| CARVIEW |
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Theseus’ Old Ship of Zion
A decade ago, Elder Ballard gave a talk admonishing members of the church to “Stay in the [Old Ship of Zion] and Hold On!” Apparently Brigham Young referenced this metaphor frequently. Enough people asked for specific directions on — what, exactly, is “The Old Ship of Zion” — that Elder Ballard offered a second talk the next
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Joseph Smith and The 1995 LDS Proclamation on the Family, part 10
Russell M. Nelson In the inaugural January 18, 2018 press conference of a newly installed First Presidency consisting of Presidents Russell M. Nelson, Dallin H. Oaks, and Henry B. Eyring, D&C 132 made an important appearance. In an exchange with Salt Lake Tribune reporter Peggy Fletcher Stack, Stack asked the new presidency how they might
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Thank You, Bobby!
It might come as a surprise to some (or maybe not) that BCC has within its ranks of bloggers a fair number of Deadheads. We, like many of you, are deeply saddened by the passing Bobby Weir. I count myself among the fortunate who got to see Bobby a bunch of times. And whether he
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Before the Beginning
The Bible begins with the words “in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” But what was there before this “beginning”? —CFM for Jan 5-11, 2026 Well, Come Follow Me, I’m glad you asked! Joseph Smith provided an answer to that through the Books of Moses and Abraham. As did fiction writers Terry
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In Which I Continue To Beef With Nephi
And I, Nephi, did take the sword of Laban, and after the manner of it did make many swords… And I did teach my people to build buildings, and to work in all manner of wood, and of iron, and of copper, and of brass, and of steel, and of gold, and of silver, and
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The Day Tonga Became a Threat
A guest post from friend of the blog David Cook. Somewhere deep inside the machinery of the Trump travel ban, someone apparently decided that Tonga posed a serious threat to the United States. As of January 1, 2026, there are stark restrictions on student and short-term visas for the approximately 100,000 citizens of the small
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Mental Health Monday: How to Hold Conflicting Feelings
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had restful and restorative time with family, friends and food. And I hope everyone has leftovers in the fridge, now that we’re back to the grind. I’ve been toying around with the idea of writing a monthly (?) series about the intersection of the gospel and mental health. Most
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Elementary School Cafeteria Mormonism
You thought regular Cafeteria Mormonism was theologically precarious? Just wait until that cafeteria is in an elementary school.
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Ring Out Wild Bells!
Of all the songs the songs in the LDS hymnbook, the hymn “Ring Out, Wild Bells” may be the most niche: if you don’t sing it on the Sunday immediately before or after New Year’s Day then it’s likely you won’t sing it all year. Partly for this reason—but also because if it’s haunting melody
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A Church Stocking Stuffer Wishlist
Merry Christmas! At our home, Santa puts his big gifts under the tree. But the candy, the chocolate, and some smaller wrapped gifts end up in (or next to) the stockings that hang from our banister (because we don’t have a chimney—I had to give Santa a key so that he could get in). These
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Everything Old is New: A Christmas Series from the Past
Years ago, I put up a series of posts on the Christmas story from the Gospels. It was fun at the time, and you may find it useful in the present. Here you go, and Merry Christmas from all of us at BCC: https://bycommonconsent.com/tag/Christmas-Story/
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It May Be Christmas, But Easter is Coming
In a major oversight on the part of my Bishop, I was asked to share a five minute message during our Christmas service. I would like to share what I prepared for my ward with the BCC family as well. Merry Christmas, and thank you for being part of this little space of internet Mormondom.
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Ready for your Abrahamic or Marian test?
Merry Christmas! Update on garment survey at end of post. Earlier this year, I had what you might call an Abrahamic Test. I felt very, very strongly prompted that I should do a Specific Thing. I was uncomfortable with it. It went against my grain in a number of ways. The Specific Thing was deeply
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Claiming Incarnation
The word “incarnation” has had a tough ride in LDS circles. At the most basic level, the word incarnation communicates the idea that in Jesus, God became flesh. However, this is where things get a little complicated for the LDS community. In most Christian circles, when they say “God became flesh” they mean that the
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Looking Forward to the Hebrew Bible
As 2025 comes to a close, the LDS study of the Doctrine and Covenants also wraps up (I hope everyone will read WVS’s series on “The Family: A Proclamation to the Word” in preparation for the discussion tomorrow!). And with the transition from 2025 to 2026, LDS congregations around the world are about to move
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The Future of LDS Bible Study (Maybe)
By Matt Bowman The LDS church has authorized the use of non-KJV Bibles. There are two reasons why this shift is significant–but first, some history:
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The Grand Inquisitor and the Christ Child
After the shepherds had returned to watch their flocks at night, after the wise men had left to their own country, deliberately avoiding another audience with Herod, the Holy Family received one more visit: the angel of the Lord came to Joseph and warned him to take his family, leave Bethlehem, and seek refuge in
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How Are The New Garments?
