Cross-posted, with permission, from Stephen Smoot’s blog. Hugh Nibley once quipped that the controversy surrounding the Book of Abraham was “a great fuss . . . being made about a scrap of papyrus.”1 Were it not for the fact that it is tied up in religious...
read moreFor over 300 years, from the days of Nephi to the days of King Mosiah 1st, there had been continual wars between the Nephites and the Lamanites (2 Nephi 5:34; Omni 1:10). During that time the Nephites had been “scattered upon much of the face of the land” (Jarom 1:6),...
read moreReview of Matthew J. Grow et al., eds., The Joseph Smith Papers: Administrative Records, Council of Fifty, Minutes, March 1844–January 1846 (Salt Lake City: The Church Historian’s Press, 2016). 525 pp. + introduction, appendixes, reference material, index, etc. Abstract: The publication of the Council of Fifty minutes is a momentous occasion in modern studies of Mormon history. The minutes are invaluable in helping historians understand the last days of Joseph Smith and his project to establish the Kingdom of God on the earth. They offer an important glimpse into the religious and political mindset of early Latter-day Saint leaders and shed much light on events once obscured by lack of access to the minutes. The Joseph Smith Papers Project has outdone itself in its presentation of the minutes in the latest volume of the series. The minutes are essential reading for anyone interested in early Mormon history....
read moreBy Theodore Brandley Thanks to everyone who has participated in this discussion thus far. Your input is respected and appreciated. The purpose of this series of articles is to open a forum for the proponents of the two major North American theories on Book of Mormon...
read moreby Theodore Brandley By meticulously matching The Book Of Mormon text to the facts on the ground, Warren P. Aston and others have settled the Arabian geography question in the minds of most Latter-day Saints. This is not the case in America where occurred the vast...
read moreNote: this is the second of a three-part series of explanations from Elder Bruce R. McConkie about the Adam-God theory, as part of a larger six-part sub-series on the same subject. See the first and third parts for further information. The material is being presented...
read moreNote: this the second of a six-part sub-series of blogs focusing on the Adam-God theory. Elder Mark E. Petersen wrote a book about Adam as part of a series of short books, each focusing on one Old Testament or Book of Mormon prophet. This series of books on ancient...
read moreBelow are some comments and observations from Church leaders regarding the Journal of Discourses, an early (second half of the 19th century) 26 volume compilation of sermons and addresses by Church leaders and prominent elders. These discourses were taken down in...
read moreBy Dennis B. Horne In a thoughtful and well-reasoned presentation engaging the question of the historicity of the Book of Mormon, Elder Dallin H. Oaks stated: “It is our position that secular evidence can neither prove nor disprove the authenticity of the Book of...
read moreFinding Laban drunk in the streets of Jerusalem, Nephi “beheld his sword, and [he] I drew it forth from the sheath thereof; and the hilt thereof was of pure gold, and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine, and . . . the blade thereof was of the most precious...
read moreThe 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...
read moreWhile living in Guangzhou, China, a coastal city near Hong Kong, my wife and I decided to take a trip to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. Our first day there we decided to just take it easy and try to get used to the thin air of the Himalayas (12,000 feet or 3,650...
read moreOn 6 April 2016, at BYU in Provo, Utah, Royal Skousen and Stanford Carmack presented a lecture on "Editing Out the 'Bad Grammar' in the Book of Mormon." This lecture was already available in video format, and is now available in written form....
read moreNote: this is the sixth blog of a six-part series examining the Adam-God theory from the viewpoint of three modern (though deceased) apostles, and now giving the position of the Church on the matter. The position formally taken by the Church on the Adam-God theory:...
read moreNote: this is the third of a three-part series on Elder McConkie and the Adam-God theory, and is part of a larger six-part series reviewing explanations about the theory by Elders Lee, Petersen, and McConkie. The six-part series is in turn part of a larger blog series...
read moreNote: This is the first of three blogs (reviewing Elder McConkie’s explanations) in a six-part review of the Adam-God theory. See the first blog (#20) in this sub-series for an introduction to the false theory and further information about it. Next, there will be two...
read moreNote: This blog is the first in a six-part sub-series examining some reaction from selected apostles to a false historical/doctrinal theory. Although the so-called “Adam-God theory” might be losing some of its presence and staying power in modern times, it is still...
read moreAs Joseph Smith was dictating the translation of the Book of Mormon to Oliver Cowdery, they learned that the gold plates were to “be hid from the eyes of the world” in general. Nevertheless “three witnesses” would be enabled to view the book or plates “by the power of...
read moreBy Bruce E. Dale For me, one of the strong evidences that Joseph Smith was a true prophet is that the scriptures given through him and the church restored through him make very hard, very challenging demands on me. These demands and requirements are just as specific,...
read morePaul Writing His Epistles attr. Valentin de Boulogne (17th century). Paul had a thing or two to say about salvation. Cross-posted, with permission. The Book of Mormon famously teaches, “For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our...
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