Joanna Brooks On The Daily Show

Jon Stewart gives a great interview with Joanna Brooks who is the author of the "The Book of Mormon Girl" who talks about what it is like to be a girl growing up in the Mormon faith and becoming a liberal Mormon. Watch the awesome interview below: 

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Having grown up in Southern California and going to BYU, I totally understand the world she is comes from. Like her I graduated from BYU but didn't leave as a liberal/progressive. However, I appreciate that she is willing to share her subjective and personal experience about her faith from a unique perspective. Although I haven't read her book yet, I plan on picking it up soon.

Why Mormons Build Temples Around The World

Today is an important day for many Jewish people in which they observe Tisha B'Av which is fast that memorializes the destruction of the First Temple by the Babylonians in 586 BCE and the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 CE. The First Temple was built by King Solomon (1 Chronicles 28:1-6) while the Second Temple was built by Ezra and others under the permission of Babylonian kings. However, there will be a time when Jews no longer need to mourn the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem because they look forward to the construction of a Third Temple in Jerusalem.

While Jews focus on the destruction of these two temples in Jerusalem, Biblical archeology and scholarship shows that there was never intended to be only one temple located in Jerusalem to be used in Jewish worship. The Bible supports the notion that having more than one temple was permissible under Jewish Law since in 2 Kings 12 we find tthat Jeroboam built new temples at Bethel (on Israel’s southern border) and at Dan (on the northern border). 

Biblical archeology has discovered Jewish Temples at the following sites: 

Gilgal   

Ebal    

Shechem         

Shiloh  

Kirjath-jearim  

Gibeon            

Megiddo         

Arad   

Lachish            

Dan     

Bethel  

Beer-Sheba     

Elephantine/Aswan      

Shechem/Mt. Gerizim (Samaritan)        

Leontopolis/Tel Yehudia by Onias (near Heliopolis)

The temples at Elephantine, Leontopolis, Tel Arad and others are not recorded in the Bible but are clearly identified as Jewish temples and were known by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. These archaeological sites along with no record of Jewish leaders objecting to them demolishes the claim that they would not have allowed to have a temple constructed outside of Jerusalem. It does not appear that these buildings were forbidden by Jewish law and practice. Unfortunately, these ancient temples were either destroyed or simply faded away with time. Only the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem remained and temple worship continued during and after Christ's mortal ministry on earth as demonstrated in the New Testament:

"...the New Testament apostles continued to worship in the Jerusalem temple after Christ's ascension (Acts 2:46, Acts 3:1-10, Acts 5:20-42). Even Paul worshipped there (Acts 21:26-30, Acts 22:17, Acts 24:6-18, Acts 25:8, Acts 26:21). Paul is explicitly said to have performed purification rituals (Acts 21:26, Acts 24:18), and prayed in the temple (Acts 22:17, cf. Acts 3:1); he claims that he has not offended "against the temple," implying he accepts its sanctity (Acts 25:8). Indeed, Paul also offered sacrifice (prosfora) in the temple (Acts 21:26, cf. Numbers 6:14-18), a very odd thing for him to do if the temple had been completely superceded after Christ's ascension. Finally, and most importantly, Paul had a vision of Christ ("The Just One" ton dikaion) in the temple (Acts 22:14-21), paralleling Old Testament temple theophanies, and strongly implying a special sanctity in the temple, where God still appears to men even after Christ's ascension." 

Temples play a major role in LDS theology.  Mormons believed those who escaped to the New World prior to the Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem as described in the Book of Mormon also brought the practice of Mosiac Temple worship with them.  The Book of Mormon mentions the construction of two temples that occurred in different places and at different times with the first one being constructed shortly after those who fled before the Babylonian invasion arrived in the new world and the second one being built a few centuries later in city called Bountiful. These temples were constructed for Mosaic Temple worship just like they were done in temples in the old world.

Mormons believe that God restored the practice of Temple worship in modern times beginning with the construction of the Kirtland Temple to the construction of temples around the world. Temples will continue to play an important role in LDS theology and practice in the future. Mormons look forward to the construction of a Temple in Jerusalem.

In conclusion, this brief explanation is an attempt to explain why Mormons build temples around the world. Mormons believe that temples have historically been an essential part of God's church throughout time and space beginning with the time God instructed Moses to build the Tabernacle to the construction of the First Temple in Jerusalem to the construction of Temples in both the Old and New World to the multitude of LDS Temples that dot the globe to the construction of temples in the future. 

