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Articles 31 - 60 of 123
Full-Text Articles in Mormon Studies
The Flimsiest Show On Earth, Blake T. Ostler
The Flimsiest Show On Earth, Blake T. Ostler
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Every so often an anti-Mormon book comes along that lowers the bar for attacks on the faith. How the Book of Mormon Came to Pass is one such work. It relies on speculation, conjecture, and tenuous connections to render, out of whole cloth, a hypothesis for the Book of Mormon’s creation that is almost laughable.
A Fitting Tribute To The Prophet Of The Restoration, Steven L. Olsen
A Fitting Tribute To The Prophet Of The Restoration, Steven L. Olsen
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Joseph Smith: A Life Lived in Crescendo is one of the most extensive and ambitious scholarly works on the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Its twenty-one essays address various issues relating to the culmination of the Prophet’s ministry. They provide diverse and profound insights worthy of examination by serious students of the latter-day Restoration.
Latter-Day Saint Theology And The Problem Of Evil, Val Larsen, Newell D. Wright
Latter-Day Saint Theology And The Problem Of Evil, Val Larsen, Newell D. Wright
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
The classical formulation of God as the sole, self-existent Being and ground of all that exists poses a philosophical problem. If God is omniscient and omnipotent, why does evil exist? Why does he not save humankind from moral and natural evil? If we embrace the full set of classical assumptions of creedal Christianity, these questions have no satisfactory answer and God cannot be absolved of responsibility for evil. This paper reviews and rejects several classical and modern philosophical formulations that try to solve the problem of evil. It then argues that the problem of evil dissolves if we accept Restoration …
Wonder No More: A Review Of Into Arabia, Brant A. Gardner
Wonder No More: A Review Of Into Arabia, Brant A. Gardner
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Into Arabia is a collected reprint of six articles. The first chapter reprints an article that first appeared in BYU Studies. The other five appeared in Interpreter. Both BYU Studies and Interpreter are peer-reviewed academic journals, which means that all these articles were examined and reviewed prior to publication. Thus, my review is more of a synopsis of the importance of each chapter rather than a detailed critique.
Easter As Threshold: Trauma, Transformation, And God’S Presence In Liminal Spaces, Joseph W. Green
Easter As Threshold: Trauma, Transformation, And God’S Presence In Liminal Spaces, Joseph W. Green
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Using the context of Easter, this personal essay explores perceptions of God’s presence and absence during human suffering. There is a theological thread that ties Christ’s suffering for our griefs and sorrows during his Atonement directly to his ability to succor us as we enter into despair due to our own trauma. Our suffering occurs during moments of transition and vulnerability known as “liminal spaces.” It is in these moments that the Savior meets us at the threshold, helping us move through trauma toward transformation in Christ. Our ability to move forward openly in liminal spaces will help us to …
Honorable Intentions With An Unreliable Methodology: Lucas’S Response Underscores The Problems, Jeff Lindsay
Honorable Intentions With An Unreliable Methodology: Lucas’S Response Underscores The Problems, Jeff Lindsay
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
James Lucas has made a passionate response to the negative review I offered for his and Jonathan Neville’s book By Means of Urim & Thummim. Though we agree on many important issues, there are some troubling gaps that readers of their book need to understand. Some of these issues may be illustrated in the methodology of Lucas’s response. In general, the unreliable methodology and its often extreme, unnuanced approach to dealing with complex, unclear issues must be challenged, as painful as that has been. The complaints in my review remain intact if not further underscored by Lucas’s response. The …
The Bands Of Death, The Chains Of Hell, And The Seed Motif, Noel Hudson
The Bands Of Death, The Chains Of Hell, And The Seed Motif, Noel Hudson
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
This article continues a discussion of the imagery, words, and phrases that make up a specific leitmotif, called the seed motif. Two instances of the seed motif found in Alma are discussed as a seemingly intentional diptych in which one narrative reflects the other, but in the negative. Five specific examples from the motif are examined in greater detail, with a look at their origin and usage throughout the record. The narrative of Abinadi is presented as a unique iteration of the seed motif wherein the concept of the bands of death is introduced. The paper concludes by discussing the …
Through A Glass Darkly: Was There A Twentieth-Century Corruption Of 1 Corinthians 13:12?, Charles Dike
Through A Glass Darkly: Was There A Twentieth-Century Corruption Of 1 Corinthians 13:12?, Charles Dike
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
This paper considers the well-known account of Paul having been struck blind on the road to Damascus and his equally well-known statement that “for now we see through a glass darkly.” Both are examined in light of a solar eclipse that occurred across the Mediterranean in AD 49. It is possible that Paul could have been referring to an experience of viewing the solar eclipse through a filter. The article provides an exploration of potential astronomical aids that may have been available to first-century viewers of the eclipse. Views of solar phenomenon are shown and then Jewish and Christian thoughts …
