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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.
Old Testament Topics > New Testament and the Old Testament
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
Old Testament Topics > Fall
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.
RSC Topics > L — P > Learning
RSC Topics > T — Z > Teaching the Gospel
Old Testament Topics > Adam and Eve [see also Fall]
Old Testament Topics > Teaching the Old Testament
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.
Dan Peterson tells about an upcoming project, Six Days in August, as he explains how history is more easily understood backwards.
Review of Michael R. Ash, Rethinking Revelation and the Human Element in Scripture: The Prophet’s Role as Creative Co-Author (Redding, CA: FAIRLatterDaySaints.org, 2021). 770 pages. $34.95 (paperback). Abstract: A new book by Mike Ash examines to what degree the human mind is involved in receiving revelation. Ash sums up his view by saying, “prophets have a special calling, but not a special brain.” He then spends 700+ pages describing what that means and how it works. In essence, prophets do not go into a trance-like state, put a pen in their hand, and engage in a process of automatic writing only to wake from the trance and read what has been given. Instead, Ash helps us see how God uses the brains and personality of any particular prophet to bring His word forth. God does not bypass the prophet’s humanness; rather, He relies on it to contextualize His words for a particular people in a particular time.
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
RSC Topics > G — K > Judgment
RSC Topics > L — P > Old Testament
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.
RSC Topics > T — Z > Temples
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.
Old Testament Topics > Problems in the Old Testament
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.
RSC Topics > Q — S > Sin
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.
RSC Topics > G — K > Gifts of the Spirit
RSC Topics > G — K > Holy Ghost
RSC Topics > L — P > Miracles
RSC Topics > Q — S > Spiritual Gifts
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.
RSC Topics > D — F > Faith
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.
RSC Topics > A — C > Charity
RSC Topics > L — P > Love
RSC Topics > T — Z > Unity
Discourse by Elder George Q. Cannon, delivered in the Old Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Jan. 31, 1869. Reported By: David W. Evans.
RSC Topics > L — P > Love
RSC Topics > Q — S > Repentance
RSC Topics > T — Z > Unity
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.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Pearl of Great Price > Book of Abraham > Characters > Abraham, Sarah, Abram, Sarai
Wipper’s intent is to glorify God and the unlearned man who brought forth the Book of Mormon.
RSC Topics > L — P > Learning
RSC Topics > L — P > Personal Revelation
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.
Old Testament Topics > Book of Mormon and the Old Testament
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.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
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.
Evaluates the Three Witnesses’ lives in respect to Paul’s words on the unpardonable sin (Hebrews 6:4-6). Smith declares that the Three Witnesses did not commit the unpardonable sin as described by Paul. He maintains that “it surely was the purpose of God that they should go the road they had traveled”
Remarks by President Joseph Young, Delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, July 26, 1857. Reported By: J. V. Long.
This article reads The Book of Mormon as an attack on the incoherence of American nationalism – as, specifically, a book about the inevitability of its own irrelevance. That is, its primary objection is that in order for Joseph Smith to get any attention at all within the unruly public sphere of Jacksonian America, he had to write a book that would get him the wrong kind of attention – attention as a religious fanatic rather than as a critic of the culture that creates religious fanatics. Joseph Smith believed there was something rotten at the heart of America, but, being an uneducated farm boy from western New York, he had no way to express his anger in a manner that would allow him to be taken seriously. He could only be an ‘authority’ with regard to religion, and religious authority, being ubiquitous, was no authority at all. Smith tracks the way the American public sphere forced its marginalized persons to criticize it from a disadvantageous position, and the way those critiques were turned to the establishment’s advantage. For Joseph Smith, freedom of speech in America has always been a tool of the political elites to keep the poor from speaking effectively.
A defense of the Book of Mormon against critics. The author finds that the book is in accord with Old Testament prophecies, it is an additional witness for Jesus Christ, and its claims are sustained by scientific discoveries.
