Best Epub Feed Of Interpreter A Journal Of Latter Day Saint Faith Podcasts (2024)

1
“Behold, I Went to Hunt Beasts in the Forest”: An Addendum on Enos, Esau, and the Symbolic Geography of Seir

8h ago

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Abstract: Enos’s use of the onomastic wordplay in the Jacob and Esau cycle enables him to meaningfully allude to the symbolic geography of those stories and incorporate it into his New World setting (e.g., allusions to the river Jabbok and Peniel/Penuel, the site of Jacob’s “wrestle” with the divine “man”). A third instance of this […] The post “Be…

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Die Prophezeiung Henochs: Some Observations on Section 36 in the German Edition of the Community of Christ Doctrine and Covenants

30m ago

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Abstract: Multiple translations of the Doctrine and Covenants into German have been produced over the past century and a half. This essay looks at a more recent example of these translations as found in the Buch der Lehre und Bündnisse published electronically by the Community of Christ. Focusing on Community of Christ Doctrine and Covenants […] Th…

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Birth and Rebirth: The Fish in Mesoamerican Art and Its Implication on Stela 5, Izapa, Chiapas, Mexico

5d ago

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Abstract: A revealing analysis of fish iconography in Mesoamerica, in relation to the ancestral couple on Stela 5, Izapa, Chiapas, Mexico, holds an unforeseen element that may reveal a key to the Tree of Life referred to in the Book of Mormon. This key is supported by Mesoamerican, Hebrew, and Egyptian traditions. There have been […] The post Birth…

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The Seed of the Serpent and the Seed of the Woman in the Standard Works

12d ago

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Abstract: The curse of the serpent in Genesis 3:15 is presented as an archetype for the battle between good and evil. An ancient Hebrew literary form that ties together multiple stories through a common set of images, situations, repeated words, and phrases, is termed a leitmotif. A biblical leitmotif based on the curse of the […] The post The Seed…

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It Helps to Have a Village

19d ago

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Abstract: In preparing the next generation, it really is helpful when parents don’t stand alone and they have the help of others outside the family. This is one of the reasons why the seemingly growing gulf between gospel values and the values of the societies around us is such a cause for concern: “The truths […] The post It Helps to Have a Villag…

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The Pathophysiology of the Death of Jesus the Christ

26d ago

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Abstract: Centuries-long speculation continues regarding the circumstances surrounding the death of the Savior. Over the past century, the Savior’s tribulations between the Last Supper and his death on the cross have been scrupulously examined from a medical viewpoint. In this article I review many of these studies and, using current medical acumen…

1
Accessing Nephi’s Bountiful: A New Proposal for Reaching Irreantum

1M ago

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Abstract: Many Latter-day Saint scholars recognize that an excellent candidate for Nephi’s Bountiful is found at the inlet Khor Kharfot in southern Oman at the end of the lengthy Wadi Sayq. Many researchers have reasonably assumed that Lehi’s eastward travel from Nahom must have led to Wadi Sayq, which then leads directly to Khor Kharfot. […] The p…

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More Evidence for Alma as a Semitic Name

1M ago

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Abstract: Beginning with Hugh Nibley, several Latter-day Saint scholars have highlighted a deed found among the Bar Kokhba documents as evidence of the name Alma as a Jewish male name in antiquity. Here we highlight a second attestation of the same name used for a Jewish male from a slightly earlier period, as well as […] The post More Evidence for…

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A Model for Looking Deeply and Deeply Looking

1M ago

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Review of Peter J. Williams, The Surprising Genius of Jesus: What the Gospels Reveal About the Greatest Teacher (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2023). 113 pages, $14.59 (paperback). Abstract: Peter Williams, an independent biblical scholar, has written an analysis of the parable of the prodigal son in a fascinating attempt to demonstrate two truths. The fi…

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Aftermath of the Martyrdom: Aspirants to the Mantle of the Prophet Joseph Smith

