Latter-day Peace Studies presents: Come, Follow Me

Shiloh and Ben discuss some historical context and the memorial passage from John Taylor dedicated to Joseph Smith after his death in Carthage, IL. How we remember and memorialize those who have come before us are powerful tools in how we frame current identities, and how we remember and memorialize Joseph Smith still speaks to the strong identity that Latter-day Saints have to the founder of the...

Ben and Shiloh discuss the many repeating themes found in Section 133 from the beginning of the D&C, and they muse over how Section 133 is an interesting original bookend following Section 132. This is as if to show that Section 133 is how things start, and Section 132 is how things ended in Joseph’s experience as the leader of the Church. The “declaration of belief” concerning government foun...

Shiloh and Ben discuss the instructions given from Joseph Smith to the Church concerning how to deal with angels, the physical nature of God, the state of the earth during the millennium, and other end-of-days prophecies. The “revelation” on polygamy pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, written by Joseph directly to Emma, merits a bit of historical context. Polygamy is never an easy dis...

Ben and Shiloh talk about the letters from Joseph Smith to the Church while he was in hiding concerning the new and unique doctrine of baptism for the dead. These letters show an increasing complexity in Joseph’s understanding of the “Mormon Cosmology” and in how the Plan of Salvation operates. By the time these letters were written in 1842, Joseph had already started secretly engaging in the prac...

Shiloh and guest co-host Christopher Hurtado talk about the early Saints’ consistent divine call to create sacred space. Whether in Kirtland, Jackson County, Caldwell County, Daviess County, or Nauvoo, the Saints are instructed to construct a temple in order to perform sacred ordinances or to have revealed sacred things. When, in the New Testament, the Jews asked for a sign of authority for Jesus...

Ben and Shiloh are excited to talk about D&C 121, and they find that there are always new rich and beneficial conversations about the scriptures whenever we approach them with excitement. This week’s readings come from the time when Joseph and his companions were in Liberty Jail. Liberty Jail becomes a pivotal moment in Joseph’s life as he is not really the same person who comes out of that ex...

Shiloh and Ben discuss some history of the early Saints’ early persecution that is not often talked about in Sunday school. These sections comprise the period in Missouri after the Saints left Kirtland in 1837 until the Missouri “Extermination Order” in October 1838. While the relationship between the early Saints and the Missourians was not perfect in 1838 it was functional and, some historians a...

**Update** This is the updated episode. We apologize that the previous Episode 71 somehow accidentally cut off approx. 10 minutes early. Ben is joined again by Christopher Hurtado in a discussion about D&C Sections 111-114. The Saints are anxious about their future and ability to establish the Church according to the revelations. The Lord tells them that they need not be concerned with outcome...

Ben is joined by Christopher Hurtado for a discussion about the Kirtland Temple dedication. How did the early Saints view the temple and what does the Lord invite us to by way of the symbolism of the temple itself? Does God need a building or is the structure a mode by which we manifest our intention as a people? Prayer is often perceived as a way to inform or persuade God, but if God’s knowledge...

Shiloh is joined with guest co-host Christopher Hurtado to discuss modality in terms of the priesthood. Modes are, in a sense, stories that we believe in as real and that we pour our intentionality into to produce experiences. By “story” it is not necessarily to say a “fiction,” but it is a narrative that frames our belief(s) and that we combine with our faith unto action. When we say something as...

Ben and Shiloh discuss some of the history and context of Zion’s Camp. These were unprecedented times for the early Saints, and there was a lot of uncertainty about the problems in Missouri. Were they to abandon Jackson County entirely? But what of the prophecies of the New Jerusalem there? How would they get their property back? Would they have to fight? Would the law support them? The Missouri g...

Shiloh and Ben open up about their experiences in studying the Constitution as BYU students and their journey into peace studies. Section 98 is a type of bridge in their life between the Lord’s justification of his people to follow the principles in the Constitution that protects the rights and freedoms of all people and the Lord’s command to “renounce war and proclaim peace.” How often do we real...