An 8-page tract that claims that the Mormon Church is false because it does not follow the teachings of the Book of Mormon. Encourages readers to pray and find out the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon for themselves.
“Apocryphal Writings” (1967)
“Unrolling the Scrolls—Some Forgotten Witnesses” (1986)
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Language > Records, Writing
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Science > Cosmology, Creation, Treasures in the Heavens
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Temples > Ancient Temples > Ordinances
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Temples > Ancient Temples > Prayer Circles
“Unrolling the Scrolls—Some Forgotten Witnesses” (1967)
“Apocryphal Writings” (1967)
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Language > Records, Writing
Our Savior teaches us to follow Him by making the sacrifices necessary to lose ourselves in unselfish service to others.
“Reprinted in The Ancient State.
An examination of the problem of loyalty in the 4th century, with obvious significance for our own time. — Midgley“
Considers three significant aspects of the Roman loyalty program in the period designated.
This was originally printed in Western Political Quarterly 6, no. 4 (1953): 631–57.
Considers three significant aspects of the Roman loyalty program in the period designated.
If [we] would open [our] hearts to the refining influence of this unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost, a glorious new spiritual dimension would come to light.
The Holy Ghost works in perfect unity with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, fulfilling many important roles and distinct responsibilities.
I humbly pray that you will desire more earnestly to be worthy of the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost, that you may grow in the ability to recognize His promptings, that you may “be still and know” (D&C 101:16) the Father and the Son through the Holy Ghost, and that you will express gratitude for Him and His guidance, for to express gratitude invites more of the Spirit.
RSC Topics > G — K > Gift of the Holy Ghost
RSC Topics > G — K > Holy Ghost
Alma 13:3 is occasionally cited by LDS commentators as evidence for the doctrine of premortal foreordination—an interpretation that unfortunately overlooks a key feature of the organization and terminology of Alma 13. This brief note begins to sort out this and other interpretive complexities by proposing that Alma 13:3b–9 be read as a clarifying expansion of Alma 13:3a.
Review of Terryl L. Givens, Wrestling the Angel: The Foundations of Mormon Thought: Cosmos, God, Humanity (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2014). 424 pp.
Abstract: Terryl Givens’ masterful work Wrestling the Angel takes on the daunting task of examining the history of Christian belief while also examining the worldly philosophies which shaped its scriptural interpretation. As in the biblical story of Jacob’s struggle with the angel, we all must forge our own testimonies while confronting a secular world including godless philosophies. Sometimes testimony wins, and tragically sometimes the world wins and a testimony is lost. In dealing with this intellectual “matter unorganized,” interpretation of the secular philosophy becomes the key. With the right interpretation, philosophies deemed “secular” or “godless” can be seen as helpful and even providentially provided by the Lord to help provide a philosophical grounding for a testimony instead of destroying it. Aspects of the philosophy of Immanuel Kant can be seen as laying a groundwork for much of contemporary American philosophy, Continental philosophy, and a possible basis for interpretations of these philosophies, which help rather than hinder the spread of the gospel. Kant’s concept of the synthetic a priori, for example, can help us understand how humans organize our individual ideas about reality from “matter unorganized,” perhaps in a way similar to how our “human” God organizes our world. Kant’s philosophy had vast influences, arguably resulting in a new way to see the relationship between God and mankind, which is compatible with the gospel. Finally I examine Givens’ view of humanism and how it can be interpreted as helpful rather than hindering the gospel.
May we remember and constantly express in our lives the counsel we have received.
Amid a life full of stumbling blocks and imperfection, we all are grateful for second chances.
Review of Adam S. Miller. Letters to a Young Mormon. Provo, Utah: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2014. 78 pp. $9.95.
May we be good citizens of the nations in which we live and good neighbors in our communities, reaching out to those of other faiths, as well as to our own.
May we long remember that which we have heard during this conference. … I urge you to study the messages and to ponder their teachings and then to apply them in your life.
May the spirit we have felt here be and abide with us as we go about those things which occupy us each day.
