Comments for By Study and Faith

Comment on Reflections on Churches by diligentdave

diligentdave — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:27:08 +0000

Your blog on church names in the US is somewhat interesting. Something I came to an understanding just 3 or 4 years back is this. The names Kirk and Kirt are both Scottish. And they both mean, at least according to what I read, “church”.

Hence, Kirtland, is Scottish for “Churchland”.

A Book of Mormon prophecy of our day is quite descriptive—

20 And the Gentiles are lifted up in the pride of their eyes, and have stumbled, because of the greatness of their stumbling block, that they have built up many churches; nevertheless, they put down the power and miracles of God, and preach up unto themselves their own wisdom and their own learning, that they may get gain and grind upon the face of the poor.

21 And there are many churches built up which cause envyings, and strifes, and malice.

(Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 26:20 – 21)

(The “Anyone-but-Mitt-the-Mormon” right now comes readily to my mind)!

But, the first LDS Temple in America (in the world in our times, in fact) being called the ‘Churchland Temple’ (as it were), is itself commentary on our nation!

Priestcrafts (and not only of traditional religions) plays a HUGE role in our country!

Comment on Ephemeral Beauty and Eternal Beauty by Marcelaine

Marcelaine — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:52:01 +0000

Thank you, this is a great post. In Relief Society recently we talked about how the general Relief Society board was concerned about sisters becoming “silly women.” It was a reminder to me that it is so important to strive to be a woman who has faith, who is focused on the eternal, rather than on fads or the superficial. That is the kind of woman who has deep beauty. That is the kind of woman God needs to serve in His kingdom–”silly women” (or men) don’t produce much good fruit.

Comment on Neurology in the Book of Mormon by Jared

Jared — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:53:40 +0000

Changing a diet can certainly reduce symptoms of PD. If a diet becomes healthier, with food that is rich in precursors to glutamate and dopamine, it is possible to reduce symptoms. Exercise can also help reduce symptoms. I do not think diet changes could cure PD. What’s also possible is for your aunt to have been diagnosed with PD but ‘merely’ had parkinsonism (symptoms of PD but not actually the disease). But, diet has been shown to have real effects on the symptoms. It’s great that it worked for your aunt, diet changes do not help a lot of people (or maybe people just are not willing to make the strict diet changes). It’s not a topic I’ve researched much but “Eat right and exercise” is something we tell everyone with PD that we see.

Thanks for the comment and question.

Comment on Neurology in the Book of Mormon by Danny

Danny — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 03:41:57 +0000

How much have you studied the effects of diet on Parkinson’s disease? I have an aunt that was diagnosed with PD and she went on a special diet and almost all of her symptoms went to nearly nothing. It has changed her life. I don’t know all of the details of the diet.

Sorry to stray from the scripture topic.

Comment on Neurology in the Book of Mormon by Jared

Jared — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:43:14 +0000

Excellent question. Yes, it completely fits with a Parkinson’s (PD) diagnosis. The time from symptom onset to death varies widely (it is dependent in part on age at onset – see for example this link). PD usually is a slow progressive disorder, often taking years to reach a point of significant impairment and then additional years until death (the current mean timeframe from age of onset to death is 16 years but it can be as quick as 2 or as long as 40 or more – this is of course with modern medicine but PD is generally quite a slow process).

King Benjamin likely would have been able to function for some years with PD symptoms but then he would reach a point where it was nearly impossible to function as he used to do. Without modern medicine, this functional decline might have happened more rapidly than it can today but Benjamin would have been able to live for years with people taking care of him.

So to summarize, the fact that King Benjamin ‘retired’ early and lived 3 more years adds to the likelihood that he suffered from PD (although, I have to add, for the sake of balance, that it also was common for kings to pass on the administrative roles of their ruling to a son or daughter when they started getting old, even without a debilitating disease).

Comment on Neurology in the Book of Mormon by Danny

Danny — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:23:22 +0000

King Benjamin lived three more years after this sermon. Is that a life expectancy that coincides with this diagnosis?

Comment on Neurology in the Book of Mormon by Amber

Amber — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:23:00 +0000

As someone who has Fibromyalgia and/or chronic Lyme disease, this is a perspective that encourages me. It’s hard for me to even get to church or to stay for more than just Sacrament meeting, sometimes it’s hard to even get through the whole of Sacrament. To think that a prophet we can read the words of and be strengthened by also had a condition that made it hard to get through things, that’s comforting.

Comment on Neurology in the Book of Mormon by James Tanner

James Tanner — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:19:19 +0000

Thanks for the diagnosis.
Old and Feeble in Arizona

Comment on Filled With the Spirit Through Reading the Scriptures by Barbara Bohan

Barbara Bohan — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:14:31 +0000

Thanks for focusing on a Scripture that isn’t emphasized much to shed light on how reading the scriptures invites the Holy Spirit into our lives. When I was at the MTC, I found the most spiritual times when I felt the Holy Spirit the strongest among my classes was the times we had readings from the Book of Mormon.

Comment on 2012 Mutual Theme – Arise and Shine Forth by Libby

Libby — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:08:54 +0000

I’m a mormon too! I love this song, it’s a great mutual theme, I’m gonnah try really hard to do more missionary work this year, like the people in the song we’re trying to learn this at church and this site has been very helpful with the lyrics here as well, thankyou!