Engaging Gospel Doctrine

Latest Episodes:

363: March 29: Soul Hunger (House Church, Book of Mormon Week 11) Mar 29, 2020

Show notes

Enos, Jarom, Omni, Words of Mormon… never before have I so appreciated these short books that take up so much room in the Primary song. Not only does Enos provide a powerful example of spiritual devotion and transformation, but his descendants hint at cataclysmic cultural shifts among their people. I place this discussion in a House Church context between a discussion of the Corona pandemic, ideas for isolation, and devotion. God can transform our hardest moments, and we are in such a time.

Reading: Enos-Words of Mormon

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You can access my Lesson Notes here.

Access the Annotated Reading here.
Related Episodes and Resources
187: Closing the Small Plates
Nearer My God To Thee, Vocal Point
Hammer and the Dance
How will Corona Virus End

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

361: House Churches (Come Follow Me, Special Episode) Mar 15, 2020

Show notes

Covid-19 has disrupted our lives both personally and globally. I hope we are all taking care of ourselves and each other as best as we can. The secret to disruption is that it can be an invitation to lasting change and nurturing of relationships. I have issued this special episode to provide resources to support Church leaders’ suspending of all Church meetings. I will therefore upgrade Engaging Gospel Doctrine from a Sunday School podcast to a House Church podcast.

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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/

360: March 8, 15: the Path to Perfection (Come, Follow Me Book of Mormon Weeks 8-9) Mar 02, 2020

Show notes

Nephi maps out our path from here to God: faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. He also emphasizes that God speaks unto us as we are, which brings up important questions about the relationship between revelation and reality. And sensitive, anxious Jacob praises the Lamanites and condemns the Nephites relating to family love and fidelity.

Reading: 2 Nephi 31-33; Jacob 1-4

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You can access the Lesson Notes here.

You can access the annotated reading in the linked episodes.

Thanks to Trent Oliphant for postproduction and to Marshall McDonald for the bumper music! Thanks to Lisa Salisbury for donating our beautiful logo.

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

359: Feb 23; Mar 1: Loss and Restoration (Come, Follow Me Book of Mormon Weeks 8-9) Feb 27, 2020

Show notes

The Isaiah chapters baffle most of us, but they really do come down to a few fundamental questions that all of us grapple with: How do we deal with loss? Specifically, how do we deal with loss when it feels as if our promises and hopes are shattered and burning? How do we move forward after failure and devastation? The promise of the the gospel is that God will claim and comfort us.

Reading: 2 Nephi 11-25 (Feb. 23); 2 Nephi 26-30 (March 1)

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You can access my Lesson Notes here
You can access the Annotated Reading in the linked episodes

Resources and Related Episodes
182: The Words of Isaiah (BoM Gospel Doctrine Lesson 9)
183: All Are Invited by God (BoM Gospel Doctrine Lesson 10)
304.1: Introduction to Isaiah (OT Gospel Doctrine Lesson 36, Updated)
304.2: Introduction to Isaiah (OT Gospel Doctrine Lesson 36, Sunday School)
The Vision of All: Twenty-Five Lectures on Isaiah in Nephi’s Record; Joseph Spencer
Interview with Joseph Spencer about his book
How the Book of Mormon Counters anti-Semitism, LDS Perspectives
Finding Doctrine and Meaning in Book of Mormon Isaiah, BYU RSC

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

358: Feb 9, 16: Laws of Reality (Come, Follow Me Book of Mormon Weeks 6-7) Feb 14, 2020

Show notes

The Book of Mormon is a story about dysfunctional families and intergenerational trauma. These masterful chapters at the beginning of 2 Nephi teach us about the importance of agency and the quest for joy. Our reading will be most constructive as we take seriously the fact that the Book of Mormon is about and shaped by the human experience.

Reading: 2 Nephi 1-5 (Feb. 9); 2 Nephi 6-10 (Feb. 16)

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You can access the Lesson Notes here.
The Annotated Readings are in the linked lessons.

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

357: Jan 26; Feb 2: Adversity and Opportunity (Come, Follow Me, Book of Mormon Weeks 4-5) Feb 01, 2020

Show notes

As a rule, it is the most difficult experiences that shape us the most. We don’t like that fact, but we can’t avoid it! The story of Lehi’s family in the wilderness provides a model (positive and negative!) of our own lives and relationships. Everything is an opportunity to grow closer to God and salvation.

Reading: 1 Nephi 11-15 (Jan. 26); 1 Nephi 16-22 (Feb. 2)

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You can access the Lesson Notes here.
You can access the Annotated reading for 1 Ne. 12-14 here and for 1 Ne. 16-18 here.

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

356: January 12, 19: Pay Attention. Follow Through. (Book of Mormon Weeks 2-3) Jan 18, 2020

Show notes

One of the most interesting thing about Lehi’s dream is what he notices and when. These first chapters of the Book of Mormon teach us a great deal about the power of attention and follow through.

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You can find the Lesson Notes here.
Find the Annotated Reading here.

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

355: The Real Book of Mormon Beginning: The Lost Pages with Don Bradley Jan 09, 2020

Show notes

We’ve all started 1 Nephi, but not one of us has read the actual beginning of the Book of Mormon! In this bonus episode I discuss the lost pages of the Book of Mormon with scholar Don Bradley. Watch until the end to listen to his inspiring testimony of the Book of Mormon and restoration.

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The Lost 116 Pages, Don Bradley

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

354: Reading the Book of Mormon (Book of Mormon Week 1) Dec 27, 2019

Show notes

Before we dig into the Book of Mormon this year, we should ask some introductory questions. Turns out the most important question is about you! What is your relationship to the Book of Mormon? After that, it is helpful to know what the Book of Mormon is and how we can constructively read it. Because above all else, the Book of Mormon is worth reading.

Reading: Title Page; Introduction; Testimony of the Three and Eight Witnesses; Brief Explanation about the Book of Mormon

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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/

353: Understanding the Book of Mormon (Gospel Doctrine Lesson 0) Dec 27, 2019

Show notes

I am reissuing the wonderful conversation I had four years ago with Grant Hardy and McArthur Krishna about the nature of and relationship to the Book of Mormon.
Before we begin the Book of Mormon Sunday School year, I sit down (virtually) with Grant Hardy and McArthur Krishna (In North Carolina and India respectively) to review topics important to Book of Mormon Study.

We discuss:

Personal experience reading the Book of Mormon
Approaches to the Book of Mormon
- Devotional
- Theological/Doctrinal
- Literary
- Historical
Reading the Book of Mormon from different perspectives
How did we get the Book of Mormon?
- Translation process
- Discernable sources
What is scripture?
What is inspiration?
Suggestions for teaching Book of Mormon in Sunday School
What is most important as we study the Book of Mormon?

Resources

Reader’s Edition of The Book of Mormon

Understanding the Book of Mormon, Grant Hardy (or the Kindle edition for $3!)

Girls Who Choose God Set: Stories of Strong Women from the Bible; from the Book of Mormon (Deseret Book)

Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Course by Dr. Christine Hayes, Open Yale Courses

Thanks to Jonathan Cannon for helping with the discussion outline and to Trent Oliphant and William Newman for audio editing.