I pray that the Lord will bless and keep you, my brothers and sisters. May His promised peace be with you now and always.
May the Spirit we have felt during these past two days be and abide with us as we go about those things which occupy us each day.
May we all ponder the truths we have heard, and may they help us to become even more valiant disciples.
Christ a revelation of God to man— Pre-existence and immortality of man.
Discusses the instructions issued by the copyright division of the U.S. Patent Office for the title page of the Book of Mormon. The words “author and proprietor”
Testifies of the promise to receive a testimony of the Book of Mormon by praying as Moroni 10:2-5 exhorts and encourages the Latter-day Saints to read the Book of Mormon regularly.
Talks about the role of witnesses. God gave the same commission to the Book of Mormon witnesses in the new dispensation as he did to the ancient witnesses.
God the Eternal Father and his son Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith in a vision. The Book of Mormon, a new volume of scripture, was revealed. Three Witnesses testified that an angel showed them the original plates.
The Eastern States Mission is making an attempt to take the message of the Book of Mormon to the Jews. The book is to be a witness to the Gentiles and especially to Jews that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Many shall believe in the Book of Mormon, and they shall carry the words of that book to the remnants of the land, meaning the American Indians. The Jews shall begin to believe in Christ, and they shall begin to gather in upon their promised land, Palestine.
Nephi had great visions concerning the life and the mission of Christ. He saw that other books would come forth—the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price—to establish the truth of the record of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb of God.
Joseph Smith had great courage in declaring that many would believe in the Book of Mormon. In the face of loneliness and persecution he dared to translate the Nephite record. The numerical count of those who believe its words is a fulfillment of this prophecy.
Refers to the Book of Mormon as the record of Joseph in the hands of Ephraim that supplies the world with a new witness for Christ and the fullness of the gospel.
Discusses the mission of the United States of America as a promised land, the decrees of God concerning the land of Zion, and predictions of calamities if it fails God as an instrument in the accomplishment of his high purposes. The gentile nation is to be a nursing father and mother to the remnants of Israel.
Answers the question that a little boy asked, “Why are people?” It cannot be answered in the Old or in the New Testament The Book of Mormon (2 Nephi 2:24-25) teaches the purpose of God in the creation.
Discusses the purpose of the Book of Mormon as stated on the title page: “to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God.” God brought forth the Book of Mormon, which is being called the American scripture. At the time it came forth, the Christian world believed in the divinity of Christ and did not need such a statement, but there are many in the Christian world who now need a testimony and witness that Jesus Christ is God.
The Book of Mormon is an important means of acquainting the world with Latter-day Saint thought.
Discusses the messages of the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon tells of the visit of the Redeemer to the inhabitants of the western world. It predicts the rise of the great Gentile nation—the United States of America. The Book of Mormon is a new witness for God and Christ and the truth of the gospel.
Moroni warns that anyone who should possess the land of promise must serve God or be swept off (Ether 2:9-12).
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Moroni
The duty of sustaining- home industries and home institutions.—Incidents of the journey to Vermont and return —Remarkable interest and kindness manifest to President Smith and party. Providential help in overcoming obstacles in erection of monument.—The finished structure a credit to the Church and to Junius P. Wells.
Gives examples of truths the world would have lost if the Book of Mormon had not been brought forth (Alma 41:10; 2 Nephi 2:24-25; 1 Nephi 3:7; Ether 12:26-27). The Book of Mormon corrects some errors in the philosophies and religions of men.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Alma
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
The United States of America is a choice land. There are two great prophecies in the Book of Mormon: it is a witness of the divinity of Christ, and it gives prophecies concerning the great gentile nation. If the Gentiles sin against the gospel, it shall be taken from among them. But if they will repent, they shall be numbered among his people.
