Review of The God-Inspired Language of the Book of Mormon: Structuring and Commentary (1988), by Wade Brown.

Review of the God-Inspired Language of the Book of Mormon: Structuring and Commentary (1988), by Wade Brown.

Brent H. Nielson shares a personal story about how to include, love, and wait for others who have lost their faith.

Those who diligently seek to learn of Christ eventually will come to know Him.

There will be a day for you and me when, whatever difficulties and limitations we have here, we will have that promise fulfilled for us. We will be lifted up as on eagles’ wings, and it will be those who have waited upon the Lord.

[Uncertainty] includes questions, doubts, ambiguity, and the discovery that persons (or things) are not quite what we expected. In essence, uncertainty is a reflection of the gap between our desire for the ideal and our experience of reality.

The purpose of our life on earth is to grow, develop, and be strengthened through our own experiences.

While it may appear to be easier to respect those we don’t know well or to love those who are most like ourselves, we have been commanded to love everyone.

So you see, the rigorous change required by the gospel of Jesus Christ is not meant to be disheartening or exhausting; it is exciting and exhilarating! The plan of salvation is the ultimate adventure.

You make choices every day and almost every hour that keep you walking in the light or moving away toward darkness.

In our personal lives and in the performance of our university duties, you and I have the responsibility to do nothing that would constrain these heavenly powers from blessing those whom we serve.

Our ordination to the priesthood is an invitation from the Lord to walk with Him, to do what He does, to serve the way He serves.

The One who was bruised and broken for us will allow mortality to do its work in us, but He doesn’t ask us to face those challenges alone.

Christ invites us to come quickly unto Him. His love casts darkness away. We are protected from deception when we choose to walk in His light as we see ourselves as we really are and as we really can be.

My message to you, my challenge to you, my prayer is that you will rededicate yourselves to the strengthening of your homes.

When the priesthood was extended to blacks in 1978, faithful followers rejoiced and a new day dawned in Africa. Senior missionary couples soon arrived in Ghana, and within a year four hundred people were baptized, many coming from congregations that were patterned after the Church and that had operated unofficially for more than a decade. With Church growth came persecution. Rumors spread that both the organization and the missionaries were American spies. In June 1989, the Ghanaian government instituted an eighteen-month “Freeze,” forcing all Church activities to cease. The Freeze was lifted in 1991. The number of stakes has now multiplied, with a temple dedicated in 2004. “Walking in the sand,” a Ghanaian expression meaning “alive and well,” aptly describes the Latter-day Saints in Ghana.

“When Jesus called Peter to come to Him across the water, Peter, for one brief, glorious moment, forgot he did not know how and strode with ease across the sea. This is how we are meant to be.”

Connections forged among covenant women in Relief Society can … enlighten, enliven, and enrich the journey of life.

Many books, including the Bible, are cited for their powerful influence, and the Book of Mormon is extolled as “the most powerful” American religious book to come forth in the nineteenth century. Though it has affected only one percent of the people, that percentage was affected in such a profound way as to affect the whole of the United States.

Lehi’s exodus to the promised land is only the first of a series of exoduses occurring throughout the Book of Mormon. Indeed, Lehi’s exodus becomes mere precedent for later flights into the wilderness by Nephi, Mosiah, Alma1, Limhi, and the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. For the Nephites, continuing exodus is not merely historical fact. Understanding the biblical exodus as a type and shadow, the Nephites come to see their wandering as a metaphor of their spiritual condition. Thus, even centuries after Lehi’s arrival in the promised land, Nephite prophets recognize their status as “wanderers in a strange land” (Alma 13:23). As did Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Nephites also looked beyond their temporal land of promise “for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10).

The Lord has furnished us with two models to help us cope with the tension we often face between faith and reason. These two models take the form of the wanderer and the wonderer. Both of these types appear prominently in our scriptures and provide us postures we ought to consider assuming as we confront the challenges of living in a modern world.

A Sermon by President Brigham Young, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, June 5, 1859. Reported By: G. D. Watt.

This pamphlet makes a plea to read the Book of Mormon, with a brief overview of the book and the testimonies of the witnesses.

We can offer hands to help and hearts to hasten Heavenly Father’s wonderful work.

In ancient America, one small band of Christians spent centuries on the brink of annihilation. This fascinating look at the geographical, political, and religious subcultures of the Book of Mormon shows how Nephite Christianity fared against the barbaric paganism that dominated that part of the world. Backed by scriptural evidence, this book will profoundly change the way you read the Book of Mormon.

I hope that the Lord’s people may be at peace one with another during times of trouble, regardless of what loyalties they may have to different governments or parties.

Methods of warfare in the Book of Mormon were elementary in the beginning but became more sophisticated with time and under Moroni grew to an art. Still the weapons were crude and the armaments were fairly ineffective and many people were killed, ravaged, and raped.

