DiaBLOGue

The church just released a new Gospel Topics page: Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham. Inside it looks at the papyrus, the history, the translation, and discusses many of the issues scholars and members are currently discussing regarding this enigmatic book of scripture.
 
Jana Riess summarizes the new topic in her article “Why Mormons need the Book of Abraham” and David Bokovoy talks about what he found important with Doug Fabrizio in the RadioWest podcast “Scripture, Translation, and Belief.”
Plus be sure to check out Dialogue’s own topic page regarding the “Book of Abraham” with important discussions and resources for further study.

Videos from GLOBAL CROSSROADS: Mormonism and Asia in the Twenty-First Century March 22, 2014 were just released.

Enjoy presentations from Melissa Inyoue, Laurie Maffly-Kipp, Elizabeth Heath, Staci Ford, Joanna Brooks, Gina Colvin and more.

The most common reading of Jacob 5 involves the history of the House of Israel. What follows is another approach to that allegory. This is not meant at all to replace the standard readings; it is just another approach.
Jacob 5 includes a contrast between tame and wild olive trees. The tame trees seem sure and steady, but they also prone to becoming listless, almost lethargic. The wild trees seem to brim with life and energy, but display a propensity to lack focus for that vitality. When the tame trees begin to decay, the Lord of the vineyard wants them to produce new life in the form of young, tender branches (Jacob 5:4). When this is only somewhat successful, the Lord of the vineyard determines to graft the tame branches with the wild branches (versus 7-8). What seems obvious from this is how the Lord of the vineyard seeks to keep the best of the tame branches, perhaps their good fruit and stability, and combine that with the vibrant energy of the wild branches.

Here’s a snippet of a brilliant and fascinating post by Wilfried Decoo as a continuation of his research of same-sex marriage and Mormonism. Be sure the check out his just-released article in the Fall 2013 issue comparing the Mormon and Catholic positions on ethical issues and same-sex marriage here.
What do church members around the world think about same-sex marriage?
There are no surveys yet, like this one for Utah. I base my information mainly on personal conversations and email exchanges with respondents in a dozen countries in various continents. With more than half of the Mormon membership outside the U.S., we are dealing with very dissimilar countries as to member ratios, church experience, socio-political tendencies, lifestyle, and ethical traditions. My analysis is therefore tentative. Also, attitudes not only vary from country to country, but also from urban to rural areas in the same country, from the educated to the less educated, and from individual to individual.
From the information I obtained, the following four factors play a role in attitudes of members in the international church. Overall these attitudes pertain to the situation of non-members. Indeed, none of the following implies that members condone homosexual behavior or same-sex marriage for Latter-day Saints.