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Articles 271 - 300 of 326
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Reading 1 Nephi With Wisdom, Taylor Halverson
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
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
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.
“O Ye Fair Ones” — Revisited, Matthew L. Bowen
“O Ye Fair Ones” — Revisited, Matthew L. Bowen
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
No abstract provided.
Joseph Smith And The Doctrine Of Sealing, A. Keith Thompson
Joseph Smith And The Doctrine Of Sealing, A. Keith Thompson
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Brian Hales has observed that we cannot understand Joseph Smith’s marriage practices in Nauvoo without understanding the related theology. However, he implies that we are hampered in coming to a complete understanding of that theology because the only primary evidence we have of that theology is the revelation now recorded as Section 132 of the Doctrine and Covenants and a few entries in William Clayton’s journal. This paper argues that we have more primary evidence about Joseph Smith’s sealing theology than we realize. The accounts we have of the First Vision and of Moroni’s first visits in 1823 have references …
The Treason Of The Geographers: Mythical “Mesoamerican” Conspiracy And The Book Of Mormon, Matthew Roper
The Treason Of The Geographers: Mythical “Mesoamerican” Conspiracy And The Book Of Mormon, Matthew Roper
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
The claim that God revealed the details of Book of Mormon geography is not new, but the recent argument that there was a conspiracy while the Prophet was still alive to oppose a revealed geography is a novel innovation. A recent theory argues that the “Mesoamerican theory” or “limited Mesoamerican geography” originated in 1841 with Benjamin Winchester, an early Mormon missionary, writer, and dissident, who rejected the leadership of Brigham Young and the Twelve after 1844. This theory also claims that three unsigned editorials on Central America and the Book of Mormon published in the Times and Seasons on September …
A Response To Denver Snuffer’S Essay On Plural Marriage, Adoption, And The Supposed Falling Away Of The Church Part 2: Façade Or Reality?, Brian C. Hales
A Response To Denver Snuffer’S Essay On Plural Marriage, Adoption, And The Supposed Falling Away Of The Church Part 2: Façade Or Reality?, Brian C. Hales
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Part 2 of this response to Denver Snuffer’s essay entitled “Plural Marriage” posted on March 22, 2015, will primarily address non-plural marriage issues as discussed in the last twenty pages.1 Snuffer’s portrayal of adoption teachings and practices is analyzed and shown to be in error, along with his interpretation of presiding priesthood quorums as described in the Doctrine and Covenants. His primary thesis, that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is in apostasy, is also examined including Snuffer’s personal need for the Church to have fallen away in order to create an opening for his new visionary voice. …
Profound Depth In A Slender Book, Kevin Christensen
Profound Depth In A Slender Book, Kevin Christensen
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Occasionally, an LDS author puts out a slender little book that displays a profound depth and insight that belies its size. Truman Madsen’s Eternal Man is one such book, one that forever changed the way I viewed the faith in which I was raised. In that case, Madsen asked a set of basic philosophical questions and compared the LDS answers with those provided by a range of non-LDS and generally famous philosophers. Madsen commented in his preface that
Not Leaving And Going On To Perfection, Matthew L. Bowen
Not Leaving And Going On To Perfection, Matthew L. Bowen
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
In his most recent book, First Principles and Ordinances: The Fourth Article of Faith in Light of the Temple (hereafter First Principles), Samuel M. Brown observes that “the Plan of Salvation [is] fundamentally about relationships.”1 This recognition drove the prophet Joseph Smith and early Church members to “forge communities [of saints] that could endure beyond the veil of death” (151). Today, the importance of the temple and its ordinances to family relationships, eternal in their design, are clear to most Latter-day Saints. However, our collective view of the meaning of the principles and ordinances that precede the temple — and …
Heartland As Hinterland: The Mesoamerican Core And North American Periphery Of Book Of Mormon Geography, Mark Alan Wright
Heartland As Hinterland: The Mesoamerican Core And North American Periphery Of Book Of Mormon Geography, Mark Alan Wright
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
The best available evidence for the Book of Mormon continues to support a limited Mesoamerican model. However, Alma 63 indicates that there was a massive northward migration in the mid-first century bc. I argue that these north-bound immigrants spread out over the centuries and established settlements that were geographically distant from the core Nephite area, far beyond the scope of the text of the Book of Mormon. I introduce the Hinterland Hypothesis and argue that it can harmonize the Mesoamerican evidence for the Book of Mormon with Joseph Smith’s statements concerning Nephite and Lamanite material culture in North America. Archaeological …
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.
