277.2: Hospitality amongst Angels and Sinners (OT Gospel Doctrine Lesson 8, Sunday School)

Living Righteously in a Wicked World

 

This lesson includes some of the darkest chapters in the Bible. What do we do with such passages? How do we engage with scripture? How do we evaluate the actions of Biblical prophets? What was the sin of Sodom? What is the nature of righteousness and sin? How do we live according to our principles even in an adversarial environment? This episode wrestles with these fundamental issues.

 

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Class Member Reading: Genesis 13, 14, 18, 19

Additional Reading: Genesis 12; Joseph Smith Translation, Genesis 14:25-40; 19:9-15

Other Reading: Abraham 1-2; Genesis 12-25

 

Jennifer, Justin, and Hannah provide a powerful and productive discussion that will improve your life. For real.

 

You can access the Assigned Reading here (or PDF)

You can access the Lesson Notes here (or PDF)

 

Timeline 

Lesson Part 1

0:00        Overview

5:11        Assigned Reading: Genesis 13-14, 18

11:55     Assigned Reading: Genesis 19

22:18     Other Reading: Genesis 12; Ezekiel 16:49-50

25:05     Digesting the Reading

Discussion Part 1

33:18     Introductions

35:45     Expectations in Most Wards

47:50     What Can We Learn From the Characters

53:45     Literary Intent and Obedience Culture

1:08:06  Righteous in a “Wicked” World

1:15:05  Real Negative Infuences in the World

1:25:12  Maintaining Integrity in and Adversarial Environment

1:31:17  Overcoming BIG Obstacles

 

Resources

Living Righteously

TED talk on using peer/social pressure to encourage good decisions 

Dan Ariely on factors that influence our decisions 

Introduction to the Handbook of Sociology of Morality 

A longer article on the same topic 

A dense but interesting article on how culture/environment motivates and justifies our decisions

Soul Searching, book about the influence of religious activity on teenagers 

Why People Do Good Things (The Good Show), RadioLab

Academic article on resilience in the face of adversity 

A Wicked World?  (I wasn’t able to find a good source on the current cultural dangers, which genuinely are real)

A post about dealing with the narrative of Sodom and Gomorrah in a sensitive way

Is the world getting worse? Mormon Matters

Is the world getting worse? FeministMormonHousewives

TED talk on the abundant future 

How the world is getting better, BigThink

Why things aren’t getting worse, Patheos

Social Media, Political Change, and Human Rights 

 

Thanks to James Estrada for some wicked fast editing, and to Steven Nelson for the beautiful bumper music.