2M ago

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Abstract: In the weeks, months, and years following the murders of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum, several aspirants stepped forward to claim the mantle of the prophet. Who were these individuals with claims to the leadership of the church? What were their motives? How were these men able to inspire large numbers […] The post After…

1
The Man with No Name: The Story of the Brother of Jared as an Anti-Babel Polemic

2M ago

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Abstract: Within the text of the Book of Mormon, the name of Jared’s brother is never revealed. Various reasons have been offered for the lack of a name, but nothing conclusive has been offered. Taking a cue from the polemical nature of Old Testament theology, this paper argues that the opening of the book of […] The post The Man with No Name: The …

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Restoring Melchizedek Priesthood

2M ago

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Abstract: Church historical sources make four differing claims as to when, how, and by whom Melchizedek priesthood was restored. These seemingly conflicting sources have led to many theories about what happened, including the idea that Joseph Smith changed his narrative and rewrote history as his ideas of priesthood evolved. A closer look at the so…

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“That They May Know That They Are Not Cast Off Forever”: Jewish Lectionary Elements in the Book of Mormon

2M ago

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Abstract: It is not uncommon for Jews who join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to notice connections between certain events in the Book of Mormon and modern Jewish practices associated with the feasts of Passover, Weeks, Tabernacles, and Rosh Hashanah. Aware that traditional Christianity holds not only that Jews were ousted from […]…

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Insights into the Story of Korihor Based on Intertextual Comparisons

2M ago

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Abstract: A brief outline of the saga of Korihor, the Anti-Christ, is provided along with a discussion of his affinities with other Book of Mormon anti-Christs, including those in the order of Nehors. Literary allusions suggesting Korihor as a foil to the king of the Lamanites are examined. Evidence of a schism among the order […] The post Insights…

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Did Korihor Usurp the Words of Zeniff?

3M ago

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Abstract: The Book of Mormon contains several instances where a speaker or author in the Book of Mormon quotes a previous one. This article presents one such example: It appears that Korihor usurped the words of Zeniff, quoting some of them for his own purposes. The context of this reference to Zeniff’s words lies in […] The post Did Korihor Usurp …

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Nurture and Harvest: A Continued Conversation with The Annotated Book of Mormon

3M ago

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Abstract: Because Grant Hardy’s important book deliberately contextualizes the Book of Mormon in light of “the generally agreed upon findings of modern biblical scholars and historians,” it invites further discussion on points in which the Book of Mormon and other significant biblical scholars and historians challenge those findings. Hardy also dec…

1
Uncanonized Revelations

3M ago

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Review of Stephen O. Smoot and Brian C. Passantino, eds., Joseph Smith’s Uncanonized Revelations (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2024). 184 pages, $24.99 (hardcover). Abstract: In an important new volume, we now have easy access to revelations received by the Prophet Joseph Smith that were not included in the Doc…

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The Anomaly: Elliott West’s Continental Reckoning and its Latter-day Saints

3M ago

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Review of Elliott West, Continental Reckoning: The American West in the Age of Expansion (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2023). 704 pages, $39.95 (hardcover). Abstract: This review explores how Latter-day Saints are portrayed in a new landmark history of the American West. Noting the author’s generally accurate portrayal of the Saints, this…

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LDS Perspectives on the Atonement?

3M ago

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Review of Deidre Nicole Green and Eric D. Huntsman, eds., Latter-day Saint Perspectives on Atonement (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2024). 344 pages, $35.00 (paperback). Abstract: Latter-day Saint Perspectives on Atonement promises to provide new perspectives on the atonement that reflect awareness of scriptural and theological scholarship.…

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Nameless: Mormon’s Dramatic Use of Omission in Helaman 2

3M ago

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Abstract: There are many reasons why a narrator may choose to provide or withhold the names of various characters. This article hypothesizes that Mormon intentionally omitted the name of a key character from the book of Helaman related to the origin of the Gaddianton robbers. While it is not possible to know exactly what information […] The post Na…

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“I Shall Gather In”: The Name Joseph, Iterative Divine Action, and the Latter-day Harvest Ingathering of Israel as Themes in 3 Nephi

