PDF feed of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
380 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 days ago - ★★★★★ - 1 ratingA nonprofit educational journal focused on the scriptures of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price, the Bible, Doctrine and Covenants, early LDS history, and related subjects. All publications are peer-reviewed and are made available as free internet downloads or through at-cost print-on-demand services.
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Episodes
The Character and Knowledge of Mary, the Mother of Christ
March 06, 2020 18:59 - 274 KB application/pdfAbstract: The Virgin Mary is arguably the archetype of the virtuous woman and even the divine feminine on earth, but we know very little about her. She is remembered in Christianity in a variety of ways including with cathedrals built in her honor. Though many seek her intercession when they pray, that does not seem […] The post The Character and Knowledge of Mary, the Mother of Christ first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
Scriptures through the Jeweler’s Lens
February 28, 2020 18:59 - 194 KB application/pdfReview of Terryl Givens with Brian Hauglid, The Pearl of Greatest Price: Mormonism’s Most Controversial Scripture (New York: Oxford University Press, 2019). 285 pages. $34.95 (hardback). Abstract: Among the many revelatory works of Joseph Smith, members and scholars alike seem to give lesser attention to what is found in the Pearl of Great Price. In […] The post Scriptures through the Jeweler’s Lens first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
First Visions and Last Sermons: Affirming Divine Sociality, Rejecting the Greater Apostasy
February 21, 2020 18:59 - 383 KB application/pdfAbstract: There is a kinship between Lehi and Joseph Smith. They are linked to each other by similar first visions, and they faced roughly the same theological problem. Resisted by elites who believe God is a Solitary Sovereign, both prophets affirm the pluralistic religion of Abraham, which features a sôd ’ĕlôhim (Council of Gods) in which the divine Father, Mother, […] The post First Visions and Last Sermons: Affirming Divine Sociality, Rejecting the Greater Apostasy first appeared on The...
Volume 35 Now Available for Ordering in Paperback and E-book Formats
February 15, 2020 03:00 - 2.23 MB application/pdfThe Interpreter Foundation is pleased to announce that Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship, Volume 32 (2019), is now available in paperback and digital formats for ordering and downloading.
Discipleship of Yesterday for Today
February 14, 2020 18:59 - 98.3 KB application/pdfReview of Eric D. Huntsman, Becoming the Beloved Disciple: Coming unto Christ through the Gospel of John (Springville, UT: CFI, an imprint of Cedar Fort, 2018). 176 pages. $19.99. Abstract: What does the Gospel of John say about discipleship? Does early Christian discipleship matter today? Can coming unto Christ be different for each person? Eric Huntsman offers […] The post Discipleship of Yesterday for Today first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
Bad Grammar in the Book of Mormon Found in Early English Bibles
February 07, 2020 18:59 - 344 KB application/pdfAbstract: This study describes ten types of grammatical usage found in early modern Bibles with correlates in the original text of the Book of Mormon. In some cases Joseph Smith’s own language could have produced the matching grammar, but in other cases his own linguistic preferences were unlikely to have produced the patterns or usage […] The post Bad Grammar in the Book of Mormon Found in Early English Bibles first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
Light Began Once More to Grow
January 31, 2020 18:59 - 88.5 KB application/pdfAbstract: Readers are surely aware that the birth of the Christ child is the reason we celebrate Christmas. Members of the Church may be less aware, though, of the notable birth of a child, millennia later, of distant secondary importance. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed […] The post Light Began Once More to Grow first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
Rethinking Alma 36
January 24, 2020 18:59 - 242 KB application/pdfAbstract: While Alma 36 has long been one of the most admired examples of classical Hebrew chiasmus in the Book of Mormon, critiques in the last two decades have questioned whether, in fact, it really meets the requirements of classical biblical chiasms. The principal objections have pointed to the large sections of the chapter that […] The post Rethinking Alma 36 first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
“Somebody Wrote It:” The Book of Mormon’s Missionary Message to a 21st-Century World
