literarypragmatist.blogspot.com
the Literary Pragmatist: Interlude #1: The Pressures of Weekly Writing and Building on Imperfection
http://literarypragmatist.blogspot.com/2015/07/interlude-1-pressures-of-weekly-writing.html
Wednesday, July 1, 2015. Interlude #1: The Pressures of Weekly Writing and Building on Imperfection. It's probably quite clear by now that I'm struggling with the next installment of my narrative. In this next installment, I grapple with an explanation at the limits of speculation. I've checked myself over and over again, composing and recomposing the next portions of this project in my mind and on the page. So, fair warning. Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom). View my complete profile. Letter to a Good ...
literarypragmatist.blogspot.com
the Literary Pragmatist: My Presidential Politics - 27 Points
http://literarypragmatist.blogspot.com/2015/05/my-presidential-politics-27-points.html
Thursday, May 7, 2015. My Presidential Politics - 27 Points. With 550 days to go until election day, the absurdly long presidential election cycle is now in full swing, with candidates making bold statement that they will eventually walk back in the event they secure their party's nomination for the general election. Most importantly, I invite you to challenge my ideas or agree with them. Or point out an issue I've missed. I invite you to comment below. Even better, I invite you to author a g...All I ask...
literarypragmatist.blogspot.com
the Literary Pragmatist: The Road to Middoni: In Your Mind and In Your Heart (Part I)
http://literarypragmatist.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-road-to-middoni-in-your-mind-and-in.html
Thursday, June 11, 2015. The Road to Middoni: In Your Mind and In Your Heart (Part I). Before moving on to those central questions, I’d like to address my emotional response to such an interpretation of Nephi’s actions in 1 Nephi 4. And that emotion is fear. “Wait a second,” I (and you, perhaps) cry at this relentless logical march towards greater spiritual knowledge. “Wait! What’s the iron rod here? How do prophets mess up? How do I mess up in the exact same way? Take Moses leading the children of Israe...
literarypragmatist.blogspot.com
the Literary Pragmatist: Literary Mash-Up: Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections and Karen Armstrong's Fields of Blood
http://literarypragmatist.blogspot.com/2015/06/literary-mash-up-jonathan-franzens.html
Monday, June 1, 2015. Literary Mash-Up: Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections and Karen Armstrong's Fields of Blood. Literary Mash-Up reviews come from a concept I started on a previous blog. I'm always reading very different books at the same time. I try to have a finger in the pots of religion, philosophy, history, medicine, business, and (perhaps most importantly) literature all at the same time. When my Goodreads account. A book that The New York Times. In 2010, now firmly on my to-read list). The best ...
literarypragmatist.blogspot.com
the Literary Pragmatist: The Road to Middoni: Misreading 1 Nephi 4 (Part III)
http://literarypragmatist.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-road-to-middoni-misreading-1-nephi_23.html
Thursday, May 28, 2015. The Road to Middoni: Misreading 1 Nephi 4 (Part III). Fundamentally, that advice was good advice. It was true. Even had an illustrative image of an iceberg to make just that point. But if asking my missionaries my tough gospel questions was an act of naive faith that placed great hope on their calling and spiritual sensitivity, my sidestepping of the fundamental issue was surely an act of cowardice. By letting them believe Salvatore was. Most importantly, I began to repent of my o...
literarypragmatist.blogspot.com
the Literary Pragmatist: The Road to Middoni: Misreading 1 Nephi 4 (Part IV)
http://literarypragmatist.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-road-to-middoni-misreading-1-nephi_31.html
Sunday, May 31, 2015. The Road to Middoni: Misreading 1 Nephi 4 (Part IV). As I focused on keeping myself open to the promptings of the Spirit, I started to understand logically where my frustration with the text of 1 Nephi 4 was coming from. I came up with a list of explanations, and tried my best to explicate each one, recording why I found the first four explanations unacceptable before arriving at the fifth one. Briefly, I’ll recreate that here. Explanation #1: God is a changeable God. Perhaps Nephi ...
literarypragmatist.blogspot.com
the Literary Pragmatist: The Road to Middoni: Misreading 1 Nephi 4 (Part V)
http://literarypragmatist.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-road-to-middoni-misreading-1-nephi.html
Tuesday, June 2, 2015. The Road to Middoni: Misreading 1 Nephi 4 (Part V). This post continues the discussion of possible explanations behind Nephi's murder of Laban. Explanation #4: Nephi tells the truth. Explanation #5: Nephi does what any righteous but imperfect man would do with imperfect influences of fear, faith, stress, and ingenuity. Until we came without the walls of Jerusalem. 8221; Nephi’s rhetorical flourish succeeds in inspiring movement towards the objective, but he fails to communica...
literarypragmatist.blogspot.com
the Literary Pragmatist: The Road to Middoni: In Your Mind and In Your Heart (Part II)
http://literarypragmatist.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-road-to-middoni-in-your-mind-and-in_16.html
Tuesday, June 16, 2015. The Road to Middoni: In Your Mind and In Your Heart (Part II). There is, I think, one scripture that not only helps us understand prophetic mistakes but also gives us a sort of iron rod to hold on to when the going gets rough and we question our ability to receive personal revelation from Heavenly Father. This is not an obscure scripture. You’ve probably read and referenced it hundreds of times in your life. But notice that the Lord does not just hand Oliver knowledge. He hand...
literarypragmatist.blogspot.com
the Literary Pragmatist: April 2015
http://literarypragmatist.blogspot.com/2015_04_01_archive.html
Tuesday, April 21, 2015. The word "behold" appears 3398 times in the LDS standard works. That's 1088 in the Old Testament, 252 in the New (both of the King James translation), a whopping 1499 in the Book of Mormon, and a more modest 470 in the Doctrine and Covenants and 89 in the Pearl of Great Price. Nerd alert. Let's see how that breaks down in beholds per page. I'm using the newest 2013 edition of the scriptures published by the church. Old Testament (1184 pages): 0.91 beholds/page. To hold, keep to.
literarypragmatist.blogspot.com
the Literary Pragmatist: July 2015
http://literarypragmatist.blogspot.com/2015_07_01_archive.html
Tuesday, July 7, 2015. The Road to Middoni: In Your Mind and In Your Heart (Part III). So, how does all this- the promise and problem of D&C 8:2- apply to revoking the priesthood ban? President McKay and the Dissonance of Mind and Heart. By the end of his life, President McKay had arrived at the conclusion that the priesthood ban was a policy, not a doctrine, as he confided to Sterling McMurrin in a personal conversation. This continued prejudice would affirm that despite his other marvelous qualities, P...
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