RSC Topics > T — Z > War
Abstract: In the latter part (1 Nephi 13–14) of his vision of the tree of life (1 Nephi 11–14), Nephi is shown the unauthorized human diminution of scripture and the gospel by the Gentile “great and abominable church” — that plain and precious things/words, teachings, and covenants were “taken away” or otherwise “kept back” from the texts that became the Bible and how people lived out its teachings. He also saw how the Lord would act to restore those lost words, teachings, and covenants among the Gentiles “unto the taking away of their stumbling blocks” (1 Nephi 14:1). The iterative language of 1 Nephi 13 describing the “taking away” and “keeping back” of scripture bears a strong resemblance to the prohibitions of the Deuteronomic canon-formula texts (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:31 [MT 13:1]). It also echoes the etiological meanings attached to the name Joseph in Genesis 30:23–24 in terms of “taking away” and “adding.” Nephi’s prophecies of scripture and gospel restoration on account of which “[the Gentiles] shall be no more [cf. Hebrew lōʾ yôsîpû … ʿôd] brought down into captivity, and the house of Israel shall no more [wĕlōʾ yôsîpû … ʿôd] be confounded” (1 Nephi 14:2) and “after that they were restored, they should no more be confounded [(wĕ)lōʾ yôsîpû … ʿôd], neither should they be scattered again [wĕlōʾ yôsîpû … ʿôd]” (1 Nephi 15:20) depend on the language of Isaiah. Like other Isaiah-based prophecies of Nephi (e.g., 2 Nephi 25:17, 21; 29:1–2), they echo the name of the prophet through whom lost scripture and gospel covenants would be restored — i.e., through a “Joseph.”
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
Visitors to the visitor’s center on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, can hear readings of testimonies of the Book of Mormon from the Three Witnesses, Emma Smith, and Lucy Mack Smith.
A story of a man who sought out the Three Witnesses and heard their testimony of the Book of Mormon.
An early description of Stela 5 from Chiapas, Mexico, which depicts a tree of life motif. Compares features on the stone that correspond to similar artistic objects in Mesopotamia. Relates Stela 5 to the tree of life vision in 1 Nephi and concludes that Stela 5 was infiuenced by the Book of Mormon tree of life story.
ABSTRACT: The Apostle Paul’s theological explanation for female veil wearing (1 Corinthians 11:2–13) highlights the woman’s head covering as an expression of female empowerment or “authority/exousia.” It appears that the Corinthian saints struggled with this tradition, as Paul preceded the discussion with, “but I would have you know/thelõ de” (1 Corinthians 11:3). Rather than merely restating the dress code for certain prayers, Paul laid out the doctrinal background underlying the imagery. He began with the order of creation from the Garden of Eden. God was the “kephale,” meaning source or origin of Christ, who was the source of man, who was the source of woman. Paul taught that God’s glory (referring to man) should pray unveiled, and by the same token, humanity’s glory (referring to woman) should address God with her head covered (1 Corinthians 11:7). The early church interpreted the relationship between Adam and Eve typologically. The Edenic couple typified Christ and his Church — the Bridegroom and Bride. In this typological scenario, Eve (or the Church) worked through the mediator Adam (or Christ). In either a symbolic or literal interpretation, Paul described this empowering veil as a sign of unique female authority to pray and prophesy (1 Corinthians 11:5). By covering her head, female saints received “power on her head” and could interact with angels (1 Corinthians 11:10). Paul concluded by emphasizing that men and women are completely interdependent — woman was created from man, while man is born of woman (1 Corinthians 11:11–12). In this regard we see an equal status between men and women in their relationship with the Lord. Their relationship focuses on their union with each other and God.
God invites us to cast our old ways completely out of reach and begin a new life in Christ.
