Digital Commons Network^™

Jedediah S. Rogers, Ed., The Council Of Fifty: A Documentary History, Reviewed By Adam Jortner

Mormon Studies Review

No abstract provided.

“See That Ye Are Not Lifted Up”: The Name Zoram And Its Paronomastic Pejoration, Matthew L. Bowen

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

The most likely etymology for the name Zoram is a third person singular perfect qal or pôʿal form of the Semitic/Hebrew verb *zrm, with the meaning, “He [God] has [is] poured forth in floods.” However, the name could also have been heard and interpreted as a theophoric –rām name, of which there are many in the biblical Hebrew onomasticon (Ram, Abram, Abiram, Joram/Jehoram, Malchiram, etc., cf. Hiram [Hyrum]/Huram). So analyzed, Zoram would connote something like “the one who is high,” “the one who is exalted” or even “the person of the Exalted One [or high place].” This has important implications …

The Changing Forms Of The Latter-Day Saint Sacrament, Ugo A. Perego

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

Partaking of bread and water each Sunday is a fundamental part of the theology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — a solemn moment in which the mortal Savior’s mission and ministry are remembered and pondered by those who partake individually and as a congregation. This paper explores instructions provided by the Savior himself as found in the Mormon canon of scriptures, together with a review of how this practice has changed over time as part of the LDS Church liturgy. Moreover, the meaning associated with this sacred ordinance is analyzed by way of the Savior’s teachings …

The Stromata Vol. 58, No. 1, Calvin Theological Seminary

Stromata (1956-2020)

Inside This Issue

5- Caring for Words as a Moral Issue by Isaias D’Oleo-Ochoa

8- Academics and Spiritual Formation by Jeffrey L. Sajdak

13- Barcellos, Richard C., ed., Confessing the Impassible God: The Biblical, Classical, and Confessional Doctrine of Divine Impassibility by Brent McCulley

15- McGowan, Andrew B., Ancient Christian Worship: Early Church Practices in Social, Historical, and Theological Perspective by Lucky Samuel

17- McKnight, Scot, Kingdom Conspiracy: Returning to the Radical Mission of the Local Church by Benjamin M. Oliveira

19- Sexton, Jason S., ed., Two Views on the Doctrine of the Trinity by Jaehan Kim

23- Bavinck’s Anthropology …

Androgyny/Hermaphroditism: Hebrew Bible, Jennifer J. Williams

Faculty Publications

The Hebrew Bible lacks a term for androgyny or hermaphroditism. The term tumtumim, which identifies persons of indeterminate or “hidden” sex, appears later in rabbinic texts. Nevertheless, sexual fluidity, ambiguity, intersexed persons, and persons with a combination of masculine and feminine characteristics appear in the Genesis creation stories and prophetic texts. While gender transgression is relevant to the general discussion, this entry from The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Gender Studies: Oxford Biblical Studies Online focuses primarily on ancient understandings, namely those presented in the Hebrew Bible, of those of “both sexes.”

To “See And Hear”, Kevin L. Tolley

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

The world of the Nephite nation was born out of the world of seventh century bc Jerusalem. The traditions and tragedies of the nation of Judah set the stage for what would happen over the next ten centuries of Book of Mormon history. In his opening statements, Nephi tells of an explosion of divinely commissioned ministers preaching in the holy city. He declares that Jerusalem was a place of “many prophets, prophesying unto the people that they must repent” (1 Nephi 1:4).1 Nephi alludes to the prophetic service of Jeremiah (c. bc 626-587), Zephaniah (c. bc 640‑609), Obadiah (c. bc …

Telling The Story Of The Coming Forth Of The Book Of Mormon, Stephen O. Smoot

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

The book From Darkness unto Light: Joseph Smith’s Translation and Publication of the Book of Mormon by Michael Hubbard MacKay and Gerrit J. Dirkmaat is an outstanding resource for anyone interested in early Latter-day Saint history and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. It provides a compelling narrative about the recovery, translation, and publication of the Book of Mormon that utilizes the most cutting-edge historical scholarship available today.

