For a long time I have looked for a clear and attractive graph or poster of the Plan of Salvation. It is easier for children and adults to better understand the Plan once it is laid out for them. Despite appreciating one recently published in a church magazine, it is imperfect because it lacks critical elements like the Fall of Adam and Eve. To address this, I have created a revised, detailed version with added scriptural references and explanations to people understand the Plan of Salvation. This poster can be downloaded and printed for free by everyone in this article.
Category: Old Testament
Was Jesus Married?
Christians have often assumed that Jesus wasn’t married, mostly based on the idea that if Jesus had been married then it would be mentioned in the Gospels at some point. This assumption is flawed for many reasons as shown in this article. Indeed, when we add the historical knowledge we have of the era with the cultural information preserved within the Gospels, it seems most likely that Jesus was married.
Halloween, Human Sacrifice, and The Revolution of Jesus Christ
Human sacrifice has been at the heart of human worship for as far back as humanity history stretches – and beyond. And it hasn’t went away. Many of our modern stories – of monsters and heroes – centers around human sacrifice and the sacrificing of humans. Whether you’re talking about Halloween or American Sniper, you’re still talking about the sacrifice of human lives to accomplish some higher goal and in service to some higher power. In this article, I look at human sacrifice in modern human storytelling, human sacrifice in human history, and at how the work of Jesus Christ has been to replace the sacrifice of men with the sacrifice of Himself and, in doing so, to totally transform human society at every level. Only through Christ can we hope to bring an end to the brutality of human sacrifice.
What Can Men Do Against Such Reckless Hate?
I recently finished a rewatch of the Lord of the Rings. As always, I was struck by the drama and courage of Théoden and the Riders of Rohan as they made what seemed like a last stand against the overwhelming might of the armies of Saruman. Instead of surrender or retreat they trusted in the words of Gandalf the White and stood against evil no matter what the cost to them, even if it cost their lives. There is a great lesson for us to learn here about how we should live. Using examples from throughout the scriptures I discuss how we can stand against the reckless hate of the world we live in today.
Here Is What The Scriptures Teach About Open Borders
The issue of immigration is an excellent example of how well meaning but fundamentally deceived Christians, including most Latter-day Saints, are lied to, fooled, and manipulated by the ideologies of the world into supporting immigration actions from governments which, at their most basic level, are cruel, anti-Christian, and outright evil. The purpose of this article is straight-forward- to address what exactly the scriptures command when it comes to immigration and the treatment of immigrants (of any sort) and to establish what exactly a Christian immigration policy would look like.
C.S. Lewis Explains The Problem With Masturbation
Many people, members of the church or not, do not really understand why masturbation is something that you should want to avoid. Even those who understand the evils of pornography still do not understand why a person should want to abstain from masturbation. Here a man much more eloquent and insightful than I powerfully explains why we should abstain from masturbation entirely.
Scriptural Proof The Earth Is More Than 7,000 Years Old
There are two different but connected errors that seriously plague modern Christianity. The first is the common error throughout segments of Christianity, including among Latter-day Saints, that the Earth was created in a single week. I addressed this error and corrected it last week. The second common error is that the world approximately 6,000 to 7,000 years old. That is what this article is about. The idea that the world is only 6,000 years old, an error that has damaged the faith of tens of thousands, even millions, of people, is based on a couple of fundamental misunderstandings of the scriptures. Both have also been refuted by modern revelation starting with the Prophet Joseph Smith. In order to correct this error and demonstrate what the scriptures truly teach on this subject I will combine a proper understanding of scriptural context with modern revelation to establish what it is about the Age of the Earth that the scriptures do teach so that we Latter-day Saints will not continue to fall into the error that other Christians have.
G.K. Chesterton’s Insights Into Mormonism and Polygamy
Being mocked in the news media is nothing new for Latter-day Saints. It has been a constant part of our history since the Restoration commenced. What is rare is having non-member critics whose insight is keen enough to help even Latter-day Saints understand our faith. Just such a rare example is famed Roman Catholic essayist and writer G.K. Chesterton’s 1911 article, “Mormonism.”
Not only does Chesterton’s insight help Latter-day Saints better understand the origins of plural marriage/polygamy and why it is part of the Restoration of All Things, but he offer other keen insights as well. In this short article he ably dissects the false tolerance that dominates in the present day. He also correctly explains that if you want to understand people and history you have to understand the religion that provides the basis for the actions individuals and societies engage in. In so short an article there is great depth here that applies to the current era of history.
Ancient Biblical Anarchy In The Law Of Moses
One of the most common mistakes that people make when reading the scriptures has to do with what they think it says about government. For example, most people read the stories of Saul, David, Solomon, and the succeeding kings of Judah and Ephraim as some divine endorsement of monarchy or, more generally, statism. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. All the kings of the Israelites were absolute disasters and everything after 1 Samuel 8 is the fulfillment of a warning God gives the Israelites that choosing the rule of men over His rule would be nothing but a disaster. The Old Testament is deeply anti-monarchist and anti-statist. This brings up an important question though: If God didn’t endorse kings (or the state more generally) then what kind of government does He support? What does it look like when you have God as your King? Here I answer this question while laying out what modern forms of government most closely match or best allow for God’s government to be established among His people.