I have been away for awhile, first with various school projects and then getting involved with various topics in Mormon apologetics. One exciting event that I attended and actually guest posted about on the popular Mormon blog was Dr. Thomas Alexander’s Arrington lecture about the massacre. Some fireworks started when Will Bagley–or perhaps someone posing as him–challenged my opinion that the correspondence between a troublemaker named George Hicks and Brigham Young helps vindicate Brigham Young from being involved in any cover-up. But that is a long story and probably more minutia than a pro-positive oriented blog should get into.

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John in MN asked:

Here’s something I’ve pondered, but never sought to have answered by Latter-Day Saints. The premise of the question is a refrain I’ve heard – that a body is necessary in order to progress toward divinity. If that premise is true, that leaves two glaring exceptions; Jesus and the Holy Ghost. It seems that they became divine prior to receiving bodies. Is there an explanation for this? And will the Holy Ghost ever receive his body?

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I am opening this question up for discussion for both of our faiths. It would be interesting to see if there is any commonality of thought here. My initial contribution will be to quote Mormon scholar Daniel Peterson analyzing if a repented Book of Mormon apostate, Alma, could claim to have the priesthood by virtue of an ordination of another apostate. Dr. Peterson curiously cites Catholic thought to bolster his argument! Read the rest of this entry »

I thought it would be interesting to blog about this book and the reviews it has gotten so. The book came out last year and has since received three reviews. One is at my personal blog, another by Times and Season’s Julie M. Smith last December, and a somewhat negative review I recently found is at a new publication called Countercult Apologetics Journal. Perhaps I can help further the conversation by offering some constructive criticism in turn. Read the rest of this entry »

[Ed. Note: The following is a partial survey of Catholic writing on the Mormon baptism question before the authoratative ruling reached in 2001. It was compiled by Ted Jones, a Mormon historical researcher, and posted here with his permission. By posting this here, I do not mean to contest the precedences that the Father Ladaria commentary sees as important. Rather the summaries provided by Mr. Jones supplement and support the notion that the Catholic Church became increasingly aware of unconventional Mormon beliefs over time.] Read the rest of this entry »