Mormonism At Oxford And What It Signifies, Stephen O. Smoot

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

The Oxford Handbook of Mormonism is a welcomed addition to the current scholarly discussion surrounding the history, theology, and culture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It should be read and studied by all interested students in Mormonism and signals that the scriptures, theology, and history of the Latter-day Saints are all increasingly being taken seriously in mainstream academia.

Many Witnesses To A Marvelous Work, Daniel Peterson

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

At the end of October each year, speakers from the Church Educational System, as well as other gospel scholars, gather at Brigham Young University to make presentations at the Sidney B. Sperry Symposium. The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon: A Marvelous Work and a Wonder is a compilation of the addresses given at the forty-fourth symposium, in 2015. This volume does not so much delve into the doctrine of the Book of Mormon as it studies the history behind its coming into the world. Just as the doctrine itself is inspirational, the story behind the coming forth of …

Full Issue

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Image Is Everything: Pay No Attention To The Man Behind The Curtain, Kevin Christensen

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

Soon after the appearance of my Interpreter review of Jeremy Runnells’ Letter to a CES Director, he promised to provide his personal response. Although this response has not yet appeared, he did post an essay called “The Sky is Falling” by his friend Johnny Stephenson. After I read the essay closely in May, I realized that it provides, however unintentionally, a valuable set of discussion points with illustrative examples. My response begins with some preliminaries, surveys essential background issues concerning facts, ideology, and cognitive dissonance, and then addresses his historical arguments regarding the First Vision and priesthood restoration accounts.

Zarahemla Revisited: Neville’S Newest Novel, Matthew Roper, Paul Fields, Larry Bassist

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

This article is the third in a series of three articles responding to the recent assertion by Jonathan Neville that Benjamin Winchester was the anonymous author of three unsigned editorials published in Nauvoo in 1842 in the Times and Seasons. The topic of the unsigned editorials was the possible relationship of archeological discoveries in Central America to places described in the Book of Mormon narrative. The first article shows that, contrary to Neville’s claims, Winchester was not a proponent of a Mesoamerican setting for the Book of Mormon, but rather a hemispheric one. Since this was a view commonly held …

Nephi’S Good Inclusio, Matthew L. Bowen

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

As John Gee noted two decades ago, Nephi is best explained as a form of the Egyptian word nfr, which by Lehi’s time was pronounced neh-fee, nay-fee, or nou-fee. Since this word means “good,” “goodly,” “fine,” or “fair,” I subsequently posited several possible examples of wordplay on the name Nephi in the Book of Mormon, including Nephi’s own autobiographical introduction (1 Nephi 1:1: “I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents … having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God”). It should be further pointed out, however, that Nephi also concludes his personal writings on …

The Yoke Of Christ: A Light Burden Heavy With Meaning, Jeff Lindsay

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

Christ’s famous call to take his yoke upon us in Matthew 11 may merit more analysis than it has commonly received. Taking up the yoke may have connections to other things that are taken upon us as well, including the name of Christ, temple covenants, priestly robes, and sacred anointing. These all reflect a relationship of obedience and service to the Master, who set the example by taking the heaviest yoke of all upon him, including the yoke-like beam of the cross that he carried to Golgotha and the full weight of human sin and misery as he suffered for …

“They Were Moved With Compassion” (Alma 27:4; 53:13): Toponymic Wordplay On Zarahemla And Jershon, Matthew L. Bowen

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

As in Hebrew biblical narrative, wordplay on (or play on the meaning of) toponyms, or “place names,” is a discernable feature of Book of Mormon narrative. The text repeatedly juxtaposes the toponym Jershon (“place of inheritance” or “place of possession”) with terms inherit, inheritance, possess, possession, etc. Similarly, the Mulekite personal name Zarahemla (“seed of compassion,” “seed of pity”), which becomes the paramount Nephite toponym as their national capital after the time of Mosiah I, is juxtaposed with the term compassion. Both wordplays occur and recur at crucial points in Nephite/Lamanite history. Moreover, both occur in connection with the migration …

“My People Are Willing”: The Mention Of Aminadab In The Narrative Context Of Helaman 5-6, Matthew L. Bowen

