August 2009
MormonTimes - Robert J. Matthews, Joseph Smith Translation expert, dies (8-31-9)
Robert J. Matthews, former dean of Religious Education at BYU, died Sunday, Aug. 30, at about 3 p.m. of complications following open-heart surgery.
Robert J. Matthews, key to LDS edition of Bible, dies (8-31)
Robert J. Matthews was a teenager during World War II when he first heard that LDS Church founder Joseph Smith had made what he said were inspired changes to the Bible.
MormonTimes - Differences: Choosing sides and choosing the right (8-31)
The Prophet Joseph Smith cautioned Latter-day Saints to avoid undue political partisanship because it didn't amount to much more than giving one side or another the rope with which to hang us.
MormonTimes - Mormons in the news -- 1830 version (8-31)
It isn't very hard to imagine what the subscribers of the Rochester (N.Y.) Gem thought about Mormons a month after The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized. You can almost picture them gathering around while someone read aloud the May 15, 1830, edition story titled "Imposition and Blasphemy!! -- Money-diggers, &c."
MormonTimes - Challenging issues and keeping the faith, Part 16 (8-31)
The past four issues of this series have focused on the fact that prophets can be both fallible as well as divinely called to lead the church. Some readers may wonder if it is appropriate or useful to point out that leaders can make mistakes.
MormonTimes - Hattiesburg's first African-American LDS bishop called (8-31)
Randall Silas is the new bishop of a Hattiesburg congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
MormonTimes - Truly converted: 'I knew for myself' (8-30)
Elder Joseph Carl Muren, who served as a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy, passed away at his home in Layton, Utah, on July 27, 2009. He was 73.
MormonTimes - Joseph Smith becoming 'the seer stone' (8-30)
Richard Neitzel Holzapfel was amazed at how often Joseph Smith was identified as "the Seer" in John Whitmer's record of the early history of the LDS Church.
Bennett tests his faith in the Book of Mormon (8-29)
When Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, was public relations director for the late billionaire Howard Hughes and his corporation, he was tasked to prove that both an autobiography and a will attributed to Hughes were forgeries.
MormonTimes - Zionist organization president taking his Mormonism to Europe (8-29)
On his own dime, Mark Paredes is headed to Europe to try and explain Jews and Judaism to Mormons and to reassure Jewish people that they have a friend in Mormonism.
MormonTimes - Oquirrh Mountain and the work of temple construction (8-29)
Consider 17,096 exterior stones, 47 miles or nearly 250,000 linear feet of wood, 4,668 cubic yards of concrete, 407 tons of structural steel, 80 miles of electrical wiring and 184 individual doors.
MormonTimes - Service projects for President Monson's birthday (8-29)
President Thomas S. Monson observed his 82nd birthday on Friday, Aug. 21, which was the first day for dedicating the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple.
MormonTimes - So, you didn’t serve a mission… (8-28)
Last week, when I addressed my column to young men struggling with the decision to serve a mission, I had no qualms about encouraging them to go. I firmly believe that if you have faith in the gospel and are willing to work hard, a mission will provide one of the most rewarding experiences of your life.
MormonTimes - Joseph Smith 'most influential' 19th century American (8-28)
Josiah Quincy, Jr., was an eloquent man, mannered and serene in appearance. He was a relative of former Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams, son of a president of Harvard University and would go on to become mayor of Boston in 1845.
MormonTimes - Mormons remember Kennedy fondly (8-28)
Sen. Ted Kennedy is being remembered fondly by many Mormons -- and Utah is even lowering flags in his honor -- which may be surprising, since he was a liberal politician often vilified by conservatives.
LDS Church indefinitely closes Nigeria temple (8-26)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has indefinitely closed its Aba Nigeria Temple as a precautionary measure because of recent violence and has evacuated temple workers to other areas.
MormonTimes - Journalists' lax blogging standards (8-26)
It seems that journalists apply different standards when blogging than when writing for traditional news outlets.
MormonTimes - 'The Atonement can heal what we can't' (8-26)
Through a program adapted from the 12-step addiction recovery program, any Mormon can overcome the natural man or woman, said Kevin Hinckley at BYU's Campus Education Week on Aug. 21.
MormonTimes - What's on the prophet's mind matters (8-25)
Benjamin J. Knowlton taught a class Aug. 19 at BYU Education Week called "If It's On the Prophet's Mind, It Matters."
MormonTimes - 'Scout Camp' a mildly entertaining flick (8-25)
OK, so "Scout Camp" is low level fun and full of the kind of activity and pranks that only a young boy can truly enjoy. It's almost Scout reality camp.
