Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Providing A Better Understanding For All Concerning The History Of Joseph Smith’S Polygamy, Suzanne Long Foster

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

I grew up in a family that discussed Joseph Smith’s polygamy relatively openly. Don’t get me wrong: it wasn’t a topic brought up while we were eating dinner, but when we talked about our genealogy it was almost inevitably mentioned. This is because I am descended by blood through Brigham Young, but my sealing lines are through Joseph Smith. I am a descendent of Emily Partridge, and her children were considered to be Joseph Smith’s even though they were born many years after the martyrdom. I am sure when I was really young, I didn’t understand the reasoning behind that, …

From One New Teacher To Another: How To Be A Hero Without Losing Yourself, Jade Weinheimer

The Utah English Journal

Whether new to the ranks or a seasoned veteran, it's hard to forget those first few years of your teaching career-mine have been burned into my memory like a brand on cattle. The policy information overloads, the crippling case of Imposter's Syndrome, the sleepless nights, the tower of essays to grade, the classroom management fiascos, the lesson plan flops, and meetings, meetings, meetings. These things can be the stuff of nightmares.

Motivation In Guided Reading: Effects On Upper Grade Readers, Margie Jordan, Stephanie Galt

The Utah English Journal

After coaching teachers on ways to improve guided reading practice for the last two years and watching both teachers and students as they struggle and succeed in increasing reading awareness, we began to notice a pattern. It wasn't a pretty one.

Delno C. West Award Winner (2015)

Quidditas

Elizabeth Dolly Weber

The West Award recognizes the most distinguished paper given by a senior scholar at the annual conference.

John L. Sorenson’S Complete Legacy: Reviewing Mormon’S Codex, Brant A. Gardner, Mark Alan Wright

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

Mormon’s Codex: An Ancient American Book is unquestionably a monument to an impressive career defending, defining, and explaining the Book of Mormon. John L. Sorenson has been for the New World setting of the Book of Mormon what Hugh Nibley was for the Old World setting. From his earliest 1952 publications using anthropology and geography to defend the Book of Mormon to the 2013 publication of Mormon’s Codex, Sorenson has been the dominant force in shaping scholarly discussions about the Book of Mormon in its New World setting.1 With an impressive 714 pages of text with footnotes, Mormon’s Codex is …

Why The Oxford English Dictionary (And Not Webster’S 1828), Stanford Carmack

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

In order to properly consider possible meaning in the Book of Mormon (BofM), we must use the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Royal Skousen opened the door to this approach,1 but unfortunately many have resisted accepting it as valid or have not understood the advantages inherent in it. The usual method of consulting Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language has serious drawbacks. First, that approach is based on the incorrect assumption that the English language of the text is Joseph Smith’s own language or what he knew from reading the King James Bible (kjb). That incorrect assumption leads us …

Book Review: The Start Of Me And You, Adrianne Larsen

The Utah English Journal

Paige believes that if she could just check each item off of her to-do list, then things could be normal again; she could be normal again. Included on the list are dating, traveling, finding new friends, and swimming. While the to-do items may look simple, they prove to be more elusive than Paige thought. Making changes and moving forward are the lessons Emery Lord grapples with in her novel, The Start of Me and You. As Paige, the protagonist, attempts to clear her "begin again" check list, as she calls it, she realizes that some things in life are a …

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

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.

The Integration Of Temples And Families: A Latter-Day Saint Structure Or The Jacob Cycle, Jamie J. Huston

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

Scholars from many religious backgrounds — including Latter-day Saints--have noted both temple themes and parallel structures in the Jacob Cycle (Genesis 28–35). T he present paper surveys that body of work and then offers a new structural understanding of the text, one that is uniquely LDS. This interpretation focuses on the entwining of temple and family themes in the narrative, showing how the form of the text uses each to support the other

Christmas Is About A Baby, Orson Scott Card

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

When I was a child, I completely understood all the Santa Claus stuff. No great moment of disillusionment, because my parents were wise enough to let us help create the illusion for the younger kids as soon as we were old enough.

What Command Syntax Tells Us About Book Of Mormon Authorship, Stanford Carmack

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

The variety of command syntax found in the Book of Mormon is very different from what is seen in the King James Bible. Yet it is sophisticated and principled, evincing Early Modern English linguistic competence. Interestingly, the syntactic match between the 1829 text and a prominent text from the late 15th century is surprisingly good. All the evidence indicates that Joseph Smith would not have produced the structures found in the text using the King James Bible as a model, nor from his own language. The overall usage profile of command syntax seen in the Book of Mormon strongly supports …

Tyndale Versus More In The Book Of Mormon, Royal Skousen

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

In 1526 William Tyndale’s English-language The New Testa ment started showing up in England, printed in the Low Lands and smuggled into England because it was an illegal book. It represented an unapproved translation of the scriptures into the English language. In theory, a translation would have been allowed if the Church had approved it in advance. In reality, the Church was not interested in any translation of the scriptures since that would allow lay readers to interpret the scriptures on their own and to come to different conclusions regarding Church practices and doctrine. Moreover, scripture formed a fundamental role …

“Most Desirable Above All Things”: Onomastic Play On Mary And Mormon In The Book Of Mormon, Matthew L. Bowen

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

The names Mary and Mormon most plausibly derive from the Egyptian word mr(i), “love, desire, [or] wish.” Mary denotes “beloved [i.e., of deity]” and is thus conceptually connected with divine love, while Mormon evidently denotes “desire/love is enduring.” The text of the Book of Mormon manifests authorial awareness of the meanings of both names, playing on them in multiple instances. Upon seeing Mary (“the mother of God,” 1 Nephi 11:18, critical text) bearing the infant Messiah in her arms in vision, Nephi, who already knew that God “loveth his children,” came to understand that the meaning of the fruit-bearing tree …

Front Matter

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

No abstract provided.