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

Aminadab, a Nephite by birth who later dissented to the Lamanites, played a crucial role in the mass conversion of three hundred Lamanites (and eventually many others). At the end of the pericope in which these events are recorded, Mormon states: “And thus we see that the Lord began to pour out his Spirit upon the Lamanites, because of their easiness and willingness to believe in his words” (Helaman 6:36), whereas he “began to withdraw” his Spirit from the Nephites “because of the wickedness and the hardness of their hearts” (Helaman 6:35). The name Aminadab is a Semitic/Hebrew name meaning …

Conversations With Mormon Historians, Craig L. Foster

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

Conversations with Mormon Historians is a compilation of interviews with sixteen Latter-day Saint scholars. The book reveals why they went into their chosen professions, their rise to prominence as historians, and their thoughts regarding important topics such as the Prophet Joseph Smith and the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

“Idle And Slothful Strange Stories”: Book Of Mormon Origins And The Historical Record, Neal Rappleye

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

From the very beginning, Joseph’s story about the origins of the Book of Mormon seemed wild and unbelievable. Today, however, Joseph’s account enjoys a high degree of corroboration from (1) eyewitness accounts confirming Joseph’s possession of actual metal plates and other artifacts, with some even corroborating the involvement of an angel in providing access to the record; (2) eyewitness reports on the process of producing the text; and (3) evidence from the original manuscript. This evidence is reviewed here, and the implications it has for the Book of Mormon’s origin are considered.

A Brighter Future For Mormon Theology: Adam S. Miller’S Future Mormon, Jeff Lindsay

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

Adam S. Miller’s Future Mormon, his collection of “Essays in Mormon Theology,” is one of the most intriguing reads I’ve encountered in LDS studies. It is a book intended to make students of Mormonism, especially those within the Church, challenge lazy assumptions in our theological thinking and rethink our approach to help us build a stronger faith. Some of Miller’s work here will be readily grasped and appreciated by LDS students, while other parts may be more radical or opaque. From my perspective, the gems should make the book a valued addition to any LDS library, in spite of my …

Reading A Pentecostal Reads The Book Of Mormon, Stephen O. Smoot

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

In recent years the Book of Mormon has enjoyed increased attention from the scholarly world.1 This is entirely welcomed by the Latter-day Saints, especially when such attention comes from a place of fairness and open-mindedness. A praiseworthy example of how non-Mormon academics can fruitfully engage the Book of Mormon is John Cristopher Thomas’s new volume A Pentecostal Reads the Book of Mormon: A Literary and Theological Introduction.2 Thomas is well-equipped to approach the Book of Mormon on a literary and theological angle. He is, after all, an erudite biblical scholar whose work on New Testament text and theology has appeared …

Reading 1 Nephi With Wisdom, Taylor Halverson

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

Nephi is the prototypical wise son of the Wisdom tradition. As Proverbs advocates that a wise man cherishes the word of God, so Nephi cherishes the words of the wise. Nephi’s record begins with a declaration of his upbringing in the Wisdom tradition and his authenticity and reliability as a wise son and scribe (1 Nephi 1:1–3). His is a record of the learning of the Jews — a record of wisdom. If the Wisdom tradition is a foundation for Nephi’s scribal capabilities and outlook, perhaps the principles and literary skills represented by the scribal Wisdom tradition constitute the “learning …

On The Dating Of Moroni 8-9, Joseph M. Spencer

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

Students of the Book of Mormon who have attempted to establish a rough (internal) date for the composition of Mormon’s two letters in Moroni 8–9 have come to different and inconsistent conclusions. Nonetheless, there seems to be evidence enough from the text to arrive at reasonably certain conclusions as to when the letters are supposed to have originated. At the same time, the fact that the text never bothers to state the exact circumstances under which the letters were produced is theologically suggestive. What might be the interpretive and especially theological implications that follow from the establishment of rough dates …

Assessing The Joseph Smith Papyri: An Introduction To The Historiography Of Their Acquisitions, Translations, And Interpretations, Kerry Muhlestein

