These are very insightful questions, fair warning, these are precisely the types of questions people ask that wind up on getting them invited to be on my podcast so that everyone can hear the answer. Would you be up for that? You could post it on your new substack as well.
On another note, after reading your article I was wondering if you had read "Almost Christian" by Kenda Creasy Dean? They make the point that the Mormon Church has the highest retention of their youth because they treat their youth like adults, as regular members of the church just like anyone else. Here is a quote:
Mormon youth also described practices distinctive to LDS life. Mormon teenagers belong to a highly participatory church structure; more than half of all Mormon teenagers (53%) reported giving a presentation in church in the past six months (fewer than one in seven Southern Baptists, and only one in twenty-five Catholic youth had done the same). Nearly half (48%) of Mormon teenagers had attended a meeting in the past six months where they were part of making decisions, compared to about one in four Southern Baptists and one in twelve Catholic teenagers.30 Mormon youth assume that their contributions matter, and frequently mentioned taking part in church rituals like public testimony, fasting, baptisms and blessings, which—along with upholding community norms like abstaining from alcohol and premarital sex—they deemed important to their identity as Mormons.
Dean, Kenda Creasy. Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church (pp. 55-56). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.
Great! How about scheduling a time next week? I can set up a zoom. And please feel free to ask the hard questions. The harder the questions, the more we learn.
This was great, I really appreciate the content you put out! For the past year or so, I’ve been wrestling with my own eschatological views, so I’m curious of some of your thoughts on some of the things that I’ve found myself wrestling with.
(1) Do you believe that death will continue during the time of Christ’s millennial reign? 1 Corinthians 15 seems to talk of death being destroyed at Christ’s 2nd coming, but in my understanding of the view you laid out, Christ will return but there will still be people populating the earth but also dying. How do you see this working itself out?
(2) What would you say to the interpretation of Revelation 20:2-3, 7-10 that Satan is bound with respect to deceiving the nations to gather them for battle against the saints? This makes space for Satan being bound with respect to that specific goal of his, but it allows for his other activity in the world. That may be what you were agreeing with in the podcast, or maybe not. Just curious your thoughts!
(3) What’re your thoughts on recapitulation in the book of Revelation?
I don’t ask these questions to argue. I’m doing my best to “think” which you even mentioned in your podcast! Anyways, thank you again for spending time doing this!
These are very insightful questions, fair warning, these are precisely the types of questions people ask that wind up on getting them invited to be on my podcast so that everyone can hear the answer. Would you be up for that? You could post it on your new substack as well.
On another note, after reading your article I was wondering if you had read "Almost Christian" by Kenda Creasy Dean? They make the point that the Mormon Church has the highest retention of their youth because they treat their youth like adults, as regular members of the church just like anyone else. Here is a quote:
Mormon youth also described practices distinctive to LDS life. Mormon teenagers belong to a highly participatory church structure; more than half of all Mormon teenagers (53%) reported giving a presentation in church in the past six months (fewer than one in seven Southern Baptists, and only one in twenty-five Catholic youth had done the same). Nearly half (48%) of Mormon teenagers had attended a meeting in the past six months where they were part of making decisions, compared to about one in four Southern Baptists and one in twelve Catholic teenagers.30 Mormon youth assume that their contributions matter, and frequently mentioned taking part in church rituals like public testimony, fasting, baptisms and blessings, which—along with upholding community norms like abstaining from alcohol and premarital sex—they deemed important to their identity as Mormons.
Dean, Kenda Creasy. Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church (pp. 55-56). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.
Haha! I’d love to be on the podcast for that discussion! That would be real helpful for me.
And I have not read that, but I’ll add it to my list. That’s a pretty intriguing statistic, thank you for sharing!
Great! How about scheduling a time next week? I can set up a zoom. And please feel free to ask the hard questions. The harder the questions, the more we learn.
Absolutely! Thursday, Friday, or Saturday would work best for me!
Thursday looks good, any time that works best?
I just have to be done by 3:30, so whatever time before that that works for you!
I just have to be done by 3:30, so whatever time before that that works for you!
I usually shoot at 10am?
That works for me.
This was great, I really appreciate the content you put out! For the past year or so, I’ve been wrestling with my own eschatological views, so I’m curious of some of your thoughts on some of the things that I’ve found myself wrestling with.
(1) Do you believe that death will continue during the time of Christ’s millennial reign? 1 Corinthians 15 seems to talk of death being destroyed at Christ’s 2nd coming, but in my understanding of the view you laid out, Christ will return but there will still be people populating the earth but also dying. How do you see this working itself out?
(2) What would you say to the interpretation of Revelation 20:2-3, 7-10 that Satan is bound with respect to deceiving the nations to gather them for battle against the saints? This makes space for Satan being bound with respect to that specific goal of his, but it allows for his other activity in the world. That may be what you were agreeing with in the podcast, or maybe not. Just curious your thoughts!
(3) What’re your thoughts on recapitulation in the book of Revelation?
I don’t ask these questions to argue. I’m doing my best to “think” which you even mentioned in your podcast! Anyways, thank you again for spending time doing this!
Sorry, I failed to hit the "reply" link, see above. I'm not a boomer but sometimes I act like one.