Engaging Gospel Doctrine

Latest Episodes:

370.2: May 24; Breakdowns and Breakthroughs (Come Follow Me Book of Mormon Week 19) May 22, 2020

Show notes

God made Alma the Elder’s burdens light… but it appears Alma the Younger did not have the same experience. Alma the Younger’s conversion experience transformed the most difficult period of his life into the fuel for his ministry. We can act rather than react, even in the most difficult circumstances. And even when we act poorly, we can change our stories and use our experience for good.

Reading: Mosiah 25-28

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You can access my Lesson Notes here
You can access the Annotated Reading here.

Engaging Gospel Doctrine is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://engaginggospeldoctrine.org/

370.1: Breakdowns and Breakthroughs (BoM Week 19, Reissued) May 19, 2020

Show notes

We all know the story of the conversion of Alma the Younger, but too rarely pause and ask the deeper questions that add richness and applicability to this narrative. Why did Alma want to destroy the Church? If God can send an angel ex machina to convince someone of their existence, why doesn’t that happen more often? What other lessons can we draw from Alma’s dramatic conversion?

Class Member Reading: Mosiah 25-28; Alma 36

Diana and Jacob join the class.

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You can access my Annotated Reading here.
You can access my Lesson Notes here.

Engaging Gospel Doctrine is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://engaginggospeldoctrine.org/

369.2: May 17; Covenant, Surrender, Deliverance (Come Follow Me Book of Mormon Week 18) May 17, 2020

Show notes

God delivers us *in* our trials before God delivers us *from* our trials. It has to be that way. The only choice is whether we choose to submit ourselves from the beginning, as Alma as his people do, or whether we fight the process until we have no other choice, as Limhi and his people did. These chapters teach us powerful principles of showing up for each other and increasing freedom in our own lives.

Reading: Mosiah 18-24

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You can access my Annotated Reading here.
You can access my Lesson Notes here.
Art credit: Walter Rane, Waters of Mormon

Engaging Gospel Doctrine is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://engaginggospeldoctrine.org/

369.1: Covenant, Surrender, and Deliverance (BoM Lesson 19, Reissued) May 12, 2020

Show notes

“None Could Deliver Them but the Lord”

This reading is a study in contrasts–covenantal cooperation vs. exploitation, desperate vengeance vs. trusting submission. Alma’s baptismal covenants teach us to bear each other’s burdens, mourn with those that mourn, and comfort those in need of comfort. The contrasting stories of the enslavement of Limhi and Alma’s people bring up poignant insights about the cost of surrender, but also bear the promise that God strengthens us in our trials.

Jody and Natasha join the class.

Class Member Reading: Mosiah 18-24

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You can access the Annotated Reading here

You can access the Lesson Notes here

Resources

Brene Brown on Empathy

“We Come over and Sit”, By Common Consent

Lamanites as the “Good Guys”

Engaging Gospel Doctrine is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://engaginggospeldoctrine.org/

368.2: May 10; Will and Wellness (Come Follow Me Book of Mormon Week 17) May 07, 2020

Show notes

Abinadi is a pretty amazing spy-prophet-debater-theologian, but his message also applies to us personally. How can we hold ourselves accountable? What would our personal commandments be? In what way are we both “Divine Parent and human child?”

Reading: Mosiah 11-17

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You can access the Annotated Reading here.
You can access my Lesson Notes here.
Related Episodes and Resources

Engaging Gospel Doctrine is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://engaginggospeldoctrine.org/

368.1: The Trial of Abinadi (BoM Lesson 17, Reissued) May 07, 2020

Show notes

“God Himself … Shall Redeem His People”

Abinadi is like a Spy-Prophet-Debater-Theologian as he sneaks back into the land of Shilom, speaks out against wickedness of king and people, and finally digs into some hard-hitting theology as he debates Noah and his priests. These chapters address themes such as submission, the nature of God, dealing with criticism, and understanding our legacies.

Class Member Reading: Mosiah 12-17

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You can access the Annotated Reading here.

You can access the Lesson Notes here.

Resources

Episode 116.2, Study Notes portion covering Isaiah 53

The Jesus of Mormonism, Mormon Matters

Elohim and Jehovah in Mormonism and the Bible, Dialogue article by Boyd Kirkland

CNN article on the “Atheist 10 Commandments”

Discussion of the Satanic Temple’s Seven Tenets, by the Friendly Atheist

Christopher Hitchens’ critique of the 10 commandments (contains profanity)

What is “the self”? Inquiring Minds

Art: Trial of Abinadi by Minerva Teichert

Engaging Gospel Doctrine is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://engaginggospeldoctrine.org/

367: May 3; Wisdom and Liberation (House Church/Come Follow Me Book of Mormon Week 16) May 03, 2020

Show notes

Limhi and his people had suffered, been enslaved, and been decimated by war for generations by the time Ammon found them. His courageous honesty, hope, and diligence can teach us about bondage, liberation, and “effectual struggles” in our own lives.

Reading: Mosiah 7-10

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You can access my Lesson Notes here.
You can access the Annotated Reading here.

Related Episodes and Resources
190: A Tale of Two Kings (Mosiah 7-11)

Engaging Gospel Doctrine is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://engaginggospeldoctrine.org/

366: April 26; Spiritual Rebirth… Sustainably (House Church/Come Follow Me Book of Mormon Week 15) Apr 23, 2020

Show notes

We must claim and care for each other for God to care for and claim us–King Benjamin makes the connection very clear. Yet order of operations is essential, as is wisdom. We don’t improve so we can be loved; we improve because we love ourselves and God. This sermon maps our path to a virtuous cycle that leads to rebirth and the desire to “do good continually”.

Reading: Mosiah 4-6

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You can access my Lesson Notes here.
Access the Annotated Reading here

Engaging Gospel Doctrine is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://engaginggospeldoctrine.org/

365: April 19: No Other Way (Come Follow Me/House Church Book of Mormon Week 14) Apr 18, 2020

Show notes

King Benjamin begins his sermon emphasizing the condescension of God, the depravity of human nature (less than dust and an enemy to God), and urges us to be grateful as we serve God and our fellow humans. These chapters invite reflection on the relationship between the human and divine, the role of Jesus, and how we are all connected.

Reading: Mosiah 1-3

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You can access my Lesson Notes here

You can access my Annotated Reading here.

Related Episodes and Resources
188: Pay It Forward (Mosiah 1-3)

Engaging Gospel Doctrine is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://engaginggospeldoctrine.org/

364: April 12: Easter (House Church, Book of Mormon Week 13) Apr 07, 2020

Show notes

Celebrating Easter and resurrection is incomplete if we do not also celebrate the Holy Week, which is full of not just life and resurrection, but also disappointment, betrayal, and death. Easter invites us to increase our acceptance of death, which allows us to increase our engagement with life. We, like the women at the tomb, must learn to prepare both for death and for new life that can come powerfully and unexpectedly.

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