Tells of viewing the Izapa tree-of-life stone and other places of interest that are identified as the “land Southward” in the Book of Mormon.

Tells of viewing the Izapa tree-of-life stone and other places of interest that are identified as the “land Southward” in the Book of Mormon.

Sightings of flying saucers in specified years are tied in with the advent of the Book of Mormon, the coming judgments, and the establishment of Zion.

Our Father in Heaven desires us to be joyful and well, to nurture and care for the garden that is entrusted to each of us. He needs a healthy people and has given us the gifts and abilities to be so.

Just as with Brigham Young, Leonardo da Vinci’s ultimate allegiance wasn’t to a single discipline but rather to the “triumph of truth.” No individual or perspective is the owner of truth; truth is as widespread and diverse as those who search for it.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, Sunday, October 4, 1857. Reported By: G. D. Watt, J. V. Long.

A story for children. One of Moroni’s soldiers, during a war with the Lamanites, smote and raised Zerahemnah’s scalp up with his sword, which led to a covenant of peace.

Review of Answering Mormon Scholars: A Response to Criticism Raised by Mormon Defenders (1996), by Jerald and Sandra Tanner

Abstract: This paper is composed of three parts connected consecutively because their conclusions build upon each other. The first part investigates the transportation methods used in the Book of Mormon, concluding that horse and river travel contributed little and that foot travel dominated all journeying. The second part uses that conclusion to estimate the overall dimensions of the Promised Land by examining Alma the Elder’s journey from Nephi to Zarahemla. This exercise reaffirms the 200-by-500-mile size promoted by John L. Sorenson decades ago. The third part looks at four ramifications of this 100,000 square-mile Promised Land footprint when stamped upon a map of the Western Hemisphere. (1) It allows for more than one Promised Land (occupied by other God-led immigrants) to exist simultaneously in the Americas. (2) It predicts that no matter where the Book of Mormon Promised Land was originally located, most Native Americans today would have few or no direct ties to the Jaredites-Lehites-Mulekites. (3) It demonstrates that research efforts to identify evidence of the Book of Mormon peoples could be exploring locations thousands of miles away from their original settlements. And (4) If any of the post-400 ce localized population losses in the Americas due to disease, war, or unknown causes involved the original Promised Land location, then the primary locus of organic evidence of the existence of the Jaredite-Lehite-Mulekite populations might have been largely destroyed.

Discourse by President Daniel H. Wells, delivered at the Forty-Sixth Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Thursday Morning, April 6, 1876. Reported By: David W. Evans.

Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle, Ogden, Sunday Afternoon, May 18, 1873. Reported By: David W. Evans.

Discourse by Elder Wilford Woodruff, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, at the Semi-Annual Conference, October 8, 1873. Reported By: David W. Evans.

Discourse by Elder John Taylor, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday, October 8, 1871. Reported By: David W. Evans.

Wendell J. Ashton - You will know wisdom when you fully realize that the lasting lessons in leadership do not change. They are eternal. They helped make Noah and Abraham and Moses giants in the land, giants in character, in leadership, in bringing men and women closer to God.

A historical work that discusses Joseph Smith and Mormonism on pages 1-23. The author considers the Book of Mormon to be “crude in style and inane in contents” He accepts the Spaulding Theory regarding its origin.

“The journals of James Henry Martineau are comparable the most descriptively written diaries of their period. They shed light on the historical events of the era, the lives of average people, and the impact of Church leaders. At times they read more like a novel than a journal. They are exciting, testimony building, and detailed. The reader will see clearly what Martineau is picturing and feel what he is experiencing. His focus was on his family and his work, while the result is a reflection of a common, yet uncommon, Latter-day Saint pioneer.”—Donald G. Godfrey ISBN 978-0-8425-2697-5

This colorful, informative book features reports on the multi-pronged effort to determine as far as possible the original English-language translation of the Book of Mormon. Royal Skousen, the editor and principal investigator of the original and printer’s manuscripts of the Book of Mormon, details the project’s history and some of the more significant findings. Robert Espinosa reviews his team’s painstaking work of preserving and identifying remaining fragments of the original manuscript. Ron Romig narrates the investigation into the printer’s manuscript, and Larry Draper explains how the press sheets for the 1830 edition reveal overlooked details of the printing process. In an insightful response, Daniel C. Peterson interpolates evidence from Skousen’s research to show the divine manner in which the Book of Mormon came forth.

