The other week I was riding in the car of a senior missionary couple when the senior sister asked me, “If the Book of Mormon was written for our day, why doesn’t it say anything about homosexuality? After all, the Bible has the story of Sodom. Why doesn’t the Book of Mormon have anything like … Read more
One thing I’ve found very helpful in making the New Testament relevant to my own life is understanding its cultural backdrop and looking for parallels to today’s world. Recently I read the book Jesus: A Very Short Introduction by Richard Bauckham. It is quite good at providing an overview of the life and times of … Read more
Hugh Nibley once quipped that the controversy surrounding the Book of Abraham was “a great fuss . . . being made about a scrap of papyrus.” Were it not for the fact that it is tied up in religious polemics involving Joseph Smith, founder and first prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day … Read more
Over on Twitter my friend Kwaku El tweeted his dissatisfaction with those who “mock” Mormonism. The ensuing discussion centered around what exactly is meant by “mocking” and when or if it is ever appropriate when it comes to sacred things (e.g. religious doctrines). Mocking Mormonism and “participating in a dialogue” are not the same & … Read more
The remarkable work of the Joseph Smith Papers Project has continued unabated since the publication of Journals, Volume 1: 1832–1839 in 2008. Last year the Church Historian’s Press, which publishes the volumes of the series, released Administrative Records, Council of Fifty, Minutes, March 1844–January 1846. This landmark occasion has finally brought to light a set … Read more
“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” So reads 1 Peter 3:15, the locus classicus when it comes to scriptural encouragement for Christians to engage in apologetics, … Read more
A depiction of Cain slaying Abel by Gustave Doré. The Gadianton Robbers are infamous among readers of the Book of Mormon. The phrase “secret combination(s),” now synonymous among Latter-day Saints for conspiracy, was used by Mormon to describe them (Helaman 2:8; 3:23; 6:38). They are introduced in the book of Helaman during “the fortieth year of … Read more
The book of Judges in the Bible narrates a series of intertribal and international wars waged by Israel as it settled the recently conquered land of Canaan. The central theme of the book of Judges is the rescue of the Israelite confederation at times of national crisis by the inspired intervention of a charismatic tribal … Read more
From time to time I have had friends, missionaries, and other members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ask me what I make of any supposed connection between Nephi, the opening author of the Book of Mormon, and the Nephilim of Genesis. The Nephilim, you will recall, are mentioned in Genesis 6 as the … Read more
Section 42 of the Doctrine and Covenants is arguably one of the more seminal sections of this book of restoration scripture, alongside other important sections including 20 (the Articles and Covenants of the Church), 76 (the Vision), 110 (Kirtland Temple theophanies), 119 (revelation on tithing), 121 (Joseph Smith’s Liberty Jail pleadings), and 132 (the revelation … Read more
The future of Mormonism? During his mortal ministry, Jesus commanded his disciples to restrict their preaching to the house of Israel. Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples . . . [and] sent [them] out with the following instructions: Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the … Read more
Joseph Smith (left) and Morton Smith (right). On March 26, 1830, the Wayne Sentinel announced the publication of the Book of Mormon by the Palmyra, New York printer E. B. Grandin. The book purports to be “an abridgment of the Record of the People of Nephi” written on plates of gold. The discoverer and translator … Read more
Figure 7 of Facsimile 2 of the Book of Abraham. The Prophet Joseph Smith interpreted Figure 7 in Facsimile 2 as follows: “Represents God sitting upon his throne, revealing through the heavens the grand Key-words of the Priesthood; as, also, the sign of the Holy Ghost unto Abraham, in the form of a dove.” The … Read more