The Organization of the Church—Perfect? On April 6, 1830, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was established as a legal entity in New York State. It did not start as a complete organization with all the details laid out perfectly. The concepts were in place, but it took many years to become a […]

Pain: A Godly Attribute? In Doctrine and Covenants Section 19, the Lord says, “For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I; Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to

Enough Is Enough: The Road to Apostasy Among the many events and people involved in the Restoration of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, many of the foundational characters who devoted their all to the cause, ended up leaving it. Those of us who consider that Joseph Smith was or is a prophet,

Obtaining The Word of God In a revelation given to Hyrum Smith (Doctrine and Covenants 11), the Lord says, “…first seek to obtain my word…then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men. …study my word which hath gone forth among the

Comparing Ancient and Modern Scripture This week I have been thinking about some differences between the Bible, the scriptures of the restoration and modern forms of scripture. I am not a Bible scholar by any stretch of the imagination, so I will only give a broad characterization based on what I know. The Bible is

Reason and Revelation As many of you know, I enjoy a good debate. I don’t care for politics and I think those debates are anything but useful and are of very little consequence. Religious debate is much the same, in that both sides are typically limited to incorrect presuppositions; namely, the creeds. There are a

A Scenario Analysis of Prophecy Today I want to depart from a commentary of the Come Follow Me curriculum. I have been ahead by a week anyway. The point of these messages is to get people thinking beyond a typical Sunday School level, which is what our leaders have been emphasizing. Now on to the

What’s The Point? As we continue with the story of the restoration of truth to the earth through Joseph Smith, we read about the visits of Moroni, a messenger from God, to young Joseph. One of the main points of Moroni’s message was the following; “Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the

Your Personal Encounter With God One of the single most significant events in modern history is the appearance of the Father and the Son to Joseph Smith in 1820. It is import is not that Joseph had the encounter with God, it was the beginning of what followed that changed the entire landscape of religion.

Thy Kingdom Come When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, among other things, he said, “…thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” The scope of the kingdom of heaven encompasses a vast number of elements that involve hierarchical structures of authority, harmony and unity, peace and joy, covenantal