In this episode Riley and Christopher welcome Dr. Jennifer Finlayson-Fife, “a licensed therapist who specializes in working with LDS couples on sexuality and relationship issues,” for a wide-ranging discussion of the Divine Feminine from an archetypal spiritual perspective. The discussion covers, among other things, the attributes of the Divine Feminine, their symbolic implications, the integration of the Divine Feminine, and its manifestation and significance in relationships.

In this episode, Christopher and Riley discuss perennial wisdom and why we should study and incorporate the foreign, yet familiar, truths of all traditions into our own understanding and practice. Within the Church, we have a common misconception that the "fullness of the gospel" found in the "only true and living church" (D&C 1:30) gives us a claim to comprehensive, exclusive truth from God. As Riley and Christopher demonstrate, prophets ancient, modern, and contemporary have not seen things that way but instead have always actively encouraged Latter-day Saints to "seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom" (D&C 88:118) and have consistently recognized that God "bring[s] forth [His]…

In this episode Christopher and Riley introduce Abu Hamid al-Ghazali and the most accessible abridged translation of one of his most beloved works, The Alchemy of Happiness, itself an abridgment by al-Ghazali of his magnum opus, The Revival of the Religious Sciences. Known as “The Proof of Islam,” Al-Ghazali is the second most important figure in the Islamic tradition after the Prophet Muhammad, and the most important theologian and mystic of Islam. He is also an acknowledged intellectual influence of perhaps the most important theologian in the Christian tradition, St. Thomas Aquinas. In The Alchemy of Happiness, al-Ghazali gives us a typology of the soul of man as possessing a…

In this episode Riley and Christopher are joined by Ben Peterson, co-host of Latter-day Peace Studies Presents: Come, Follow Me, for a conversation on how we read the scriptures and how that determines the meaning we get out of them. In the course of the conversation, they examine a few of the hermeneutics (i.e., ways of reading the scriptures) they have been using in their respective podcasts, and the exegesis (i.e., meaning) each hermeneutic produces. At the end of this episode, Christopher makes an announcement about the future of Ben’s podcast.

In this episode, Christopher and Riley trace the roots of the Logos of God, translated “Word” in John 1:1 in the New Testament, through the early Church fathers Clement of Alexandria and Justin Martyr to its roots in Ancient Greek Presocratic philosopher Heraclitus. In so doing, Christopher and Riley explore the meaning of the Logos of God in-depth, including in comparative religious perspective with the Hindu concept of Maya through the yogi Yogananda. Ultimately, Riley and Chris conclude with Paul Tillich, “He who sacrifices the Logos principle sacrifices the idea of a living God, and he who rejects the application of this principle to Jesus as the Christ rejects his…

In this episode, Christopher and Riley are joined by Latter-day Peace Studies and Latter-day Contemplation podcast co-founder, Shiloh Logan, to commemorate the podcast’s 50th installment. They look back on the genesis of the podcast, what it has taught them about the contemplative mindset, and express gratitude for those who have contributed to the emerging community of peace-loving disciples of Christ that Latter-day Peace Studies and Latter-day Contemplation has created. In the process, they touch on some of the podcast’s highlights and share their vision for the future of the podcast.

In this episode, Christopher and Riley talk about the need for a church. First, they refer to the Greek word in the Bible translated “church” and bring out its two simultaneously operative meanings. Next, they explore in-depth the need for a church based on those two meanings. Finally, they explore a threefold path one tends to take as a member of the body of Christ we call the church leading from dependence through participation to either disillusionment or leadership. But the leadership they discuss is not the top-down leadership one thinks of when thinking of the church as an institution, but the bottom-up, or grassroots, leadership in which one can…

How would it change you to know that there is someone who loves you unconditionally? In this episode, Riley and guest host, Shiloh Logan, explore the awareness and utilization of loving kindness as an operative definition of love. They discuss how it interfaces with latter-day saint theological constructs like Zion and the degrees of glory, as well as the longstanding Christian call of disciples to nonviolence and detachment from outcomes. The calculus of transactional ROI in today’s religious observation has become a distraction leading to toxic burnout when expected outcomes don’t materialize. Conversely, pursuing the “mighty change of heart” which results from transformational experiences with God helps us escape the…

In this episode, Riley and Christopher discuss the critical importance of mentors in our lives. In the process, they wander back and forth through the various benefits and risks inherent in the establishment of mentor/protégé relationships. At its core, mentoring is about teaching, but on a deeper, more personal level. Mentorships include expectations of both parties, involve bi-directional growth. Mentors can help us grow in all areas of our life, secular and spiritual. In particular, spiritual mentors or gurus can help us grow spiritually. A traditional guru/disciple relationship is a long-term devotional practice. Christopher and Riley discuss the necessary discernment and grace that should attend mentor/protégé and guru/disciple relationships, as…

Christopher and guest co-host Shiloh Logan talk about the power of the stories that we tell ourselves and the impact that they have on our lives. It has been said that "we don't live in reality, but, rather, we live in our stories about reality." What does this mean? Human beings are story and meaning-making entities. We are what makes meaning out of reality, and we do this through the stories that we create around and about events and ourselves. Stories are how we make sense of our world, and they are helpful and beneficial to us until they're not. A primary problem for human beings is when we can't…