Stuff they don’t talk about in Sunday School
October 12th, 2008 — Archeology, Early Christian History, Geography, Israel, Judaism, Mormon, Movie/Book Reviews, Multi-Faith, Muslim, Old Testament
I just finished a book called “DNA & Tradition”, by Rabbi Yaakov Kleiman. The book discusses evidence of Hebrew DNA, and talks about the science and religion of Judaism. As part of the discussion, I learned these interesting facts.
The oldest diaspora communities are in Assyria, later conquered by Babylonia (now modern-day Iraq) and Persia (now modern day Iran). They have been there for 2000-2500 years.
September 25th, 2008 — Christian, Culture, DNA, History, Islam, Judaism, Mormon, Multi-Faith, Muslim, Race, Science
Ok, I will confess that I love learning about the Middle East. I love learning more about Jews, Muslims, Arabs, etc. I have so much to learn.
I’m a grad student working on some genetic studies (one of my many jobs). As part of the genetic study we are doing, we have our study participants tell us their race. In medical studies, different treatments can affect different races quite dramatically.
September 10th, 2008 — Christian, Mormon, Mormon Culture, Multi-Faith, Word of Wisdom
I have about 5 part-time jobs. For one of them, I work as a freelancer for a television network. As part of my job, my company flies me all over the country to cover sporting events.
During this past presidential campaign, I remember reading several articles first published in the Boston Globe, and reprinted in the Deseret News, regarding Mitt Romney’s upbringing. I was surprised to learn that Mitt’s father, George, kept alcohol in their house to entertain non-LDS friends. The article was sure to state that all of the Romneys obeyed the Word of Wisdom, and never partook of the alcohol. I found this particular stance unusual.
September 2nd, 2008 — Christian, Mormon, Multi-Faith
This is an unbelievable example of Christlike love. See this Deseret News story. A young child was horribly injured in a fireworks accident, but instead of putting the person responsible in jail, they are fighting to keep him out of jail.
July 27th, 2008 — Christian, Mormon, Mormon Culture, Multi-Faith
I had a very interesting time at the Conference Center this weekend. The Osmonds joined the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for a Pioneer Day celebration.
The last time I was in the Conference Center was to attend the viewing of Pres. Hinckley, which was obviously a very somber occasion. When the Osmonds came out, there were swirling spotlights, clapping, a little bit of country, and a little bit of Rock and Roll. Donny had to remind the audience that it was ok to get a little more rowdy–that we had permission. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who felt it a little odd that there was actually a rock concert in a “house of worship.”
July 20th, 2008 — Catholic, Christian, Early Christian History, Geography, History, Islam, Mormon, Multi-Faith, Muslim
As I mentioned before, I have been learning about Ancient and Medieval Church history from the Covenant Theological Seminary. What has been so interesting to me is that Turkey is a real center for Christianity.
Paul spoke to the Ephesians in Ephesus (and his letter is in our bible now.) He also travelled to many other cities such as Perge, Derbe, Lystra, Antioch. John died in Ephesus. Peter built the first Christian church there in Antioch. Philip lived in Heirapolis, and was killed with him family there.
July 17th, 2008 — Archeology, Book of Mormon, Canon, Christian, Early Christian History, History, Mormon, Multi-Faith, Old Testament, Scripture, Theology
The history of baptism is quite interesting, and much more complex than most people know.
Baptism seems to be related to the ancient Jewish rite called “mikvah”, which was/is used for conversion to Judaism, ritual cleansing (Law of Moses type things, childbirth, women’s menstruation, and other things.) If you go to this link at Wikipedia, you can see a contemporary Mikvah font which look quite similar to a modern-day Christian baptismal font (at the bottom of the article.)
Continue reading →
July 13th, 2008 — Christian, Mormon, Multi-Faith
I just read this heart-warming story at MSNBC. It tells of a girl abandoned twice before she was 2 weeks old, and of the family who finally adopted her. Her birth mother was an IV drug user, and the first adoptive family declined her after learning of her severe heart defect. I find the Monroe’s unconditional love a wonderful example of Christian love. I just wanted to share, as the story really touched me.
July 13th, 2008 — 10 tribes, Book of Mormon, DNA, Intellectualism, Judaism, Mormon, Multi-Faith, Science, Theology
Ok, the title of my post actually comes from two different books. The first is called “DNA and Tradition: The Genetic Link to the Ancient Hebrews“, by Rabbi Yaakov Kleiman. The rabbi looks into DNA evidence concerning the tribe of Levi, as well as the other lost tribes of Israel.
In the introduction to the book, there are several interesting quotes, and he quotes from a book written by Rabbi Moses Maimonides (1135 – 1204 ) called Guide for the Perplexed, which examines the issues of being a religious scientist.
June 18th, 2008 — Catholic, Christian, Early Christian History, Gnosticism, Intellectualism, Mormon, Multi-Faith, Theology
This is part 3 of Heresy and Orthodoxy. I’ve been listening to class 5 from the Covenant Theological Seminary on Ancient and Medieval Church History. They have talked about Gnosticism and Marcionism. I’d like to talk about a little known movement in early church history called Montanism and compare this to Mormonism.
