The Book of Abraham is an inspired document. Joseph Smith thought he was performing a translation but he was not. The text has nothing to do with the papyri and never did. The facimiles and related comments should be de-cannonized. I have read Nibley on this until my head spun. All he did was smokescreen the members with temple doctrines among the Egyptians, always avoiding the real question.

I loved the conversation around "chosenness" being a call to God's work of loving and serving others, not as a claim to exclusivity.

I really needed to hear this even though it’s 3 years later. Thank you for your strength!

The universe appears to be telling us that a god is nowhere to found and that faith is not a reliable pathway to the truth.

Atheist here. You absolutely do see me as the "enemy", you promote as good and true literature that says the disgusting things about me in Psalm fourteen. That's the difference between us, I would never promote literature that said such disgusting things about you just because you don't share my disbelief in your god. You are of course free to choose to promote such bigotry and hatred towards me, just have the courage to own it.

Michael Wilcox is happy with who he is. He is happy he is the physical creation resulted from the union of his father and mother. Through the union, a family of son, daughters, grandchildren and grand grand children are born. I think Norma was happy that she became born again through the marriage to Frank. There are many good things coming out of the marriage when Norma looks down from Heaven. I think the church and other church members should not have condemned anyone for what has happened. Things happen sometimes have a reason. In the end, Frank turned back to God and served the church. Probably, Frank saw his own children and grandchildren are happy with the church. So he turned around. God forgives sinners when they truly repent. As concluded from part 1 and part 2, we should not marginalize and judge people especially LGBTQ. Let God be the judge alone. I do believe that every human has dignity. We should treat one another with respect.

Gosh! I love her and her songs ❤🎉

President Kimball on Modern Perversion in Society and the Religions of Men (1971) kzbin.info/www/bejne/mWicaHWeqrOBf8U

God used Frank to convert Norma to be a good LDS. From Norma, a family of LDS was born. God has His purpose. Did I get it wrong that C decided to get married with a woman and have a normal family? Hmm! That means a gay man can become a straight man. So homosexuality is probably a matter of mentality. When a person thinks straight, he or she can live a life as a straight person. Am I right about that? In the end, Frank did good things by returning to church and served his church. I imagine every angelic being is radiant and happy in Heaven. There is no worry and pain in Heaven.

As I listen to this very interesting lecture again and again, I discover Michael Wilcox’s tune is funny, ‘physical!’. I learn from Zacchaeus’ Law that we need to offer front row seats to short statue people and don’t put them onto a tree. It’s very dangerous! A tree branch may break.

Hey Hal, if you haven’t noticed, the whole narrative we were raised on has been blown to pieces! Built on half truths and lies ! The corporation is nothing but a deceitful fraud !

Wow, I am going to listen to this again and again. So thought provoking.

Brother Wilcox, I was in your father’s English class in High School! I loved hearing him tells us the stories of great literature. He was a gifted story teller. I remember one day he was telling us a story and you walked into his classroom. He politely excused himself to talk with you. After you left, he apologized to the class and explained that you were his son. I remember the emotion and love he had for you. I loved your father and have learned alot from the Wilcox men! Thank you!❤

