"Through you shall the oracles be given unto another, yea even unto the...
The Lord’s house is a house of order and the revelations in the scriptures provide safeguards and protections to the Saints against deception and false prophets. Before they could organize the Church...
View ArticleThe Twelve Apostles and the Keys of the Kingdom
A prophet is someone who speaks by the power of the Holy Ghost and has the testimony of Jesus Christ. They may or may not predict future events. In fact prediction is not the most important criteria...
View ArticleDissenters and Defectors
In a talk given on November 8, 1977 Elder Neal A Maxwell observed: "Some insist upon studying the Church only through the eyes of its defectors--like interviewing Judas to understand Jesus. Defectors...
View ArticleBeware of False Prophets
Joseph Smith received divine Priesthood authority from God. We are specifically warned, however, that there “are many false spirits, which have gone forth in the earth deceiving the world” (D&C...
View ArticleA Catholic Reminiscence on Joseph Smith
"During the life-time of their prophet Joe Smith, Catholic Bishops and priests were courteously received and hospitably entertained by him, whenever they had occasion to visit his growing city of...
View ArticleIn Memoriam of Matthew Brown (1964-2011)
[The following are some brief remarks I gave at the "Temples on Mount Zion" Conference in held at the Provo City Library in Provo, Utah on September 22. 2012. This annual scholarly conference was...
View ArticleThe Resurrection: "In its perfect form" (Alma 11:43).
President Lorenzo Snow taught:"In the next life we will have our bodies glorified and free from sickness and death. Nothing is so beautiful as a person in a resurrected and glorified condition. There...
View ArticleA Treasure from the Past: Elder Henry B. Eyring's on the Mission of FARMS
[Over the years, as my family and friends well know, I have been involved in research and writing on the Book of Mormon, some of which has been published by FARMS (the Foundation for Ancient Research...
View ArticleThree New Articles on the Book of Mormon
In the last month Interpreter has posted three articles on the Book of Mormon:Royal Skousen, "Tyndale Versus More in the Book of Mormon,"Interpreter 13 (2015): 1-8.Matthew L. Bowen, "'Most Desirable...
View ArticleNew Thoughts on Sherem
A. Keith Thompson has some interesting thoughts about Sherem in this new article.
View ArticleThe 600 Year Prophecy of the Birth of Christ (Howlers # 26 )
The Book of Mormon locates the birth of Christ too late in the world's history to harmonize with the Bible, claiming that Lehi left Jerusalem in the first year of Zedekiah's reign, (1st Book of Nephi,...
View Article“A Mark that Satan Cannot Give”: Love for the Lord’s Appointed Servants
In reading Wilford Woodruff’s journal which covers his first Apostolic mission to England I came across the following jewel. In October 1840 a Sister Bromley was interviewed by the Apostle and she...
View Article"To be learned is good if we hearken unto the counsel of God"
Some wise Apostolic counsel for Latter-day Saint scholars from Elders Boyd K Packer, Neal A. Maxwell and Dallin H. Oaks, courtesy of my friend and colleague John Gee.
View ArticleNo Pre-Columbian Writing (Howlers # 27)
According to Mormon, these native Americans could read, and write . . . but when that country first became known to Europeans, the inhabitants knew no more about letters than a four-legged animal knows...
View ArticleRevelation According to Our Capacity to Recieve
In a discourse given in Filmore, Utah on September 7, 1864 which is available here, Brigham Young taught:"I say to you, as I can to the whole world, there has not yet been a revelation given to this...
View Article“For They Shall be filled with the Holy Ghost” (Howlers # 28)
In 1978 Krister Stendahl, a prominent Lutheran Leader and scholar of the New Testament was invited by Truman Madsen to read and comment on the teachings of Jesus in the Sermon at the Temple in 3 Nephi....
View ArticleRight on Target: Gidgiddoni
There are generally two approaches to Book of Mormon names. One of them searches for plausible etymologies for Book of Mormon names; the other looks at whether the name is actually attested. If it is...
View Article"Without anything wherewith to steer her" (Mormon 5:18)
George Q. Cannon, having witnessed more than fifty years of Church History offered the following reflections:Our pathway from the beginning, it may be said, is lined with the graves of those who have...
View ArticleSome Reflections on Basic Methodology for Approaching the Book of Mormon
William Hamblin, emeritus professor of history at Brigham Young University, has published a series of observations about the methodology of studying the Book of Mormon. This series of posts is part of...
View Article“Among the Ancestors of the American Indian”: Not a New Idea
The introduction to the Book of Mormon was not a part of the revealed translation of the Book of Mormon by Joseph Smith, but was provided to help orient the reader to the contents of this book of...
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