The earth’s cleansing, death, and resurrection

This volume is filled with gripping and fascinating stories of members of the LDS Church in West Germany and Austria during World War II. Today we are mostly unfamiliar with the conditions the German Saints faced during World War II. They did not have ready access to the many conveniences American Saints took for granted—including their local Church leaders, clean places to meet, cars, and temples. In fact, German Saints could only experience the temple by crossing the Atlantic Ocean and most of the North American continent. Germany was one of the war fronts where homes were destroyed and friends and families were killed. Unlike American soldiers returning to their homes, nearly half of the German Saints had no home to which to return. Hundreds of them served in the German military while thousands more stayed home and endeavored to keep their families and the Church alive. Their stories of joy and suffering are presented in this book against the background of the successes and collapse of the Third Reich. Readers will be touched at the faith and dedication shown by these Saints—young and old, military and civilian. ISBN 978-0-8425-2798-9

This is why we partake of the sacrament each week: to renew our covenants we have made with the Lord in the waters of baptism; to remember Him and to keep His commandments; to refresh in our minds who we are and what our role is in God’s plan.

A one-page handout that discusses different approaches to studying the Book of Mormon—relate the Book of Mormon to the Bible, study external evidences, consider the theology, and find the “life lessons” in the book.

Early Christianity saw a wide proliferation of theories and practices concerning baptism, and now many Christians, including Mormons, commonly understand it as a means to repent and wash away one’s sins. But the Book of Mormon prophets taught that baptism is a covenant and a witnessing to God that one has already repented and commits to follow Jesus Christ, and that sins are remitted by the Holy Ghost.

Interfaith dialogues of understanding are valuable both for challenging individuals to articulate their beliefs and practices in a careful way and for deepening connections between people of different faiths. The Jewish and Latter-day Saint communities have at times been at odds, yet they share a number of significant historical and communal bonds. Understanding Covenants and Communities comes out of the Jewish–Latter-day Saint Academic Dialogue Project, a groundbreaking interfaith encounter between these two religious communities. The fruit of five conferences held semiannually since 2016, the volume addresses such themes as theological foundations, sacred scriptures, lived experience and worship, and culture and politics. Readers will emerge with a deeper understanding of the Jewish and Latter-day Saint traditions and how the two faith communities can engage in a meaningful dialogue. ISBN 978-1-9443-9496-7

Review of Jennifer C. Lane, Finding Christ in the Covenant Path: Ancient Insights for Modern Life, (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center at Brigham Young University / Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2020). 188 pages. Hardcover, $29.99.
Abstract: In the first half of her book, Lane takes us on a tour of ancient worlds by introducing us to ancient words, such as bĕrît (covenant), gā’al (redemption), pānîm (presence of the Lord), and so forth, while deftly weaving linguistic and historical insights with personal narratives that ground these insights in the practical affairs of day-to-day living. In the second half of the book, Lane takes us on a tour of medieval art and images, centering on how art has been used to portray the Savior and His mission. Throughout the entire book, Lane centers the attention of the reader on Christ, inviting us to take upon ourselves His image and likeness and to more fully appreciate the images crafted of Him by artists of prior centuries.

Demeaning description of newer religious movements. Joseph Smith rose from a background of change and confusion, claiming to have discovered records that clarified theological arguments of his day and the origin of the American Indian. The authors rely on the opinions of Fawn Brodie and Thomas O’Dea.

Review of John H. Walton, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press Academic, 2009). 192 pp. $9.85.
Abstract: Genesis 1 meant something very particular to the Israelites in their time and place. However, because that contextual knowledge was lost to us for thousands of years, we tend to misread it. Walton offers an interpretation of Genesis 1 that juxtaposes it with temple concepts, simultaneously allaying some of the scientific issues involved.

The relevance to Church members of Solomon’s plea for an understanding heart

Elder Hunter discusses the relevance to Church members of Solomon’s plea to the Lord for an understanding heart and the critical need for that understanding in the world today, especially in our families.