4M ago

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Abstract: The identity of “the people of Nephi who were spared, and also those who had been called Lamanites, who had been spared” (3 Nephi 10:18) as “a remnant of the seed of Joseph” (3 Nephi 5:23; 10:17; compare Alma 46:23–27; Ether 13:6–10) or “a remnant of the house of Joseph” (3 Nephi 15:12) is key […] The post “I Shall Gather In”: The Name Jo…

1
Who Holds the Keys?

4M ago

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Abstract: While, for understandable reasons, Protestant Christendom tends to downplay the question, the more ancient Christian churches have historically placed considerable weight on what is often termed “apostolic succession.” The Catholic church, for instance, strongly affirms the “primacy of Peter” and the status of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope…

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Are There Ten Commandments for Latter-day Zion?

4M ago

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Abstract: New faith traditions often modify existing religious tenets to accommodate the particulars of their membership’s needs. A specific example is how different faith communities have modified the Ten Commandments both inside and outside the historic Jewish community. This paper argues that Joseph Smith received a Latter-day Decalogue that was…

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Further Evidence from the Book of Mormon for a Book of Moses-Like Text on the Brass Plates

4M ago

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Abstract: Students of the Book of Mormon have long mined the Old Testament as a rich source of influence on Nephite writers. However, surprising recent finds suggest that an ancient text related to the Book of Moses may have been an especially significant influence as well. That possibility was raised in Noel Reynolds’s early analytical […] The pos…

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“This Stone Shall Become the Great, and the Last, and the Only Sure Foundation”: A Nephite Poetics of Dramatic Fusion and Transfer in Jacob 5

5M ago

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Abstract: In this study, three intersecting images are traced through the small plates until Jacob 5, where they directly (or by implication) culminate in the final section of Zenos’s allegory. The three images appear fused together in Nephi’s and Jacob’s writings. Specifically, this literary study tracks the images of the olive vineyard, the sheep…

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An Analysis of the Financial Incentives in Attacking the Restoration

5M ago

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Abstract: With the popularity of social media growing exponentially, prominent critics of the Church are leveraging the platforms, particularly YouTube, as a key resource to produce thousands of negative videos about the Church. The accusations made in the videos about Church history, leadership, doctrine, and culture are so numerous that it could …

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“Armed with Righteousness and with the Power of God”: Allusions to Priestly Clothing, Priesthood, and Temple in 1 Nephi 14:14

5M ago

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Abstract: Nephi saw in vision that in the latter-days “the saints of the church of the Lamb” and “covenant people of the Lord” who, though scattered across the earth, “were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory” (1 Nephi 14:14). Nephi’s prophetic statement is loaded with meaning. This study explores […] The post “Armed w…

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The Seven Women Seeking the Bridegroom: Isaiah 4:1 as Transition Point in a Redemption Allegory

5M ago

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Abstract: Nephi laboriously copied many of the words of Isaiah in hopes that his readers would rejoice in Christ. While Isaiah 4:1 (2 Nephi 14:1) is generally not viewed as Messianic, there may be an allegorical interpretation that would place this verse among Isaiah’s other Messianic writings. A pre-Nicene patristic writer, Victorinus of Poetovio,…

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The Eucharist of the Latter-day Saints: The Sacrament in the Broader Christian Context

5M ago

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Abstract: This paper views the sacrament prayers and rituals of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the broader context of Christian eucharistic worship, focusing on how the Latter-day Saint observances both resemble and differ from those of other Christian communities. It argues that, contrary to what is often supposed, the Church h…

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“One Drop of Salvation from the House of Majesty”: An Analysis of the Revelation of the Magi and Restoration Scripture

6M ago

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Abstract: An early Christian text called the Revelation of the Magi presents itself as a history of the Magi before and after the birth of Jesus Christ. This text offers important insights into how the early Christian world may have conceptualized how other nations outside of Israel similarly looked forward to the advent of the […] The post “One Dr…

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Mormon and Moroni’s Rhetoric: Reflections Inspired by Grant Hardy’s Understanding the Book of Mormon

