Here are some of my reasons for believing so.
YouTube Narration:
Continue reading “Yes, Joseph Smith is an Authentic Prophet.”Author: Dan Ellsworth
Accusation: The Epistemology of Hell
What is accusation, and why do we see it in scripture about the War in Heaven?
What is the aim of accusation?
How does accusation impact our intuitions and our powers of reason?
How have we seen accusation employed in tyrannical movements?
Slides available for viewing and download:
Continue reading “Accusation: The Epistemology of Hell”Are we a cult?
This is one of the most common insults toward our Latter-day Saint faith, and it’s worth exploring.
Slides for viewing and download:
Continue reading “Are we a cult?”Faith Crisis: Presentation and Resources
What is faith crisis?
What are some possible responses to the experience?
What are some healthy ways of reframing faith crisis?
Is a positive outcome possible?
What are some helpful resources for people in faith crisis?
In this presentation, we cover these questions and more. And if you would like personal help working through faith crisis, we’re happy to link you with people who can help! Just send a note using the feedback form.
Slides available for viewing and download:
Continue reading “Faith Crisis: Presentation and Resources”Critical Thinking: a Primer for Latter-day Saints
Is critical thinking destructive to faith?
How can we fortify our own thinking skills and learn to spot errors in common criticisms of our faith?
This presentation offers a simple primer on critical thinking; slides are available for viewing and download here:
Continue reading “Critical Thinking: a Primer for Latter-day Saints”Latter-day Saint Epistemology
None of the following statements make something untrue.
“Cannot be confirmed to my satisfaction”
“Does not reflect my personal experience”
“Does not reflect the experience of people around me”
“Does not meet my personal standard for validity”
Continue reading “Latter-day Saint Epistemology”Presentation on Belonging
Why do we sometimes feel like we don’t belong?
Who is responsible for belonging?
What are things that individuals and institutions do that decrease people’s sense of belonging?
What are reasonable expectations for ourselves and others?
These are discussion points in our presentation on belonging, based on Ben Pacini’s briefing to BYU-I faculty. Slides, discussion, and resources below.
Continue reading “Presentation on Belonging”Changing the Church
Does the church need to change?
Yes. the church has changed a lot over the years, and will continue to evolve into the future.
But what specifically needs to change, and why? And what are good and not-so-good ways for members to think about change in the church? What do we as human beings bring to the equation?
Below are the presentation, our discussion of the slides, and some of the resources cited in the presentation.
Continue reading “Changing the Church”Reflecting on Van Halen
A couple of weeks ago on a work trip I spent time with a coworker friend I hadn’t seen since before COVID; he’s a guitarist, and in our catching up we talked about the sadness of losing Eddie Van Halen in 2020.
Continue reading “Reflecting on Van Halen”Getting Along < Shared Belief < Conversion
The Book of Mormon is an absolutely remarkable text of religious psychology. At various points in the text, certain terms are used to make fine distinctions between very specific states of mind and heart. And the consequences of these states of mind and heart are spelled out in terms of social trends in communities.
When I say I know the Book of Mormon is true, part of that statement includes my conviction that it conveys real history of real people and real phenomena. The other part of that statement is that its unique picture of religious psychology is accurate. This morning, my reading in 3 Nephi reinforced this conviction in me.
Continue reading “Getting Along < Shared Belief < Conversion"