Abstract: This paper reviews the Book of Mormon prophet Jacob’s proscription against plural marriage, arguing that the verses in Jacob 24–30 should be interpreted in a Law of Moses context regarding levirate marriage, by which a man was responsible for marrying his dead brother’s wife if that brother died before having an heir. I also review how these verses have been used in arguments for and against plural marriage, and how levirate marriage practices worked in Mosaic tradition.

This book examines what the New Translation is (today most Latter-day Saints refer to it as the Joseph Smith Translation), what it contains, what it teaches, and how Joseph Smith arrived at its text. The author has written it with the intent to make the information accessible to scholars and general audiences alike and its chapters not only informative but also readable. Jackson is a believer in the prophetic mission of Joseph Smith and considers the New Translation and its story to be evidence of his divine calling. More importantly, however, is the message that is clear throughout the New Translation’s pages—that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world. For the most part we have good enough evidence to reconstruct the mechanical process by which Joseph Smith created his Bible revision, that is, the way he dictated the text and the way his scribes wrote it to create what is written on the existing manuscript pages. But behind the physical artifact, what were the means by which he came to the words that would become the New Translation? Did they come from his own experience, from assumptions he made while reading the Bible, or from other sources? Or did some or all the text come through revelation, as he and his followers believed? What were the instincts that guided his work, and how did he translate those instincts into words? This book cannot answer the theological questions, but it can assess the evidence in the primary documents in an effort to understand how the New Translation came to be. ISBN 978-1-9503-0415-8

Abstract: Dictionaries, especially Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language, can be useful and informative resources to help us better understand the language of the Book of Mormon. This article compares definitions of words and phrases found in the book of 1 Nephi, using Webster’s 1828 dictionary and the New Oxford American Dictionary as references. By comparing these two dictionaries, we can see how word usage and meanings have changed since the original publication of the Book of Mormon in 1830. We can also gain a greater appreciation of the text of the Book of Mormon in a way that its first readers probably understood it.

Long ago you and I were born as daughters in our Heavenly Father’s family. … Each one of you was a valiant and noble woman in your premortal life.

Abstract: The ritual use of hand gestures in covenant-making in ancient times is a topic of peculiar interest to Latter-day Saints. In this article, David Calabro summarizes results drawn from his doctoral research, providing readers with some tools to evaluate ancient gestures. The questions he suggests are novel, as is the way they are couched in an organized scheme. The author concludes that Latter-day Saints, who belong to a tradition saturated with ritual gestures, should be among those most educated about them.
[Editor’s Note: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original.See David Calabro, “Understanding Ritual Hand Gestures of the Ancient Word: Some Basic Tools,” in Ancient Temple Worship: Proceedings of The Expound Symposium 14 May 2011, ed. Matthew B. Brown, Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, Stephen D. Ricks, and John S. Thompson (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2014), 143–58. Further information at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/ancient-temple-worship/.].

To be effective we must develop eyes to see all flavors of human achievement and lend support, approval, and encouragement to the invisible crusades. It will be repeatedly necessary that we wade in to help, unflinchingly and nonjudgmentally.

The revival of scholarly interest in Abraham in recent decades provides a timely opportunity to explore the contemporary findings of biblical scholars from a Latter-day Saint perspective. This review leads to an in-depth exploration of how the Lord’s covenants with Abraham were understood by the Nephite prophets in the Book of Mormon, how their perspectives compare with contemporary biblical scholarship, and how the Nephite perspective may modify or expand standard Latter-day Saint approaches to understanding the Abrahamic covenant. This article identifies three interrelated streams of covenant discourse in the Book of Mormon—each defined by its respective focus on the (1) Lehite covenant, (2) Abrahamic covenant, or (3) gospel covenant. Though these three streams of covenant discourse are closely related, each is distinct in purpose. Nephite prophets integrated these three in unique ways to develop one larger understanding of God’s use of covenants to bring salvation to the world.

This essay evaluates Grant Hardy’s Understanding the Book of Mormon, particularly assessing Hardy’s claim that narrative theory can allow readers from a variety of perspectives to (at least temporarily) sidestep the Book of Mormon’s controversial history and engage with the text as a literary artifact. The paper argues that Hardy’s approach facilitates a deeper understanding of the book’s complex deployments of narrative voice and temporality but ultimately cannot efface the interpretive differences that stem from such divergent positions as belief and unbelief.