Joseph And Oliver Told The Truth About The Translation: A Response To Brant Gardner’S And Jeff Lindsay’S Reviews, James W. Lucas
Joseph And Oliver Told The Truth About The Translation: A Response To Brant Gardner’S And Jeff Lindsay’S Reviews, James W. Lucas
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Two recent reviews of By Means of the Urim & Thummim: Restoring Translation to the Restoration by Jeff Lindsay and Brant Gardner seriously misrepresent the book’s argument. Perhaps most significantly, they largely sidestep the book’s central thesis that the statements by Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery that the Book of Mormon was translated from the plates using the “Urim and Thummim” interpreters which God provided with the plates should be at the center of any account of the Book of Mormon’s production. Prioritizing problematic and unreliable seer stone accounts conflicts with the testimonies of these primary eyewitnesses, and thus is …
The Heavenly Lamb, Sacrifices On The Heavenly Altar, And The Song Of The Lamb, Meir Bar-Iian
The Heavenly Lamb, Sacrifices On The Heavenly Altar, And The Song Of The Lamb, Meir Bar-Iian
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
The symbolic image of the Lamb of God is well-known in the New Testament and The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. This image derives from the Old Testament, later adopted by early Christians. Words of Gad the Seer is an apocalyptic pseudepigraphal book written in pseudo-biblical Hebrew from a manuscript copied in the eighteenth century. After over thirty-three years of investigation, many aspects of this recently discovered text are coming to light. There are more than twenty similarities between this largely unknown book and the book of Revelation, though one was written by a Jewish man who became Christian …
The Literary Structure Of Alma 23–27, Derek Squire
The Literary Structure Of Alma 23–27, Derek Squire
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
This article presents a macro-chiasm for Alma 23:16 through Alma 27:30 that covers the account of the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi from the time they first take upon themselves that name to the time they relocate to the Nephite land of Jershon and are subsequently called the people of Ammon. The central element of this chiasm highlights the martyrdom of some Lamanite believers in the wilderness by the hand of the seed of Amulon in fulfillment of Abinadi’s prophecy in Mosiah 17:15. The meaning behind this puzzling prophecy may be illuminated by analyzing the structure of this macro-chiasm. It underscores the …
“Get Thou Up Into The Temple”: Receiving Revelation And Becoming Holy In The House Of The Lord, Matthew L. Bowen
“Get Thou Up Into The Temple”: Receiving Revelation And Becoming Holy In The House Of The Lord, Matthew L. Bowen
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Psalms 15:1–5, 24:2–3, and 48:1 [MT 2], as temple hymns of the Jerusalem Temple, are consistent with other texts such as Isaiah 2:2–3 and Genesis 22:14, which envision the holy temple as the “mountain of the Lord” into which one must ritually ascend. The examples of Moses, Nephi, Jacob, and others who ascended into this “mountain” demonstrate that this ascent facilitates the reception of divine revelation necessary in our mortal journey to become holy through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. This sacred ascent is necessary for our eventual, individual, and collective “perfection” in Christ, and it is one that he …
The Lamb Of God: A Note On The Significance Of Meir Bar-Ilan’S Paper For Latter-Day Saints, Jeff Lindsay
The Lamb Of God: A Note On The Significance Of Meir Bar-Ilan’S Paper For Latter-Day Saints, Jeff Lindsay
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Dr. Meir Bar-Ilan’s paper, “The Heavenly Lamb, Sacrifices on the Heavenly Altar, and the Song of the Lamb,” appearing concurrently in Interpreter, is a welcome contribution from a noted Jewish scholar. Bar-Ilan has called the world’s attention to a remarkable Hebrew manuscript with origins in antiquity, Words of Gad the Seer. Those interested in the relationship between Jewish texts and Latter-day Saint scriptures may also wish to compare the findings in Bar-Ilan’s paper with treatments of the Lamb of God in the Book of Mormon and the Book of Moses.
Front Matter
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
No abstract provided.
The Covenant Path Of The Ancient Temple In 2 Nephi 31:19–20, Jeffrey M. Bradshaw
The Covenant Path Of The Ancient Temple In 2 Nephi 31:19–20, Jeffrey M. Bradshaw
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
In this article, I discuss how the ancient analogue to what President Nelson has called “the covenant path” might be seen in the Book of Mormon and elsewhere in scripture not so much as a journey of covenant-keeping that takes us to the temple but as a journey that takes us through the temple. Throughout the Book of Mormon, observant readers will find not only the general outline of the doctrine of Christ but also corresponding details about the covenant path as represented in temple layout and furnishings. Nowhere is this truth better illustrated than in 2 Nephi 31:19–20 where …
Chiasmus In The Book Of Jarom, Stephen Kent Ehat
Chiasmus In The Book Of Jarom, Stephen Kent Ehat
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Jarom strongly evidences the use of chiasmus to structure his short book. This paper seeks to uncover, display, and discuss the chiastic patterning of the book and hopefully suggests an enhanced understanding of the hidden beauty and deep meaning of this brief but important text. The book of Jarom indeed offers more than what may otherwise be revealed by only a cursory reading of its fifteen verses. Awareness of the chiastic pattern of the text reinforces an understanding of Jarom’s important message.