January 17, 2020 18:59 - 144 KB application/pdfAbstract: Nathan Oman’s “Welding Another Link in Wonder’s Chain: The Task of Latter-day Saint Intellectuals in the Church’s Third Century” wisely called for “new language in which to celebrate the Restoration.” That new language can be found in understanding the power of the Book of Mormon, which is the tangible miracle at the heart of […] The post “Somebody Wrote It:” The Book of Mormon’s Missionary Message to a 21st-Century World first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
An Approach to Isaiah Studies
January 10, 2020 18:59 - 204 KB application/pdfReview of Joseph M. Spencer, The Vision of All: Twenty-Five Lectures on Isaiah in Nephi’s Record (Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2016). 318 pages. $59.95 (hardback); $29.95 paperback. Abstract: This review makes a case, briefly, for the unmistakable presence of Jesus Christ in Isaiah’s text, which case is based on a corpus linguistic-based […] The post An Approach to Isaiah Studies first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
Labor Diligently to Write: The Ancient Making of a Modern Scripture — Preface
January 03, 2020 19:01 - 77.5 KB application/pdf[Editor’s Note: We are pleased to present the eighth (and final) installment from a book entitled Labor Diligently to Write: The Ancient Making of a Modern Scripture. It is being presented in serialized form as an aid to help readers prepare for the 2020 Come Follow Me course of study. This final installment is the Preface for […] The post Labor Diligently to Write: The Ancient Making of a Modern Scripture — Preface first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
The Prophets Who Wrote the Book of Omni
January 03, 2020 18:59 - 197 KB application/pdfAbstract: The brief accounts written by Omni, Amaron, Chemish, Abinadom, and Amaleki, taken alone, don’t always inspire confidence in their righteousness. Nevertheless, when the specific words used by these men and all relevant context are taken into consideration, it’s reasonable to conclude that each of these authors of the book of Omni was a prophet of […] The post The Prophets Who Wrote the Book of Omni first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.
Labor Diligently to Write: The Ancient Making of a Modern Scripture — Chapters 16 – 18
December 27, 2019 19:01 - 248 KB application/pdf[Editor’s Note: We are pleased to present the seventh installment from a book entitled Labor Diligently to Write: The Ancient Making of a Modern Scripture. It is being presented in serialized form as an aid to help readers prepare for the 2020 Come Follow Me course of study. This is a new approach for Interpreter, and we hope […]
He Knows My Affliction: The Hill Onidah as Narrative Counterpart to the Rameumptom
December 27, 2019 18:59 - 302 KB application/pdfAbstract: The toponym Onidah, attested as the name of a hill in Alma 32:4, most plausibly derives from Hebrew ʿŏnî /ʿōnî/ʿônî (ʿonyî, “my affliction”) + yādaʿ/yēdaʿ (“he knew,” “he knows”) — i.e., “he has acknowledged my affliction” or “he knows my affliction.” This etymology finds support in the context of the Zoramite narrative in which it occurs. In view […]
Labor Diligently to Write: The Ancient Making of a Modern Scripture — Chapters 14 & 15
December 20, 2019 19:01 - 353 KB application/pdf[Editor’s Note: We are pleased to present the sixth installment from a book entitled Labor Diligently to Write: The Ancient Making of a Modern Scripture. It is being presented in serialized form as an aid to help readers prepare for the 2020 Come Follow Me course of study. This is a new approach for Interpreter, and we hope […]
Musings on the Birth of the Savior Jesus Christ
December 20, 2019 18:58 - 157 KB application/pdfAbstract: In this essay, Kristine Wardle Frederickson muses about “the babe born in Bethlehem,” and who he was — and is — in consideration of those who nurtured, loved, and welcomed the infant Jehovah to Earth. Certain women played critical roles in preparing him for his infinite and eternal Atonement, and that preparation began long […]
Labor Diligently to Write: The Ancient Making of a Modern Scripture — Chapters 12 & 13
December 13, 2019 19:01 - 317 KB application/pdf[Editor’s Note: We are pleased to present the fifth installment from a book entitled Labor Diligently to Write: The Ancient Making of a Modern Scripture. It is being presented in serialized form as an aid to help readers prepare for the 2020 Come Follow Me course of study. This is a new approach for Interpreter, […]
Conclusions in Search of Evidence
December 13, 2019 18:59 - 175 KB application/pdfReview of Jana Riess, The Next Mormons: How Millennials Are Changing the LDS Church (New York: Oxford University Press, 2019). 312 pages. $29.95. Abstract: Riess’s book surveying the beliefs and behaviors of younger members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was supposed to compare the attitudes of younger generations with those of […]