Happy Father's Day Heavenly Father!!

The LDS Church Reaching Out To People Who Have A Hearing Loss

The LDS Church is being aggressive in spreading the gospel online by creating a lot of new websites. The LDS Church is also being very proactive to meeting the needs of those who have some kind of hearing loss and would like to view Church videos online. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has announced that all videos posted online will be closed captioned: 

In the past, closed captioning has been offered for the live broadcast on television and satellite, but not on the Church’s website. Archived general conference content on LDS.org has included conference videos in American Sign Language (available by selecting ASL from the language drop-down menu), but not everyone who is Deaf or hard of hearing knows or uses ASL, said Christopher Phillips, manager of Disabilities Services for the Church.

Closed captioning, on the other hand, is more widely accessible and can be helpful to those without hearing disabilities as well. Captions also can help make video content more searchable online.

“This improvement will be a benefit to many who struggle with hearing loss, including those who might have lost their hearing later in life and haven’t had the opportunity to learn sign language,” said Karen Staley, a member of the Church who lives in Maryland and is Deaf. “The captioned videos will help make the gospel more accessible to a large group of people.”

The LDS Church has also posted the entire ASL translation of the Book of Mormon is now online for viewing by LDS members who communicate in American Sign Language. It also realize that this also great for Deaf members that belong to any Restorationist branch that would like to have access to the Book of Mormon in their language online. 

To go behind the scenes on what it took to create the ASL translation of the Book of Mormon, I highly recommend watching this interview between Richard Sutton and Minnie-Mae Wilding Diaz: 

How To Sing "I'm A Child Of God"...In Klingon!?

I enjoy hearing Gospel hymns in different languages since I always feel the spirit regardless of what language the song is sung in. However, I have never heard a Church song sung in Klingon....until now.

Watch the awesome video below:

Who Are The Mormons?

In effort to help people understand the basic facts about the LDS Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has released a simple FAQ page summarizing the beliefs of the Church. They have also released a nifty infographic that provides some neat information about the Mormon Church. Take a look at it below:

 

Scientists Think Jesus May Have Been Crucified on Friday April 3, 33 AD

Scientists believe that they have nailed down the exact date of when Jesus Christ was crucified. Here's how they came to that conclusion: 

A new study suggests that the Biblical date of Jesus' crucifixion is, in fact, possible to confirm.

The International Geology Review investigated an earthquake that was said to have occurred the same date as Jesus' crucifixion; which was most likely Friday April 3, 33 A.D.

In Gospel of of Matthew, Chapter 27 says: “And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open.”

According to Discovery News, geologist Jefferson Williams of Supersonic Geophysical and colleagues Markus Schwab and Achim Brauer of the German Research Center for Geosciences, analyzed earthquake activity in the area by studying three cores from the Ein Gedi Spa beach.

The research confirmed that two major earthquakes have hit the area specified, one during the period between 26 BCE and 36 CE, and could be the one referred to in the Gospel of Matthew.

However, the earthquake data alone doesn't fully confirm the date. Williams, Schwab, and Brauer admit that the earthquake implied in the gospel could be allegorical, referring to the earthquake that occurred sometime before or after the crucifixion.

This earthquake would have been powerful enough to break apart the sediments of Ein Gedi but not enough to have warranted "a still extant and extra-biblical historical record."

“If the last possibility is true, this would mean that the report of an earthquake in the Gospel of Matthew is a type of allegory,” they write in the International Geology Review.

Determining when Jesus died is quite difficult because in order to determine the date of when he was crucified depends on when you believe Jesus was born. As a result, its a fruitless exercise when you consider this important fact: 

The mortal Jesus himself very likely didn’t know what his birth date was. We care so much because our culture is largely derived from Greece and Rome, where birthdays were kept. His disciples probably didn’t know when he was born; it wasn’t a question one would even ask.

As far as the exact date of when Jesus was crucified on the exact date of April 3, 33 is questionable for Mormons if you accept the April 6 theory of Jesus birth. Although it is a LDS Myth that Jesus was born on April 6, there are plenty of Mormons who accept that date despite the fact that it is not doctrinal nor can it be confirmed scientifically.