The mystery of the nature and organization of the Primitive Church has recently been considerably illuminated by the discovery of the so-called Dead Sea Scrolls. There is increasing evidence that these documents were deliberately sealed up to come forth at a later time, thus providing a significant parallel to the Book of Mormon record. The Scrolls have caused considerable dismay and confusion among scholars, since they are full of things generally believed to be uniquely Christian, though they were undoubtedly written by pious Jews before the time of Christ. Some Jewish and Christian investigators have condemned the Scrolls as forgeries and suggest leaving them alone on the grounds that they don’t make sense. Actually they make very good sense, but it is a sense quite contrary to conventional ideas of Judaism and Christianity. The Scrolls echo teachings in many apocryphal writings, both of the Jews and the Christians, while at the same time showing undeniable affinities with the Old and the New Testament teachings.
The very things which made the Scrolls at first so baffling and hard to accept to many scholars are the very things which in the past have been used to discredit the Book of Mormon. Now the Book of Mormon may be read in a wholly new light, which is considered here in lessons 14, 15, 16, and 17.
A series, comprising a defense of the Book of Mormon from an anthropological and archaeological point of view. Quotes extensively from the Book of Mormon as well as from contemporary scholarship.
A set of meetings on the Institute’s Graeco-Arabic Sciences and Philosophy series (GrASP), a part of the Institute’s Middle Eastern Texts Initiative, will be held at the Library of Congress, in Washington, D.C. Under the joint sponsorship of the Library and the Institute, the event will include a meeting of GrASP’s international advisory board, a meeting of that board with key Library curators, and a public meeting on the field of Graeco-Arabic sciences and philosophy and on the aims and character of the series. Other possible events remain to be finalized. Watch the Web site for further details.
There are two ways to read a text, through exegesis and through eisegesis. The first means, approximately, “reading out of the text,” while the second means, approximately, “reading into the text.” Both are legitimate ways of approaching a text. Anyone who reads the scriptures will at times engage in both exegesis and eisegesis, whether knowingly or unwittingly. Therefore, the more conscientiously and consciously we engage in rigorous and careful exegesis and eisegesis, the better the chance that our reading of the scriptures will truly enlighten the mind and provide substance for the soul. I will illustrate both approaches using the term familiar spirit found in 2 Nephi 26:12, Isaiah 29:4, and 1 Samuel 28.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
Some Latter-day Saint commentators deem a phrase that appears in 2 Nephi 12:16 but not in the parallel passage in Isaiah 2:16—“and upon all ships of the sea”—as evidence that the Book of Mormon preserves a version of this verse from the brass plates that is more complete than the Hebrew or King James readings. One scholar’s conclusions in this regard are reviewed and then critiqued for ignoring the complexities of the ancient Hebrew and Greek versions of the Bible. The authors examine Isaiah 2:16 in its broader literary context, noting that the 2 Nephi reading alters a pattern of synonymous couplets; analyze the Greek and Hebrew texts of the verse; and relate their findings to the Book of Mormon reading. They discuss the inherent limitations of textual criticism in this kind of study and conclude that LDS and non-LDS scholars are open to different interpretive possibilities owing to the role that faith plays in one’s approach to and interpretation of textual evidence.
Old Testament Scriptures > Isaiah
Abstract: Nephi, in composing his psalm (2 Nephi 4:15–35), incorporates a poetic idiom from Psalm 18:10 (2 Samuel 22:11) and Psalm 104:3 to describe his participation in a form of divine travel. This experience constituted a part of the vision in which he saw “the things which [his] father saw” in the latter’s dream of the tree of life (see 1 Nephi 11:1–3; 14:29–30). Nephi’s use of this idiom becomes readily apparent when the range of meaning for the Hebrew word rûaḥ is considered. Nephi’s experience helps our understanding of other scriptural scenes where similar divine travel is described.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > 2 Nephi
“On this campus you have engaged texts and teachers. In the temple you can engage and commune with the intimate and ultimate Creator.”
RSC Topics > A — C > Church History 1878–1945
RSC Topics > L — P > Missionary Work
Parry argues that Joseph Smith’s description of the Urim and Thummim coincide with the Bible’s description. Since this and other statements of Joseph Smith coincide with the Bible, Joseph Smith was divinely inspired.
This article gives a definition of the Urim and Thummim and discusses its history using the scriptures as a guide.
