All Things Witness

Thoughts on the mission and power of Jesus Christ

Tag Archives: Christ

People standing on beach practicing Yoga


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Mental Gymnastics

A phrase I see a lot in discussions about faith, politics, social cohesion and more these days is ‘mental gymnastics’. I’ve used it myself more than once. It seems that whatever ‘side’ of an issue you’re on, the ‘other side’ must engage in mental gymnastics in order to justify their conclusions. It suggests that there is an obvious, plain explanation of the issue – an Occam’s Razor if you like – and that your position is precisely that one. Everyone else, on the other hand, is having to come up with convoluted, irrational arguments just justify their own position.

On the one hand, scriptures confirm that truth is something that should make sense and be, to some degree, rational. ‘Let us reason together,’ the Lord says in both Isaiah and the Doctrine and Covenants (see Isaiah 1:18, D&C 50:10-11).

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A man removing a blue mask, and a woman removing a red mask


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Am I Severed?

I’m currently something of a fanboy of the Apple TV series Severance. It doesn’t neatly fit a genre, being mystery/thriller/sci-fi/horror/drama. It’s what you call a slow-burn. There’s not much in the way of action. There are long gaps between dialogue. Indeed, you could get to the end of an episode and wonder whether anything much had even happened. And yet it’s absolutely riveting.

Every scene, every image, every word has significance, and the whole show acts as a giant metaphor. It’s the sort of series that when something is revealed in, say, the 4th episode of the 2nd series, you feel like you have to watch the entire show from series 1, episode 1 again. What it’s a metaphor for is the question that has been delved into online in abundance, with a ton of theories around. It truly is a work of sublime art.

It is the metaphor (or one possible metaphor) I want to talk about in this post, but I need to explain the show a bit first. Warning: spoilers coming. If you haven’t watched it yourself, another warning if you’re going to check it out, for strong language.

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Open Bible


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Discerning Truth From Counterfeit

‘Today Christians … stand at the head of [this country]… I pledge that I never will tie myself to parties who want to destroy Christianity … We want to fill our culture again with the Christian spirit … We want to burn out all the recent immoral developments in literature, in the theater, and in the press – in short, we want to burn out the poison of immorality which has entered into our whole life and culture as a result of liberal excess during the past … (few) years.’ – Adolf Hitler (Cline, Austin. “Adolf Hitler on Christianity: Quotes.” Learn Religions, Apr. 5, 2023, learnreligions.com/adolf-hitler-on-christianity-quotes-248190.)

Angel Studios recent film release, Truth and Treason, has been getting a fair amount of publicity in the circles I inhabit online. I haven’t seen it yet, but I want to. It tells the true story of a young 17 year old Helmuth Hübener who resisted the Nazis and was executed by them. What the film doesn’t tell you is that Helmuth was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and that he was also excommunicated by the Church for his resistance to the Nazis.

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Samuel the Lamanite on the walls of Zarahemla


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Do We Need Another Samuel the Lamanite?

One of the YouTube channels I follow is Connor Boyack. For those who don’t know him, Connor is a fairly well-known commentator and activist in Utah, probably of a more Libertarian bent, and active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). Sometimes I agree with him, and sometimes I disagree but I usually find his ‘Sunday musings’ well thought-out and researched.

Yesterday, he entitled his musing ‘What would a modern Samuel the Lamanite sound like?’ You can watch his musing here.

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Nephi with Sword of Laban


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The Sword of Laban

The story of Laban and his sword in the Book of Mormon has long fascinated me. For many, it’s a problematic story, because Nephi cuts off Laban’s head with his own sword, as commanded by the Spirit and, well, that sort of thing is more likely to be a sign of mental illness in our days and times. So, I get that.

But I think we’ve long misinterpreted this passage and today I’d like to perhaps recast this tale and hopefully help us to all understand it in a new light.

First off, it’s probably worth emphasising a couple of things. One, although told in narrative story form, Nephi isn’t writing in order to tell us a story. He is teaching us about how to come to Christ. He is most explicit about this effort in 2 Nephi, but it’s the same message in 1 Nephi – just expressed differently.

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Jesus and Children


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The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven

I find that some of the most tender scenes in the scriptures are when Jesus is with children. For Latter-day Saints, perhaps the scene in the Book of Mormon when Christ visits the people after his resurrection comes to mind.

‘Blessed are ye because of your faith. And now behold, my joy is full. And when he had said these words, he wept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them. And when he had done this he wept again; And he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones. And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them.’ (3 Nephi 17:20-24)

Any parent would desire such a blessing for their children.

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Lehi teaches his family


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Arise From the Dust

In my last post, I talked about one way to interpret the writings of Nephi in the Book of Mormon is to assume that the characters of Laman and Lemuel represent you and me. Remember, they were always obedient to the Law of Moses – Nephi never once calls them out on that. They were also just like the majority of the Jews at Jerusalem – those who were about to be destroyed because of their wickedness (see 1 Nephi 2:13).

Although this approach makes us feel uncomfortable – after all, none of us likes to believe that we are included amongst the wicked – it causes some deep introspection and self-examination. We start to look more closely at how Nephi describes his older brothers. If he never criticises them for their approach to the Law of Moses, when does he call them to repentance?

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Our Sacrifice for Him

If you’re not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or any of the other splintered organisations descending from Joseph Smith, you might not have read the Book of Mormon – and maybe you don’t think there’s any reason for you to do so. But before you click away, please read this from Baptist minister, Lynn Ridenhour:

I’m a licensed Southern Baptist minister and I embrace the Book of Mormon.

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A woman standing in a field raising her arms to the sky with a sunset behind her


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Praise the Lord

I gave this talk in our church meetings today and thought I’d post it. There are a few paragraphs that are copied from previous posts, so my apologies to regular readers of this blog.

When I served my mission in Chile far too many years ago, one of the things we would teach investigators is how to pray. Chile was a very religious nation and most people had prayed before, but not everyone. The pattern was a very simple four steps, which will be familiar to most here today.

We begin by addressing our Heavenly Father. Next, we thank Him; then we ask Him for things we need. Finally, we close in the name of Jesus Christ. It’s a pattern I’ve repeated myself from my first memories of prayer both personally, in my family and in church. 

Now, I’ve recently been spending some time studying the Lord’s prayer, as found in the sermon on the mount in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon. That’s the pattern for prayer that Christ Himself has taught us, and one thing I’ve come to wonder is whether our standard LDS prayer follows the example and pattern he showed.

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Salt Lake temple


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The Holy Church of God

Have you ever read a passage of scripture – maybe even for the ‘umpteenth’ time – and had it hit you so profoundly that it’s caused you to re-evaluate something? Or maybe even re-evaluate everything? It’s caused a total shift in your paradigm of some principle, or even your foundation?

In my last post, I talked about the things we believe, but which are false, that prevent us from coming to know the truth (often called unbelief or traditions of the fathers in the scriptures). The truth must be our goal, because it’s the truth that sets us free. When we can truly let go of one or more of the false beliefs that we hold, the scriptures can open up to us in new ways, allowing us to have these profound experiences of life-altering understanding enlighten us. It is breathtakingly beautiful.

Now with that background, when I talk about the ‘Holy Church of God’, what do you think I’m referring to? Is it an organisation or institution? If so, which one?

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