Ben and Christopher discuss the laws put forth in the Book of the Covenant. These laws have an Ancient Near Eastern context mirrored in contemporary legal codes in the same context. The general exceptions are in how they treat the disadvantaged of society. Nephi’s killing of Laban finds its justification in these verses. The LORD gives instruction on how to construct the tabernacle, being a representation of the cosmos in creation and Eden. Moses wins an argument with God after the people worship before a golden calf. What are we to understand about God and His relationship with the people from this event?
Shiloh and Ben open up a discussion about Joseph Smith’s First Vision and his “call to adventure.” Joseph lived in a day when there were arguments abounding over what was true and correct doctrine. People of all faiths around him seemed to exhibit “great love” and “zeal” at “the time of their conversion.” But whatever form or façade of conversion and love that existed soon digressed, and it became evident to Joseph that God is not discovered through argument and scriptural apologetics. Joseph had no context for how to gain more light and truth, but he realized that “the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible” (JS-H 1:12). The Spirit worked within Joseph, and Joseph experienced a type of contemplative lectio divina with God (i.e., “Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again.”). The First Vision was more than the imparting of truth through argument, reason, rational, and an appeal to the text. Through the First Vision account we begin to see what God truly has in store for us: To know truth by experience with Him. Whereas the world clamors to define and defend God through whatever perceived and appropriate methods of belief, argument, and dogma, the First Vision teaches us that truth is far, far more powerful and known through divine experience. As Joseph states, “For I had ...
Shiloh and Ben discuss the instructions given from Joseph Smith to the Church concerning how to deal with angels, the physical nature of God, the state of the earth during the millennium, and other end-of-days prophecies. The “revelation” on polygamy pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, written by Joseph directly to Emma, merits a bit of historical context. Polygamy is never an easy discussion, and there is still currently a lot of pain and trauma silently endured by Church members concerning these narratives and doctrines. The Church still believes in and continues to practice polygamy today. As one church leader once told Shiloh: “The church still believes in and practices polygamy, but they just practice it one wife at a time”. These doctrines, beliefs, and practices still impact Church members’ identities and views of eternity today, and not always in positive ways. ...
Shiloh is joined with guest co-host Christopher Hurtado to discuss modality in terms of the priesthood. Modes are, in a sense, stories that we believe in as real and that we pour our intentionality into to produce experiences. By “story” it is not necessarily to say a “fiction,” but it is a narrative that frames our belief(s) and that we combine with our faith unto action. When we say something as simple as “I am going to go pray to God,” we often do not take into account the richness and complexities of the assumed stories and expectations that go into that short phrase. In that statement is the assumption of what we construct as the “I” (the thinking, acting, believing, and producing thing that is conscious and aware), the assertion that the “I” has intentionality and that that intentionality and hope matters, that there is a “God” (and all of the beliefs, assumptions, expectations, experiences, and thoughts of what that entails), that we are in an important relationship to this “God,” and that this “God” is of a type of entity, being, or thing that cares or is in response to our own intentionality and purpose to have a conversation. Just the simple concept of “prayer” is a rich story full of narratives, experiences, assumptions, and expectations. So, what of “priesthood”? Modality is not the only way to think of priesthood, but it certainly opens a new discussion than what we typically have in recognizing the richness of that conversation and of the sometimes unexamined assumptions and beliefs that we have concerning this part of our religious experience. ...