Sustaining The Brethren, Duane Boyce
Sustaining The Brethren, Duane Boyce
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Believing Latter-day Saints hold different views about what it means to sustain the presiding Brethren of the Church. In this article, I outline some considerations that might be kept in mind as members of the Church evaluate their views on this vital topic and the Lord’s admonition to sustain the Brethren by their faith, prayers, and actions.
Rediscovering The First Vision, Neal Rappleye
Rediscovering The First Vision, Neal Rappleye
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
The First Vision: A Harmonization of Ten Accounts from the Sacred Grove is a small book, richly illustrated, which provides even the most diligent students of the vision with a fresh and rewarding experience. Boasting a back dust jacket endorsement from none other than Richard Bushman — the dean of Joseph Smith scholars in the early twenty-first century1 — this small, stylishly designed book is, in my opinion, the best way to introduce Latter-day Saints to the various accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision.
Full Issue
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
No abstract provided.
A Welcome Introduction, Gregory L. Smith
A Welcome Introduction, Gregory L. Smith
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Brian C. Hales has established himself as an authority on Latter-day Saint plural marriage. Following his initial award-winning work on “fundamentalist” plural marriage,2 Hales produced an impressive and exhaustive three-volume history of Joseph Smith’s polygamy and its attendant theology.3 (Throughout the review, when referring to this longer work, I will denominate it JSP.)
References
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
No abstract provided.
John Bernhisel’S Gift To A Prophet: Incidents Of Travel In Central America And The Book Of Mormon, Matthew Roper
John Bernhisel’S Gift To A Prophet: Incidents Of Travel In Central America And The Book Of Mormon, Matthew Roper
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
The claim that God revealed the details of Book of Mormon geography is not new, but the recent argument that there was a conspiracy while the Prophet was still alive to oppose a revealed geography is a novel innovation. A recent theory argues that the “Mesoamerican theory” or “limited Mesoamerican geography” originated in 1841 with Benjamin Winchester, an early Mormon missionary, writer, and dissident, who rejected the leadership of Brigham Young and the Twelve after 1844. This theory also claims that three unsigned editorials on Central America and the Book of Mormon published in the Times and Seasons on September …
Dissenters: Portraying The Church As Wrong So They Can Be Right Without It, Brian C. Hales
Dissenters: Portraying The Church As Wrong So They Can Be Right Without It, Brian C. Hales
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
This essay addresses the reasons many persons have left The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In particular, there are those who publicly assert the Church is not led by inspired leaders so they can feel at peace about their decision to leave it. One common argument used to justify their estrangement is the “Samuel Principle,” which ostensibly would require God to allow his followers on earth to go astray if they chose any level of unrighteousness. Problems with this interpretation are presented including examples from religious history that show that God’s primary pattern has been to call his …
The Case For The Documentary Hypothesis, Historical Criticism, And The Latter-Day Saints, Colby J. Townsend
The Case For The Documentary Hypothesis, Historical Criticism, And The Latter-Day Saints, Colby J. Townsend
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Bokovoy’s new volume substantiates the claim that faithful Latter-day Saint students of Holy Scripture can apply the knowledge and methods gained through academic studies to the Bible.
Full Issue
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
No abstract provided.
Some Notes On Faith And Reason, Daniel C. Peterson
Some Notes On Faith And Reason, Daniel C. Peterson
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Philosophers and theologians, believers and unbelievers, friends to faith and enemies, scientists, historians — these and many others have devoted a very great deal of time and attention for centuries to the relationship between faith and reason.
