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Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Connections Between The Jerusalem Center And The Local Israeli Academy, Jeffrey R. Chadwick

BYU Studies

It is a privilege to participate in this symposium marking the thirtieth anniversary of the 1989 dedication of the Jerusalem Center. It is also a privilege to have been a repeating member of the BYU Jerusalem faculty since 1982, two years before the ceremony which broke ground for the Jerusalem Center in the summer of 1984. I vividly remember watching the various phases of the Center’s construction (fig. 1) and being among the first to live and teach in the beautiful new building when it was occupied by students in 1987.

2020 Children's Story Cards, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Arif: "I like being in school again."

Norina: "We laugh a lot but I also worry."

Nooda: "I came on a boat. It was a big boat!"

Madina: "I just want to live in a safe place..."

Shurangez: "Sometimes we didn't feel safe at school."

Alex: "I'm from Nigeria. Coming to Italy was very difficult-very, very difficult, a real struggle."

Danial: "I want to be a useful person and follow my dreams."

Firoz: "I am 13 years old and I am worried about my family."

Ali: "Ali lived in Afghanistan. One day while walking to school a bomb exploded near …

The End From The Beginning, Daniel C. Peterson

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

We are often at the dubious mercy of people, forces, and events that are beyond our control. But a trust in Providence — a word that is used relatively seldom these days for power that transcends even those people, forces, and events and that can, in the end, overrule them for our good — can nonetheless give us serene confidence. That such providential power exists, that it is personal and caring, is one of the fundamental messages of the scriptures and the prophets.

Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, …

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Temples All The Way Down: Some Notes On The Mi‘Raj Of Muhammad, Daniel C. Peterson

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

In this article, Daniel C. Peterson describes the famous “night” journey that Muhammad allegedly made from Arabia to Jerusalem, and from Jerusalem through the heavens and into the presence of God. His ascension through various gates of heaven, passing by the gatekeepers, is compared with biblical and Latter-day Saint teachings. Elements of the dream strongly resemble the biblical description of the Garden of Eden with its two special trees.

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Seek Ye Words Of Wisdom, Stephen D. Ricks, Donald W. Parry, Gaye Strathearn, Shon D. Hopkin

Interpreter Foundation Books

Stephen David Ricks is a professor of Hebrew and cognate learning in the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages at Brigham Young University (BYU), where he has taught for almost four decades (1981–). It was at BYU, in a freshman Book of Mormon class, that he first met Shirley Smith. Four years later, after they had both served German- speaking missions (Stephen in Switzerland and Shirley in Southern Germany), they were married in the Provo Utah Temple in 1974. They are now the proud parents of six children—three girls and three boys, all of whom are married—and have twenty …

Two Essays On Sustaining And Enlarging The Doctrine, Daniel C. Peterson

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

In a pair of recent books, Patrick Mason and Terryl and Fiona Givens seek to revitalize, reinvigorate, and deepen our understanding of basic terms and concepts of the Restoration. I welcome such efforts, convinced (even where I sometimes quibble) that the conversations they will engender among faithful and committed believers can be very healthy. Now that “the times of refreshing [have] come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:18), it is imperative, both for ourselves and for a world that needs to hear the news, that we not lose sight of the radical freshness of the divine gift and …

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Light Began Once More To Grow, Daniel C. Peterson

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

Readers are surely aware that the birth of the Christ child is the reason we celebrate Christmas. Members of the Church may be less aware, though, of the notable birth of a child, millennia later, of distant secondary importance.

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

A Democratic Salvation, Daniel C. Peterson

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

Over the centuries, many religious thinkers — precisely because they are religious thinkers — have put a premium on intellectual attainment as a prerequisite for salvation. This has sometimes yielded an elitism or snobbishness that is utterly foreign to the teachings of the Savior. The Gospel as taught in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints values education and knowledge, certainly. But not unduly. Intellectuals, while heartily welcome among the Saints and, when faithful, much appreciated for their potential contributions to the Church, have no claim on any special status in the Kingdom simply because of their (real or …