Review of Ross Anderson. Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Quick Christian Guide to the Mormon Holy Book.

Abstract: The Book of Mormon describes a dark mark on the skin that distinguished people who rebelled against God and his laws from those who obeyed God. The Old Testament refers to a mark that fits this description and has nothing to do with natural skin color. The law of Moses prohibited the Lord’s covenant people from cutting sacrilegious marks (ancient tattoos) into their skin. The Bible simply calls these prohibited tattoos “marks” (Leviticus 19:28). This biblical meaning of the word mark, together with biblical meanings of other related words, helps us understand all Book of Mormon passages associated with the Lamanite mark.

This article examines the arrangement entered into by Joseph Smith and Martin Harris to finance the printing of the Book of Mormon. It focuses on Harris’s property rights to the land he pledged in order to insure the printing, as well as his wife’s claim to a portion of that property.

Selections from this book can be found in Sunstone 6 (May–June 1981): 56–58

Book Note: Richard E. Bennett, 1820: Dawning of the Restoration (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center at Brigham Young University / Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2020). 380 pages. Hardcover, $31.99.
Abstract: Richard E. Bennett’s 1820: Dawning of the Restoration takes a look at this significant year in a global historical context. He has produced a fascinating book for both members of the Church and non-members.

It is my fervent desire that each of us will use our God-given intelligence to gain the knowledge, wisdom, and understanding in our hearts to meet life’s tests and trials and to endure to the end.

Benefits derived from studying the Book of Mormon depend upon the individuals who read it. For many of its believers, it is still an undiscovered book. Advisable methods of study are to read the book from beginning to end or topical reading.

The light of the gospel and the guidance of the Holy Ghost are the constants that you can rely on to help you make the right decisions when you reach life’s inevitable crossroads.

Abstract: Given the knowledge of the corporeal, embodied nature of God that the Prophet Joseph Smith received in his 1820 First Vision, Latter-day Saints have argued from their earliest days that the Bible is most accurately understood as teaching precisely the same thing — that God has a body and that humans are literally created in his physical image. Now, a new book from an unlikely (and quite unintentional) ally makes a strong case for our position. It is a book that will both gratify Latter-day Saints and, at some points, offend them. In any event, readers of Interpreter should be aware of it.

I remember slipping out of bed to my knees. It was the first time in my life that I had ever prayed intently. There I was, with bandages on my eyes, alone in my bedroom, praying for help.

Even though life in general is beautiful and scenic, the road we travel will not always be an uneventful, direct course, even when we know where we are going. We have to learn to be flexible and to deal with the unexpected.

This article explains why Reverent Spaulding’s testing of the Book of Mormon by examining the authenticity of the book of Abraham as an ancient Egyptian text is unfair. Latter-day Saints do not value the Bible less than the Book of Mormon. The belief of the Church is that both were divinely inspired of God and are placed on the same plane, though it is recognized that the Bible may have copyists’ errors.

Review of Jonathan Neville, A Man That Can Translate: Joseph Smith and the Nephite Interpreters. Salt Lake City: Digital Legends Press, 2020. 385 pages. $22.99 (paperback).
Abstract: This is the first of two papers that explore Jonathan Neville’s two latest books regarding the translation of the Book of Mormon. Neville has long argued that Joseph Smith did not use a seer stone during the translation of the Book of Mormon, and he has more recently expanded his historical revisionism to dismiss the multitude of historical sources that include the use of a seer stone. Neville’s “Demonstration Hypothesis” is explored in A Man That Can Translate, arguing that Joseph recited a memorized text from Isaiah rather than translate Isaiah from the Book of Mormon record. This hypothesis, meant to redefine how Joseph Smith used a seer stone during the translation of the Book of Mormon, however, fails to deal with the historical record seriously or faithfully. Neville, in a purported effort to save Joseph Smith’s character, ironically describes Joseph as a liar, reinvigorating old anti-Latter-day Saint claims that Joseph simply recited a memorized text, even to the point that Neville defends hostile sources while targeting Church-published histories and publications. He further attacks the witnesses of the translation in an effort to discredit their testimonies regarding the seer stone, and repeatedly misrepresents these sources. Coming from a Latter-day Saint, such claims are troubling and demand a response.

