As the next post in my mini-series on the Garden of Eden story as an allegory, I will respond to an interesting set of questions Tim J. posed in one of my posts over at T&S. He asked:

I think to follow the Fall as an allegory, I would need the allegory to be pretty well spelled-out. What I mean is such things like:

What does the Garden represent?
Is Satan’s role allegorical-if so what is he representing?
Why was Eve first to partake of the fruit?
Why did Adam refuse the fruit (if we are to believe the narrative that he was offered beforehand)?
Is the Atonement (which is inextricably linked w/ the Fall) also purely allegorical, or literal?

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There has been all sorts of talk about happiness lately in the ‘nacle. (See here, here, and here.) I think these happiness discussions dovetail nicely into my recent posts and comments about the Garden of Eden story being allegorical. Since I promised I would flesh this idea out better, I figured I could start that process by looking at how an allegorical Fall of Adam and Eve could or should affect our expectations for happiness in this life. (more…)

As a good Latter-day Saint I am supposed to be seeking after things that are praiseworthy, lovely, and of good report. Sometimes I worry that my language is too coarse and vulgar. Now I enjoy a good hell and damn and I must confess that @$$ is one of my very favorite words. If it were up to me I’d use that word a lot. Alas I am living amongst some tiny people who think that stupid is a bad word. (more…)

Well kids my time at camp is coming to a close. It has been loads of fun and I met lots of super cool kids, but I have missed y’all back here at the Thang too. (more…)

What do you think? Does it need some work? Nobody tell Geoff!

I miss Geoff. I have heard that he has gone to the kingdom of Timesandseasonia. I wish he’d come back and I’m sure my fellow bloggernaclers are ready for a break from my yammerings. (more…)

I finally have a new calling. It’s a doozy, are you ready…I’m ward literacy specialist! (more…)

This post is for the ladies so guys if you’re reading this and you get embarrassed just remember that you’ve been warned. (more…)

As some of you know I just had LASIK eye surgery this week. It’s something that I’ve wanted to do for a very long time. (more…)

A few months ago my family was invited to participate in a babysitting co-op involving 4 other families. This means that once every 5th Saturday Geoff and I watch 17 kids for about 5 hours. All the children are between the ages of 18 months and 9 years old. (more…)

In this installment of my reading club for Sterling McMurrin’s 1965 book The Theological Foundations of the Mormon Religion I’ll cover pages 13-18. By doing so I am only 18 months behind Clark and Dave who did the same thing in the summer of ’04.

On Universals and Particulars

In my last post I noted that McMurrin places the Mormon concept of reality firmly in the ever-moving becoming camp (as opposed to the static, timeless being camp). In the next section of the book he asks whether there is place in Mormonism for “anything that is genuinely stable and unchanging”. His answer is yes. But he notes that the unchanging absolutes in Mormonism are principles or ideas. For instance, he suggests that the moral will of God or his divine purpose is considered absolute in Mormonism. He also mentions that in Mormonism natural laws “are at least stable if not absolute”. (more…)