Please note this new aid for personal and family scripture study that is being made available at no cost by the Interpreter Foundation:
“Come, Follow Me Resource Index”
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In one of the several incomplete manuscripts that I have on my computer, there is a section on the evidence that I see for Joseph Smith’s sincerity. There is no way to prove that sincerity beyond anybody’s capacity to doubt it. But there are certainly good grounds, in his behavior and in the personal writings that he left behind but that were written without any expection of their ever being published. Here is just one tiny specimen, from my notes:
Incarcerated by the Missouri militia at Independence on 4 November 1838, having escaped execution a few days earlier only because General Alexander Doniphan had refused to carry out the order, Joseph wrote to his wife Emma. The letter concludes with thoughts of his children and a heartfelt plea to Emma:
Tell them that Father is yet alive, God grant that he may see them again Oh Emma for God sake do not forsake me nor the truth but remember me, if I do not meet you again in this life may God grant that we may meet in heaven, I cannot express my feelings, my heart is full, Farewell Oh my kind and affectionate Emma I am yours forever your Husband and true friend. [1]
[1] In Jessee, Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, 362-363.
It’s difficult for me to see a cynical deceiver in those lines.
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I found this article quite interesting, not to say rather touching:
“Papeete Tahiti Temple Celebrates 35 Years and a Miraculous History”
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I wonder whether there are some things to be learned, or to be gleaned, from this piece that might be of benefit to Latter-day Saint writers and artists, and to those who worry about, or dream of, a distinctive and rich body of Latter-day Saint literature and art:
“Can Catholic literature build on its rich heritage?”
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A thought-provoking (and surprising) interview with a major academic student of ancient Christianity:
“Elaine Pagels on grief, her #MeToo story, and why we find meaning in religion”
I’m interested in the book. I’m also deeply disappointed to have learned what I just learned about the very significant New Testament scholar Helmut Koester.
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Here’s something else that’s very much worth reading:
“Emma Green’s ‘The Jews of Pittsburgh Bury Their Dead’ among the best religion stories of 2018”
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Just a reminder of the fireside that I’ll be giving on Saturday night, 3 November 2018, on the subject of the temple and celestial ascent:
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