Avraham’s Mailbox

Question: Do the scriptures touch on anything concerning modern plagues, such as Covid 19, and how church members should respond to continued WHO and CDC policies sponsored by the church to take vaccines into their bodies? Answer: While it remains a personal decision whether to take any vaccine—including the now much discredited Covid 19 shots—the […]

Question: Regarding the story of the Prodigal Son in the Bible, I understand the word “Prodigal” is never used. That term was assigned by someone’s using it through time. I also understand that the two brothers represent Judah and Ephraim. Judah has maintained the feasts, etc. Identifying someone as a “Jew” prompts immediate recognition of

Question: I have been pondering the meaning of Mathew 7:7-8: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” I believe it has a

Question: Who is the “remnant” who shall be in the midst of the Gentiles “as a lion” (3 Nephi 21:12)? This is a question I’ve struggled with because on one hand, Isaiah 10, where the word first appears, seems to denote those Israelites among the Assyrians who are not destroyed (Isaiah 10:19-21) when the Lord

Question: If the scriptures define the restoration of the gospel as the “beginning,” “commencement,” or “foundation” of the Lord’s great and marvelous work (I have wondered about this for a long time), is current missionary work and temple building, which were instituted by the prophet Joseph Smith, still a part of that beginning of gathering

Question: How do the seven laws of Noah, which some people advocate, relate to the gospel of Jesus Christ? Answer: The so-called “Seven Laws of Noah” or “Seven Noahide Laws” are a universal moral code formulated by Jewish rabbis for non-Jews. While several of these laws overlap with the Ten Commandments God gave Moses, all

Question: Where does the Jewish expectation of a “messiah the son of Joseph” come from, and how does it relate to a “messiah the son of David”? Answer: Jewish tradition espouses the idea of four messianic persons, the additional two being Elijah and a righteous high priest. It derives these expectations from a wide variety

Question: When I tried to interest my bishop in the words of Isaiah, he instead encouraged me to listen to the words of the living prophets. Another church member told me to be careful with the words of Isaiah, that they cause people to leave the church. Do the scriptures suggest what we should do

Question: Some say the living prophets supersede the dead prophets. I’m confused because aren’t all scriptures true and of God? What do the scriptures themselves say about this? Answer: Scriptural patterns show that every generation of prophets supports and builds upon those previous to it. No scriptural precedent exists of one generation of prophets’ abrogating

Question: What is the right thing to do when we encounter things being taught in church that contradict the scriptures? Answer: Because misinterpretations of the scriptures are symptomatic of a much larger issue, church members aren’t required of God to act as “thought police” and attempt to counter every instance they hear of false ideas

Question: Is it possible that the entitled and accusatory attitude many members of the restored church exhibit today could be cause for concern that if we are not bringing forth “fruit meet for repentance” (Matthew 3:8; Alma 13:13) and “fruit meet for their Father’s kingdom” (Doctrine & Covenants 84:58) “the kingdom of God will be

Question: Several church authorities have claimed that those who are called Lamanites today, some of whose traditions resemble temple ordinances in the restored church of Jesus Christ, are a “dead branch”—that today those traditions have no essential value, and that indigenous peoples should simply join the church and put those things away. Does that accord