Doctrinal Essays

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Over the last several months as I have been interviewed by ecclesiastical leaders and administrative staff at Brigham Young University Idaho, where I work, I have often heard the phrase fringe doctrine  used. I became curious to see if there were times in history when doctrines were taught which apparently seemed controversial, but were nevertheless true. I was happy to find without much effort that such has often been the case. Those periods when fringe doctrine seemed to enter public discourse occurred between transitions when one law became fulfilled, and another law became operative. Those various stages of law can be thought of as the same as the word dispensation. It may also be appropriate to use the word church for those distinct but still connected stages of God's Kingdom. The first dispensation belonged to Adam, who walked and talked with God, and who was given the gospel by divine messengers. If Adam's time period were considered a kingdom of God , then it stands...

There have been a few transitional times in the history of the Lord's church upon the earth which I feel are calling for more attention. These were times when the revealed church became fulfilled, and a new church with elevated laws and understanding was born. Exploring these transitional periods can shed light on the Lord's great desire to elevate His children and bring them home. The most notable church transition occurred between Judaism which was revealed by Jehovah unto Moses, and that earliest form of religion we have come to think of as Christianity given by Jesus Christ. Both churches, though now altered from their original purity, continue to operate simultaneously. Both contain principles, rites, rituals, and doctrines that at one point were revealed to man directly from heaven, though once again, many of those practices have been altered from their original form. In the early 1800's the Lord saw fit once more to initiate an upgrade to His church , which I tak...

Scriptural Support Council of Nicea Multiple Estate doctrine was removed by Catholic translators and transcriptionists during the Constantine overhaul and recapitulation of our Catholic bible as we know it. Some authors and scholars refer to modern Christianity as "Pauline Christianity", suggesting the differences in original Christianity that were introduced by Paul for essentially political purposes (See The Lost Gospel). Anyway, precious gems of the doctrine remain in the canon and passed through Constantine alterations undetected. I offer the following scriptures as evidence: John 9:2  " And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?"   How is a man able to sin before he is born? Matthew 16:14-15  " Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets" .  Why did the people even ...

This is a compilation of notes and sources to the doctrine of Holy Bloodlines recently discussed on a podcast I recorded with Julie Rowe. Royal Bloodlines Doctrinal / Scriptural foundation for Bloodlines - Allegory of the Olive Tree, Jacob 5 (One of the most spiritually significant chapters in scripture, and one that tends to get skipped) Young tender branches, nethermost parts: Jacob 5:8, 13, 14, 20-22, 39, 43-44 (directly fulfilled by Nephites and Jaredites, and others) And behold, saith the Lord of the vineyard, I take away many of these young and tender branches, and I will graft them whithersoever I will; and it mattereth not that if it so be that the root of this tree will perish, I may preserve the fruit thereof unto myself; wherefore, I will take these young and tender branches, and I will graft them whithersoever I will. Zedekiah - Jeremiah 52 King Priest Prophet (King through royal Davidic line, House of Judah), Hilkiah was High Priest; Prophets were Jeremiah, ...

One of the most fascinating time periods from history to me is the few years following the Savior's crucifixion. Little is mentioned of it in scripture, and yet there are some remarkable historical accounts that do exist which help fill in the gap of our collective memory during those dramatic years. For anyone who is open, some remarkable truths are within reach. I write about that time period here because it is so difficult to find a single narrative containing the events and people with the correct relationships, in their proper sequence, and in their true context. My hope is that doing so will help those with similar interests to find some leads, answers, or confirmations to their questions. Another reason for sharing these things is because those events surrounding and including the crucifixion, are being repeated at this moment, and they are and will involve many who are on the earth now. What follows is a comparison of those times with current and future day events, alon...

Once in awhile the spirit leads me to a verse of scripture that is sometimes mis-characterized in culture. This usually happens when we take a catchy part of a verse and leave the rest alone, and then we pass it along through the telephone game, and we all know how that ends. When we do this we lose context, and can even miss out on important messages from the Lord. I have a close friend in the public eye who shares a gospel focused message and is often accused of priesthcraft, and of setting themselves up for a light . This frequently quoted and incomplete phrase comes from  2 Ne. 26: 29 which says: He commandeth that there shall be no priestcrafts; for, behold, priestcrafts are that men preach and set themselves up for a light unto the world , that they may get gain and praise of the world; but they seek not the welfare of Zion. It then becomes important when we think someone has set themselves up for a light to consider the next three points in the verse before casting j...

I am driven to identify the false and impure belief systems in our culture. My eager interest is to expose them and their evil author for what they are, and then try to replace those weak beliefs with something doctrinally solid. I see two common belief systems damning people (and organizations) in their spiritual progression. These pervasive beliefs are like thorns attempting to rip the fabric of our spiritual progress and development. Blanket Belief The first is what I call blanket belief , or chain belief . The reason people do it is because it requires little to no mental or spiritual effort. It's when someone says something like "I know this is true, so therefore that is true, and by extension that is also true". In the process, they cast a blanket over an entire set of beliefs, whether they've really been tested or not, and call them all true; or they link one belief to another, and then to another, and say in effect, "because the first link is true we...

I love truth, and especially enjoy when it is presented to me through the observable false beliefs in culture - whether that culture is the workplace, society, or church. For the last several months I've had the emotion of Shame on my mind, which idea was put there by a close friend and probably the Spirit. Since that time I've been able to observe how this emotion is one of the most lethal emotions, if not the most, to our spirits. What is startling to me is how pervasive the emotion is in our culture. I'm at church and I hear someone say "I don't read my scriptures as often as I should"; "I don't attend the temple as often as I should", "I don't ..." I could go on and on. You get it. Because you've been there. I've been there too. The emotion and gesture may come across as humility, or piety, but I'm coming to realize it's just a weak yielding to Satan's influence. The reason we are all adherents of the s...

Belief has many degrees and forms. It shapes who we are and defines our destiny. Understanding the various aspects of belief and where we are in our progression can help us make powerful choices to achieve our goals, and better able to understand what may be happening to those we love around us. This video sheds some light on belief, but I failed to mention a few random things, which I'll include here: I have frustrations with the dogmatic views of societal culture, as well as the culture of my faith (no problems with the doctrines). Having said that, I have no intentions of leaving it. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the governing component of the kingdom of God on the earth. Curiously, I find that believers have a lot in common. If they tend to believe in a near-death experience of someone, I find they are more likely to believe in other unpopular beliefs such as energy work, a "conspiracy theory" or two, or things like the power of essential oi...