Feast upon the Word Blog

A blog focused on LDS scriptures and teaching

Archive for December, 2011

Being “A Daughter of God” – YW Lesson 1, Manual 1

Posted by Karen on December 30, 2011

(Note: these posts are now being cross-posted at Beginnings New and the Feast Upon the Word Blog.)

Though I won’t dwell on the lesson outline, I do wonder about one of its suggestions: the girls are asked to list qualities of earthly fathers and then to apply that to our Heavenly Father. I wonder why is it that we want to project our experiences/opinions onto the scriptures? (I bring this up because I imagine there are going to be some young women with negative or strained feelings towards their own parents that could negatively affect the way they envision God.) Might we instead look to the scriptures first to see what God is like, and then change our understanding of fathers and daughters from that? In this post I will explore two passages that came to my mind: (1) D&C 25, the revelation to “Emma, my daughter,” and (2) Alma 33, where the Zoramites’ misunderstanding of prayer is overcome.

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Posted in Lessons:AP/YW | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Taking the Book of Mormon Seriously as History

Posted by robf on December 29, 2011

While we often focus on the spiritual messages of the Book of Mormon, the Book of Mormon itself is not written as a mere collection of sermons or prophetic teachings. In order to take it seriously on its own terms, we need to pay closer attention to the Book of Mormon as historiography–”an account written by the hand of Mormon” and others containing “an abridgment of the record” of at least two ancient historic peoples. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Misc. | 8 Comments »

The Book of Mormon and the Documentary Hypothesis — from Gerald Smith

Posted by joespencer on December 27, 2011

A guest post from Gerald Smith over at Joel’s Monastery. He’s already posted this over there as part one of his notes for the first Book of Mormon lesson. We wondered if it might be of interest to the Feast community as a reflection on the Documentary Hypothesis and the Book of Mormon. Gary has agreed, and here we are. Many thanks to Gary for these thoughts! Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Lessons:Sun. School, On studying, Scripture topics | 5 Comments »

Getting Ready for Book of Mormon Lessons 2-11: Some Preliminaries on Nephi

Posted by joespencer on December 27, 2011

There are eleven lessons in the manual on the writings of Nephi. Nephi’s writings are so profoundly complex and remarkably rich that I can’t resist putting together an introduction to all eleven lessons. Ten weeks is enough time, of course, only to begin to reflect on Nephi’s record, but I’ll be providing too much information in my lesson notes anyway. This introduction will be, in many ways, crucial to making sense of anything I have to say about Nephi’s record over the course of lessons 2-11. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Lessons:Sun. School | 20 Comments »

Book of Mormon Lesson #1: “The Keystone of Our Religion” (Sunday School)

Posted by joespencer on December 25, 2011

Well, somewhat last minute, I’ve decided to write lesson notes for this year. There are, already, very productive notes for the Book of Mormon lessons available, but I thought I’d add my thoughts as well. The Book of Mormon is the focus of all my work—spiritual, academic, theological, instructional, etc.—and I’ve decided to welcome the responsibility that will keep me writing about it all through the year.

And so here we go with the first lesson, an introductory affair with the title “The Keystone of Our Religion.” But how to introduce this book of books? Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Lessons:Sun. School | 31 Comments »

New Testament Lesson 45 (KD): Revelation 1-3,12

Posted by Karl D. on December 10, 2011

Gospel Doctrine
Lesson: Revelation 1-3, 12
Reading: Revelation 1-3,12

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Lessons:Sun. School | 2 Comments »

New Testament Lesson 44 (KD): 1-3 john

Posted by Karl D. on December 6, 2011

Gospel Doctrine
Lesson: 1,2, and 3 John
Reading: 1,2, and 3 John

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Lessons:Sun. School | 2 Comments »

RS/MP Lesson 47: “Exaltation” (Gospel Principles Manual)

Posted by joespencer on December 3, 2011

Here we are finally, the last Gospel Principles lesson. And the topic, naturally, is exaltation, a fitting end to things. I’ve decided that, for these notes, I’ll offer just a reading of D&C 76:50-70, beside a quick note on one part of the lesson material. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Lessons:RS/MP | 5 Comments »

 
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