Bridge of Reason

The September 2016 edition of the Mormon Ensign magazine, in its Conference Notebook, carried a note by Elder Dale G. Redlund about the Atomenment of Jesus Christ. It is an exerpt from his April conference address, reported in full in the May 2016 Ensign, p42 . Here is the exerpt: I can emphatically state that because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, ultimately, in the eternal scheme of things, there will be no unfairness. “All that is unfair about life can be made right.” [ Preach my Gospel , 52] Our present circumstances may not change, but through God’s compassion, kindness, and love, we will all receive more than we deserve, more than we can ever earn, and more than we can ever hope for. We are promised that “God shall wipe away all tears from [our] eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” [Revelation 21:4] There is much to say about this short piece but I want to draw you...

After sharing some pizza with my new Mormon missionary friends, Elders E and Y, I went along today at their invitation to attend the Mormon General Conference down at the well-known LDS church in South Kensington opposite the Science Museum. It was really nice to bump into my old friend Elder J there, and also get to know a Down Syndrome gentleman named Chris who told me he is a deacon in the church. The meeting was a repeat of the Saturday afternoon session in Salt Lake City on the big screen. There were the usual line-up of Mormon 'suits' giving speeches one after the other - mostly white, middle-aged gentlemen from the Quorum of 12 or the Seventy, though there was one endearing Japanese chap. Occasionally the speeches were punctuated with a number from the choir - one of which those around me joined in with, the other of which was just listened to. I am on this ongoing search to distill the Mormon message, and (I'm probably going to oversimplify here) according to the ta...

Here is a very interesting look at the Mormon rejection of the most familiar and iconic symbol of the Christian faith. It is interesting that a former Mormon bishop understands that the Mormon aversion to the Cross symbol is based on the church’s desire to maintain its distinctive nature. You wouldn’t believe that today when they are striving to be a denomination among many others. Maybe they will embrace the cross once again; although that might prove difficult since they believe that Jesus atoned in Gethsemane. Reed's research explains Mormons' "ambiguous, confused relationship to the cross," says Rees, a former LDS bishop. "At one time there was an informal acceptance of it as an overt symbol, but in the 20th century its use has been discouraged by church leaders. Wanting to maintain its distinctive identity among Christian churches, the church essentially rejected outward manifestations of the cross, one of the most compelling symbols in all of Christend...