6M ago

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Abstract: Grant Hardy has shown that Nephi, Mormon, and Moroni have distinctive personalities, rhetorical strategies, implied readers, and thematic concerns. Mormon lived within history and wrote as a historian. He focused on the particulars of time and place and person, on political and military matters. But, Hardy says, Mormon lacked audience awa…

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“That They May Once Again Be a Delightsome People”: The Concept of Again Becoming the Seed of Joseph (Words of Mormon 1:8 and Mormon 7:4–5)

6M ago

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Abstract: In Words of Mormon 1:8, Mormon declares, “And my prayer to God is concerning my brethren, that they may once again come to the knowledge of God, yea, the redemption of Christ; that they may once again be a delightsome people.” The expression “that they may once again” plausibly reflects the Hebrew idiom wayyôsipû […] The post “That They M…

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Review of Two New Theories about the Lamanite Mark Recently Presented in Two Different Forums

6M ago

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Abstract: T. J. Uriona has offered two new theories about the meaning of Nephi’s term “skin of blackness” in 2 Nephi 5:21. He suggests that Nephi’s term may indicate impending death and/or it may be a literal reference to diseased or deathly skin. Both theories are based on a motif in an ancient Neo-Assyrian treaty […] The post Review of Two New Th…

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An Exceptional Example of the Richness of Church History

7M ago

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Review of Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, Emer Harris & Dennison Lott Harris: Owner of the First Copy of the Book of Mormon, Witness of the “Last Charge” of Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2023). 235 pages, 67 illustrations, appendix, references, $29.00 (paperback). Abstract: Jeffrey Bradshaw has, in a single well-researched volume, provided a gift…

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The Unwritten Debates in Moroni1’s Letter

7M ago

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Abstract: Moroni1’s letter in Alma 60 is not simply an angry and intemperate screed against the government; it also responds to arguments about just tactics (what modern readers would call ethics) taking place among Nephite leaders at this time. Moroni1’s letter argues for his preferred strategies of active defense and ambush, while interpreting de…

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“Our Great God Has in Goodness Sent These”: Notes on the Goodness of God, the Didactic Good of Nephi’s Small Plates, and Anti-Nephi-Lehi’s Renaming

7M ago

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Abstract: Anti-Nephi-Lehi’s speech (Alma 24:7–16) reveals multiple allusions to significant texts in Nephi’s small plates record. Thus, when he declares “I thank my God, my beloved people, that our great God has in goodness sent these our brethren, the Nephites, unto us to preach unto us,” he appears to allude to an inclusio that bookends […] The p…

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The Plagiary of the Daughters of the Lamanites

7M ago

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Abstract: Repetition is a feature of all ancient Hebraic narrative. Modern readers may misunderstand this quality of biblical and Book of Mormon narrative. Biblical and Book of Mormon writers believed that history repeated, with what happened to the ancestors happening again to their posterity. Fawn Brodie and her acolytes misapprehend Book of Morm…

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Christ is Risen! Truly, He is Risen!

7M ago

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Abstract: There is no more important message than that of the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It’s life-transforming and world-transforming. It is also the most joyous news imaginable. What Jesus did on our behalf leaves us forever in his debt and should put him at the center of our lives. Easter Sunday,” President Russell […] The post …

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King Benjamin’s Sermon as a Type of Temple Endowment

8M ago

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Abstract: To more permanently unify the Mulekites and the Nephites as a reunited kingdom of Israel, King Benjamin gathered his people at the temple, and in his role as a king and priest after the order of Melchizedek, imparted teachings that bear resemblance to the Latter-day Saint temple endowment ceremony first introduced in Nauvoo. Several […] T…

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Premortal Life and Mortal Life: A Fearful Symmetry

8M ago

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Abstract: Bodily weakness, along with the varied circumstances into which we were born, provide the essential initial and ongoing conditions that shape the challenges and opportunities of our mortal probation. In life, we are not expected merely to preserve our innocence in defiance of worldly tendencies, nor are we compelled to cede to cynicism in…

