If you’re new here, you may want to sign up for email alerts or subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for reading!I had a conversation a few months ago about this question. Those that I were discussing this with made the argument that the “heathen,” the term my correspondent used for those who’ve never [...]
Just a couple days ago I came across a sculpture that caught my attention. Although unsigned and undated, it is widely believed that it was created by the Flemish sculptor and medallist Guillielmus Paludanus in 1567 as part of a chimney mantelpiece at his home in Antwerp, Belgium. It is described as espousing the virtue [...]
Live in strict obedience to the commandments of God, and walk humbly before Him, and He will exalt thee in His own due time. -Joseph Smith
Last week was the Joseph Smith manual chapter 13 lesson for Priesthood and Relief Society entitled, “Obedience: ‘When the Lord Commands, Do It.’” This was an excellent lesson, and I [...]
The scholarly world is aflutter over the latest discovery of a 3-foot tall tablet being called “Gabriel’s Revelation,” “Hazon Gabriel,” or the “Vision of Gabriel.” It contains 87 lines of Hebrew text written in ink on stone, and has been dated to the first century BCE. The tablet was found near the Dead Sea in [...]
I was thinking yesterday that there might be more to the common saying “asking for her hand in marriage.” Doing a few searches and I found that some believe it comes from a medieval ritual known as handfasting. Today it has been adopted by certain Neopagan groups as part of their engagement or marriage rituals, [...]
(Continued from Part 3)
Some more tidbits of information from Wells’ The Oxford Degree Ceremonies that might interest you:
The oath or charge to “observe the ’statutes, privileges, customs and liberties’ of his university” and the accompanying affirmation “Do fidem” (”I swear”) are most likely over 700 years old, and initially were important to keep a unity [...]
William Shakespeare once wrote a sonnet about love, probably the best-known among the 154 he wrote - Sonnet 18. I heard a beautiful song on YouTube this morning sung by David Gilmour and put to the words of this sonnet. It inspired me to write this reply:
What would thy [...]
No, it isn’t being sealed to your spouse on wedding day, although that is a prerequisite (preparatory and required) to receive this highest and most sacred sealing ordinance. The priesthood sealing powers of Elijah, as restored in this last dispensation (D&C 110:13-16) and vested in the presiding high priest of the Church (D&C 132:7), [...]
I have had a question in my mind for some time over the many instances in the scriptures which tell us that baptism is the key to being saved in the kingdom of God. For example, when Christ appears to the Nephites and teaches them His doctrine:
And whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, [...]
The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at BYU posted a short featured article on their homepage yesterday by Dr. Stephen Ricks on the subject of the dexiosis (Greek) or dextrarum iunctio (Latin), which was a peculiar Greek, Etruscan, Roman, and Early Christian practice of joining the right hands in a solemn and ceremonial [...]
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