MormonTimes - Peterson: God of emotion tricky for other faiths (8-24)
How is it possible for God to weep? Enoch asks this very question in the Book of Moses, while philosophers and theologians have long rejected the notion of a supreme being that feels anything, according to Daniel C. Peterson, a professor of Islamic studies and Arabic at BYU.
MormonTimes - BYU professor discusses the doctrine of hell (8-24)
Hell isn't necessarily the fearsome, dark place that some think it is. Then there are others who don't think it should be studied at all.
MormonTimes - Challenging issues and keeping the faith, Part 15 (8-24)
What are the consequences of not following a prophet or for disagreeing (publicly or privately) with statements made by a prophet?
MormonTimes - Joseph Smith, modern cosmology and the age of profound confusion (8-24)
When the Big Bang theory emerged around 1930, Joseph Smith's views of the universe didn't look good from a scientific perspective, according to a former NASA physicist.
LDS faithful flock to Oquirrh Mountain Temple dedication (8-23)
It was just another Sunday at the Hukill house. Mom was styling little Annie's hair in between mascara applications, 14-year-old Whitney was frantically searching for her brown high heels, and Josh, 12, and Doug, 16, were curled up in the living room sneaking in some extra zzz's before shower time.
LDS Church dedicates Oquirrh Mountain 13th Utah temple (8-21)
A temple dedication, a cornerstone ceremony and an impromptu birthday celebration converged Friday morning at the new Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple.
LDS Temple cornerstones preserve artifacts for the ages (8-20)
For the past year, Amy Bailey helped collect information and artifacts regarding the new Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple. For months, she carefully ensured the collection would all fit into a makeshift cardboard box measuring precisely 24 inches by 26 inches by 8 inches.
MormonTimes - Understanding grace through the Pauline epistles (8-20)
Mormons can understand Paul's discussion of grace in his epistles even though other churches may have misunderstood how he used the words "grace" and "justification."
MormonTimes - Seek to be worthy of praise (8-20)
On the one hand, we're supposed to "seek after" things that are "of good report or praiseworthy" (Philippians 4:8).
LDS Church starts blogging (8-19)
Make room in the already-crowded blogosphere -- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has now entered the realm of blogging.
MormonTimes - BYU Education Week: Similarities and basic truths among religions (8-19)
Mormons don't have a monopoly on truth, and it would behoove members of the church to seek out ways it's manifest in other religions and philosophies, professor Michael Wilcox said in a session of Campus Education Week at BYU on Tuesday, Aug. 18.
MormonTimes - Hatchet job or good journalism? (8-19)
The most recent Associated Press coverage of the a gay kiss-in around the United States feels more like a hatchet job than good journalism.
MormonTimes - Missouri: a place of ancient beginnings (8-19)
In the minds of most people, what modern-day lands are connected to the Old Testament? Of course, the obvious one is the place called Palestine or Israel. And, for those who have seen the movie where Charlton Heston faces off with the Pharaoh, Egypt would come to mind. But what about Missouri?
Ex-seminary principal waiting for evidence (8-18)
Attorneys for the former LDS seminary principal accused of developing a sexual relationship with a student are waiting for more evidence before proceeding with the case.
Families are under attack, LDS leader cautions (8-18)
The family is under attack, but parents can protect their children and their homes by keeping God's commandments, said President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
MormonTimes - Reunion with God not immediate, Y. prof says (8-18)
Mormons accept the doctrine of resurrection laid out in the scriptures in "a most literal fashion," professor of ancient scripture Byron Merrill taught at BYU Education Week on Monday, Aug. 17.
MormonTimes - Sunstone Symposium: Mormon journals face economic struggles (8-17)
Five editors who spoke at Sunstone on Aug. 14 expounded on their goal to "make Mormon publishing into something that can continue to be viable and continue to contribute to Mormon culture."
MormonTimes - Challenging issues & keeping the faith: Part 14 (8-17)
As noted in the previous issue, we play a major role in understanding the word of God.
U.S. Census to Utah: LDS missionaries don't count (8-16)
The U.S. Census Bureau has told Utah's elected leaders it won't count Mormon missionaries serving overseas in the nation's next head count.
MormonTimes - Sunstone: Empowering stay-at-home mothers (8-16)
Five women shared a Sunstone stage Saturday morning promoting themselves as "Stay-at-home moms on the record."