Labor Diligently to Write: The Ancient Making of a Modern Scripture — Chapters 9 – 11
December 06, 2019 19:01 - 341 KB application/pdf[Editor’s Note: We are pleased to present the fourth installment from a book entitled Labor Diligently to Write: The Ancient Making of a Modern Scripture. It is being presented in serialized form as an aid to help readers prepare for the 2020 Come Follow Me course of study. This is a new approach for Interpreter, […]
Hugh B. Brown’s Program for Latter-Day Saint Servicemen During WWII
December 06, 2019 18:59 - 171 KB application/pdfAbstract: Prior to U.S. involvement in WWII, the First Presidency asked Hugh B. Brown to initiate and serve as coordinator of a program that would reinforce the spiritual welfare of the increasing number of Latter-day Saint men entering the military. Brown initially answered the challenge by organizing religious services at training camps along the West Coast because of […]
Labor Diligently to Write: The Ancient Making of a Modern Scripture — Chapters 6 – 8
November 29, 2019 19:05 - 380 KB application/pdf[Editor’s Note: We are pleased to present the third installment from a book entitled Labor Diligently to Write: The Ancient Making of a Modern Scripture. It is being presented in serialized form as an aid to help readers prepare for the 2020 Come Follow Me course of study. This is a new approach for Interpreter, and we hope […]
A Passover Setting for Lehi’s Exodus
November 29, 2019 18:59 - 343 KB application/pdfAbstract: Later in his life, former Palmyra resident Fayette Lapham recounted with sharp detail an 1830 interview he conducted with Joseph Smith Sr. about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. Among the details he reports that Lehi’s exodus from Jerusalem occurred during a “great feast.” This detail, not found in the published Book […]
Volume 33 Now Available for Ordering in Paperback and E-book Formats
November 25, 2019 16:00 - 2.23 MB application/pdfThe Interpreter Foundation is pleased to announce that Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship, Volume 32 (2019), is now available in paperback and digital formats for ordering and downloading.
Labor Diligently to Write: The Ancient Making of a Modern Scripture — Chapters 4 & 5
November 22, 2019 19:01 - 378 KB application/pdf[Editor’s Note: We are pleased to present the second installment from a book entitled Labor Diligently to Write: The Ancient Making of a Modern Scripture. It is being presented in serialized form as an aid to help readers prepare for the 2020 Come Follow Me course of study. This is a new approach for Interpreter, and we hope […]
Taking Stock
November 22, 2019 18:59 - 136 KB application/pdfAbstract: In a response to my review of their Book of Abraham and Related Manuscripts volume, the series editors of the Joseph Smith Papers provided feedback and commentary on two important items. There are other, unaddressed issues this rejoinder examines. I am grateful to the editors of the Joseph Smith Papers for their thoughtful response to my review1 […]
A Welcome Response, but Flaws Remain
November 22, 2019 18:57 - 108 KB application/pdfAbstract: After Interpreter published my lengthy paper that discussed apparent bias and flaws in scholarship in the Joseph Smith Papers volume on the Book of Abraham, two members of the JSP Project team have responded with a defense of their volume. Their reply is welcome and points to some of the strengths in the methodology behind much […]
The Joseph Smith Papers and the Book of Abraham: A Response to Recent Reviews
November 22, 2019 18:55 - 113 KB application/pdfAbstract: The Joseph Smith Papers welcomes engagement with its work and gratefully acknowledges the important work of various scholars on the Book of Abraham. Recent reviews in the Interpreter of Revelations and Translations, Volume 4, however, significantly misunderstand the purposes and conventions of the project. This response corrects some of those misconceptions, including the idea that […]
Labor Diligently to Write: The Ancient Making of a Modern Scripture
November 15, 2019 19:01 - 307 KB application/pdf[Editor’s Note: We are pleased to present the first installment from a book entitled Labor Diligently to Write: The Ancient Making of a Modern Scripture. It is being presented in serialized form as an aid to help readers prepare for the 2020 Come Follow Me course of study. This is a new approach for Interpreter, and we hope […]
The Brass Plates Version of Genesis
November 15, 2019 18:59 - 222 KB application/pdfAbstract: The Book of Mormon peoples repeatedly indicated that they were descendants of Joseph, the son of Jacob who was sold into Egypt by his brothers. The plates of brass that they took with them from Jerusalem c. 600 bce provided them with a version of many Old Testament books and others not included in our Hebrew […]