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Recovering the Lost Concept of Truth in the Restoration Scriptures: Another Key to Understanding God’s Word

8M ago

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Abstract: The word “truth” has for practical purposes lost one of its original English-language meanings, and this has significant implications for understanding scriptures. The obvious, well-understood meaning is that which is real or factual. However, the earliest meaning in English is that which is true in an entirely different way, in the sense…

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Proper Names and Political Claims: Semitic Echoes as Foundations for Claims to the Nephite Throne

8M ago

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Abstract: The Book of Mormon contains examples of phonemes in character names that resemble Semitic root words. The possible meanings of the names and their timing in the Book of Mormon narrative provide a deeper level of context to the Nephite political challenges in the books of Mosiah through 3 Nephi. Specifically, the English phonemes for […] T…

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Prophet or Loss: Mosiah1/Zeniff, Benjamin/Noah, Mosiah2/Limhi and the Emergence of the Almas

8M ago

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Abstract: Mormon’s overwhelmingly dominant rhetorical purpose is to testify of Christ, which he and his protagonists often directly do. But he also communicates his testimony more subtly through carefully crafted historical narratives. His use of frame narratives is especially artful. In the Book of Mosiah, Mormon frames the dispiriting account of …

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Trees and the Love of God

9M ago

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Abstract: Trees play real and metaphorical roles in the beliefs and holy scriptures of many world religions, and believers and non-believers throughout the world are uplifted spiritually by trees. In the Book of Mormon, a tree with delicious, sweet fruit appeared in two visions and one parable. Respectively, the tree represents the love of God […] …

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Second Nephi as a Legal Document

9M ago

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Abstract: Considering conventions of the ancient Near East, 2 Nephi can be understood as a legal document or legal archive. Factors supporting this view include 1) Nephi’s allusions to sealing the record and to a bar of judgment, 2) discussion of the law of witnesses and reference to Isaiah and Jacob as witnesses, 3) components […] The post Second …

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“Rise Up, O Light of the Lord”: An Appropriate and Defensible Etymology for Cumorah

9M ago

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Abstract: This article explores issues with past suggestions concerning the etymology of the name Cumorah and suggests a slightly updated etymology, “Rise up, O Light of the Lord.” It then suggests that Book of Mormon references to the Hill Cumorah appear to confirm the proposed etymology, thus becoming an apt description of the Restoration. No […]…

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Temple Themes in the Book of Abraham

9M ago

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Abstract: The Book of Abraham is replete with temple themes, although not all of them are readily obvious from a surface reading of the text. Temple themes in the book include Abraham seeking to become a high priest, the interplay between theophany and covenant, and Abraham building altars and dedicating sacred space as he sojourns […] The post Tem…

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An Important Addition to the Library

9M ago

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Review of Grant Hardy, The Annotated Book of Mormon (New York: Oxford University Press, 2023). 912 pages; $37.95 (hardcover). Abstract: Oxford University Press has published an annotated edition of the Book of Mormon. This represents a significant event and provides a useful study resource. At the same time, the author’s determination to follow the…

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Joseph Smith and the “Red Sea” in 2 Nephi 19:1

9M ago

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Abstract: When Nephi quotes Isaiah 9:1 in 2 Nephi 19:1, Isaiah’s the “way of the sea” (KJV translation) becomes “the way of the Red Sea” in the Book of Mormon, a change that is often said to reflect an egregious blunder by Joseph Smith or a scribal error. However, there may be a scenario in […] The post Joseph Smith and the “Red Sea” in 2 Nephi 19:…

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Heavenly Ascent in Jacob’s Writings in Second Nephi: Addressing the Question of What the Plan of Salvation is in the Book of Mormon

10M ago

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Abstract: Heavenly ascent describes the process of an individual (or community) returning to the presence of God. Though various elements exist within heavenly ascent literature, general patterns can be discerned. This project uses one such pattern as a hermeneutical tool to examine what can be learned about how Book of Mormon prophets may have und…

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