Although all is not gold that shines, any more than every religious creed is sanctioned with the so eternally sure word of prophecy, satisfying all doubt with “Thus saith the Lord;” yet, “by proving contraries,” truth is made manifest,” and a wise man can search out “old paths, wherein righteous men held communion with Jehovah, … Read more
And for these many generations, ever since the day that I created them, have they gone astray, and have denied me, and have sought their own counsels in the dark; and in their own abominations have they devised murder, and have not kept the commandments, which I gave unto their father, Adam. Wherefore, they have … Read more
In my undergraduate days, majoring in Speech/Theatre Education, I took a class called, “Small Group Discussion.” The instructor divided the class into groups of six or seven people. Each group was instructed to create a task for themselves (which the instructor would not define for us). We would be presenting the results of that task … Read more
A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge, for if he does not get knowledge, he will be brought into captivity by some evil power in the other world, as evil spirits will have more knowledge, and consequently more power than many men who are on the earth. Joseph Smith, April 10, 1842 … Read more
Recently, I started an adult Sunday School lesson on the Fall of Adam and Eve by saying “Today we are going to partake of the Tree of Knowledge.” I then took a big bite of a juicy red apple. After savoring the taste, I offered another apple to a class member sitting in the front … Read more
The other day I asked this question to my 89-year-old mother. Her answer was, “I don’t believe that for a minute. She knew exactly what she was doing.” It is impossible to know the precise degree to which Eve may have made her decision (about eating the fruit) by being swayed by Satan’s temptations or … Read more
In 1995, the LDS Church issued a statement called “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.” This Proclamation was recently the topic of study in LDS Sunday School classes. I believe many Latter-day Saints misuse this Proclamation to push a politically conservative agenda. What are LDS “Proclamations”? The Church has issued six Proclamations throughout its … Read more
If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide. Abraham Lincoln, 1838 2021 was supposed to be the year things returned to normal. A highly qualified, easy-going, gentleman was entering the White House and, with the … Read more