Dan Ellsworth is a consultant and writer living in Charlottesville, Virginia. Dan serves on the Mormon Studies Council at the University of Virginia, and is a contributor to Interpreter and other groups dedicated to improving Latter-Day Saints’ understanding of theology and scripture.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland’s remarks at BYU revealed an already-existing conflict over how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its critics conceive of identity. As prophets affirm repeatedly, our true identity existed long before any of our present experiences, and is remembered, more than discovered.
Read More
As the doctrine of the “self-centered” West becomes increasingly distinct from the doctrines of the Restored Gospel, the faithful can no longer stay in a middle ground.
Read More
In demanding activities we don’t always know exactly what we’re getting into. Thank goodness.
Read More
It’s not just folks on the political left who we’d love to go deeper in exploring meaningful questions. These are some of our questions for brothers and sisters on the political right as well.
Read More
An open letter to Pro-CRT Latter-day Saints at BYU and beyond—inviting a good-faith dialogue that honestly engages some of our meaningful disagreements.
Read More
Many now believe that the more advanced your faith becomes, the less likely you are to embrace the literal realities of scripture. Jesus taught something far more exciting than that.
Read More
Since the publication of “Latter-day Saint Radical Orthodoxy: A Manifesto,” a number of questions and concerns have arisen. I respond here to a few of the more prominent ones.
Read More
To complain is a normal human response to the difficulties of life. But Christians have in scripture a contrast between the spiritually-healthy practice of lament and the soul-corroding practice of murmuring.
Read More
What’s helpful about intersectionality, and how it can also be harmful (on both sides of the political spectrum). This continues our series on anger in America today (See also “Anger and the Modern Prophetic Voice”)
Read More
Principled inclusion can and should be a welcome part of Christian discipleship. But like all virtues, this one can be exaggerated to the point that it is no longer a virtue at all.
Read More
The story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac teaches obedience, but believers can benefit from wrestling with this text, as Jews have done for centuries.
Read More
In the perennial debate about the carpenter from Nazareth, it’s worth asking: Are we seeking after who Jesus is revealed to be—or who we personally wish Him to be?
Read More
Along with scientific and historical reasons for concern, the words of modern prophets have consistently warned about the destructive potential of unbridled anger.
Read More