When We Do Not Have the Words
Posted by Trevor in Religion on 22. Apr, 2012 | No Comments Yet
Something I like about being Mormon is our emphasis on praying using our own words as opposed to fixed language. But what can we do when spontaneous prayers feel hollow or empty?
What Gratitude Is Not
Posted by Trevor in Religion on 16. Apr, 2012 | 1 Comment
Maybe we focus on gratitude because we feel guilty—and scared. We know at a deep level that we’re ludicrously wealthy and healthy. We’re also terrified of that ease and comfort disappearing. So we read books and articles about gratitude as a cardinal virtue not because we genuinely feel grateful, but because we’re afraid of how God might smite us if we don’t.
McKay and the Endowment Ceremony
Posted by Trevor in Religion on 14. Apr, 2012 | No Comments Yet
The following is taken verbatim from Greg Prince’s biography David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism. It recounts some of President McKay’s concerns with the temple endowment ceremony, particularly with how younger people might interpret it. Ever since the endowment was introduced by Joseph Smith, who adopted many symbols from masonry into it, it has been modified numerous times—usually by removing portions and shortening the ceremony—in order to better accommodate the changing sensibilities of church membership. This excerpt sheds light on the thought process behind some of these changes.
The Enabling Power of the Atonement
Posted by Trevor in Religion on 31. Mar, 2012 | 1 Comment
This post is adapted from a talk I recently gave to my home congregation about the enabling power of the Atonement.
Problems with Presumptions about Premortality
Posted by Trevor in Religion on 10. Mar, 2012 | 1 Comment
My patriarchal blessing says I was born into the Church to good parents because of my valiance in the premortal life. But I remember thinking at the time, “I was given every chance in the world to succeed and blossom based on my fortunate birth circumstances. If anything, God thought that I was weak and needed extra help to ensure I didn’t fail.”
Terryl Givens on Choosing to Believe
Posted by Trevor in Religion on 03. Mar, 2012 | 1 Comment
The following is a partial transcript I made of an excellent Mormon Stories podcast interview with Terryl Givens, one of the most intellectually interesting and thoughtful Mormons I know of. Here he discusses his view on how and why religious belief must be a choice and not simply something that’s obviously false or obviously true.
Greg Prince – What Remains for You to Do
Posted by Trevor in Religion on 03. Mar, 2012 | No Comments Yet
The following is a transcript I typed of a speech Greg Prince made at a Mormon Stories conference in Washington D.C. in October 2011. This is the fifth segment, in which Prince gives advice for the current generation of Mormons on what is left to be done to help make Mormonism better.
Greg Prince – What My Generation of Mormon Thinkers Has Accomplished
Posted by Trevor in Religion on 01. Mar, 2012 | No Comments Yet
The following is a transcript I typed of a speech Greg Prince made at a Mormon Stories conference in Washington D.C. in October 2011. This is the fourth segment, in which Prince explains his feelings on how his generation’s most significant contribution to Mormonism is their efforts in the area of internal struggle “to make the Church work for members of all stripes.”
Believing in Satan
Posted by Trevor in Religion on 26. Feb, 2012 | No Comments Yet
I think that mankind is good enough at finding evil on its own, thank you very much. So is what’s the point in believing in a Devil?
Greg Prince – What I Have Learned from My Journey
Posted by Trevor in Religion on 25. Feb, 2012 | No Comments Yet
The following is a transcript I typed of a speech Greg Prince made at a Mormon Stories conference in Washington D.C. in October 2011. This is the third segment, in which Prince gives a summary of the “lessons learned” from his own faith journey.