MormonTimes - Sunstone: Hidden Mormonism in Orson Scott Card's fiction (8-15)
Christopher C. Smith thinks Mormon novelist Orson Scott Card's writing carries a modern-day, mythical link to Joseph Smith. "A mischievous thesis, I know," he said at the Sunstone Symposium on Fri. Aug. 14.
MormonTimes - The Lord opened doors for Martin Harris pageant (8-15)
Denzel Clark remembers sitting with Valdo Benson on the Clarkston cemetery hill, anxiously watching for headlights, hoping enough people would come to see the town's Martin Harris pageant to reward the townspeople for their mighty efforts.
MormonTimes - Sunstone Symposium: Why Emma stayed in Nauvoo (8-14)
"When people ask what caused a change in Emma's behavior, what they really are asking is, 'Why didn't she go west with the Saints?' And when people say she was wrong for remaining in Nauvoo, they are implying they know what she should have done," Richard Delewski said at the Sunstone Symposium on Thursday, Aug. 13.
Don't apologize for faith, BYU grads are urged (8-14)
Stop being defensive about your religion.
MormonTimes - The 'travails and triumphs' of Mormon mommies blogging (8-14)
"'Counting to infinity: How blogging helps process the travails and triumphs of motherhood,' sounds like a therapy session," joked one Sunstone panelist, "and in a way (blogging) is." Six bloggers from the Feminist Mormon Housewives sat on a panel Thursday night to promote a more complex view of mommy blogging.
Sunstone speaker says church can learn from Toyota (8-13)
What do a car manufacturer and the LDS Church have in common? Apparently a lot, according to a speaker at the annual Sunstone Symposium on Thursday.
MormonTimes - And it came to print: Creating a new LDS version of the Bible (8-13)
"Never since the day of Joseph Smith; never since the translation of the Book of Mormon; never since the receipt of the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants and the inspired writings in the Pearl of Great Price -- never has there been such an opportunity to increase gospel scholarship as has now come to those who have our new English editions of the scriptures." -- Elder Bruce R. McConkie
MormonTimes - Timeline: English translations of scripture (8-13)
About 450 AD: The Bible was translated by Jermone into Latin from Greek and Hebrew.
MormonTimes - More on how world views Mormons (8-13)
In comparing Mormon beliefs with those of other Americans, the pollsters have to use the same questions for everybody. This can lead to some pretty strange results, since our rejection of the neo-platonic tradition of mainline Christianity makes some questions very hard to answer. When asked whether the Bible is the word of God or written by men, 91 percent of us declare it to be the word of God.
MormonTimes - Sunstone Symposium: Anti-debt diva dispenses ideas (8-13)
Cheryl Carson loves being weird -- especially if you think wasting money and being in debt is normal. As wild as some of her tips for being frugal might seem (anybody up for straining the curds out of spoiled cottage cheese so you can use them in lasagna?), in this economy, she just may be onto something.
Sunstone Symposium: Speaker discusses women's religious feats (8-12)
Many of the achievements of women in religious creativity are found in ironies, like unequal access to administrative power.
MormonTimes - Mormon stake center in Grand Junction, Colo. vandalized (8-12)
Members of a Mormon congregation in Grand Junction are cleaning up after vandals broke windows, doors and pictures.
MormonTimes - Play ball! 'Mormon Night' is big in the big leagues (8-12)
Dale Murphy recognized the signs.
MormonTimes - 'Will Mormons save America?' and other media stories (8-12)
There has been a lot of news involving Latter-day Saints in the news from around the world. Here's a sample of coverage.
LDS Church News - The Book of Abraham: The larger issue (8-11)
While critics of the Church often challenge the authenticity of the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price, they attach more importance to it than Church members do themselves, a Latter-day Saint Egyptologist said Aug. 6 at the annual conference of the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR).
MormonTimes - Mormon missionaries help at World Games (8-10)
Dozens of Mormon missionaries provided language and hosting assistance at the recently concluded 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
MormonTimes - Celebrating 'Come, Come Ye Saints' in Australia (8-10)
Original music and Latin texts will be part of an upcoming performance celebrating perhaps the greatest of all LDS pioneer hymns, "Come, Come Ye Saints."
MormonTimes - Plural-marriage questions led to trust (8-10)
Gregory L. Smith knew that Joseph Smith had taught and practiced plural marriage, but he wasn't prepared for the accusations of womanizing he read in a book about Mormon polygamy. He was troubled and wanted answers.
Madeleine milestone: Leaders celebrate cathedral's 100th anniversary (8-9)
Cross and candle bearers walk through the Cathedral of the Madeleine during a service to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the cathedral, the centerpiece of Utah's Catholic culture in the community.
