I recently had the opportunity to lead a discussion on the topic of Doctrine and Covenants (D&C) 88 in which we delved into the subject of the multiple kingdoms of glory as they are described in that section. That discussion reminded me of some material I had...
read more1 Nephi 7:1 This verse should follow immediately after our 1 Ne. 6:6, without the chapter break which was added later. With this verse, Nephi moves back to historical time after the brief break from his story into his own time. It is possible that the conceptual...
read moreThe atheist controversialist Richard Dawkins has, on a few occasions, centered Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon in his polemical crosshairs. When he does speak about Mormonism, Mr. Dawkins typically brings up the Jacobean English of the Book of Mormon as evidence...
read more1 Nephi 1:1-4 After a previous failure, Nephi has to convince Laman and Lemuel to allow him one more opportunity. Nephi sets up this attempt not only with the historical recounting of failure, but with the information he provides about Laban’s power and position when...
read more1 Nephi 2:1-2 There is no original chapter break at this point, though there is a clear shift in the narration. Nephi apparently saw the insertion of his editorial comment in 1 Nephi 1:20 (second sentence) as an aside rather than a complete separate separation. What...
read moreThe Book of Nephi An account of Lehi and his wife Sariah, and his four sons, being called, (beginning at the eldest) Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi. The Lord warns Lehi to depart out of the land of Jerusalem, because he prophesieth unto the people concerning their...
read moreI readily confess to being obsessed with the Book of Mormon. Perhaps to the detriment of my eternal salvation, I am often interested in things other than its instructions for my spiritual welfare. I have come to understand the people of the Book of Mormon as though...
read moreSince the early days of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the British Press has had an interest in Mormonism. Over the years there have been newspaper and magazine articles and exposés discussing just about every aspect of Mormonism from polygamy and the anti-polygamy crusades in the last quarter of the nineteenth-century to the building of the London Temple in the 1950s and Mitt Romney's quest for the presidency of the United States....
read moreThis blog post was originally posted here. Iconotropy is an English neologism from Greek, meaning literally “image turning.” It is defined as “the accidental or deliberate misinterpretation by one culture of the images or myths of another one, especially so as to...
read moreThe following originally appeared on John Gee’s blog. Speaking about the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (which would later be renamed the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship) at the FARMS Annual Recognition Banquet, 27...
read moreHumanity is full of horror, and always has been. God wept that He gave humankind their agency, and asked them to love each other and to choose Him, but they were without affection, and hated their own blood (Moses 7). Tragedies in interactions between individuals,...
read moreOur chapter six begins the original chapter II, covering our chapters 6-9. Thus this chapter both begins and ends with references to the plates on which Nephi is writing. 1 Nephi 6: 1-2 The first two verses of the next section of Nephi’s work tie to a theme from the...
read more1 Nephi 5:1 Nephi shifts the scene from outside Jerusalem’s walls to in the wilderness near his father’s tent. There is no chapter break between our 1 Ne. 4:38 and this first verse in chapter 5, so Nephi saw them as not only connected, but probably as an intentional...
read more1 Nephi 3:1 1 Nephi 2:15 indicates “and my father dwelt in a tent.” That simple sentence has no specific meaning in the narrative, but is simply used as a division marker. In this case, the “the tent of my father” starts the discussion of Nephi’s revelation from the...
read moreWe are taught to study thoroughly and prayerfully and to have faith, even in the midst of doubt....
read moreAs I was reading Karel Van der Toorn, Scribal Culture and the Making of the Hebrew Bible ((Karel Van der Toorn, Scribal Culture and the Making of the Hebrew Bible (Cambridge and London: Harvard University Press, 2007).)) I began to recognize Nephi in Van der Toorn’s...
read moreThe 183rd Annual General Conference of the Church featured, among other things, remarks by three General Authorities that touched on the importance of members to sustain and defend the Church. Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles began his...
read moreThis is a cross-posting (with permission) from John Gee’s blog. Five times in the book of Isaiah, Isaiah uses the refrain: For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. (Isaiah 5:25; 9:12, 17, 21; 10:4) This phrase was recently...
read moreHere is a collection of links covering videos, articles, and references about Easter. ChurchofJesusChrist.org Videos https://churchofjesuschrist.org/bible-videos/videos/he-is-risen?lang=eng Daniel C. Peterson...
read more[Reposted] In a recent blog comment Ben Park describes “a different approach to apologetics,” apparently favored by some young scholars. He describes it by quoting Richard Bushman: These younger scholars have a new attitude toward Mormon apologetics. They are no...
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