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6 days ago
- Business
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Religion, finances and violence: Latter-day Saint leaders provide answers to key questions
This article was first published in the ChurchBeat newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox each Wednesday night. Latter-day Saint leaders recently released new resources providing additional transparency through answers to important questions. The information can be found in three new Gospel Topics and Questions pages on The pages on church finances, religion vs. violence and temples provide a broad look at important issues ranging from the use of tithing funds and other donations, doctrines and policies about violence and what happens inside temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Here's what is new and how the information can help church members and others. A new Gospel Topics page called Church Financial Administration will be of keen interest to many people, as much for the graphics included as for the information provided. Nearly all of the financial information has been reported in the past by the Deseret News, from the fact that the church annually spends $1 billion on education to its different reserve funds where it sets aside money for future needs. The page answers 10 questions like: Do church leaders receive financial support? Answer: Yes, members of the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the General Authority Seventies and the Presiding Bishopric receive a modest living allowance and insurance benefits so they can devote all their time to serving the Lord. Does the church pay taxes? Answer: Yes, the church and its affiliated entities pay various income, property, sales and value-added taxes. Why does the church spend so much on temples? Answer: Because they are houses of the Lord and the only places where people can make and receive covenants and ordinances that bind them and their families to God. So what is new in the finance Gospel Topics page? What is most visible are the new and easy to share graphics. Also, a news release that accompanied the release of the pages shared a graphic about the 19,000 locations where the church's 31,000 congregations worship each Sunday. 'The church spends hundreds of millions of dollars for meetinghouses each year,' the graphic says, representing the first time the church has provided a ballpark figure for meetinghouse costs. The news release also shared eight other graphics about church finances. A new page titled Religion vs. Violence openly discusses the Mountain Meadows Massacre ('the most tragic event in Latter-day Saint history') and blood atonement ('not a doctrine of the church'). The page poses and answers 11 questions, including: Are religious people more likely to be violent? Answer: No, 'most often, religious beliefs lead people to behave unselfishly and promote peaceful solutions to the world's problems.' How do we make sense of instances of violence in the scriptures? Answer: 'They should never be used to justify violence in the present.' The overall message of the page mirrors the peacemaking teachings of Jesus Christ, President Russell M. Nelson and others, including President Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency, who called violence 'a terrible and inexcusable departure from Christian teaching and conduct.' The new Gospel Topics page about temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also answers 11 questions. The page could be helpful both to church members trying to answer questions about temples, temple worship and temple ordinances and to those unfamiliar with them. It provides a good, one-stop location for information on the covenants made in temples and much more. Other questions include: Why have there been some adjustments to temple procedures and ceremonies over time? Answer: Joseph Smith made adjustments to temple ceremonies from the church's beginnings and that has continued over the 195-year history 'as prophets have sought the Lord's guidance about the best way to explain and take the blessings of the temple to the Lord's children.' How does the temple endowment ceremony compare to Masonic rituals? Answer: 'There are some similarities between the teaching style and outward forms of Masonic ritual and the endowment, the substance and purpose of the two ceremonies are completely different.' That answer includes a link to the Church History Topics page on Masonry, and such links are provided in several places in all three of the new Gospel Topics pages. 