The Inevitability Of Epistemology In Historiography: Theory, History, And Zombie Mormon History, Alan Goff
The Inevitability Of Epistemology In Historiography: Theory, History, And Zombie Mormon History, Alan Goff
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Fundamental changes have occurred in the historical profession over the past thirty years. The central revolutionary change is that workers in the historical profession can no longer ignore theory and philosophy of history. A built-in resistance to theory causes historians to abjure philosophical analysis of their discipline at a time when such analysis is recognized to be indispensable. If one doesn’t have an explicit theory, one will appropriate one uncritically, without the felt need to articulate and defend the theory. The dominant theory in history over the past century has been positivism, a conception of disciplinary work that ruled history …
Founded Upon A Rock: Doctrinal And Temple Implications Of Peter’S Surnaming, Matthew L. Bowen
Founded Upon A Rock: Doctrinal And Temple Implications Of Peter’S Surnaming, Matthew L. Bowen
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
The famous Petros/petra wordplay in Matthew 16:18 does not constitute Jesus’s identification of Peter as the “rock” upon which his church would be built. This wordplay does however identify him with that “rock” or “bedrock” inasmuch as Peter, a small “seer-stone,” had the potential to become like the Savior himself, “the Rock of ages.” One aspect of that “rock” is the revelation that comes through faith that Jesus is the Christ. Other aspects of that same rock are the other principles and ordinances of the gospel, including temple ordinances. The temple, a symbol of the Savior and his body, is …
Full Issue
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
No abstract provided.
Book Of Mormon Minimalists And The Nhm Inscriptions: A Response To Dan Vogel, Neal Rappleye, Stephen O. Smoot
Book Of Mormon Minimalists And The Nhm Inscriptions: A Response To Dan Vogel, Neal Rappleye, Stephen O. Smoot
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Biblical “minimalists” have sought to undermine or deemphasize the significance of the Tel Dan inscription attesting to the existence of the “house of David.” Similarly, those who might be called Book of Mormon “minimalists” such as Dan Vogel have marshaled evidence to try to make the nhm inscriptions from south Arabia, corresponding to the Book of Mormon Nahom, seem as irrelevant as possible. We show why the nhm inscriptions still stand as impressive evidence for the historicity of the Book of Mormon
The Sibling Scandals Of The Resurrection, Daniel C. Peterson
The Sibling Scandals Of The Resurrection, Daniel C. Peterson
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
I’ve recently picked Stephen T. Davis’s Risen Indeed: Making Sense of the Resurrection up again.1 It’s an impressive book that had a pivotal effect on my thinking when it first appeared. Davis, the Russell K. Pitzer Professor of Philosophy at Claremont McKenna College in California, argues that “Christians are within their intellectual rights in believing that Jesus was raised from the dead.”2 “The thesis of the book,” he explains, “is that the two central Christian resurrection claims — namely, that Jesus was bodily raised from the dead and that we will all be raised from the dead — are defensible …
The Book With The Unintentionally Self-Referential Title, Brant A. Gardner
The Book With The Unintentionally Self-Referential Title, Brant A. Gardner
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Earl M. Wunderli has written a book that works through the reasons he fell out of belief in the Book of Mormon. These are combined with issues that he has added to his original reasons. His presentation is clearly intended to suggest that what he found compelling will also be compelling to other readers. Should it? This review looks at how his arguments are constructed: his methodology, the logic of the analysis, and the way he uses his sources. Although he argues that it is the Book of Mormon that is the imperfect book, his construction of the arguments makes …
“What Thank They The Jews”? (2 Nephi 29:4): A Note On The Name “Judah” And Antisemitism, Matthew L. Bowen
“What Thank They The Jews”? (2 Nephi 29:4): A Note On The Name “Judah” And Antisemitism, Matthew L. Bowen
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
The Hebrew Bible explains the meaning of the personal and tribal name “Judah”—from which the term “Jews” derives—in terms of “praising” or “thanking” (*ydy/ ydh). In other words, the “Jews” are those who are to be “praised out of a feeling of gratitude.” This has important implications for the Lord’s words to Nephi regarding Gentile ingratitude and antisemitism: “And what thank they the Jews for the Bible which they receive from them?” (2 Nephi 29:4). Gentile Christian antisemitism, like the concomitant doctrine of supersessionism, can be traced (in part) to widespread misunderstanding and misapplication of Paul’s words regarding Jews and …