Review of Benjamin E. Park, Kingdom of Nauvoo: The Rise and Fall of a Religious Empire on the American Frontier (New York City: Liveright Publishing, 2020). 336 pages. $28.95 (hardback).Abstract: Benjamin Park recently wrote a substantive revisionist history of Nauvoo, Illinois, the one-time Church capital under the leadership of Joseph Smith, Jr. This article serves as a critical review of Park’s work. Congratulating the author for placing this well-known Latter-day Saint story within the larger Jacksonian American democratic context, as well as for utilizing a great many primary sources hardly used before, Richard Bennett in this critical review assesses both the strengths and the weaknesses of this important new book. While complimenting Park for his significant contributions on politics, women, and race in Nauvoo, Bennett nonetheless finds much to criticize in what he sees as a unidimensional, highly political study that disregards many previous studies of Nauvoo and fails to address many other critically important facets of the city’s life and history from its inception in 1839 until the Saints’ departure in 1846.

A Discourse by Elder Jedediah M. Grant, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Aug. 7, 1853. Reported By: G. D. Watt.

Discourse by Elder Wilford Woodruff, delivered at the Adjourned General Conference, held in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City Friday Morning, May 8, 1874. Reported By: David W. Evans.

Remarks by Elder Orson Pratt, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, January 29, 1860. Reported By: Unknown.

A Discourse by President Heber C. Kimball, Delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, September 6, 1857. Reported By: G. D. Watt, J. V. Long.

A Discourse by President Heber C. Kimball, Delivered at the Special Conference in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, August 13, 1853. Reported By: G. D. Watt.

A Discourse by Elder Lorenzo Snow, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, on Sunday, March 1, 1857. Reported By: J. V. Long

Remarks by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, October 7, 1859. Reported By: G. D. Watt.

A Discourse by Elder John Taylor, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, October 7, 1859. Reported By: G. D. Watt.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Sunday, Dec. 23, 1866. Reported By: G. D. Watt.

Remarks by Elder John Taylor, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 6, 1861. Reported By: J. V. Long.

Remarks by President Heber C. Kimball, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Evening, November 29, 1857. Reported By: J. V. Long.

Review of The Sermon on the Mount in the Light of the Temple (2009), by John W. Welch.

This article argues that, while the historical and ethnological information in the Book of Mormon is invaluable, the theological themes are far more important. The theological aspects in the Book of Mormon harmonize with those of the Bible.

Reports on the results of a new reading program and method of reporting pages read.

What is our role as redemptive turbulence literally shakes people out of the kingdoms of the world? We must stand with our arms open, ready to catch them, accepting the Lord’s invitation to “come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers [or catchers] of men.”

Brigham Young University is a very different institution than its peers across the country. Our mission is to educate students both academically and spiritually. We look to the prophetic guidance of the board of trustees in charting the course for achievement of this mission. But the board trusts us to see that the university’s prophetic destiny is reached.

The most effective way to fulfill our divine potential is to work together, blessed by the power and authority of the priesthood.

Church members are unified in Christ through love and testimony. This dispensation’s pathway to our Savior is through Joseph and the Book of Mormon.

Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Meetinghouse, at Lehi City, Sunday Afternoon, August 9, 1874. Reported By: David W. Evans.

Discourse by Elder Erastus Snow, delivered at the Adjourned General Conference, held in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Friday Morning, May 8, 1874. Reported By: David W. Evans.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered at the Opening of the Adjourned General Conference, held in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, May 7, 1874. Reported By: David W. Evans.

Discourse by Elder Erastus Snow, delivered at Provo, on Sunday Afternoon, June 3, 1877. Reported By: Geo. F. Gibbs.

Discourse by Elder John Taylor, delivered in the Old Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Aug. 31, 1875. Reported By: David W. Evans.

Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered at the Semi-Annual Conference, Held in the Temple, at St. George, Friday Morning, April 6, 1877. Reported By: Geo. F. Gibbs.

Discourse by Elder Lorenzo Snow, delivered in the Tabernacle, Ogden City, Sunday Afternoon, April 21, 1878. Reported By: James Taylor.