LDS open houses draw throngs (8-9)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began the tradition of opening its sacred temples for public inspection with a one-evening open house in the Salt Lake Temple in 1893.
Apologists' comments sought (8-8)
Editors of a new online LDS journal asked a group of Mormon apologists on Friday to stand with them.
MormonTimes - Mormon temple worship similar to other religions (8-8)
While temple worship is a prominent and unique characteristic of Mormonism, there are numerous similarities to it in ancient religious texts and traditions throughout the world, said the closing speaker at the two-day FAIR Mormon Apologetics Conference on Friday.
Gallup: Utah becoming more religiously diverse (8-8)
Utah is becoming more religiously diverse while Idaho and Wyoming have the second and third largest concentrations of Latter-day Saints, 19 percent and 10 percent, respectively, according to an analysis released by the Gallup Poll Friday.
MormonTimes - Duties, perils of defending the faith (8-8)
During the FAIR Mormon Apologetics Conference on Thursday, Aug. 6, Robert White set the record straight on the obligations, perils and blessings of apologetics.
MormonTimes - Mormon membership growing through youth movement (8-8)
Young people speak the sermons regularly at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of Chelsea.
MormonTimes - Convention offers ways to display faith (8-7)
Why just wear your heart on your sleeve when you can wear it on your wrists, walls, gift wrap, bookshelves, ties, mantles and diaper bags?
MormonTimes - Gerald Lund talks about 'The Undaunted' (8-7)
From the mining towns of Yorkshire, England, to Hole-in-the-Rock in Southeastern Utah, author Gerald Lund weaves the tale of David Draper together with real-life pioneer heroes like Jens Nielsen and Silas Smith to tell the little-known story of an amazing group of Western settlers called to do the impossible.
MormonTimes - Living church history: Faith thrives in LDS sites' shadows (8-6)
Kathleen O'Meal still remembers when her family joined the LDS Church in Palmyra, N.Y.
MormonTimes - How are Mormons seen in world? (8-6)
Sometimes we Mormons feel a bit defiant and declare we don't much care what the world thinks of us.
Jail resumes force-feeding FLDS leader Jeffs (8-5)
Polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs, who has been fasting to such an extreme degree that his life is in jeopardy, is once again being force-fed by staffers at an Arizona jail.
MormonTimes - Familiar 'ghost' in the Book of Mormon (8-5)
"And their speech shall whisper out of the dust" (2 Nephi 26:16).
MormonTimes - Joseph Smith's true friends stand by him (8-5)
When their temple was dedicated in April 1836, the Kirtland Saints may have hoped their tests were over. After all, this was a period of spiritual outpouring and close friendship.
MormonTimes - Black history, culture wars and books (8-5)
What did Henry Louis Gates Jr. recently say about Mormons? How should a civil society handle battles of ideas? Which new books highlight Mormon themes? The Mormon Media Observer found some interesting answers this week.
MormonTimes - Mormon Family History Centers get trove of new documents (8-4)
Every week, new tools for researching your ancestors arrive at Mormon Family History Centers.
MormonTimes - Boye to YSAs: Mormons aren't exempt from adversity (8-3)
Alex Boye's mother sent him to a boarding school north of London when he was 11 years old and told him she'd visit in three weeks. Instead, she moved to Nigeria and stayed for eight years. He never stopped looking for her on Parents Day.
MormonTimes - Mormons strive to make the Internet FAIR (8-3)
It wasn't fair. In the mid-1990s, Scott Gordon, Juliann Reynolds and other Mormons were under constant danger of losing their Internet provider privileges if they attempted to defend The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
MormonTimes - Special privileges: LDS Church, Dodgers share benefits (8-3)
On its Web site, Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers say the LDS Church "draws the largest crowd to the stadium every season!" This season's date is Thursday, Aug. 6, in a game against the Atlanta Braves.
MormonTimes - Challenging issues & keeping the faith: part 13 (8-3)
As stated repeatedly in this series, prophets are not divine, but are humans who have been divinely called to leadership positions. Until we can become perfect like the Father, all of us will continue to struggle, learn from experience and make mistakes. So how can we know when they are speaking as prophets?
Study finds LDS politically conservative (8-1)
An updated and rereleased study of Mormons and politics confirms what many Utahns already believe -- that most Latter-day Saints are conservative and most are Republicans.
MormonTimes - Ancestors can be found in unsavory records (8-1)
Your ancestors may be hiding in the last place they want you to find them.