Who Was Sherem?, A. Keith Thompson

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

The Book of Mormon’s first anti-Christ, Sherem, “came among” the Nephites before their first generation was ended. Because he was an eloquent believer in the Law of Moses, there has been a variety of surmise as to his background. Was he a Lamanite, or a Jaredite or Mulekite trader? Was his presence among the separated Nephites evidence of early interaction between the Nephites and other civilisations in Nephite lands from the time of their first arrival? This short article reviews the various suggestions about Sherem’s identity and suggests he was most likely a descendant of the original Lehite party but …

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.

The Implications Of Past-Tense Syntax In The Book Of Mormon, Stanford Carmack

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

In the middle of the 16th century there was a short-lived surge in the use of the auxiliary did to express the affirmative past tense in English, as in Moroni «did arrive» with his army to the land of Bountiful (Alma 52:18). The 1829 Book of Mormon contains nearly 2,000 instances of this particular syntax, using it 27% of the time in past-tense contexts. The 1611 King James Bible — which borrowed heavily from Tyndale’s biblical translations of the 1520s and ’30s — employs this syntax less than 2% of the time. While the Book of Mormon’s rate is significantly …

Reflections Of Urim: Hebrew Poetry Sheds Light On The Directors Interpreters Mystery, Stan Spencer

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

In the early editions of the Book of Mormon, Alma refers to the Nephite interpreters as directors. Because director(s) elsewhere refers to the brass ball that guided Lehi’s family through the wilderness, Alma’s use of the term was apparently considered a mistake, and directors was changed to interpreters for the 1920 edition of the Book of Mormon. There are reasons, however, to believe that Alma’s use of directors was intentional. I present contextual evidence that Alma was actually using the Hebrew word urim, which was later translated into English as directors (for the interpreters) and director (for the brass ball), …

Restoring The Original Text Of The Book Of Mormon, Royal Shousen

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

The Book of Mormon Critical Text Project, under the editorship of Royal Skousen, began in 1988 and is now nearing completion. In 2001, facsimile transcripts of the two Book of Mormon manuscripts (volumes 1 and 2 of the critical text) were published by the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS). From 2004 to 2009 the six books of volume 4 of the critical text, Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon, were published, also by FARMS. Parts 1 and 2 of volume 3 of the critical text, The History of the Text of the Book of …

Where In Cincinnati Was The Third Edition Of The Book Of Mormon Printed?, Chris Miasnik

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

The third edition of the Book of Mormon was stereotyped and printed in Cincinnati in 1840. The story of the Church’s printer, Ebenezer Robinson, accomplishing this mission has been available since 1883. What has remained a mystery is exactly where in Cincinnati this event took place; there is no plaque marking the spot, no walking tour pamphlet, no previous images, and its history contains conflicting documentation. This article will attempt to untangle the mystery by using old descriptions, maps of the area, and images. I also honor the printer, Edwin Shepard, whose metal and ink made this edition a reality.

A Redemptive Reading Of Mark 5:25-34, Julie M. Smith

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

In what is surely one of the saddest tales in the Bible, Jephthah vows that if granted success in battle, he will sacrifice the first person to cross the threshold of his home upon his return. Tragically, it is his only child, a daughter, who hurries out to meet him (Judges 11:29-34). New Testament scholar Mary Ann Beavis shows that this harrowing text has many similarities to the story of Jairus and his daughter in the Gospel of Mark (5:21-24 and 35-43).1 Mark’s story, however, has a joyous outcome: Jairus intercedes for his daughter, and Jesus raises her from the …

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.

Lehi The Smelter: New Light On Lehi’S Profession, Neal Rappleye

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

A strong case has been made by John A. Tvedtnes and Jeffrey R. Chadwick that Lehi was a metalworker by profession.1 Although the text gives several indications of Nephi’s (and by implications, Lehi’s) familiarity with the craft of working metals, prominent Book of Mormon scholar John L. Sorenson nonetheless disagreed with this assessment on the grounds that, “it would be highly unlikely that a man who had inherited land and was considered very wealthy (1 Nephi 3:25) would have been a metalworker, for the men in that role tended to be of lower social status and were usually landless.”2 More …

Getting Cain And Gain, Matthew L. Bowen

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

The biblical etiology (story of origin) for the name “Cain” associates his name with the Hebrew verb qny/qnh, “to get,” “gain,” “acquire,” “create,” or “procreate” in a positive sense. A fuller form of this etiology, known to us indirectly through the Book of Mormon text and directly through the restored text of the Joseph Smith Translation, creates additional wordplay on “Cain” that associates his name with murder to “get gain.” This fuller narrative is thus also an etiology for organized evil—secret combinations “built up to get power and gain” (Ether 8:22–23; 11:15). The original etiology exerted a tremendous influence on …

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Three Streams Of Gratitude For Jesus, Mitt Romney

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

Three streams of gratitude for Jesus have arisen during my lifetime. The first crested when as a child, fearing polio or tornadoes or intruders, I learned that “Jesus loves me.” Not only did “the Bible tell me so,” but also my mother and my Bishop. I felt Jesus looking down on me, protecting me, caring for me, answering my prayers. As life progressed, I came to learn that Jesus would not always intervene to shield me from the trials and travails of life, but I knew that He loved me and cared.

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.)