Discourse by Elder John Taylor, delivered in the Meetinghouse, at Nephi, Juab County, Sunday Morning April 19, 1874. Reported By: David W. Evans.

The Book of Mormon records many of the prophecies of Isaiah, which teach that Zion will stand and not the United States of America.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, September 13, 1857. Reported By: G. D. Watt, J. V. Long.

Remarks by Apostle Brigham Young, delivered at the General Conference, on Saturday Morning, April 5, 1884. Reported By: John Irvine.

Address quoting Moroni’s title page, testimony of the Three Witnesses, Ezekiel 37:15-20, 1 Nephi 29:8, Nephi’s vision of the latter days, and various prophecies about the Jews. Exhorts listeners to repent and serve God. Shows how the Book of Mormon and other latter-day scriptures complement the Bible and provide the fullness of the gospel.

Discourse by Elder George Q. Cannon, delivered in the Old Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Jan. 31, 1869. Reported By: David W. Evans.

A Discourse by Elder Amasa M. Lyman, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, Nov. 22, 1857. Reported By: J. V. Long.

Discourse by President Heber C. Kimball, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, January 6, 1861. Reported By: J. V. Long.

The gospel of Jesus Christ has universal application. Since the beginning, it was designed to bless the lives of everyone, without exception.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 6, 1860. Reported By: G. D. Watt.

Remarks by President Daniel H. Wells, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, May 31, 1863. Reported By: G. D. Watt.

Discourse by Elder George Q. Cannon, delivered in the 14th Ward Assembly Rooms, Salt Lake City, Sunday Evening, Jan. 12, 1873. Reported By: David W. Evans.

I know some of you are tired. You are not sure you can keep at it. You go ahead and find some stillness today. Gather your strength today. Rest up today, because tomorrow we ride for Zion. And it is not quite Zion if you are not there.

We challenge you to study and internalize the basic required courses for life with the promise that conducting yourself in harmony with the Lord’s law will bring the only true, fulfilling, and rewarding happiness that this experience in the University of Mortality can produce.

The volume “An Approach to the Book of Abraham” contains diverse essays, including his three-year series of lengthy articles from Improvement Era, “A New Look at the Pearl of Great Price.” According to Nibley, “Until now, no one has done much more than play around with the bedizening treasury of the Pearl of Great Price. They would not, we could not make of the Book of Abraham an object of serious study. The time has come to change all that.”
A study of the authenticity of the Book of Abraham and a discussion of where one might find more information on Abraham.

Wipper’s intent is to glorify God and the unlearned man who brought forth the Book of Mormon.

Part of the “Mormon Times” section of the newspaper.
A look into the friendship between Hugh Nibley and Kresimir Cosic and how that friendship led to Cosic’s conversion.

These blessings of greater happiness, peace, and rest are the blessings each of us receive as we make covenants in holy temples and form eternal families. Your patriarchal blessings help you understand your personal lineage to Abraham.

Many of you sitting here as students of Brigham Young University will carry a remarkable role in fulfilling the prophecies of the Prophet Joseph Smith until that day does come when the great Jehovah shall say, “It is enough.”

A brief background and answers to commonly asked questions about each book

Literary analysis provides useful tools in the study of sacred texts, including the Book of Mormon. For the author, three transforming events that enhanced her study of the Book of Mormon included reading the book in earnest as a complex and masterful literary text, the entrance of the Spirit into her study of the book, and a prayerful desire to experience the great change of heart described by King Benjamin and Alma. Nephi begins his record with sincerity and honesty and serves notice that he intends to prepare a true record. The opposition between Nephi and his brothers Laman and Lemuel illustrates well Lehi’s teachings on the necessity of opposition in all things. More subtly, the reader notes a contrast between the characters and personalities of Nephi and Jacob. Jacob is portrayed as an empathetic and compassionate person who was tutored by exile and isolation.

During 1921 and 1922 B. H. Roberts wrote three papers that listed parallels between the Book of Mormon and the second edition (1825) of Ethan Smith’s View of the Hebrews and constructed the possible argument that the Book of Mormon relied upon the latter. Welch responds to that claim by listing over eighty discrepancies between the two works, and Palmer and Knecht rebut Roberts’s theory by using statistics to show that the passages of Isaiah quoted in both works do not lead to conclusions of plagiarism.