Two weeks ago a bishopric counselor asked me to prepare a talk for the upcoming Father’s Day sacrament meeting. Now, I’ve made no secret of the fact that I have some problems with our current (and past) discourse on gender, sex, and gender roles. These problems are trenchant, and definitely not the mere product of self-consciously sexist attitudes on the part of current LDS leaders (indeed, sexist attitudes are much more the products how we talk about these topics and the kinds of things that our talk about them takes for granted). Still there have been some important shifts in the past generation. [Read more…]

I am silvery, scaly. Puddles of flakes form wherever I rest my flesh. Each morning, I vacuum my bed. My torture is skin deep; there is no pain, not even itching. We lepers live a long time, and are ironically healthy in other respects. Lusty, though we are loathsome to love. Keen-sighted, though we hate to look upon ourselves. The name of the disease, spiritually speaking, is ‘Humiliation.’
—John Updike, “From the Journal of a Leper”

Generally speaking, the miracles of Jesus’ ministry fall in to four categories: healings, exorcisms, nature miracles, and post-resurrection appearances. This post will focus primarily on healings, and take Jesus’ healing of lepers as paradigmatic of this important aspect of His earthly ministry. [Read more…]

In recognition of a recently surfaced artistic masterpiece, I offer the BCC reading community this humble verse along with a commemorative piece by Brother Matsby:

Strange things are afoot
On a sacred document.
Barry, how could you?

[Read more…]

Read the first six parts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6. You can download and read Daymon’s dissertation here.

*****Also, a bit of news: Daymon has made his dissertation available for purchase in bound form here. All of the proceeds will go to the Utah Food Bank. [Read more…]

Finally, our little series begins to move into something that is vaguely recognizable as modern Correlation. Parts 1-5 of the series are available here, here, here, here, and here. Daymon’s dissertation can be found and read here. [Read more…]

Read installments 1 and 2 in the series here and here. Seriously. Read them. Before you read this. Also, read Daymon’s dissertation here.
[Read more…]

A continuation of our conversation on the origins and historical developments of Correlation. Part 1 can be read here. To reiterate, these conversations are meant to serve as an introduction or prolegomenon to Daymon Smith’s pathbreaking existing work on the topic, available here. Last time we talked about the Underground. It would be useful to read there before moving into this section of the conversation. Again, thanks to Daymon for his willingness to participate in these chats. [Read more…]

The association of the fallen state of humanity with the biblical story of expulsion from Eden has deep and varied Christian roots. While Original Sin might be a notion primarily associated with the theological traditions of Catholicism (and perhaps Eastern Orthodoxy as well), Protestants too view the redemptive work of Christ as the antidote to the problems of human sinfulness as embodied in Adam’s fall from grace. I have no idea the extent to which the problem of physical death figures into these Christian anthropologies (though I assume that the at least some connection between Adam and Eve’s transgression and our collective mortal nature is implicit in most if not all Christian traditions). But my sense is that the link between physical death and the Fall enjoys a unique theological focus and valency in Mormon thought. [Read more…]

Seventeen centuries ago, on 28 October 312, the emperor Constantine, convinced that Christ had delivered to him recent military victories, officially converted to the by then rapidly spreading and increasingly powerful religion of Christianity. He would soon attempt to extend his personal conversion onto whole of his imperial dominion, if only symbolically. And, since Christianity was, among other things, a strategic tool for consolidating his power, the newly anointed Religion of Empire would itself be subjected to unification and centralization. [Read more…]

If a sure sign of a healthy organism is that its feces stink, then perhaps the steady onslaught over recent years of effeminate “progressives” (along with their cohorts in the Liberal Media) whining about the price of freedom is evidence that the bloggernaccle, as a deliberative body, is finally at fighting weight. [Read more…]

Mike stared incredulously at his brother. “I can’t believe I’m hearing what I’m hearing.”

There was a self-assured quality to the look in his brother’s eyes right now, a strange blend of confidence-inspiring beauty and what Mike viewed as arrogant self-righteousness. Then again, his brother had every reason to feel supremely confidant in matters such as these, as their father seemed to trust him implicitly. Yet precisely for that reason, Mike was uncomfortable, knowing what his brother’s words implied about their father’s authority, even sanity.

“He is wrong – at least about this. I know it’s hard to hear, but the logic is as inescapable as it is self-evident.” [Read more…]

A regular (though mostly quiet) BCC reader recently emailed me the following:

My Church Service Troubles

Recently, my service in a church calling has started to bother me. It’s not the time investment, although there’s a lot of that. I am a member of a Stake Presidency, after all. What’s bothering me is that my service in the calling might be involving me in unfairness toward gay people in the Church.

Let me tell you about two recent disciplinary councils we had to hold. [Read more…]

UPDATE–a note from Barney Madsen: We look forward to sharing in a wonderful service honoring our dad on Tuesday. It should be viewable live on the Web at http://thefuneralview.com/funeralservices/2009/6/2/trumangmadsen.html beginning at noon (Provo time). It should be available later at the same website as a podcast. Please pass the word for those who would like to attend but can’t make the trip.
——————–
Mormonism lost a spiritual and intellectual giant this morning.

Truman Madsen was a respected and influential philosopher, professor, and writer. His wildly popular lectures on the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith have achieved near canonical status for millions of Church members over the decades. He served as a full time missionary in the New England Mission, and later as a mission president over the same mission. He later served as director of the BYU Jerusalem Center, and at the time of his passing was serving as patriarch in his stake. He earned a PhD from Harvard University and, at BYU, held the Richard L. Evans Chair of Religious Understanding. The power of his ideas and writings — including his famous Four Essays on Love — were only surpassed by the appeal of his personality. His influence on the faith and understanding of Latter-day Saints was profoundly positive and far-reaching. [Read more…]

What follows is the first of a series of three collaborative posts that address some of the most fundamental questions of our religious experience as Mormons. We’ll begin with two very basic, and closely related maxims of our faith and work from there:

1) We worship God the Father

2) We worship (in perhaps a slightly different sense?) Jesus Christ

Parts 2 and 3 of this series will deal with some problematic issues associated with the identity and character of these two Divine Beings we profess to worship. For this first installment, I’d like to tackle the issue of worship itself. My collaborators for the series are former T&S blogger Adam Greenwood (currently blogging here) and Neal Kramer, whose guest contributions have occasionally elevated the standards of discourse here at BCC. [Read more…]

Divine covenants make strong Christians.

–Elder D. Todd Christofferson, 4 April 2009 [Read more…]

For just over a year now, I have been my ward’s primary pianist. It’s nice in that I get to spend time with my sons (all primary age). It’s also nice being able to avoid some of the tension headaches that tend to result from prolonged exposure to GD lessons and discussions. Retreat from the frequently agonizing realm of anachronism, cheap proof-textery, and the curious combination of wild speculation with monotonous, pre-packaged answers into the realm of the simple, pure, undiluted basics of the Gospel, formatted for children. Or so I imagined… [Read more…]

This began as a lengthy response to some very important questions raised on JNS’s thread earlier this week. [Read more…]