get these up on time.
So without further adieu, the link to the full lesson can be found here. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Lessons:RS/MP | 3 Comments »
RS/MP Chapter 12: Tithing, a Law for Our Protection and Advancement (Lorenzo Snow Manual)
Posted by kirkcaudle on June 13, 2013
For this weeks lesson I will be dealing exclusively with the “additional scriptures” listed in the back of the manual. However, before I get to my notes I wanted to quote the following, “Be careful not to end good discussions too soon in an attempt to present all the material you have prepared. Although it is important to cover the material, it is more important to help learners feel the influence of the Spirit, resolve their questions, increase their understanding of the gospel, and deepen their commitment to keep the commandments” (Teaching, No Greater Call, 64). If more teachers would heed this council I believe that we would all (teacher and students) would be the better for it. My hope is always that these notes will not only spur such good discussions during class, but also afterward and into the week.
The link to the full lesson can be found here. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Lessons:RS/MP | Tagged: kingdom, tithing | 13 Comments »
The Life of Holiness, Romans 6:15-23 (pages 314-34)
Posted by Robert C. on June 10, 2013
[Thanks to Alan G. for sending in the post below. Alan sent this to me exactly a week ago, but it's taken me this long to climb out from under last week's pile of email. Sorry.]
I think this material is less rich than some of the surrounding passages, so I am having a hard time coming up with useful comments. Paul initially is addressing the notion that if Christians are released from the law of Moses, are they then free to become libertines. Paul wants to combat that perception: “shall we sin, because we are not under the law?” (Romans 6:15). Jim says here that from an Old Testament context “a sinner is someone who has not succeeded in keeping the Mosaic law” (p. 315). I have a sense that Paul is primarily concerned with the backdrop of the law of Moses, but that his comments are also inclusive enough to apply to Roman law. So I would be interested to see how applicable these comments are to a broader range of law expanded beyond the law of Moses. Does Christian grace fulfill (as in move beyond) other legal frameworks also? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Scripture topics | 6 Comments »
Reflections on Helaman 8
Posted by joespencer on May 30, 2013
I’ve already introduced what I’m doing in this series in a first post, so I won’t review that here. I took up Helaman 7 before; I’ll take up Helaman 8 now. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Scripture topics | 7 Comments »
The Life of Holiness, Romans 6:1-14 (pp. 271-313)
Posted by Robert C. on May 29, 2013
[David G. has stepped up and written the "double" post below, covering two weeks of our reading schedule—last week's and this week's readings. Thanks, David.] Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Scripture topics | 4 Comments »
The “Law” of D&C 132
Posted by Karen on May 29, 2013
After studying some references to the Abrahamic Covenant, things jumped out at me in D&C 132 that never had before. It made me see D&C 132 in a different light. Here are some thoughts on the first half of D&C 132.
Posted in Scripture topics | Tagged: Abrahamic Covenant, D&C 132, marriage, sealing | 6 Comments »
Better Searching at lds.org!
Posted by Karen on May 28, 2013
For years I’ve had a hard time finding what I was looking for at lds.org. Typing in a few words from a talk I remembered, even from the title of a talk I remembered, hardly ever got me to the right place. I was concerned that serious improvement needed to be made with thousands of youth leaders looking to find up-to-date, relevant talks on lds.org. Well, it happened! The searching at lds.org has been improved! A lot of work has been put into it and the results are awesome.
For a comparison, here’s one example. Less than a year ago I was looking for Sis. Beck’s talk “Mothers Who Know” for a lesson in Young Women’s. I typed in “mothers who know” and “beck.” Her talk “Mothers Who Know” didn’t even come up on the first page of search results. I also tried just typing in Mothers Who Know. If did come up, but it was the ninth hit! Unfortunately, her talk was listed only after link after link of older, less relevant talks by men. That’s okay in some circumstances, but for a YW leader looking for a talk by a mother about motherhood, it was pretty discouraging.