Memory and Millennials: A Review of First Vision: Memory and Mormon Origins
November 08, 2019 18:59 - 121 KB application/pdfAbstract: The multiple historical accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision have been an area of intense study, debate, and discussion for several decades. The newest addition to the discussion is a specialized monograph engaging the various accounts of the First Vision through the lens of psychology and, particularly, memory studies. This book, authored by Steven C. […]
The Role and Purpose of Synagogues in the Days of Jesus and Paul
November 01, 2019 17:59 - 134 KB application/pdfAbstract: This article explores why Jesus so often healed in synagogues. By comparing the uses and purposes of Diaspora and Palestinian synagogues, this article argues that synagogues functioned as a hostel or community center of sorts in ancient Jewish society. That is, those needing healing would seek out such services and resources at the synagogue. What […]
Ministering across Fault Lines of Belief and Community
October 25, 2019 17:59 - 198 KB application/pdfReview of David B. Ostler, Bridges: Ministering to Those Who Question (Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2019), 206 pp. $32.95 (hardback), $20.95 (paperback). Abstract: David Ostler’s book Bridges: Ministering to Those Who Question addresses the daunting task of ministering to people who have grown disillusioned with the core doctrines and the community of believers […]
An American Indian Language Family with Middle Eastern Loanwords: Responding to A Recent Critique
October 18, 2019 17:59 - 212 KB application/pdfAbstract: In 2015 Brian Stubbs published a landmark book, demonstrating that Uto-Aztecan, an American Indian language family, contains a vast number of Northwest Semitic and Egyptian loanwords spoken in the first millennium bc. Unlike other similar claims — absurd, eccentric, and without substance — Stubbs’s book is a serious, linguistically based study that deserves serious consideration. In the […]
Recent Reflections While Partaking of the Sacrament
October 11, 2019 17:59 - 106 KB application/pdfAbstract: Sometimes, obedience to the principles of the Gospel and tending faithfully to our stewardships can seem — and can be — a burden. Moreover, we mortal humans are fallible and weak, and we’re free. Accordingly, I’m convinced that the Father (a supremely masterful strategist and tactician) builds in redundancies so as to ensure that his […]
Could Joseph Smith Have Drawn on Ancient Manuscripts When He Translated the Story of Enoch?: Recent Updates on a Persistent Question
October 04, 2019 17:59 - 623 KB application/pdfAbstract: In this article, we offer a general critique of scholarship that has argued for Joseph Smith’s reliance on 1 Enoch or other ancient pseudepigrapha for the Enoch chapters in the Book of Moses. Our findings highlight the continued difficulties of scholars to sustain such arguments credibly. Following this general critique, we describe the current […]
Lehi, Joseph, and the Kingdom of Israel
September 27, 2019 17:59 - 220 KB application/pdfAbstract: I present evidence of two priesthoods in the Jewish Bible: an Aaronite priesthood, held by Aaron and passed down through his descendants; and a higher Mushite priesthood, held not only by Moses and his descendants but also by other worthy individuals, such as Joshua, an Ephraimite. The Mushite priests were centered in Shiloh, where Joshua […]
Gentiles in the Book of Mormon
September 20, 2019 17:59 - 209 KB application/pdfAbstract: The word Gentiles appears 141 times in the Book of Mormon (the singular Gentile appears only five times.) It appears more frequently than key words such as baptize, resurrection, Zion, and truth. The word Gentiles does not appear with equal frequency throughout the Book of Mormon; in fact, it appears in only five of […]
Never Static, Never Simple: One Woman’s Conversations Within the Marginalia of If Truth Were a Child
September 13, 2019 17:59 - 139 KB application/pdfReview of George B. Handley, If Truth Were A Child: Essays, (Provo, Utah: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2019), 253 pp. $19.99 (paperback). Abstract: George B. Handley challenges his readers to reevaluate conventional definitions of truth and the approaches they employ to define their own truths. He argues that the individual quest for truth […]
Volume 32 Now Available for Ordering in Paperback and E-book Formats
September 09, 2019 16:00 - 2.23 MB application/pdfThe Interpreter Foundation is pleased to announce that Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship, Volume 32 (2019), is now available in paperback and digital formats for ordering and downloading.
What Did the Interpreters (Urim and Thummim) Look Like?
