Simple Utah Mormon Politics

Because infant baptism was a topic of discussion in the prophet Joseph Smith's day, critics of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Book of Mormon claim that revivalist America is where Smith got the idea to discuss infant baptism in the Book of Mormon.  I think that's a short-sighted claim, and in this article I explain how opposition to infant baptism likely came from the prophet Mormon, and why it could just as easily have been a topic of discussion in late Nephite society.

"For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire."   Sounds about like right where we are in the world today, doesn't it? Refugee crises abound, due to the confused noise of despotic governments and the lust for power among terrorist groups.  As a result, refugees are spilling into Europe, causing anger there as it seems there are too many new-comers to assimilate.  The Zika virus, once a fairy tale that only affected other people, has now arrived in America.  Economies are either near or in tailspins all across the globe.  Angry Brits recently decided they weren't getting what they wanted out of the European Union, so they voted to leave, and that made other Brits angry.  In America, angry Donald Trump supporters vowed that they would not accept the election results until-shockingly and suddenly--they had won, which in turn caused angry Hillary Clinton supporter...

In his book The Sins of Scripture,  John Shelby Spong points out that Christianity   has interpreted the Bible in ways that have allowed Christians to do much violence--to women, to children, to gays, and to nations and peoples in general.  In this article, I will talk about two lost doctrines that have actually resulted in what are  misinterpretations  of scripture in the name of violence.

It's easy to make a superficial reading of the Book of Mormon and think that Joseph Smith made it all up. But please don't dismiss the power and authenticity of the Book of Mormon. It is far more intricate than most people imagine. For example, here's something interesting that shows why the witness of the biblical prophet Isaiah is so critical to the Book of Mormon.

I have been unable to find a quick reference for all of the passages from the Bible's book of Isaiah in the Book of Mormon.  So I put one together, below. I've also identified whether the Isaiah passages cited in the Book of Mormon come from the person known by scholars as "Deutero" (or Second) Isaiah.  Deutero-Isaiah comprises chapters 40-55 of Isaiah, and were likely written during the time of the Babylonian Captivity (587 BC to 538 BC). You've perhaps noticed that the Babylonian Captivity happened after Lehi and his family left the land of Jerusalem.  Does that cause problems for the authenticity of the Book of Mormon?  I don't think so, and I'll explain that in a later post.

A new channel has recently appeared on YouTube, entitled Mormon Leaks, whose goal it seems  is to do damage to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  What I've seen so far, however, will do much to improve the respect that people everywhere will have for the LDS Church and its leaders.  So, rather than believe the exaggerations and other criticisms leveled at the videos by detractors from the Church, I encourage you to simply watch them yourself. In this article, I will explain the high points of the episode entitled " In Which They Discuss Politics With Senator Gordon Smith ".  The presentation was filmed in February of 2009.

I wish I'd had my tape recorder!  One of the things that I love about my 25-plus years of employment at BYU is the opportunity to have regular discussions about Jesus Christ and his gospel. We had a really good one in our team meeting yesterday.  Here's what I learned/thought about during or as a result of that discussion.