Prepping For The Last Battle, Daniel C. Peterson
Prepping For The Last Battle, Daniel C. Peterson
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Intellectually acute, deeply learned, brilliantly imaginative, yet popular and easily accessible, C. S. Lewis was arguably the greatest Christian apologist of at least the past century. I believe that Latter-day Saints can benefit greatly from reading him and re-reading him and that those who are unfamiliar with his writing have an enviable treat awaiting them. I’m also convinced, by my own experience, that those who return to his work after having read some of it once, long ago, will find his books at least as good as they seemed on first acquaintance. In fact, they may even find, as I …
Die Prophezeiung Henochs: Some Observations On Section 36 In The German Edition Of The Community Of Christ Doctrine And Covenants, Adam O. Stokes
Die Prophezeiung Henochs: Some Observations On Section 36 In The German Edition Of The Community Of Christ Doctrine And Covenants, Adam O. Stokes
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Multiple translations of the Doctrine and Covenants into German have been produced over the past century and a half. This essay looks at a more recent example of these translations as found in the Buch der Lehre und Bündnisse published electronically by the Community of Christ. Focusing on Community of Christ Doctrine and Covenants 36, the revelation of Zion to Enoch, the essay compares and contrasts the German text with its Vorlage. It also notes the ways in which the German translation attempts to “de-problematize” its source material, particularly in regard to its references to blackness and the racial implications …
A Deep Dive On War, Craig L. Foster
A Deep Dive On War, Craig L. Foster
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Morgan Deane’s To Stop a Slaughter: Just War and the Book of Mormon defines and discusses the concepts of war in the Book of Mormon and places “just war” within a larger context. The various aspects of just war and its impact are compared to the teachings and writings of scholars and philosophers from the early Church Fathers to Chinese military strategists. This interesting and informative book helps Latter-day Saints understand when war is necessary and justified.
A Plain Exposition Of Book Of Mormon English By Means Of Short Questions And Informed Answers, Standford Carmack
A Plain Exposition Of Book Of Mormon English By Means Of Short Questions And Informed Answers, Standford Carmack
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Because many questions have arisen regarding the discovery of real early modern influence in the dictated language of the Book of Mormon, some of these are considered and answered in this essay. The answers reflect insights from an exploration of the data that drove the conclusions published in previous papers. Numerous considerations independently indicate that the Book of Mormon was dictated in language that cannot be explained as a mere imitation of King James linguistic style, nor as Joseph Smith’s Yankee dialect. While the reasons for this and the processes that may have led to such results are open for …
Ring In The Christ That Is To Be: Fulfilling The Pattern Of His Life, Don Bradley
Ring In The Christ That Is To Be: Fulfilling The Pattern Of His Life, Don Bradley
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
The story of Christ, and of Christmas, is the story of Christ “the Lord God Omnipotent” incarnating in “a tabernacle of clay” (Mosiah 3:5). Christ took upon himself flesh so that he might also take upon himself burdens that he did not naturally have to bear—our burdens—in order to relieve us of those burdens. Christ, according to the scriptures, voluntarily “takes upon him” our pains, our sicknesses, death, our infirmities, and our sins (Alma 7:7–13). Unlike Christ, ordinary human beings do not “take upon them death” and bodily infirmity, but are, like king Benjamin, “subject to” them (Mosiah 2:11). In …
What Happened To Nephi At The Camp Of The Broken Bow? A Book Of Mormon Mystery, Godfrey J. Ellis
What Happened To Nephi At The Camp Of The Broken Bow? A Book Of Mormon Mystery, Godfrey J. Ellis
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
No abstract provided.
