Part 1 ⎜Part 2⎜Part 3A⎜Part 3b⎜Part 3C⎜Part 3D ⎜Part 3E ⎜Part 4⎜Part 5⎜Part 6⎜Part 7⎜Part 8⎜Postscript Misrepresentations of Historical Sources Zion, America, and the “Choice Land” On April 8, 1844 during a Church conference the Prophet Joseph Smith announced a revelation that all America was Zion. The Manuscript History of Joseph Smith records the following: You know very … Read more
Part 1 ⎜Part 2⎜Part 3A⎜Part 3b⎜Part 3C⎜Part 3D ⎜Part 3E ⎜Part 4⎜Part 5⎜Part 6⎜Part 7⎜Part 8⎜Postscript Misrepresentations of Historical Sources “This land,” “this country,” and “this continent” of America The Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon (AEBOM) quotes nineteenth century Latter-day Saint sources speaking of “this land,” “this country,” or “this continent” of America being the location … Read more
Part 1 ⎜Part 2⎜Part 3A⎜Part 3b⎜Part 3C⎜Part 3D ⎜Part 3E ⎜Part 4⎜Part 5⎜Part 6⎜Part 7⎜Part 8⎜Postscript Forgeries, Unprovenanced Artifacts, and Pseudo-Archaeology Latter-day Saints who accept the historicity of the Book of Mormon have long sought external archaeological verification for ancient Nephites and Lamanites. Whether out of a desire to “prove” the Book of Mormon is true or bolster … Read more
Part 1 ⎜Part 2⎜Part 3A⎜Part 3b⎜Part 3C⎜Part 3D ⎜Part 3E ⎜Part 4⎜Part 5⎜Part 6⎜Part 7⎜Part 8⎜Postscript Introduction Review of David R. Hocking and Rodney L. Meldrum, eds., Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City, Utah: Digital Legend Publishing, 2018). 583 pp. $69.95 (hardcover). Preface Readers of this blog know that I have not made my disapproval of … Read more
On March 19, 2018, the website MormonLeaks published an audio recording of a conversation between Joseph L. Bishop and a then-unidentified woman. Bishop was the former president of the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah. The woman in the audio recording confronted Bishop with claims that he attempted to rape her while she attended … Read more
John Hamer, a Community of Christ pastor and cartographer, recently went on John Dehlin’s podcast Mormon Stories and made the following observation: It’s not only that it’s academically impossible to justify arguing that the Book of Mormon is an ancient text, it’s actually an ongoing contribution to the injustice, the racism, imperialism, and genocide that … Read more
The ascendency of Russell M. Nelson to the presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on January 14, 2018 was met in some corners with fear and trembling. In a post at the popular blog By Common Consent that was eventually deleted, one blogger flatly declared that “President Nelson is particularly unfit … Read more
In the true spirit of the vapid, infantilizing, click-baity, intellectually-stifling Internet garbage of BuzzFeed, Zelph on the Shelf has a helpful list of “59 Positives to Leaving the LDS Church.” It’s a quality list as far as shallow, attention-seeking, desperate-to-be-cool Internet lists go. But I couldn’t help but notice that several more positives to leaving … Read more
In a recent post I showed that President Russell M. Nelson’s recent General Conference talk on the correct name of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not outside of the mainstream of Latter-day Saint discourse on this point. This morning while doing research on another topic I came across Elder Orson Hyde‘s … Read more
Embedded in Jacob’s discourse on the scattering and restoration of Israel is this prophecy: But behold, this land, said God, shall be a land of thine inheritance, and the Gentiles shall be blessed upon the land. And this land shall be a land of liberty unto the Gentiles, and there shall be no kings upon … Read more
During the 188th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Russell M. Nelson delivered an address to the membership of the Church in which he stressed the importance of “The Correct Name of the Church.” These remarks came amidst much discussion surrounding an announcement President Nelson had made two months … Read more
Last week I attended part of the 22nd International Book of Mormon Evidences Conference hosted by the FIRM Foundation. One of the presentations on Friday morning was delivered by James F. and L. Hannah Stoddard of the Joseph Smith Foundation. The title of the presentation was “Urim & Thummim or the Seer Stone & Hat?” … Read more
Review of Bruce A. Van Orden. We’ll Sing and We’ll Shout: The Life and Times of W. W. Phelps. Provo and Salt Lake City, UT. Religious Studies Center at Brigham Young University and Deseret Book. 2018. 509pp. + index. $31.99. William Wines Phelps (1792–1872) is without a doubt one of the most colorful and fascinating figures in … Read more