September 06, 2019 17:59 - 252 KB application/pdfABSTRACT: The interpreters were a pair of seer stones used by Book of Mormon prophets and provided to Joseph Smith for translating the Nephite record. Martin Harris described them as two white, marble- like stones that could be looked into when placed in a hat. Joseph Smith described them as spectacles with which he could read the record and later as two […]
The Language of the Spirit in the Book of Mormon
August 30, 2019 17:59 - 291 KB application/pdfAbstract: This study provides students of the Book of Mormon with the first comprehensive analysis of the many ways in which the word “spirit” is used in that volume of scripture. It demonstrates how the titles “Holy Ghost,” “Spirit of God,” “Spirit of the Lord,” “Holy Spirit,” and “the Spirit” are used interchangeably to refer to the […]
The Joseph Smith Papers Project Stumbles
August 23, 2019 17:59 - 153 KB application/pdfReview of The Joseph Smith Papers, Revelations and Translations, Volume 4: Book of Abraham and Related Manuscripts, eds. Robin Scott Jensen and Brian M. Hauglid (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2018), 381 pages. Abstract: Volume 4 of the Revelations and Translations series of the Joseph Smith Papers does not live up to the standards set in […]
Jacob Did Not Make a False Prediction
August 16, 2019 17:59 - 144 KB application/pdfReview of Adam S. Miller, “Reading Signs or Repeating Symptoms,” in Christ and Antichrist: Reading Jacob 7, eds. Adam S. Miller and Joseph M. Spencer (Provo, Utah: Neal A. Maxwell Institute, 2017), 10 pages (chapter), 174 pages (book). Abstract. The Neal A. Maxwell Institute recently published a volume on the encounter between Jacob and Sherem in Jacob […]
Welding Another Link in Wonder’s Chain: The Task of Latter-day Saint Intellectuals in the Church’s Third Century
August 09, 2019 17:59 - 187 KB application/pdfAbstract: This is a challenging moment for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints. Both its efforts at retention and missionary work are less effective than they have been in the past. At this moment, what is the most important task facing Latter-day Saint intellectuals? In contrast to those who argue that faithful thinkers and […]
Text as Afterthought: Jana Riess’s Treatment of the Jacob-Sherem Episode
August 02, 2019 17:59 - 177 KB application/pdfReview of Jana Riess, “‘There Came a Man’: Sherem, Scapegoating, and the Inversion of Prophetic Tradition,” in Christ and Antichrist: Reading Jacob 7, eds. Adam S. Miller and Joseph M. Spencer (Provo, Utah: Neal A. Maxwell Institute, 2017), 17 pages (chapter), 174 pages (book). Abstract: The Neal A. Maxwell Institute recently published a book on the […]
Comparing Phonemic Patterns in Book of Mormon Personal Names with Fictional and Authentic Sources: An Exploratory Study
July 26, 2019 17:59 - 326 KB application/pdfAbstract: In 2013 we published a study examining names from Solomon Spalding’s fictional manuscript, J. R. R. Tolkien’s fictional works, and nineteenth-century US census records. Results showed names created by authors of fiction followed phonemic patterns that differed from those of authentic names from a variety of cultural origins found in the US census. The current study […]
A Precious Resource with Some Gaps
July 19, 2019 17:59 - 1.04 MB application/pdfReview of The Joseph Smith Papers, Revelations and Translations, Volume 4: Book of Abraham and Related Manuscripts, eds. Robin Scott Jensen and Brian M. Hauglid (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2018), 381 pages. Abstract: The publication of high-resolution documents and carefully prepared transcripts related to the origins of the Book of Abraham in […]
Shazer: An Etymological Proposal in Narrative Context
July 12, 2019 18:29 - 264 KB application/pdfAbstract: In 1 Nephi 16:13–14, Nephi mentions the name Shazer as a toponym the Lehite clan bestowed on a site in western Arabia “four days” journey south-southeast of the valley of Laman. The Lehites used this site as a base camp for a major hunting expedition. A footnote to the first mention of the name Shazer in the 1981 and 2013 Latter-day […]
Compassion as the Heart of the Gospel
July 05, 2019 17:59 - 114 KB application/pdfAbstract: The Greek philosopher Aristotle, clearly one of the world’s great geniuses, created the concept of the “unmoved mover,” which moves “other things, but is, itself, unmoved by anything else.” This label became the standard Jewish, Christian, and Muslim description of an impersonal God — a God without body, parts or passions — a concept […]
A Nourishing and Accessible Read
June 28, 2019 17:59 - 68 KB application/pdfReview of Michaela Stephens, To Defend Them By Stratagem: Fortify Yourself with Book of Mormon War Tactics (Gilbert, AZ: Lion’s Whelp Publications, 2018). 246 pp. $12.99 (paperback). Abstract: Sometimes it is easy to overlook, disregard, or discount the “war chapters” in the Book of Mormon. Michaela Stephens’ new book about these chapters deserves wider attention, as it is an […]