'We're a partner to the cause': Church of Jesus Christ donates to center for child abuse survivors (May 23) Elder Ronald A. Rasband dedicated the Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple on Sunday. It is the first temple in the country and the church's 205th temple overall. Read the dedicatory prayer here. Elder Quentin L. Cook is on an eight-day ministry in the church's Europe North Area. In England, he said 'The Savior accomplished everything we need.' Elder Patrick Kearon joined a Catholic cardinal in ministering to parolees in the Philippines. Church leaders broke ground for the Benin City Nigeria Temple. The First Presidency announced the groundbreaking for the Vancouver Washington Temple, which isn't far from where I graduated from high school. Latter-day Saints now can choose between a mobile or printed temple recommend. The church used solar-powered desalination plants to provide clean drinking water to villages on five islands in Kiribati, with help to additional islands planned. A new sign honors the people of Quincy, Illinois, for sheltering Latter-day Saint pioneers expelled from Missouri in the winter of 1838-39. We're in the middle of a historic upheaval in sports. A new article shows how Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals are changing both the NFL and NBA, as well as college sports. Last month, only 69 underclassmen took part in the NFL Draft, down from 128 in 2021. Next month, only 106 players will be part of the NBA draft, down from 363 in 2021. More are staying in college because NIL money is more stable than draft position. While Provo, Rexburg, Laie and Salt Lake City — homes to BYU, BYU-Idaho, BYU-Hawaii and Ensign College — are all booming along with the enrollments at those schools, falling student enrollment at many public schools is busting many American towns. Demographics are part of the problem, as U.S. births peaked at 4.3 million in 2007 and have been falling almost every year since. The doors have closed at 242 institutions that issue college degrees in the past decade, according to the Hechinger Report. Also, more students are calculating that tuition prices and the opportunity cost of lost work years aren't it. The phenomenon is mostly striking regional state colleges and universities, according to the Wall Street Journal (paywall). It's pretty stats-heavy, but I enjoyed this look at whether Mike Trout or Mookie Betts is the best player of their generation.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Filler vs. action engine: ‘It came to pass' carries more weight than you think
This article was first published in the ChurchBeat newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox each Wednesday night. Like most believers, most Latter-day Saints learn early and often how to take a joke about their faith. After all, Mark Twain made fun of the Book of Mormon in 1891, writing that if someone removed the phrase 'it came to pass' from that book of scripture, it 'would have been only a pamphlet.' When Elder Quentin L. Cook was a young college student, a university professor that he enjoyed quoted that bit of Twain in class 'with great glee,' Elder Cook said recently at BYU Women's Conference. In the footnotes of his talk, Elder Cook made some notable observations about Twain's words and how they are used against the Book of Mormon and believers. 'Each new generation is presented with Twain's comments as if it is a new significant discovery,' he wrote. 'There is usually little reference to the fact that Mark Twain was equally dismissive of Christianity and religion in general. When this kind of remark is done with humor, it is probably best to join in the amusement.' Elder Cook's story didn't end in his college class. Months later, he was serving a mission in London, England, when he met an Oxford-educated teacher at London University who took a position opposite to Twain's. Dr. Ebeid Sarofim was a native Egyptian and expert in Semitic languages who discovered the Book of Mormon by accident and sent a letter to President David O. McKay asking for baptism. When Sarofim met with missionaries, he told them that 'it came to pass' was part of his intellectual belief in the Book of Mormon because it mirrored the way he translated phrases commonly used in ancient Semitic writings, Elder Cook said. The missionaries told him it was essential to have a spiritual testimony, too, Elder Cook said. The professor gained a spiritual witness and was baptized. 'So, what one famous humorist, Mark Twain ... saw as an object of ridicule, a scholar of Semitic languages recognized as profound evidence of the truth of the Book of Mormon which was confirmed to him by the Spirit,' Elder Cook said at Women's Conference. That anecdote, which has a resolution I'll come back to, didn't fit in my original coverage of Elder Cook's talk, but it drove me to look at some of the research about 'it came to pass' over the past 60 years. The first place I went was my copy of 'Charting the Book of Mormon,' which shows that 14% of all the instances of the phrase in the 1830 edition were in 1 Nephi. So, if 2 Nephi actually were the first book in the Book of Mormon, with far fewer instances (3.5%), would the phrase stick out as much to casual or first time readers like Twain? Second, King James translators faced the same redundant phrase, which in Hebrew is ויְהִי (vay-yihi). It shows up about 1,200 times in the Hebrew Bible, which