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

It Came From Beyond, Daniel C. Peterson

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

The early Latter-day Saints viewed the Book of Mormon not only as a symbol of Joseph Smith’s prophetic calling but also as the most powerful evidence for that calling. However, perhaps because they were ardent believers in the Bible who had been formed in a distinctly Bible-drenched culture and perhaps also because many of them had come to the Book of Mormon relatively late in their lives, they tended to quote from the Nephite record only rarely. Surprisingly, this was the case even for Joseph Smith himself — which can be taken as a sign that he didn’t write the …

Reckoning With The Mortally Inevitable, Daniel C. Peterson

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

Every human enterprise — even the best, including science and scholarship — is marred by human weakness, by our inescapable biases, incapacities, limitations, preconceptions, and sometimes, yes, sins. It is a legacy of the Fall. With this in mind, we should approach even the greatest scientific, cultural, and academic achievements with both grateful appreciation and humility. J. B. Phillips’s rendition of Paul’s words at 1 Corinthians 13:12 captures the thought nicely: “At present we are men looking at puzzling reflections in a mirror. The time will come when we shall see reality whole and face to face! At present all …

Rawah, Rawah, Brandi Kilmer

TSOS Interview Gallery

No abstract provided.

A Note In Favor Of Rereading Great Works, Including The Scriptures, Daniel C. Peterson

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

When I was young, I learned an important lesson that has stayed with me through my life. This lesson has led me, on many occasions, to reread great works by great authors. The scriptures are no exceptions, and rereading them can be beneficial to any reader.

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, Jorge Baron, Maria Kolby-Wolfe, Kristen Smith Dayley, Twila Bird, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

The Northwest Immigrant Rights Program has been around for 35 years, started in 1984 specifically to help Central American refugees during the mid-1980s, when they were fleeing civil wars. A pro-bono group of attorneys performing "direct legal representation", helping low income community members who are navigating different aspects of the immigration system. NWIRP also engages in "systemic advocacy" which attempts to change systems and policies revolving around asylum and immigration rights.

Rafi & Patra, Rafi, Patra, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Rafi and his family have been stuck on the border between Greece and Macedonia for almost four months. They made their way from Afghanistan, received certificates in Greece to help them on their journey, but were then stopped at the border of Macedonia. The Macedonians said that they were no longer allowing Afghans into their country. Now all they can do is wait and hope. In Afghanistan,Rafi was a military man. As a young man, he was a part of the Revolution army, but later was made a soldier for the Government Security of Kabul. During that time, he was …

Marta, Marta, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Marta is a member of the support community for Central American refugees arriving in the southwest US. In this interview, Marta shares her own story of crossing the border at a young age with her daughter and her life in the US. Marta was self-employed for many years and later went on to serve in the US Army in Iraq. For the last 9 months, she and her husband Israel and son Josue have worked tirelessly to help make sure the current refugees arriving are cared for after they are released from detention centers and begin their lives in the …

Shamshur, Shamshur, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Shamshur has been in Cox’s Bazaar for 8 months and works in Hope Hospital (the camp hospital) as a traditional birth attendant. In addition, she makes house calls to pregnant women throughout the camp who are fearful of hospitals due to past trauma and sexual torture. Shamshur has nine children and a husband who is in prison.

Modina, Modina, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Modina fled Myanmar after experiencing and witnessing extreme violence, including the destruction of her village and the violent murder of her uncle by soldiers. She arrived in Bangladesh by boat after paying smugglers a large sum.

Nidar, Nidar, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Nidar has been in Cox’s Bazaar for 8 months and works in Hope Hospital (the camp hospital) as a traditional birth attendant. In addition, she makes house calls to pregnant women throughout the camp who are fearful of hospitals due to past trauma and sexual torture. Nidar has two children and a husband who fell victim to war.

Asma, Asma, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Asma is a teenager who fled from Myanmar after the army killed her uncle and her village was destroyed. She is now living in Cox’s Bazaar, married, pregnant, and trying to cope in a world where violence and rape are all too common.

Shobika, Shobika, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Shobika escaped Myanmar amid widespread chaos. After being separated from her husband and experiencing the kidnap of her two children, she was raped by soldiers and became pregnant. Her husband now rejects this child.