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

The Book of Abraham has attracted a great deal of scholarly attention since some of the papyri once owned by Joseph Smith were rediscovered. A focus of this attention has been the source of the Book of Abraham, with some contending that the extant fragments are the source, while others have argued that the source is either other papyri or something else altogether. New investigations suggest that, while the relationship between papyri and text is not clear, it is clear that the fragments are not the source and that the method of translation was not the Kirtland Egyptian Papers. Additionally, …

Full Issue

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Prayers Of Resistance: Kalymyk Women's Covert Buddhist Practice, Karma Lekshe Tsomo Phd

Theology and Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

Throughout decades of Soviet repression of religion and into modern times, groups of Buddhist women known as babushki matsik, or ‘‘group of old women precept holders’’ have covertly engaged in Buddhist practices in Kalmykia, following the Tibetan tantric tradition. Located to the northwest of the Caspian Sea, the Kalmyk Republic of the Russian Federation is the only region of Europe with a predominantly Buddhist population. For centuries, the region has been the site of repeated migrations, shifting political and military alliances, and Russian Orthodox conversion efforts. The devastating period of forced relocation and exile in Siberia between 1943 and 1957 …

"Introduction" To Theology And Science Fiction, James F. Mcgrath

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

What is the difference between a god and a powerful alien? Can an android have a soul, or be considered a person with rights? Can we imagine biblical stories being retold in the distant future on planets far from Earth? Whether your interest is in Christianity in the future, or the Jedi in the present--and whether your interest in the Jedi is focused on real-world adherents or the fictional religion depicted on the silver screen--this book will help you explore the intersection between theology and science fiction across a range of authors and stories, topics and questions.

Throughout this volume, …

Buddhism In Korean Film During The Roh Regime (1988-1993), Ronald S. Green

Philosophy and Religious Studies

This article outlines and critically discusses South Korean Buddhist films made during the time of the Roh Tae-woo government (1988-1993), which can be called a semi-democratic and semi-dictatorial regime. This was a period of transition in film policy from the censorship of the earlier dictatorial regimes to the freedom of expression offered to directors by the later democratic administrations, unprecedented in Korean film history. During this period the technical skill of directors improved bringing about a corresponding improvement in the quality of Korean Buddhist films and thus international attention. Although the government allowed filmmakers considerably more freedom to express ideas …

Applying The Canonical Text Services Model To The Coptic Scriptorium, Bridget Almas, Caroline T. Schroeder

College of the Pacific Faculty Articles

Coptic SCRIPTORIUM is a platform for interdisciplinary and computational research in Coptic texts and linguistics. The purpose of this project was to research and implement a system of stable identification for the texts and linguistic data objects in Coptic SCRIPTORIUM to facilitate their citation and reuse. We began the project with a preferred solution, the Canonical Text Services URN model, which we validated for suitability for the corpus and compared it to other approaches, including HTTP URLs and Handles. The process of applying the CTS model to Coptic SCRIPTORIUM required an in-depth analysis that took into account the domain-specific scholarly …

Raiders Of The Lost Corpus, Caroline T. Schroeder, Amir Zeldes

College of the Pacific Faculty Articles

Coptic represents the last phase of the Egyptian language and is pivotal for a wide range of disciplines, such as linguistics, biblical studies, the history of Christianity, Egyptology, and ancient history. It was also essential for "cracking the code" of the Egyptian hieroglyphs. Although digital humanities has been hailed as distinctly interdisciplinary, enabling new forms of knowledge by combining multiple forms of disciplinary investigation, technical obtacles exist for creating a resource useful to both linguists and historians, for example. The nature of the language (outside of the Indo-European family) also requires its own approach. This paper will present some of …

Noble Freedom: The Importance Of Freedom In The Theology Of Beatrice Of Nazareth And Hadewijch, Seth Alexander

Dissertations

The mulieres religiosae were a diverse group of women in the late twelfth and early thirteenth century who lived a variety of lifestyles. Two such mulieres are Hadewijch, a beguine, and Beatrijs of Nazareth, a Cistercian nun both outstanding thirteenth-century writers who exemplify the mystical theology characteristic of this dynamic group of women. The task of this study is to explore the writings of these two medieval authors to examine how they interpreted their experiences of union with God. To do this, I will investigate the ways in which these two particular women of the thirteenth- century Low Countries construct …