The last time we discussed garments, the conversation centered on where they came from, things that feel powerful about their symbolism, and nods to specific ways the culture around them objectifies women’s bodies. Now that the new garments have been out for a little while, I’d love to know what people’s experiences have been like:
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Joseph Smith and The 1995 LDS Proclamation on the Family, part 9
Families Are Forever? A Building Block of Rhetoric for the Proclamation The sealing of parent to child, husband to wife, and the living to the dead suggested (or at least partly enabled) by D&C 132 and Joseph Smith’s preaching, was reinforced by a sacramental/ritual interpretation of the Elijah vision. But in the minds of Nauvoo
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Christmas Albums 2025
Once we pass Thanksgiving, it’s officially Christmas music season! And there is absolutely a wealth of Christmas music—if no new Christmas album ever came out, we could probably still be content for decades. But Christmas music does keep coming out. And some of it is legitimately good! This year, my favorite new Christmas find is
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Religious Refugees
A person becomes a refugee when the point of moving is to leave, not to arrive. When the familiar isn’t safe, so they seek safety in the unfamiliar. What about people who leave their faith to find spiritual safety in the religiously unfamiliar?
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Count Your Blessings
And I want to open up By Common Consent to that seasonally-appropriate attitude. Because even with everything that’s going on in the United States and the world, recognizing and being grateful for our blessings is powerful, both societally and for our own souls.
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Baptism for the Remission of…Migraines?
My youngest child, H, loves the story of “Jesus coming out of the water,” aka, Jesus’ baptism. Almost every time we read scriptures, she’ll ask for this story. One night, I started at the beginning of Matthew 3, and got as far as verse 4 before our real discussion started:
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Timeline of the Saturday Evening Session of LDS General Conference
I’d forgotten that the Saturday evening session of LDS General Conference had been canceled before. Given this week’s announcement that President Oaks is eliminating the Saturday evening session I made this timeline.
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How to Find a Therapist that Understands the LDS Church
Have you ever wanted a guide to finding an LDS therapist? Especially one that understands the LDS church? Here it is, in six steps.
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On Rejecting Unjust Systems
Before I begin, I acknowledge that the ideas in this post do not have full consensus, though a number of prominent theologians have proposed ways to understand Jesus’s mission that are similar to the language in this post.[1] And based on my experience within the modern LDS church what follows doesn’t get too much airtime
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More on the Trump Administration’s Assault on Religious Liberty
This afternoon, ICE agents parked outside of a church in Charlotte, NC. They rushed onto church grounds, and grabbed people who were doing yard work at the church, while their children were playing and their spouses were cooking. Because of the incursion of ICE, the “church is suspending services and yard work until members feel
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USCCB and Immigration
When it comes to religion, immigration is not a left-right issue. Rather, the dignity of immigrants finds roots in Christian and Restoration scripture, in our history and rhetoric. Protecting the dignity and rights of immigrants is an issue that has significant moral consequences. The USCCB’s rare Special Message has underscored the role that major religious…
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Joseph Smith and The 1995 LDS Proclamation on the Family, part 8
Reinterpreting Polygamy and the Mormon Theology of the Afterlife The July 12, 1843 revelation (D&C 132) made no reference to sealing dead partners or the living to the dead, though a vital subtext was the endurance of sealing beyond death. For the day of April 3, 1836, a clerk entered this account into Joseph Smith’s
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2025 Christmas Gift Book Guide
It is time again for the annual Christmas Gift Book Guide!
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Orson Scott Card came up with an interesting hypothesis that I find compelling. My retelling here includes some embellishment, but…
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Actually, Roberts’ is also correct. :
Roberts’s, if we’re observing the niceties :)
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