Old Testament Topics > Urim and Thummim
Reports a conversation he had with William B. Smith, brother of Joseph Smith, relative to the Urim and Thummim, the breastplate, and the “two rims of a bow” Gives a fairly detailed statement about the instruments.
Prophets of old used the Urim and Thummim. The claims made by Joseph Smith were not illogical. King Saul used the devices as well as Moses and others. Joseph Smith’s account of using them is not out of harmony with these accounts. They are defined as “lights” and “perfections”
This article presents a brief historical sketch of what is known about the Urim and Thummim, from the brother of Jared, Abraham, Moses, Mosiah, and Joseph Smith.
Uses the Bible, Book of Mormon, and historical accounts from the early writers of the Church to show that the Urim and Thummim and other “media” have been used since ancient times to receive communication from God. Joseph Smith also employed such media to translate the scriptures.
RSC Topics > G — K > God the Father
An Address by President B. Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, June 5, 1853. Reported By: G. D. Watt.
“This paper will demonstrate that simple Hebraic-type chiasmus does not exist in the Book of Mormon except in rare instances, but that there is a natural explanation for these occurrences. This paper will also examine longer, more complex chiasms.”
Old Testament Topics > Oaths
A polemical article attempting to show that the Book of Mormon uses biblical material anachronistically and that the Book of Mormon plagiarizes biblical material. Numerous examples are listed. The writer also suggests that many Book of Mormon events are patterned after events in the Bible.
Two articles reprinted from the Journal of Pastoral Practice
The Book of Mormon incorrectly mingles Old and New Testament teachings and ideas. Walters attempts to show how the Old Testament provided models for the proper names and events of the Book of Mormon. He shows anachronistic uses of Old Testament passages in the Book of Mormon, including Isaiah variants. Joseph Smith incorrectly applied modern eschatological themes, such as those borrowed from Ethan Smith’s View of the Hebrews, to Book of Mormon peoples living before the time of Christ. This work is reviewed in R.259, and in T.340.
RSC Topics > L — P > New Testament
RSC Topics > L — P > Old Testament
RSC Topics > Q — S > Salvation
Old Testament Topics > Jesus Christ, the God of the Old and the New Testament
Reprinted in Brother Brigham Challenges the Saints, The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley 13. 247–66. This essay was originally submitted in 1977 for a special issue of the Ensign as part of the bicentennial celebration of the Declaration of Independence. It was rejected by the editors.
What is the proper form in which to manifest out commitment to the “just and holy principles” the Lord suffered to be established? Hugh Nibley, the most distinguished scholar of the restored Church, has written an interesting essay dealing with that question.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > War, Peace
This essay was originally submitted in 1977 for a special issue of the Ensign as part of the bicentennial celebration of the Declaration of Independence. It was rejected by the editors.
What is the proper form in which to manifest out commitment to the “just and holy principles” the Lord suffered to be established? Hugh Nibley, the most distinguished scholar of the restored Church, has written an interesting essay dealing with that question.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Government, Politics
RSC Topics > T — Z > Trials
The article describes how DNA was used to discover the probable identity of the parents and family of Hiram Page, a central figure of the early Mormon movement. The primary subjects of the DNA study were a 5th generation descendant of Hiram Page and a 5th generation descendant of Philander Page and the testing was done by Family Tree DNA while the Page DNA surname project was used for comparison together with YSearch, the online Y-DNA database.
Book of Mormon Scriptures > Ether
RSC Topics > L — P > Learning
RSC Topics > T — Z > Teaching the Gospel
I pray that you will exemplify BYU’s influence in your lives by joining me in serving this great university and the students it produces.
RSC Topics > A — C > Covenant
RSC Topics > D — F > Doctrine and Covenants
RSC Topics > L — P > Melchizedek Priesthood
RSC Topics > L — P > Ordinances
RSC Topics > L — P > Priesthood
RSC Topics > Q — S > Relief Society
RSC Topics > T — Z > Women
Not unlike physical maps, we have spiritual maps to help guide and direct us to our ultimate destination—back to our heavenly home.
