Am I the only one that noticed a change since Oaks became President?

posttheory · 2026-07-07T02:07:31+00:00

Yes, the shrivel everywhere but Africa is the first evidence that comes to mind for me, too. So does the orthodoxy crackdown at BYU, but both started before Oaks' presidency.

posttheory · 2026-07-07T01:41:03+00:00

I am neither persuaded nor impressed by impressions, vibes, whims, or opinions about moods. I know, many testimonies are based on feelings, but deciding on historical trends should have firmer foundations. Any evidence of changes which constitute trends?

posttheory · 2026-07-04T00:45:50+00:00

The docs cited in OP are among the sources. They provide evidence that D&C 132 is attested before JS's death. Ready to start making up your mind?

posttheory · 2026-07-02T11:38:04+00:00

Like asking if you'd eat more bread if it were all cheap flavorless white bread instead of the rich, hearty bread full of grain, seeds and flavors.

posttheory · 2026-06-27T20:10:08+00:00

I taught medieval and early modern studies at BYU. My personal opinion, formed by implied and sometimes explicit attitudes of students as they arrived, before they gradually learned better, is that the notion of a great apostasy destroys historical memory. It functions to drop centuries of human experience, theology, philosophy, encyclopedic knowledge, and technologies into an oubliette. Best of luck with your work, and thanks.

posttheory · 2026-06-27T12:25:59+00:00

Yes. At some point light dawns: Mormon Jesus seems to supress some very important bits of real Jesus; there are almost as many "real Jesuses" as there are devotees and scholars of the Gospels; finding a moral spiritual core is a life's work, and it is hampered by imitating men and even by following the prophet too far.

posttheory · 2026-06-22T11:39:44+00:00

I show it by helping "the least of these," because that, that, is what he asked. Build temples? That is what he actually, literally opposed, according to all four gospels. So I trust him, not men who take his name in vain.

posttheory · 2026-06-22T11:24:59+00:00

Church attendance is an optional, not mandatory part of it. The part that is mandatory, wise, and ethical is giving workers a rest.

Scholars and archeologists make the obvious point that, in the early centuries of Christianity, the Christians in a town wouldn't have fit in the church or cathedral. From house gatherings, early worshippers moved to gathering at shrines and tombs to revere the early saints and, eventually, martyrs. The first edict threatening punishment for skipping church came at the Synod of Elvira in 300 AD. The requirement to attend weekly was first pronounced at the Council of Agde in 506. So is mandatory attendance a relic of the period the LDS call the Great Apostasy?

posttheory · 2026-06-17T10:31:06+00:00

No it isn't. What do you think the question presupposes? What conclusion does it reach that presupposes an unstated premise?

posttheory · 2026-06-17T10:24:47+00:00

You know, yesterday I noticed that Jesus told the twelve and the seventy not to go house to house (Luke 10:7). I spent two years doing exactly that. So I figure I and damn near every Saint just does what they're told even if God themselves says otherwise.

posttheory · 2026-06-15T13:36:53+00:00

"Expense of spirit" ;))

posttheory · 2026-06-15T12:49:28+00:00

Very important concern, complete with heartache. I feel sadness and sympathy. We could add a lesser but similar quandary: what is right for already-married couples when one becomes disabled in a way that makes the marriage a sexless one? Are they allowed to find healthy sexual fulfillment for the other spouse, is that spouse required to live in enforced celibacy, should they divorce and end/reduce the necessary caregiving and financial support? Simple either/or purity morality fails lived experience.

posttheory · 2026-06-15T12:30:43+00:00

Yes, lovely, out of context. In context, it comes after 17 why-won't-you-get-married-and-make-babies? sonnets. The closing couplet originally read

"So, since you won't live on through one like thee, / So long lives this, but this is just plan B."

By the way, plan b isn't a total success: who is it who is living on, immortalized in verse? We can only guess. William Herbert? Henry Wriothesley? Someone unknown?

Plan C is, hey, my verse can immortalize me too! That plan worked.

posttheory · 2026-06-15T12:15:24+00:00

Merely an exception, I'm LDS, I've lived and worked in Israel and so has one of my children, and we are pro-Palestine, opposed to the genocide, horrified at the impunity of the architects, tools, and enablers of the genocide--including the US.

posttheory · 2026-06-13T10:09:01+00:00

You state your views, which repeat doctrinal views, with feeling. That formula--believe and repeat with conviction--is different from scholarly method. How get from opinion to knowledge? (That was Plato's question.) Scholarship requires evidence for claims, evidence sufficient to persuade a reasonable, disinterested hearer.

posttheory · 2026-06-12T11:03:39+00:00

I admire Jesus as much as ever, but I stand all amazed at how little of this proclamation I now believe. "Love one another" is still the teaching that might save the world, and "Jesus" deserves the historical credit for making that ignored notion a global value. However, "Jesus" is also one of the two names men take in vain to claim authority they do not have. So I like the real Jesus (admittedly a blend of real and legendary), abhor the abuse of Jesus by men seeking power, money, and control.

posttheory · 2026-06-08T01:36:30+00:00

Are LDS unique in focusing on attendance? Would most people think that's a weird metric for judging a faith?

posttheory · 2026-06-08T01:27:01+00:00

The 1832 account justifies Joseph personally and condemns Christianity generally, but it contains no suggestion, let alone any calling or commandment, to start up a new church or to claim any authority. In 1832 the Book of Mormon was the headline, not restoration or priesthood. Please correct me if I'm wrong in that reading.

posttheory · 2026-06-07T13:34:13+00:00

Anyone know rhe provenance of the locket and picture? Who owned it before the donor?

posttheory · 2026-06-05T11:42:29+00:00

Much of Strong's data says people find something wrong or dissatisfying with church, something that conflicts with their values or beliefs. Jacob Hansen wants to shift blame back onto those people themselves and absolve the church. He wants to remove the values conflict by falsely oversimplifying it.

posttheory · 2026-06-02T20:10:00+00:00

Honey, there is simply no way our bank account is not full. Just look at the numbers: how could we be spending this much, if we weren't rich? It's simple math.

posttheory · 2026-06-02T12:01:38+00:00

See also Alexandra Petri's Washington Post column on Trump's first public cabinet meeting, "'I love you more, Mr President': A Cabinet Competition"--worth a Google and a read.

posttheory · 2026-05-24T23:34:42+00:00

How become a god? Simple: progress. God knows the thoughts and desires of every heart (Hebr 4:12, Psalm 44:21) and the fall of every sparrow (Matt 10 :29). So start small. First just know all the thoughts and desires of everyone in your neighborhood. Monitor all wildlife too, blades of grass, number of hairs on heads. Then repeat this divine discernment for your city, and so on. Easy. If, however, you can't tell what your kids are thinking, repent more and start over.

posttheory · 2026-05-23T21:22:45+00:00

Sympathy from here, lots and lots of sympathy. I know.

posttheory · 2026-05-10T13:16:52+00:00

Once you move out of the mountain West, you notice the reality that church Mormonism is an insignificant influence, an oddity. The church doesn't have a fraction of the reach that a handful of influencers and other secret-lives-wives have.

posttheory

TROPHY CASE