I would like to hear more from Michael Wilcox like this type of topics. He has deep insight about life. I am not a deep thinker. I listen to this lecture part 1 and part 2 again and again to understand the principles and deeper meaning. I see now those principles can be applied to almost every aspect of our lives whether in a workplace, a gym or any place. We can’t control people’s thinking. On our part, we at least do not marginalize people. God calms me every time when I feel something tricky is working behind me. Recently, I start to doubt a situation after I returned from a trip. I asked myself, ‘Am I discriminated by that woman in the gym management?’. She often asks me ‘Do you enjoy your swim?’ in the lady locker room. It is a very causal greeting. Besides that, there is no other conversation between her and me. So there is no friendship. I sense something wrong on my gym app on which I have booked my reservation of a swimming pool lane since day 1. All of sudden, I cannot book my swimming pool lane on my gym app as the time available is up to 4 pm only every weekday. I talked to that woman, Rhonda, in the management about the issue. She told me that all the lanes have been booked after 4 p.m., so there are no lanes available after 4 p.m. and that’s why I don’t see any lanes available after 4 p.m. on my app. Well, I have tried throughout the week, days and nights, 5 days, 4 days, 3 days, 2 days and 1 day in advance to book a pool lane for Wednesday and Friday evenings. There is no availability at all after 4 p.m. on my app. Without talking to the same issue to Rhonda in the management, I called the reception desk to book a lane for me for an hour on Wednesday and Friday evenings. The man and the woman there immediately booked a lane for me successfully for the evening hours even my gym app didn’t show the availability of any lane in the evening hours. I have been calling the reception desk to book the swimming pool lanes for me since the recent three weeks. I have not missed any week after I returned from my Ireland trip in June till I travel again in August. I don’t want to make a mountain out of a molehill. I don’t want to talk to Rhonda about the same issue again. She is the boss in the management. I stay quiet if there is no further issue to make me difficult. I will keep calling the reception desk to book my reservation. I look back to my life, I thank God for keeping me safe and calm. I get around many situations most of the time instead of confronting people who have waited for an opportunity to start a ‘war’. Some people do marginalize people. Some people are not happy about themselves. So they want to make others unhappy. There are also some people simply jealous and wicked. I will not let the miserable people make me miserable. I remain who I am. Enjoy myself and distance myself from fake and miserable people. Whether it is true or not in my gym hour situation, I know I don’t need to find out. If I find it out the evening hours are available on somebody’s app and not mine, am I going to sue the gym for discrimination? Definitely not! I stay in peace. God knows! I know that truly kind people who do not discriminate people are very hard to find. Even in a church, some women and the female pastor were not kind but filled with hates and bias due to their radical political minds. A true Christian should not harbor hates. What a church it was! I don’t care about a church which is in the name only. People matter. If the people are unkind in a congregation or an organization, I leave those people quietly. If I don’t leave such people for whatever reason, I will put up a ‘respectful fence’ around them. I don’t need to hate the unkind people but keep a ‘friendly’ distance. Stay alert! Honestly, I was not born a sociable person. Probably, I am a very socially awkward person. If God chooses a friend for me, that person must be a truly good person with an open heart who can make me feel comfortable with. That person will not discriminate me even when the others look at me in a very different way.

Great conversation

Such a heartfelt, loving conversation. I'm halfway through the book and appreciate hearing the insights shared by all three of you.

Part 1 is very interesting. Part 2 is even much more interesting. I love to hear the two conditions of Michael Wilcox’s mom especially the number one. I think Michael Wilcox’s father, Frank, tried to use his marriage to Norma to change his sexuality to make him a straight man but failed. No matter what, Frank was successful to change Norma to be a good LDS member and a good mother. Norma was gracious that she didn’t ask her children to stand on her side to turn against their father. A good Christian should not harbor hate but forgive. It’s very unfortunate that a Christian is unable to conduct a life with self control, self discipline and a strong sense of responsibility. A marriage involves the responsibilities to take care of a spouse and the children. Maybe that kind of sexuality is so strong that a man will give up his straight marriage. I cannot imagine that.

THIS!

One of my favorite people -- I've never met in person but I treasure our connection and all he has taught me. This latest book is a wonder💗

esauuuuu ma boy i can’t tell if i want u picking my tobacco or my rice lol. we’ll wait and see

I’m sure I’m not alone in watching or listening to your videos more than once. I find that practice helps me understand the ideas being presented more clearly. I wanted to relate how our bishop celebrated Mother’s Day this year that I found so uplifting. All the speakers in Sacrament meeting were youth and their talks were centered on women in the scriptures and how they found inspiration in their stories. Afterwards we had a meeting with the bishop just for the women. All the women. The men took over the primary and Sunday school. The discussion was centered on Eve and all the we owed to her courage in taking the hard steps to move us forward. It was an uplifting and validating experience. It was the best Mother’s day I have ever experienced. I love Faith Matters and look forward eagerly to each new program you release. You have helped me enlarge my view and faith.

I love the Celestial Room but cannot stay long due to other duties, I have to get back to work.

Really enjoyed listening to this, the questions and insights. I love the reflectoi on timeliness - and I think now more than ever we need to enable access to quality factual information and trust our people to be able to work through and reconcile our own history. Thank you Richard Bushman for being a beacon of goodness for all of us.

Left for 17 years and recently came back. Beyond grateful that the Savior came looking for one of His lost sheep. Church means so much more to me this time around. He loves us all so much and is just waiting for us to come follow Him.

The Bible is Satan's book, it is a lie, its cherry's are poison.

I really appreciated this episode and the advice to step away from or let go of things that feel psychologically harmful. Another podcast's focus on Korihor and the Zoramites seemed to (me to) really emphasize doctrinal purity. There are certainly blessings that come with "unity in Christ," but I also feel this mentality can lead to a culture that prioritizes being "defenders of the faith" over its members and their diverse gifts and thoughts. Is there an FM episode that takes on this subject?