Cites Book of Mormon, scientific, and other sources to argue against the theories dealing with organic evolution. Believes that the Book of Mormon is opposed to organic evolution.
Prophets and apostles have counseled us how to use the Book of Mormon. In April 1986, President Ezra Taft Benson pleaded: “I would particularly urge you to read again and again the Book of Mormon and ponder and apply its teachings. . . . [One] who knows and loves the Book of Mormon, who has read it several times, who has an abiding testimony of its truthfulness, and who applies its teachings will be able to stand against the wiles of the devil and will be a mighty tool in the hands of the Lord.”
RSC Topics > A — C > Book of Mormon
RSC Topics > Q — S > Scriptures
RSC Topics > T — Z > Teaching the Gospel
Abraham’s example in finding his son a celestial partner
Old Testament Topics > Marriage
Old Testament Topics > Teaching the Old Testament
I think we should understand that individuals must shoulder the responsibility for their own preparedness and for their own acquisition of knowledge and of skills and service.
Prayer is a supernal gift of our Father in Heaven to every soul.
RSC Topics > L — P > Prayer
RSC Topics > Q — S > Relief Society
RSC Topics > T — Z > Women
RSC Topics > L — P > Learning
RSC Topics > T — Z > Teaching the Gospel
A polemical work against Mormonism. Argues that Solomon Spaulding is responsible for most of the text of the Book of Mormon, through the agency of Sidney Rigdon; the 1834 Anthon denial is cited; the testimonies of the Book of Mormon witnesses are discredited on the grounds that they had disreputable characters; and the author claims that Mormons have departed from the doctrines of the Book of Mormon.
An Address by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, June 17, 1855. Reported By: G. D. Watt.
This article recounts the background and consequences of the Utah War of 1857–58 and comments on the power struggle that existed between Governor Brigham Young and President James Buchanan during that time.
RSC Topics > Q — S > Service
RSC Topics > T — Z > War
A Discourse by President Heber C. Kimball, Delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, June 7, 1857. Reported By: G. D. Watt.
This second of two volumes of essays honoring Hugh Nibley includes scholarly papers based on what the authors have learned from Nibley. Nearly every major subject that Dr. Nibley has encompassed in his vast learning and scholarly production is represented here by at least one article. Topics include the sacrament covenant in Third Nephi, the Lamanite view of Book of Mormon history, external evidences of the Book of Mormon, proper names in the Book of Mormon, the brass plates version of Genesis, the composition of Lehi’s family, ancient burials of metal documents in stone boxes, repentance as rethinking, Mormon history’s encounter with secular modernity, and Judaism in the 20th century.
Bolton explores the origins and societal implications that arise from the Book of Mormon when viewed in an early nineteenth century context. Bolton describes the society in the Book of Mormon as a religious utopia, and explores the positive and negative utopian stories from that society.
The positive response generated by publication of Nibley’s “Bird Island“ (Dialogue X, No. 4) encouraged us to offer additional popular Nibley samizdat. Nibliophiles will be delighted to learn that events have overtaken us in this plan, and a volume of classic Nibley essays now has been published by BYU’s Religious Studies Center.* This collection, which begins with a new “intellectual autobiography” and ends with a comprehensive bibliography, includes such popular essays as “Educating theSaints,” “Beyond Politics” and “Subduing the Earth,”—as well as “Zeal Without Knowledge,” the Nibley classic reprinted here with the permission of the Religious Studies Center.
A study of utopias and attempted utopias throughout time and where they failed or succeeded to give an idea of how the ultimate utopia, Zion, will be.
Hugh W. Nibley Topics > Zion, Babylon > Wealth, Law of Consecration
Reprinted from a lecture of the same title.
A study of utopias and attempted utopias throughout time and where they failed or succeeded to give an idea of how the ultimate utopia, Zion, will be.