The title of liberty fashioned by Moroni represented a rallying point for those who would defend the most cherished aspects of Nephite culture: families, religion, peace, and freedom. A key facet of the title of liberty incident is its deep-rooted martial setting, suggesting that the title of liberty functioned as a war banner. Numerous aspects of the title of liberty episode related to warfare and battle standards fit comfortably in an ancient Mesoamerican context. Additionally, various linguistic and poetic features in the details surrounding the title of liberty in Alma 46 closely correlate to Mesoamerican traditions, indicative of a common cultural origin.

Many parents, as they have labored through the process of raising a teenager, may have wondered at times if Satan’s idea of destroying agency was such a bad idea. However, most parents have learned from experience that trying to control a child’s decisions, even in the right direction, can often result in the child’s rebellion. Very few, if any, like to be forced to do something, even if it is good. Having the right to live according to our personal desires and to exercise our agency, even if what we choose is not wise or good for us, is very precious to us. We prize our moral agency so highly that any attempt to undermine, circumvent, manipulate, control, or eliminate it often leads to conflict. These battles have spanned heaven and earth and have included both individuals and great assemblies.

Review of John L. Lund. Joseph Smith and the Geography of the Book of Mormon. The Communications Company, 2012. 209 pp. + xviii, including index.In the midst of this war of words and tumult of opinions, I often said to myself: What is to be done? Who of all these parties are right; or, are they all wrong together? If any one of them be right, which is it, and how shall I know it?
–Joseph Smith Jr.
.

A collection of essays by recognized authorities and scholars of the Church that reflect individual opinions on the subjects of war, conscription, conscience, and Mormonism. Cites relevant Book of Mormon precedents, such as Anti-Nephi-Lehies.

The Applewood Ward completed a program to read the Book of Mormon in ninety days, helping those who were reading it for the first time.

Originally presented at the FARMS Symposium on Warfare, 24 March 1989.
Compares the descriptions of warfare in the Book of Mormon with the writings and axioms of Karl von Clausewitz’s military treatise, Vom Kriege, that served the military as a bible for 150 years and was published in 1833. Descriptions of Book of Mormon warfare match von Clausewitz’s principles very well. Again the internal evidence of the Book of Mormon establishes its accuracy in describing technical subjects unknown to Joseph Smith.

Descriptions of Book of Mormon warfare match von Clausewitz’s principles very well. Again the internal evidence of the Book of Mormon establishes its accuracy in describing technical subjects unknown to Joseph Smith.
Compares the descriptions of warfare in the Book of Mormon with the writings and axioms of Karl von Clausewitz’s military treatise, Vom Kriege, that served the military as a bible for 150 years and was published in 1833.

David Palmer discusses the persistent military conflict during Nephite times, exploring the economic, political, and religious causes of ancient warfare. He also examines the role of the war captain, battle tactics, and how archaeological remains in Mesoamerica support the existence of a military class and fortifications. Details from the Book of Mormon accounts appear to weave in very well with information archaeologists have found on the role of warfare in Mesoamerican society.

“People may well ask: Why study warfare in the Book of Mormon? There are so many answers, among which are these: to understand better the events in the Book of Mormon, to develop a perspective against which to understand its teachings and messages, to enjoy the interesting lives of a remarkable people, and to aid in assaying the historicity of the book, ” writes John W. Welch at the beginning of Warfare in the Book of Mormon.

The wars and battles described in the Book of Mormon include some of the most detailed narratives of the book. Those accounts provide us with an excellent chance to examine how consistent and complex the text is. Joseph Smith lived in an age of warfare with guns, yet the Book of Mormon displays patterns of warfare that made sense only before gunpowder was used. This can be seen in both the general patterns and in the tiny details of the text. Descriptions of weapons and tactics in the Book of Mormon are definitely ancient. Furthermore, the warfare in the Book of Mormon differs from what we read about in the Bible. It differs in the same way that war in ancient Mesoamerica differed from biblical warfare.

A child’s testimony of the Book of Mormon.

Mark E. Petersen - God has revealed that in the last days he would warn the people through the voice of tempests, earthquakes, and seas heaving themselves beyond their bounds. Do we hear his voice now and recognize it?

Gives ethnic descriptions of Book of Mormon peoples and discusses them as inventors, explorers, and warriors. Cites archaeological findings that relate to the Book of Mormon.

Let us remember that “all are alike unto God” and that the entire world is populated by sons and daughters of God—sons and daughters who chose Him and His plan.

Abstract: The three great monotheistic religious traditions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) all claim Abraham as father and prototypical monotheist. Though Adam is the putative first father in all of these traditions, he is seldom remembered in Judeo-Christian scriptural, apocryphal, or pseudepigraphic texts as an exemplary monotheist. This essay briefly reviews why Abraham retains the lofty title “Father of Monotheism” while exploring how Latter-day restoration scripture adds to and challenges this ancient tradition vis-à-vis enhanced understanding of Adam’s covenantal and monotheistic fidelity to God.

In one of the more moving narratives found in the Book of Mormon, a group of Lamanites are miraculously prevented from killing the prophets Nephi and Lehi in a prison. The Lamanites and Nephite dissenters are then redeemed from their own spiritual bondage when they are converted to Christ.