Today, I searched for “mothers who know.” It was the first hit. It was in a group titled “Top Results,” which also included the same talk on the Mormon Channel and a talk by Sheri Dew. Following the first group of search results was one titled “General Conference.” First listed? Sis. Beck’s talk again. A third group of results was titled “Magazines,” which included a visiting teaching message that quoted Sis. Beck’s talk. The fourth group of results (see how thorough and organized this is?) was titled “Scriptures.” Then came “Manuals” and then “Broadcasts” and then “News and Events” and then “Images” and finally “Music.” Now that’s a great way to show any teacher what resources are available!
So if you, like me, had given up on using lds.org to search for what you needed, it’s time to try again!
Posted in Misc. | Tagged: lds.org | 5 Comments »
“Opposition in All Things: Mormon Perspectives on the Fall” – A Conference on June 7-8, 2013
Posted by joespencer on May 25, 2013
The Mormon Theology Seminar, together with the Utah Valley University Religious Studies Program, will host a two-day conference, “Opposition in All Things: Mormon Perspectives on the Fall,” at Utah Valley University on June 7-8, 2013.
The conference is the culmination of three months of intensive work of two concurrent seminars, one focusing on Genesis 2-3 and the other on 2 Nephi 2. Each seminar spent months collaboratively reading their respective texts on a verse by verse, word by word basis and each included participants from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines.
Past volumes of the Seminar’s conference proceedings have been published with Salt Press and, in light of Salt’s recent merger, future collections will pursue publication with the Neal A. Maxwell Institute.
Though past seminars have all been conducted online, plans are also being considered to offer some future seminars in a live, two-week, onsite format.
Friday, June 7
(Library Auditorium, Utah Valley University)
“Fleeing the Garden: Reading Genesis 2-3″
9:30 – 10:20
Julie Smith, “Paradoxes in Paradise”
Response by Deidre Green
10:30 – 11:20
Ben Spackman, “Adam, Where Art Thou? Onomastics, Etymology, and Translation in Genesis 2-3″
Response by Rico Martinez
11:30 – 12:20
Rosalynde Welch, “Creation, Localism, and Appetite in the Garden World of Wendell Berry”
Response by Candice Wendt
12:30 – 2:30
Lunch
2:30 – 3:20
James Faulconer, “Chaos and Order, Order and Chaos: The Creation Story as the Story of Human Community”
Response by Julie Smith
3:30 – 4:20
Candice Wendt, “Environmental Education in Zion”
Response by Jenny Webb
4:30 – 5:20
Adam Miller, “Dirt, Dung, and Digestion”
Response by Joseph Spencer
Saturday, June 8
(Library Auditorium, Utah Valley University)
“Lehi’s Discourse: Reading 2 Nephi 2″
9:30 – 10:20
Rico Martinez, “Reading Genesis with Lehi: Lehi as Exegete”
Response by John Hilton III
10:30 – 11:20
Jenny Webb, “‘He Is the Firstfruits unto God’: Toward a Theology of Flesh”
Response by Adam Miller
11:30 – 12:20
Joseph Spencer, “Lehi’s Unfinished Thought: On 2 Nephi 2:10b”
Response by Rosalynde Welch
12:30 – 2:30
Lunch
2:30 – 3:20
Deidre Green, “Sacrifice, Doubt, and Divinity: Using Doubt to Become Divine”
Response by James Faulconer
3:30 – 4:20
John Hilton III, “Fathers and Sons: Textual Connections in 2 Nephi 2 and Alma 42″
Response by Robert Couch
Posted in Misc. | 9 Comments »
Reflections on Helaman 7
Posted by joespencer on May 23, 2013
For a project I’m hard at work on, I’m reading carefully through Helaman 7-16, chapter by chapter. In order to organize my thoughts as I’m working along through the text, I’m thinking I’ll write up posts on each chapter. These notes will simply be here, ready for anyone who cares to read through them. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Scripture topics | 5 Comments »