The “Allegory” Of Ruth As A Prophecy Of Latter-Day Gathering, Jan Francisco
The “Allegory” Of Ruth As A Prophecy Of Latter-Day Gathering, Jan Francisco
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
n the historical context of the late fifth century BC, the book of Ruth was a powerful story of hope and redemption for the eventual gathering and restoration of Israel’s covenants. Connecting their golden period of unity under King David to this idyllic tale with a beautiful happy ending may be more than a family story. It could also be read allegorically to prophesy the promised gathering of Israel by the Gentiles in the Latter-days. The key to understanding the symbolic layer of this story lies in deciphering the Hebrew meanings of the characters’ names, with Naomi representing the Israelites, …
Finding Nephi’S Ore, Bradley R. Larsen
Finding Nephi’S Ore, Bradley R. Larsen
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Khor Kharfot and Wadi Sayq are in the region that has become the premiere candidate for Nephi’s Old-World Bountiful. Out of the several matching criteria that has led to this opinion, the one that may be the weakest has been the identification of readily available ore in the area that Nephi could have used to manufacture the tools necessary to build his ship. This investigation, conducted in February 2023, found several distinct examples of iron ores suitable for ”smelting” in the form of float, all pointing to deposits yet to be located. Additionally, I review the investigation of Dr. Revell …
“Behold, I Went To Hunt Beasts In The Forest”: An Addendum On Enos, Esau, And The Symbolic Geography Of Seir, Matthew L. Bowen
“Behold, I Went To Hunt Beasts In The Forest”: An Addendum On Enos, Esau, And The Symbolic Geography Of Seir, Matthew L. Bowen
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Enos’s use of the onomastic wordplay in the Jacob and Esau cycle enables him to meaningfully allude to the symbolic geography of those stories and incorporate it into his New World setting (e.g., allusions to the river Jabbok and Peniel/Penuel, the site of Jacob’s “wrestle” with the divine “man”). A third instance of this type of allusion occurs with Enos’s recollection that he “went to hunt beasts in the forest[s]” (Enos 1:3), which appears to subtly allude to Mount Seir, the forested hill country in the land of Edom inhabited by Esau and his descendants.
“Our Hands Have Handled”: Ensuring The Reassuring Doctrine Of The Resurrection In The Lucan And Johannine Writings, Matthew L. Bowen
“Our Hands Have Handled”: Ensuring The Reassuring Doctrine Of The Resurrection In The Lucan And Johannine Writings, Matthew L. Bowen
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
The Lucan and Johannine writings emphasize the literalness and physicality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This emphasis does not represent an emerging Christology from an earlier, inchoate conception of Jesus and the meaning of his life. Rather, it reflects an effort to defend the doctrine of the resurrection—of Christ and humanity—against the increasing cultural and intellectual pressures of middle Platonism. Nephi’s vision of the tree of life, which included seeing a “great and abominable church” and its formation among “the nations of the Gentiles” (1 Nephi 13:4–9) matches well with late first- and second-century apostate movements that “made war” …
Verbal Punctuation In The Book Of Mormon Iii—Behold, John Gee
Verbal Punctuation In The Book Of Mormon Iii—Behold, John Gee
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
As an ancient book, the Book of Mormon employed verbal punctuation rather than typographical punctuation. An example of this verbal punctuation is the word behold, which is used in the Book of Mormon to point things out, to highlight unexpected effects of situations, and to modify a previously expressed proposition. This corresponds to ancient Hebrew usage. Joseph Smith’s usage from the time the Book of Mormon was produced, however, differs in both its frequency and how it was used, even when Joseph Smith was consciously trying to imitate the Book of Mormon.
Perspectives On The Soteriological Problem Of Evil: Nuancing The “Universalist” Theologies Of Henri De Lubac And Joseph Smith, Timothy Gervais
Perspectives On The Soteriological Problem Of Evil: Nuancing The “Universalist” Theologies Of Henri De Lubac And Joseph Smith, Timothy Gervais
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Since the discovery of the new world by Christian European explorers during the age of discovery, the increasingly global community of the modern age has confronted Christian theologians with difficult soteriological questions. These questions have caused many Christian adherents to abandon conceptions of a uniquely Christian salvation in favor of theological positions of religious pluralism. Other Christian theologians have confronted these issues through creative inclusivist theological constructs that expand the offer of salvation to those who may not have professed Christianity in their mortal life. These inclusivist theologies are uniquely suited to address modern concerns about the salvation of non-believers …
A Closer Look At Transliterations In Divine Translations, Spencer Kraus
A Closer Look At Transliterations In Divine Translations, Spencer Kraus
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
The Book of Mormon contains many words left untranslated by Joseph Smith, such as cureloms, cumoms, senine, and ziff. While some might wonder why these words are left untranslated, a closer examination of the kinds of words that are simply transliterated as well as the frequency at which these phenomena occur provide evidence that Joseph Smith actually had an ancient record that he was translating into English. In this paper, I examine why some words have been transliterated in historical translations of the Bible or other ancient texts and compare these explanations to the Book of …
Looking Again At The Anthon Transcript(S), John S. Thompson
Looking Again At The Anthon Transcript(S), John S. Thompson
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
The official account of Martin Harris’s visit to Charles Anthon, canonized in the Pearl of Great Price, suggests that Anthon may have been shown more than one transcript by Harris. The differing responses of Anthon to each of these transcripts may shed light on the kinds of characters he was shown and provide additional perspectives that can help clarify a little more what is happening in the historical sources.