The view of scholars in the field of American archaeology holds that the pre-Columbian inhabitants of America did not know of or use iron. However, this article, citing the Science Newsletter of November 12, 1949, recommends that this view may have to be reevaluated on the basis of new findings of iron in Ancient America.

The work of naturally and normally sharing the gospel with those we care about and love will be the work and joy of our lives.

Joseph Smith has been charged with plagiarism in the Book of Mormon and his own revelations, largely because of lengthy biblical quotations (which, in each instance, have been credited to the Old Testament prophet whose words are being cited). Numerous examples in the Old Testament show that prophets freely borrowed verbiage from another. In the nineteenth century, newspapers reprinted material, often without attribution.

Pratt states that the Book of Mormon was revealed through Joseph Smith, that it contains the everlasting gospel and the writings of the tribe of Joseph. Explains Ezekiel 37:18-21 and Isaiah 29. Book of Mormon explains that America is the land of promise of Joseph. Thousands and tens of thousands of witnesses have accepted the Book of Mormon and witness concerning its truthfulness.

Abstract: The brass plates version of Isaiah 2:2, as contained in 2 Nephi 12:2, contains a small difference, not attested in any other pre-1830 Isaiah witness, that not only helps clarify the meaning but also ties the verse to events of the Restoration. The change does so by introducing a Hebraism that would have been impossible for Joseph Smith, the Prophet, to have produced on his own.

Suggests that Mormon became a military leader because he belonged to a military caste whose responsibility it was to lead the Nephite armies.

This article argues that steel existed around the time Lehi left Jerusalem, about 600 B.C.

This article discusses the evolution of Joseph Smith’s teachings on God and salvation. The author argues the Book of Mormon influenced Smith’s early views, which matured into the King Follett discourse.

Abstract: This note provides a brief overview of Roman economic history and currency in order to throw light on the value and significance of the two debts illustratively used by Jesus in his parable to Simon the Pharisee. Though we cannot with accuracy make the claim that a Roman denarius was always the daily wage, we can determine that the debtors of Jesus’s parable owed something on the order of a year’s worth of wages and ten years’ worth of wages.

The two spellings strait and straight are often considered synonymous; however, they come from different Middle English words and have different meanings. Strait means “narrow” or “tight,” whereas straight means “not crooked.” The difference in these meanings affects the interpretation of the scriptural phrase “strait/straight and narrow path” and others like it. Reynolds and Skousen explore possible meanings that the original Book of Mormon authors may have intended in their use of the two words.

In an interview with John L. Sorenson, linguist Brian Stubbs discusses the evidence he has used to establish that at least one language family in Mesoamerica is related to Semitic languages. Stubbs explains how his studies of Near Eastern languages, coupled with his studies of Uto-Aztecan, helped him find related word pairs in the two language families. The evidence for a link between Uto-Aztecan and Semitic languages, or even Egyptian or Arabic, is still tentative, although the evidence includes all the standard requirements of comparative or historical linguistic research: sound correspondences or consistent sound shifts, morphological correspondences, and a substantial lexicon consisting of as many as 1,000 words that exemplify those correspondences.

Imagine the consoling, liberating, exalting feeling that will come to you when you see the reality of the Atonement and the practical, everyday value of it to you individually.

This first of two volumes of essays honoring Hugh Nibley includes scholarly papers based on what the contributors have learned from Dr. Nibley. Nearly every major subject that he has encompassed in his vast learning and scholarly production is represented here by at least one article. Topics include the influence of Nibley, Copts and the Bible, the Seventy in scripture, the great apostasy, the book of Daniel in early Mormon thought, an early Christian initiation ritual, John’s Apocalypse, ancient Jewish seafaring, Native American rites of passage, Sinai as sanctuary and mountain of God, the Qurʾan and creation ex nihilo, and the sacred handclasp and embrace.
In this paper the apostasy will be discussed on two fronts. First, Jackson examines statements of Jesus and his apostles that foretell the passing of the early church. Then, he considers the evidence in the New Testament that shows apostasy taking place as the New Testament documents were being written

The Savior will let you feel the love He feels for those you serve. The call is an invitation to become like Him.

As you watch over His sheep, your love for Him will grow. And that will increase your confidence and your courage.

Harold B. Lee - Have your family prayers, keep your home ties strong, and let love abound therein.

Constant vigilance is required to counteract complacency and casualness.

All these actions will allow you the opportunity to more fully understand, envision, and internalize the lessons being taught by the Savior. You will indeed be “watching it rain.”

A spiritual early warning system … can help parents in Zion to be watchful and discerning concerning their children.

We do not change. If it was wrong in Old Testament days, it is wrong today. If it was wrong in New Testament days, it is wrong today. All this because we have living prophets who “stand in holy places, and [are not] moved.”

Our responsibility to watch involves more than merely registering the signs that precede the Savior’s coming. It includes preparing ­ourselves for that coming.

Symbolic meanings of the terms

A novel based on the writings of Alma the Elder in the Book of Mormon.