Your god will fall into the same obscurity as the pagan gods before him. It's only a matter of time.

Important question: Am I *required* to believe the history?

I was thumbing through an old EFY manual a couple of days ago and, apparently I attended a lesson where they talked about there being "NO -ITES." And frankly that's the kind of thinking that needs to penetrate our societies today. It's not enough to be equal, either. Because equality in and of itself is inequality. Every barrier we put up can disadvantage some groups and create "-ites" even if that barrier is applied equally. Instead, we need EQUITY.

In my case, it's also my church not just because I am a member, but I have strong family and cultural ties to it.

I had never heard of Brother England before listening to this interview. I am impressed by a sense of honesty and practicality-acknowledgements of the weaknesses of our mortal condition-in his writing that seems absent in much preaching. But I only recognized its absence when I saw its presence. I have a lot of work ahead of me to reevaluate many dogmas that I have embraced in the past.

Peter never really gives any kind of answer as to ‘what our strange universe is telling us’. That’s because he likes questions more than answers, and even more than the word of God which he does not preach from. He almost never mentions Jesus or the gospel. I knew a pastor who got into Peter and Brian McLaren’s teachings and eventually loved ‘questions’ more than the Bible. He eventually questioned the very resurrection of Jesus, without which there is NO gospel.

Wonderful teachings! I would add that before completely abandoning theology that causes discomfort, consider revisiting it with a scholar's mind and a child's curiosity. Are we over or underemphasizing something?What lenses we are using to view the doctrine and how we are interpreting it? What does a holistic reading of the scriptures, prophets, and enlightened commentaries say on the matter? Can we harmonize this with both love and logic? In this way, I've discovered more enriching ways to approach the theology.

Justin : Christianity involves compassion. Intellectual movements is ok, but it's not enough. You and your friends should do (anonymously, no cameras), compassion work. Visiting hospitals, give meals, take love and compassion to people that don't have. Do it regularly Books, podcast, KZbin, videos, ok, but not enough. God bless you

Thank you for this honest, loving, expansive conversation that promotes connection and inclusion. We need more of this 🤍

Another great song which I love to sing is Titanic theme song. ‘My Heart Will Go On’. The lyrics are beautiful. Imagine the sunken Titanic outside Nova Scotia took many lives away, torn up many families and loving relationships, husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters, friends and relatives. ……. Far across the distance And spaces between us You have come to show you go on Near, far, wherever you are I believe that the heart does go on Once more, you open the door And you're here in my heart And my heart will go on and on. ……

Maybe, God wants Michael Wilcox to stay on earth longer to teach lectures. His wife is probably having heavenly duty in Heaven with Christ such as singing in choir. Heaven needs angels to sing. I think she is happy and content in Heaven. Every angelic spirit in Heaven is joyful.

I visited Job’s memorial tomb in Oman. God is very faithful. He rewarded Job a great deal in the end. I believe Job is now enjoying eternal pleasure and peace in Heaven with God and Jesus. Death is not that terrible because we know the faithful ones, God loving people will be rewarded. Hold on to our faith. Faith comforts us on earth and leads us to Heaven.

There is a scary similarity between some parents and cult leaders. What you suggest helps them away from being a domineering ‘cult leader’ type.

I’ve been a huge fan of Brother Wilcox and this is the first time he really shares about his father and his nuclear family dynamics. Thank you sharing all this with us! I just love you for who you are. Thank you for always speaking to my soul!!

The temple recommend questions themselves are practices not prescribed in the scriptures.

This was a powerful episode. My wife and I really benefited from it as we have a couple of free spirits among our children. I would love to have a transcript of this, but it doesn't appear to be offered. Thanks for your thought provoking and uplifting work.

Great interview with a living legend. Well done.

Thanks, Brother Wilcox. Good stuff to think about. I do hope every person on earth seeks truth: Knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come (Doctrine & Covenants 93:24). Truth also refers to light and revelation from heaven. Truth shall spring out of the earth, Ps. 85:11 (Moses 7:62). Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free, John 8:32. I am the way, the truth, and the life, John 14:6. [copied from Guide to the Scriptures]

Wonderful. Thank you.

I don't have to have the priesthood to feel important. I am equal but different.

Men and women are different. I believe that they don't have to be the same to be equal. I believe that if women are ordained that takes a responsibility away from the men. Would you women want to have men advocate to have something that would be taking something away from you? Men have their responsibility and women have their responsibility. May we all fulfill our particular stewardship in the way that God wants us to.

Can you please slow down when you introduce people as people with hearing difficulties find it hard to understand you