All Stories from Feast Upon the Word
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Book of Mormon Lesson #5: Hearken to the Truth, and Give Heed unto It, 1 Nephi 16-18, and 19-22
This lesson is supposed to finish off First Nephi, though chapters 19-22 are something of a tack-on (included only under “Additional Teaching Ideas”). I’ll tackle all seven chapters, I guess, though I’ll have to be a bit more spare than I’ve been in the previous couple of posts. I’ll proceed as...
Book of Mormon Lesson #4: “The Things Which I Saw While I Was Carried Away in the Spirit,” 1 Nephi 12-14 (Sunday School)
As I noted in my previous post, this third lesson on Nephi’s writings is meant to focus only on 1 Nephi 12-14, while the preceding lesson focuses on 1 Nephi 11 and 1 Nephi 15 (in connection with 1 Nephi 8). In order to follow as closely as possible what Nephi himself seems to be doing with his own...
Taking the Book of Mormon Seriously as History
While we often focus on the spiritual messages of the Book of Mormon, the Book of Mormon itself is not written as a mere collection of sermons or prophetic teachings. In order to take it seriously on its own terms, we need to pay closer attention to the Book of Mormon as historiography–”an account...
Getting Ready for Book of Mormon Lessons 2-11: Some Preliminaries on Nephi
There are eleven lessons in the manual on the writings of Nephi. Nephi’s writings are so profoundly complex and remarkably rich that I can’t resist putting together an introduction to all eleven lessons. Ten weeks is enough time, of course, only to begin to reflect on Nephi’s record, but I’ll be...
Where are all the missing scriptures?
Mormon Life says: "Are they missing, or are we just unwilling to recognize the traditions and sacred writings of other cultures as scripture?"--Interesting thought.
How much scripture are we still missing or not recognizing? If we take Nephi seriously, perhaps quite a bit! Latter-day Saints are quick to quote Nephi in defending the logic behind recognizing...
RS/MP Lesson 46: “The Final Judgment” (Gospel Principles Manual)
As always, I try to hit each section briefly and offer some food for thought through the scriptures quoted. I also give questions for each section. My hope is that these questions make you come up with questions of your own. My questions, and commentary, are mostly rhetorical to help guide your...
New Testament Sunday School Lesson 44 (JF): 1-3 John
1-3 John seem to be letters written to different churches in the region of Ephesus mostly in response to a group of apostates whom we call Gnostics. Most scholars believe that John wrote these letters before he wrote the Gospel of John, though that is not a unanimous opinion. There are, for...
New Testmant Lesson 42 (KD): James
1 Introduction 1.1 Big Picture The epistle of James clearly occupies a special place in LDS discourse because of James 1:5. Before we narrow in on specific parts of the letter let’s consider some big picture questions: Do you find James to be an enjoyable letter to read? Has it been an...
New Testament Lesson 41 (KD): 1 and 2 Timothy
1 Approach These represent the notes I made during my reading of the scriptural text for this lesson. It is not a lesson outline or a lesson plan but really notes about issues and questions that struck me as interesting during my reading. Consequently, the notes do not have a conclusion and very...
New Testament Lesson 40 (KD): Philippians
I. Introduction A. Notable One feature that stuck out to me was the personal nature of the letter. Paul talks of his personal struggles and the possibility of facing death (Phil 1:21-26): (21) For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (22) But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of...
New Testament Lesson 39 (KD): Ephesians
I. Introduction A. What Makes Ephesians Different? Scholars note that letter is not directed to a particular congregation or in response to a particular situation. Well, I suppose it could be, but the letter itself doesn’t indicate either. Ephesians 1:1 seems to indicate that that is directed to...
NT Sunday School Lesson 41: 1 and 2 Timothy; Titus
1 Timothy 3 3:15-16: How is the Church “the pillar and ground of truth”? What metaphor is Paul using? How does that metaphor help us understand what the Church does? What does he mean when he speaks of “the house of God”? Does he mean the church as a whole or individual congregations? What does...
New Testament Lesson 38 (KD): Acts 21-28
Trying to catch up a little. I. Similarities The beginning of chapter 21 covers the end of Paul’s final missionary journey as Paul travels towards Jerusalem. Commentators have often pointed out similarities between Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem and Paul’s final journey. For example, Ben...
RS/MP Lesson 44: “The Second Coming of Jesus Christ” (Gospel Principles Manual)
First off, I would like to echo everything in Joe’s notes for lesson 43 on the signs of the Second Coming. I would recommend reading those before these. The manual lists five things that Jesus will do when he returns. I will list each of those five things followed by some ideas of my own on the...
New Testament Sunday School Lesson 39 (JF): Ephesians
For a variety of reasons most New Testament scholars do not believe that this book was ever an actual letter written to a specific Christian congregation in Ephesus. For one thing, the words “to the Ephesians” in verse 1 is not part of the best manuscripts. Instead of a letter, it appears to be a...
