The story that we told in the Interpreter Foundation’s 2024 dramatic film Six Days in August — and on which we’ll be expanding in our forthcoming series of short Becoming Brigham documentaries — continues to be directly relevant to current events in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as general conference proceeds and as we approach the establishment of a new First Presidency. Pending release of our mini-documentaries (which we expect to begin in January), here’s a... Read more
The president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is dead. The First Presidency of the Church has been dissolved. As the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, led by President Dallin H. Oaks, has assumed leadership of both the Church and this weekend’s general conference, we are seeing a kind of reenactment of the story told in the Interpreter Foundation’s theatrical film Six Days in August, the story upon which our forthcoming documentary series Becoming Brigham will... Read more
A new review essay went up earlier today in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: “Some Good Questions, but Large Inferences from Tidbits,” written by David M. Belnap Review of R. Kent Crookston, Book of Mormon Ecology: What the Text Reveals about the Land and Lives of the Record Keepers (Provo, UT: Village Lane, 2020). 267 pages. $12.95 (paperback). Abstract: As is well known, the Book of Mormon is a brief spiritual account from many centuries... Read more
Today, Thursday, is the Interpreter Foundation’s traditional day for sharing materials online that have previously been published in print as book chapters. Here is the latest: Seek Ye Words of Wisdom: “The Reach, the Handclasp, and the Embrace: Gestures of the Gods in the Ancient Egyptian Abydos Formula,” written by David Calabro Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article originally appeared in Seek Ye Words of Wisdom: Studies of the Book of Mormon, Bible, and Temple in... Read more
“Elder Bednar ministers in Michigan to victims of Sunday’s deadly attack: Apostle leads families at devotional to sing ‘Gethsemane’ twice, says Quorum of the Twelve wants them to feel their love in person” Yesterday, I mentioned here a fundraiser that has been organized by an inspired Latter-day Saint for the widow and the special-needs son of the Michigan attacker, Thomas Jacob Sanford. I’m pleased that it’s going extremely well, as these items illustrate: Fox News: “Mormon church members raise more... Read more
I’m pleased to announce the imminent arrival of Stephen O. Smoot, ed., The Pearl of Great Price: A Study Edition for Latter-day Saints, published by Scripture Central and the Interpreter Foundation. Rarely, every once in a while and to the shocked surprise of those who have long declared it either dead or near death, the Interpreter Foundation unexpectedly emerges from its lethargic coma, opens its eyes, raises itself briefly up on its elbows, and emits yet one more last-gasp... Read more
For whatever little it’s worth, I published a piece in Meridian Magazine about President Russell M. Nelson. Many tributes to him have appeared over the last couple of days, but I was happy to be invited to contribute one of them myself. It was a very difficult weekend for Latter-day Saints, and President Dallin H. Oaks — who is, as of Saturday night, the new leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — published something today... Read more
This has been a sorrowful day for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While my stake conference was beginning here in Orem, we learned of a deadly attack — apparently using first a vehicle, then an assault rifle and incendiary devices — on a Latter-day Saint sacrament service in Grand Blanc, Michigan, near Flint. That story is still unfolding. And, of course, those who hadn’t already heard the news when it was released late last... Read more
I recently read the 2024 book Lucid Dying: The New Science Revolutionizing How We Understand Life and Death (New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2024), written by Sam Parnia, M.D., Ph.D. I found it both enjoyable and fascinating. I may even re-read it, and I heartily commend it to the notice of anybody who is interested in the problem of consciousness and/or in near-death experiences (or in what Dr. Parnia himself prefers to label “recalled experiences of death”). As I’ve... Read more
This new article appeared earlier today in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: “A Textual Comparison of Masonic Rites and the LDS Temple Endowment,” written by David Eddington: Abstract: Numerous discussions of the similarities between the LDS temple endowment and Masonic rites exist, which give the impression that the two overlap considerably. Rather than focus on the similarities themselves, this paper seeks to quantify how much the two rites overlap by performing a textual analysis. In the... Read more
Select your answer to see how you score.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In