I recently read through the short book (114 pages of text, plus notes) LDS in the USA: Mormonism and the Making of American Culture (Baylor Univ. Press, 2012; publisher’s page). The authors are non-LDS academics who have some familiarity with … Continue reading
So I stumbled across a short book titled Judaism’s Great Debates (Jewish Publication Society, 2012) by Rabbi Barry L. Schwartz. It includes an interesting chapter on defining boundaries, an issue that is familiar to Mormons. Why do we Mormons sometimes … Continue reading
In the New York Times travel section, “New Zealand’s Hobbit Trail” recounts the unexpected surge of Middle-earth tourism that has flooded New Zealand since the Lord of the Rings movies hit the screen ten years ago. The quote that got … Continue reading
In LDS thought, the veil as a symbol of the human condition is used in at least two distinct ways: (1) “a symbol for a separation between God and man,” and (2) “a God-given forgetfulness that blocks people’s memories of … Continue reading
The term “spiritual but not religious” has become popular over the last decade as academics and pollsters have noted a large rise in the number of Americans who eschew affiliation with or participation in any denomination or religious institution but … Continue reading
I just spent ten days in Japan. I’d forgotten how enlightening it is to see the places, people, and practices of a totally foreign culture, then reflect those observations back onto your own culture. In Japan, small Shinto shrines dot … Continue reading
The Summer 2012 issue of Dialogue contains an article by Grant Hardy titled “The King James Bible and the Future of Missionary Work.” The main point Hardy stresses in the article is that the King James Version (KJV) has become … Continue reading