Day 9: Book of Mormon, Third Nephi Here it is, the climax of the book, Jesus appears! After several chapters regarding his birth and death and resurrection. Part of his post-resurrection tour brings him to America and he ministers to the Nephites. The question I have is this: Why’d he only do a two continent […]
Day 8: Book of Mormon, Helaman I’m excited to get to Helaman. Not because I got to read Helaman, but because the next book is where Jesus appears to the people of North America after his resurrection. I think a majority of non-Latter-day Saints, if they know anything about the Book of Mormon, think it […]
Day 6: Book of Mormon, Alma 1-32 There is a whole lotta stuff happening in the Book of Alma. This is the longest book in the Book of Mormon, so I split it into two parts. Today’s reading was the first 32 chapters. Even with that, there’s some recurring themes that keep this book moving […]
Day 5: Book of Mormon, Mosiah I need to be honest here. While I’m enjoying the Book of Mormon, I’m finding the anachronisms to be an astonishing feature. Christian churches in the “New World” hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth? Hmm. Fine palaces with no ruins? Hmm. All of these wars […]
Day 4: Book of Mormon – Enos, Jarom, Omni, Words of Mormon The shortest books in the Book of Mormon present some interesting sketches of prophets. Enos is a classic story of spiritual growth and discipline. It is through the power of prayer that Enos is given insight and direction in life. I enjoyed the […]
Day 3: Book of Mormon, Jacob Nephi dies and his son, Jacob, takes the mantle of prophet. I’m noticing a pattern. There’s a good bit of prophesy in this book, but we get back to the stories. It’s amusing to me how many times the brass/golden plates are mentioned. The prophets go out of their […]
Day 2: Book of Mormon, Second Nephi The tone of the Book of Mormon shifts considerably in Second Nephi. Lehi, Nephi, and their families reach the promised land (America) with the help of Liahona, the divine brass ball. Lehi, sensing he is near death, launches into several chapters of blessing and guidance. He asks his […]
Day 1: Book of Mormon, First Nephi And it came to pass…and it came to pass…and it came to pass…and it came to pass… I’ll go ahead and be glib about the history of the Book of Mormon, though I mean no disrespect. An angel appeared to Joseph Smith and told him about brass plates […]
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is fascinating. For the record, they prefer not to use the word “Mormon” to describe them anymore, so I’m trying to be respectful. I’ll use LDS from here on out. The LDS faith, in my estimation, is a uniquely American religious expressions. Granted, there are more LDS […]
I didn’t set out to read the Qur’an and finish it on the Eid al’Fitr, but I did. It feels fitting, but I want to be clear that I didn’t undertake this as a Ramadan observance. That is not my tradition and I wouldn’t want to cheapen a month that means so much to so […]