WHEAT AND TARES: MORMONS EXPANDING THE FIELD

This is an announcement and an invitation.

Nearly all of the permanent bloggers formerly at the Mormon Matters blog have chosen to continue and expand our journey in a new vehicle which we will formally launch on Monday, October 4. That new vehicle is Wheat & Tares.

MORMON MATTERS POST: WANDERING MORMONS AS NEPHITES

More than two years ago, the Holy Spirit began insisting that I re-read the Book of Mormon. Of course, I didn’t recognize the impulse as anything but a good idea originating within my own intellect. That’s what I do with anything – process it intellectually first.

DOES GOD SQUASH ET’S: HOW HUMAN IS HUMAN?

CROSS-POSTED TO MORMONMATTERS.ORG 5/29/10. JOIN THE DISCUSSION THERE!

Distinctly Mormon doctrines relating the physical appearance of humanity to God’s own “preferred” form grew gradually in early Restoration history rather than springing forth full form. Although there are references in the Book of Mormon (the earliest recorded of Joseph Smith’s prophetic writings) to the Brother of Jared seeing the “finger” and then the full vision of Christ, even the earliest published accounts of the First Vision do not feature descriptions of two personages appearing as does the “official” version eventually recorded several years after formation of the church. This doesn’t mean that later descriptions were contradictory to the first version; it does suggest that certain features of the encounter took on greater significance in light of subsequent experience.

The emphasis on the “physicality of God” even in the spiritual realm grew in concert with notions of the Eternal Family and its role and function in achieving and living in Celestial Glory. The elaboration of this theology is natural as the early church leadership began to push, at first secretly, new forms of marriage and family life, but it was not an inevitable evolution of the theology of the 1830 Restoration. For example, no one in the Community of Christ expects that the afterlife is about progressing to populate new worlds with our own spiritual offspring, as Heavenly Father populated our own world. In one denomination, it is THE Heavenly Father; in the other it is Heavenly Father, with the seldom spoken inference that there may be Heavenly Mother lurking in the theology as well.

REPORT ON COMMUNITY OF CHRIST WORLD CONFERENCE

CROSS POST TO MORMON MATTERS:

The Community of Christ added a new Section 164 to its Doctrine and Covenants at its World Conference during April 10-17, 2010. I’ve been providing a series of commentaries on the canonization process for an LDS audience.

THE 4TH PURPOSE: HAITI, AND WHO IS MY BROTHER?

The Haitian earthquake crisis points out differences in the humanitarian approaches of the two main Restoration denominations, and, in light of the elevation of caring for the poor and needy in the list of purposes for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, raises strategic questions for the future.

THE ICE SHALL FLOW DOWN

After several serious posts on climate, I thought it was time for something on climate that — I sincerely hope — proves entirely whimsical.

I remembered seeing something about ice as a teenager while reading the Doctrine and Covenants cover to cover. Sure enough, I found it in what is LDS D&C Section 133 (The Community of Christ version is numbered Section 108). So, if any of you reading this from the “north countries” should observe that the snow doesn’t entirely melt next summer as it usually does, please feel free to draw the appropriate prophetic conclusions. (And don’t buy property too near the shoreline of Salt Lake — Lake Bonneville was much larger.)

A GUEST POST APPEARING ON MORMON MATTERS

Recently I was requested by Mormon Heretic to prepare some posts about the process by which the Community of Christ adds to its Doctrine and Covenants that would be of interest to an LDS audience. MH has now posted the first of these at Mormon Matters.

UPDATE: MH has now posted a second, follow-up post on Mormon Matters that discusses some of the “headlines” from the proposed CofChrist Section 164 that will be most notable to LDS readership.

THANKS TO MORMON WAR (THE BLOG, NOT THE CONCEPT)

Over at Mormon Heretic I made a suggestion about interpreting numbers in military units (like the Sons of Helaman).  Initially skeptical, Morgan Deane at Mormon War issued a post this weekend more supportine of the idea.

Morgan also is looking to put together a conference of scholars with interest in the study of what military history can tell us about interpreting the teachings of the Book of Mormon. I urge my “myriads” of readers to look at his post Myriads of Soldiers (linked above) and the other insights he offers on his site. If you are a student of the Book of Mormon, Morgan will suggest some background you may never have suspected might be present.

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