contains most of the Old Testament. Those British translators sometimes ignored it and regularly deployed a variety of expressions in its place, such as 'and,' 'and it became' or 'and it was,' according to the BYU Religious Studies Center. Still, there are 727 examples of 'it came to pass' in the King James Version of the Old Testament, the RSC reported. You can find plenty of jokes online about all of those uses of the phrase in other faith traditions, too. (The best of all, in my estimation, is the use in the title of a book on BYU quarterbacks, 'And They Came to Pass.' Yes, I own that one, too.) Of course, the same phenomenon happens in the New Testament. Just think of two famous instances in Luke 2: 'And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.' 'And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.' So, why was this Hebrew phrase so popular in Semitic writings in that age? Because it was 'an engine of narrative storytelling' in its day the same way quick visual cuts drive action movies today, BYU professor Taylor Halverson has noted. In fact, Halverson says the phrase contains a deeper spiritual driver as a representation of Jesus Christ. 'It came to pass,' he says, is built on the same root word for God, Yahweh, the source of all things and the one who drives forward the narrative of each life. 'When we read 'it came to pass,'' Halverson writes, 'we see God's presence, his love, his concern, his energy, his knowledge, his direction, his guidance.' That is certainly more challenges to Twain's suggestion that 'it came to pass' could be cut out without losing any meaning. Elder Cook's underlying message for both of his anecdotes also pointed to deeper personal action. 'Dr. Sarofim's true account is interesting,' Elder Cook said, 'but I would suggest the best approach for gaining a testimony is to immerse ourselves in the Book of Mormon so we can repeatedly experience the ongoing witness of the Spirit.' (Note: Similar to the KJV translation, the number of uses of 'it came to pass' was reduced in the Book of Mormon, too, between the 1830 and 1837 editions," according to Royal Skousen's work in 'History of the Text of the Book of Mormon.') Church of Jesus Christ begins 10-day public open house for Antofagasta Chile Temple (May 13) The pioneer ethic that is a key to thriving companies, communities and the Church of Jesus Christ (May 7) The members of the First Presidency offered their 'heartfelt prayers and greetings' to Pope Leo XIV. President Russell M. Nelson released social media posts on Mother's Day. Here's what he and other leaders said, in case you missed their Mother's Day messages. How a prayerful surgeon — Dr. Russell M. Nelson — helped ensure many joyful years for BYU coach Heather Olmstead and her family. Sheri Dew, a former member of the Relief Society General Presidency and now executive vice president and chief content officer of Deseret Management Corp. was Southern Virginia University's commencement speaker. She encouraged graduates to 'stack wins.' Two apostles and the leader of the Relief Society spoke at a BYU-Pathway Worldwide devotional and answered students questions. Church leaders broke ground Saturday for the Lagos Nigeria Temple. The First Presidency announced that the Singapore Temple groundbreaking ceremony will take place on June 28. Baseball has decreed that tainted star Pete Rose, who died last year, now will be eligible for the Hall of Fame. Here's a smart look at the issues. BYU has a new athletic director, Brian Santiago. This is what he said at the news conference where he was introduced. BYU's Jewish quarterback and Latter-day Saint wide receiver are in Israel with other team members to work out with the Israeli national football team as part of the Athletes for Israel program. This is just an enjoyable story about another terrific player with his own controversial past but a love for the game and a desire to generously share it with others.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
JD Vance spoke, then a TV star. A BYU professor was next and suggested a major shift in direction
This article was first published in the ChurchBeat newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox each Wednesday night. WASHINGTON — The speaker lineup during a 20-minute stretch at IRF Summit 2025 certainly was unusual. First, JD Vance spoke from teleprompters for 12 minutes to nearly 2,000 people in the ballroom of the Washington Hilton near the White House. He stood behind his own specialized podium bearing the seal of the Vice President of the United States of America and declared the Trump administration will support international religious freedom. As what appeared to be Secret Service employees swiftly dismantled the podium, large screens around the ballroom broadcast live video of actor Rainn Wilson, who gained fame playing Dwight Schrute for laughs on 'The Office.' Wilson spoke for seven minutes from New York City, where he is appearing on Broadway. 