Ben and Shiloh discuss the concepts of “unclean” and “chasten.” Are these concepts to be taken as metaphysical reality, or are they epistemic ideas that help us break through the layers of perception of the false self? The gospel of Jesus Christ provides many modalities of experiencing God, and in the restored gospel narrative, such as in Section 89 with the Word of Wisdom, we have a front seat vi...

Shiloh and Ben discuss topics of truth, grace, light, intelligence, God’s nature, knowledge, agency, glory, the spirit, Satan’s nature, the true/false self, obedience, and family obligations. There is a lot to unpack in Section 93’s few pages. In our religious observances, it is common to ponder over the question of God’s existence. It would seem that the most powerful experience we could have in...

Ben and Shiloh talk about the Word of Wisdom and in how we create our modes of worship. The Word of Wisdom is a fascinating conversation, but it is often criticized because of its seeming inconsistencies. The Word of Wisdom has evolved and has been through various revisions, interpretations, and levels of enforcement, and this has sometimes caused a lack of belief in its importance or its power. H...

Shiloh and Ben talk about the law and light of Christ. We often think of “law” as a list of rules and standards, but does D&C 88 offer us a new insight into the nature of God’s law that isn’t commonly addressed? In what possible ways does understanding that the “light of Christ”—which is in and through all things”—is the law by which all things are governed” change the way that we view the law...

Ben and Shiloh discuss the parable of the wheat and the tares as found in Matthew 13 and D&C 86. A common interpretation of this parable is that the “wheat” and the “tares” are people, and in this interpretation, we typically include ourselves as wheat and those who we disagree with or who are not living our standards as tares. However, is this really the point of the parable? How often do our...

Shiloh and Ben talk about the many ascension themes on priesthood found in Section 84 and compare these themes to Section 76. Whether discussing priesthood, the kingdoms of glory, the Beatitudes, or temple ordinances, the theme of ascension plays a prominent and central role in scripture and in our religious experiences. But what is this “ascension” talking about? Is it only or mostly metaphysical...

Ben and Shiloh talk about the love, mercy, and compassion of God in our weakness. How often do we find ourselves believing that disappointment, pain, struggle, or sadness are because of our sin and wickedness and that if we were just more righteous then we would be happy, joyful, and always feel like rejoicing? How often in our weakness, self-accusation, and trauma do we imagine a God that is vari...

Shiloh and Ben discuss revelation. What is it? How did Joseph report receiving it? What is it like in our own lives? How we view revelation also influences how we view and experience the scriptures. It has been said that the scriptures are always true, and sometimes the scriptures are even historical. What does this mean? Is the truthfulness of scripture primarily held in their historical literaln...

Ben and Christopher undertake a discussion of section 76, known as “The Vision”. The content and implications of this section can be intimidating. D&C 76 delves into the narrative of life after death and the concept of the degrees of glory. They discuss various ways we can understand and contextualize this doctrine. Is this a strictly metaphysical reality that we will experience after death? O...

Shiloh and Ben open up a discussion about the scriptural-based idea of “shame” and what it means to “speak our trauma.” The Lord commands the early Saints to “confound your enemies” privately and publicly, and through our faithfulness our enemies’ shame will be demonstrated and “made manifest” (D&C 71:7). There are many things to unpack from this verse alone in how the Lord posits “enemies” an...

Ben and Shiloh discuss how God pours through the pages of modern revelation even while sometimes awkwardly through the voice of those who receive and dictate the revelation. During this time in Church history, Joseph Smith and others had been compiling the revelations together to print them in the Book of Commandments. As the time approached to write the preface for the Book of Commandments, there...

Shiloh and Ben have a discussion concerning the assumptions underlying the principle of forgiveness. What is forgiveness? What assumptions does the false-self make that forgiveness releases us from in manifesting and recognizing the true-self? At least in part, forgiveness is the giving over and releasing of the feelings of anger, resentment, or judgment caused by trauma that we perceive has been...

Ben and Shiloh open up a discussion on Section 63. The early Saints “in these infant days of the Church” sought for the word and direction of God for every particular thing. They sought for temporal answers for how to build Zion and the Lord responds with spiritual direction.