I’m pleased to say that “Becoming Brigham, Episode 14 — The Prophet’s Shadow” is now up and available for viewing at no charge. And, of course, for sharing with others. How did Brigham Young come to accept radical doctrines like the three degrees of glory and plural marriage when they initially shocked him? Why was Brigham Young willing to follow Joseph Smith even when he didn’t fully understand or even like what Joseph was teaching? What would the Church... Read more
This evening, I picked up my copy of a book written by one Reggie Anderson, with Jennifer Schuchmann, under the title of Appointments with Heaven: The True Story of a Country Doctor’s Healing Encounters With the Hereafter (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale Momentum, 2013). At the time that the book was published, Dr. Anderson was a physician with the Frist Clinic in Nashville, Tennessee, while also serving as chief of staff of TriStar Ashland City Medical Center and as medical... Read more
Newly posted today: Conversations with Interpreter: Kent Jackson, “The Lord Gave Cain a Sign”: In this episode of Conversations with Interpreter, Dr. Kent Jackson, Emeritus Professor of Ancient Scripture at BYU, looks at the translation of Genesis 4:15. Dr. Jackson has published his own translation of Genesis, which gave him important insights into the biblical text. He points out that the translation is the King James Version of the Bible is misleading in this verse and that by translating... Read more
Today’s new journal article appeared in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 68 (2026) : 371-420: “A New Reading of Lehi: A Rhetorical Context for Understanding His Teachings about the Fall of Adam and Eve,” written by Kelly E. Taylor: Abstract: Based on Lehi’s teachings in 2 Nephi 2, many Latter-day Saints conclude that it was necessary for Adam and Eve to partake of the forbidden fruit to acquire the ability to have children. While this appears... Read more
I failed to announce it yesterday, but a new “chapter reprint” — not, mind you, a piece pretending to be one of our new journal articles, which go up on Fridays — appeared on the website of the Interpreter Foundation on Wednesday: “Proper Names and Foreign Words in the Book of Abraham,” written by Stephen D. Ricks: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article originally appeared in Abraham and His Family in Scripture, History, and Tradition, edited by... Read more
Book-length accounts of single near-death experiences are not my preferred means of gaining information on the subject, though I don’t summarily dismiss them. I’m much more inclined to credit short, modest, anonymous accounts provided to reputable researchers by people who didn’t seek their attention and who don’t stand to gain financial profit or notoriety from the reports that they give. Extravagantly detailed narratives and exceedingly didactic or preachy discussions also worry me. Nevertheless, I share with you a couple... Read more
The lawsuit that has been filed against John Dehlin’s Mormon Stories podcast by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has drawn considerable attention, some of it both confused and negative. Here is a helpful article on the subject by my friend Steve Densley, an attorney who also happens to be the Executive Vice President of the Interpreter Foundation: “Protecting the Symbols of Christ’s Church: How a Trademark Lawsuit Aligns with Prophetic Guidance” There have been hundreds of... Read more
A few of my online critics like to claim that my involvement in apologetics and with the Interpreter Foundation has afforded me a lifestyle of exotic travel and extravagant dining out. And, of course, they’re right: Today is the first of five days devoted to another bout of precisely such fine dining and adventurous sightseeing. With John Donovan Wilson and Camrey Bagley Fox, as well as James Jordan and Russ Richins and Mark Goodman of Redbrick Filmworks — unfortunately,... Read more
Two weeks after the close of the most recent iteration of General Conference, it’s perhaps time to take a concrete step toward ensuring that what was said there doesn’t altogether fade into complete oblivion. I choose to focus on the Sunday morning remarks of President Dallin H. Oaks, who had been sustained in the previous morning’s solemn assembly as the new president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Not surprisingly, it being Easter Sunday, President Oaks... Read more
We took a third-generation unit — whose personal name is redacted here so as to avoid the tender ministrations of some of my more obsessive and unhinged anonymous online critics — to see an afternoon performance today of the Disney musical version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The performance took place at the Hale Centre Theatre in Sandy, Utah, which, as I generally like to point out, is a major local, state, and regional cultural treasure. Many of... Read more
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