The Mormon Monk

The 20th section of the Doctrine and Covenants is best known for its instruction to priesthood holders, but it is also--and perhaps more importantly, at least when it was written--the founding document of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. When the church was founded on April 6, 1830, this was the revelation that the Lord gave to Joseph Smith, the revelation that explained to him and the other five inaugural members exactly why a restoration was necessary. After acknowledging that He has entrusted the church to fallible mortal men, the Lord explains that the Book of Mormon contains "the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ" and that "those who receive it in faith, and work righteousness, shall receive a crown of eternal life." (D&C 20:9, 14). Having established that the Book of Mormon is the foundation upon which the new church will rest, the Lord explains that "By these things"--meaning the Book of Mormon--"we know..." and pro...

I'd like to share a passage from the book The Age of the Gladiators: Savagery and Spectacle in Ancient Rome that was introduced to me by my brother Jarrod: "Even the great Christian Augustine of Hippo was more worried about the effect the games had on the viewer than on the hapless men dying in the sand. He wrote about a young friend of his named Alypius whowent to Rome to study law. One day this virtuous young Christian met some pagan friends in the street after lunch. They were off to the Colosseum to watch a gladitorial combat and invited Alypius to join them. He refused, but they dragged him off with them anyway. Alypius declared, 'You can drag my body there, but don't imagine that you can make me watch. Though I shall be there, I shall not be there. In this way I shall have the better of you and of your show.' The group of friends found seats, but Alypius sat with his eyes firmly shut. Augustine takes up the story: 'In the course of the fight a man fell a...