'What a strange and profound honor to be following the vice president of the United States in any kind of talk,' Wilson said. So, how do you follow both the veep and a famous comedian? That job fell to Brett Scharffs, a stylish BYU law professor who has helped lawmakers around the world add religious freedoms to national constitutions in many countries. Scharffs needed just three minutes to outline a new framework for thinking and talking about religious liberty. His point was that countries and cultures committed to religious freedom should actively promote certain virtues as the seedbed for those rights to grow and flourish. 'Or to put it another way,' he said, 'if Heraclitus was right, that character is destiny — what kind of character, both individual and social, would we strive to develop if we want to be people, and to live in places, that value religious freedom?' He broke down his list of 13 of the most important virtues of religious freedom into three categories — habits of the head, habits of the heart and habits of the hand to be cultivated personally and in others, including children. Those who care about religious liberty will seek to develop people who: Are curious. Are open-minded. Seek for truth. Stand for truth. Are tolerant of others. These seven virtues value reverence, awe and wonder, Scharffs said. He added, 'Where better to learn these virtues than Sunday School, the synagogue, the mosque.' Faith, hope and charity. Humility, kindness, respect and love. Finally, those who want to protect religious freedom rights will seek to develop and spread a specific kind of desire: To lift the downtrodden, to be of service to those in need, to reach out to the vulnerable and the broken. 'So in all of our talking about rights ... let us not forget to speak about the virtues of religious freedom,' Scharffs said. 'We want to live in cultures that cultivate people who will value religious freedom, not just as a right, but as deeply ingrained traits of character, habits of the head, heart and hand, indeed, virtues of our very soul.' What a TV star says we can learn from members of his persecuted faith (Feb. 11) BYU applications jump 15% since 2023 (Feb. 7) 'Dignity is a universal birthright,' Elder Soares says at religious freedom summit (Feb. 5) The renovated Toronto Ontario Temple is open for public tours through March 8. Free reservations are available at Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson said at the Provo MTC that missionaries can 'mind the gap' through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Young Women General President Emily Belle Freeman visited Japan for five days and spoke at a national devotional. She is also visiting Micronesia. BYU religious education professor and Wheatley Institute fellow Jenet Erickson delivered the BYU-Idaho devotional and said, 'Heaven is not so much a place. It is a quality of relationship,' in a talk titled 'Designed for Love and Connection. Designed for Family.' She said, 'We are deeply relational beings, designed not for independence, but for radical dependence and connection. We are designed for family.' The 13th Relief Society General President, Mary Ellen Wood Smoot, died at age 91. While I was a BYU student after serving a mission in Frankfurt, Germany, I learned and became fascinated by the story of Helmuth Hübener, a faithful Latter-day Saint boy who resisted Hitler's rule and was executed by the Nazis. Now two German cities are honoring his life. Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf said Hübener 'will always serve as a reminder and an invitation to follow the teachings of Christ.' The Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl with four Latter-day Saint coaches and players: offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, backup quarterback Tanner McKee, injured wide receiver and kick returner Britain Covey and practice squad offensive lineman Laekin Vakalahi. They beat the Kansas City Chiefs, who had at least three Latter-day Saints: head coach Andy Reid, assistant coach Porter Ellett and backup offensive lineman Kingsley Suamataia. Kellen Moore was named the new head coach of the New Orleans Saints after the Super Bowl. So, yes, now a Latter-day Saint is coaching the Saints. Of course, the end of football means the start of baseball. Good news on that front, TV ratings for baseball show it is a resurgent sport. I loved this story about Brian Billick, a former BYU player who won a Super Bowl as a head coach and is part of the LaVell Edwards coaching tree. The Deseret New spoke with Ross Douthat about why everyone should be religious. Democrat and Republican presidents have backed the idea of ending the production of the American penny for a long time. President Trump said he's instructed the Treasury Department to stop. Did you know that the Treasury has discontinued the following coins in U.S. history, per NBC News: The half-cent coin in 1857. The trime, a 3-cent coin, in 1873. The gold dollar coin in 1889. (It was different than the one now in circulation.)
