Author: TT

Gog and Magog are two biblical figures with a long interpretative history. Like Adam, Abraham, Melchizedek, and others from the Hebrew biblical tradition, Gog and Magog’s mysterious character make them ripe for expanded interpretation. This essay reflects very briefly on some of these traditions. Though I remain agnostic about why these figures did not receive greater attention in early Mormonism, I suggest that traditions about them can help Mormons better understand our own traditions about other biblical figures. Such figures can be cast in particular narratives to tell some truth about the present.
Continue reading “O Gog the Eternal Fodder”

aquinas began his interfaith dialogue blog Summa Theologica in 2007 and then launched The Pierian Spring earlier this year, which he dedicates to Mormon intramural theological issues. His posts shows he is particularly interested in the historical development of Mormon thought. We are very pleased to welcome him here!

This year has been a great year for FPR. We’ve been blessed with the addition of FIVE new permabloggers: aliquis, BHodges, Enoch, MormonDeadHead, and oudenos. We were also thankful to have BiV as a guest. It has also been a year where many members of our team have been blessed personally, in their families, and professionally. All in all, we have a lot to be grateful for around here.

We are also thankful for our readers, new and old, who help make this a wonderful place to have a conversation.
Continue reading “Best of FPR: 2010”

Forgive me for posing a question, and having no answer whatsoever, but was doing some reading this morning about initiation rituals into adulthood, which lead me to wonder about the LDS “age of accountability.” Anecdotally, I’d say that the most common age for the entrance into adulthood is around the ages of puberty, from 12-14. The obvious bodily changes and sexual maturation signify the time to be inducted into adulthood. In modern societies, with the delayed childhood that modernity introduced, adulthood is often put off until 16, 18, or 21. The rituals that attend these age milestones are less formalized, but still exist, whether it is driving, the cessation of free state-sponsored education, or other legal privileges and responsibilities that arrive.

As time moves on, adulthood is delayed further and further, and childhood is extended, romanticized, and protected. While 8 may have once seemed a ripe old age where children could have been expected a certain level of accountability, today that idea seems rather problematic, and the explanation to outsiders that 8 year olds choose to be baptized of their own free will lacks a certain credibility.

All of this leads me to wonder why LDS tradition arrived at 8 as the age of accountability in the first place. Did that age ever enjoy a degree of expected adulthood and accountability? Where there other early American religious or political traditions that would help situate this choice? Why not puberty or other early American ages of accountability, like the age one could join the army, for instance? Does anyone know?

If we don’t celebrate Christmas, the terrorists win. While it seems that the terrorists may have won in 2005 at FPR, we’ve had a good number of excellent Christmas contributions. In celebration of this season, we’d like to offer some reflections of FPR bloggers, many who are no longer with us, on Christmas.

2010
Mary Knew! Stop Asking Stupid Questions!

2009
The Magic of Christmas and the Enchanted Mormon Worldview

2008
Christmas and Mary

Reading the Christmas Stories: What is Biblical Criticism Part 2

Reading the Christmas Stories: What is Biblical Criticism Part 3

2007
The Father of Jesus

The Christmas Post: Happy Winter Solstice

2006
Immanuel = Christ?

The recent conversation and Patheos about Mormon feminism is an excellent read. It features a diversity of voices, some old and some new. There are many excellent and thought provoking things worth discussing, but I want to focus on just two of the things that stood out to me. First, the way that we sometime talk about the presumed tensions between feminism and Mormonism, and second the sometimes not-so-subtle resistance to to “theory.” Both of these are issues that matter to me so I thought I would offer some thoughts and reflections.
Continue reading “Mormon Feminism: Old Wine in New Wineskins”

Jesus is asked, “Who sinned, this man or his parents?” about the blind man (John 9:1-12). We take comfort in Jesus’ response that neither sinned, but neglect the narrative that Jesus offers in its place: “he was born blind so that God’s work might be revealed in him.” The story of the man’s broken body is not about sin (though this story is the narrative of many other healing miracles), but rather about God’s purpose that the man’s body may show forth God’s glory once it is healed. We are to understand that the man was blind, simply so that he may be healed. Jennifer Glancy’s recent book, Corporal Knowledge: Early Christian Bodies, (Oxford, 2010), reflects on the narratives into which bodies are cast.
Continue reading “The Stories Bodies Tell”

“S/he knows all the dirt and still believes.” Often this kind of statement is taken as evidence that since someone who “knows” more, is smarter, or more experienced is able to navigate the “dirt,” it must be okay for someone who is less informed to believe too. In some interesting discussions on our back channel, the question has arisen, are these two beliefs in fact the same?

One problem that we potentially face in analyzing this question is that often those who do have this kind of dirty belief are not always entirely forthcoming about what they believe. There are many completely legitimate reasons for doing so. They may be sensitive about protecting others from the difficult things they’ve faced, and seek to reassure rather than speak forthrightly. They may seek to protect themselves from unwanted public and ecclesiastical scrutiny, and want to avoid having to defend their dirty beliefs. They may have decided that belief itself is the completely wrong category for how religion, and Mormonism should be practiced. They may think that emphasis on historical origins rather than meaning misses the point, and deflect such questions preciely to make a methodological point.

The point is that the examined faith is not necessarily the same as the unexamined faith. For whatever reason, there seems to be little incentive for those on either side of this divide to emphasize or acknowledge a gap between the two types of belief. The problem that this creates is that those who straddle this divide, those just beginning to deal with the dirt, those not comfortable with the solutions that those with dirty belief have staked out. Where do they turn for peace?

We are pleased to announce aliquis as our latest guest blogger. Join us in welcoming him!

The manuals of the church include a section at the beginning instructing readers how the manual is to be used. These instructions general advise such things as the use of the Spirit in study and teaching, how to focus on discussion, and how to prepare to teach. One of the features included in these manuals is an advisory about the use of supplemental sources.

Interestingly, there is no set phrase on the advisory against supplemental texts. I offer a small sample below from a few of the manuals that I have lying around:
Continue reading “Sunday School Manual: Supplementary Materials”