As I’ve explained here several times before, one of the functions that this blog serves for me is as a kind of journal and even as a place for rough drafts of my life history. And a part of that, though a relatively minor part in terms of “bulk” or word count, is my use of it as a place to remember family and friends who have passed on. In certain cases, I’ve resolved that I will commemorate... Read more
Will religious universities continue to be permitted to set their own behavioral standards for students (and, for that matter, for faculty and administrators) if those standards conflict with Western society’s rising orthodoxy on gender and sexuality? Should they be permitted to do so? New York City’s Yeshiva University, an Orthodox Jewish institution, has recently become a battleground for different viewpoints on that question. A Catholic perspective: “Religious Liberty Must Prevail for Yeshiva University” Forward (implicitly taking a... Read more
Here are four new items that have gone up on the website of the Interpreter Foundation during the past twenty-four to thirty-six hours: Nibley Lectures: Time Vindicates the Prophets — “The Ancient Law of Liberty” Between 7 March 1954 and 17 October 1954, Hugh Nibley delivered a series of thirty weekly lectures on KSL Radio that were also published as pamphlets. The series, called “Time Vindicates the Prophets,” was given in answer to those who were challenging... Read more
I recently read Paul Alan Cox, “The Orchid and the Missile: Reflections on the MX,” BYU Studies Quarterly 61/2 (2022): 31-50. His entry on my Latter-day Saint Scholars Testify website can be found here, and I append immediately below the relevant portion of the little bio given for him by BYU Studies: Paul Alan Cox was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize, sometimes known as the Nobel Prize of the Environment, and was named one of TIME magazine’s eleven... Read more
As I’ve mentioned here before, I’ve lately been re-reading Eugene England, Brother Brigham (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1980), and thoroughly, thoroughly, enjoying it. I’m consistently amazed at the similarity of Gene’s opinion of Brigham Young to mine. But then, maybe the similarity shouldn’t be such a surprise. It may be that Gene’s view of Brigham Young was a formative influence on mine in the first place. After all, I first read it when it came from the press... Read more
I think that it was Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve who, in the second to the last talk of the just-concluded October conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, knowing that the concluding speaker would be President Russell M. Nelson, bore his testimony that President Nelson is, in our time, the chosen prophet of God for the entire world. It’s a breathtakingly grand claim. And it powerfully reminded me of... Read more
But first, this new “Insights” video has just gone up on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: “Witnesses of the Book of Mormon — Insights Episode 24: What was Joseph’s Witness?” When we discuss the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, we often overlook the first witness of the plates: Joseph Smith himself. What were his experiences with the plates? This is the twenty-fourth in a series compiled from the many interviews conducted during the course of the Witnesses... Read more
Three new articles appeared today, Friday, in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. We hope that you’ll take the time to enjoy them! “The Last Nephite Scribes,” written by Noel B. Reynolds Abstract In an earlier paper, I concluded that Lehi and Nephi were highly trained Josephite scribes and were associated with an official Jerusalem scribal school that preserved ancient Manassite traditions. There they acquired advanced writing skills and classical Hebrew and Egyptian, which would become... Read more
First of all, just so that you’ll be aware: Interpreter Foundation Tour Announcement! The tour will run from 9 October 2023 to 18 October 2023, with an optional five-day extension running from 18 October 2023 to 22 October 2023. Please note, too, that one of our hosts on the tour, Murat Çakir, is in Utah preparing to translate for General Conference. While he is in the area, he will be speaking at the Jordan Event Center at 7... Read more
But, first, here are a couple of items that have recently gone up on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: “Conference Talks: The Divine Handclasp in the Hebrew Bible and in Ancient Near Eastern Iconography,” by David M. Calabro David Calabro explores what he describes as the “divine handclasp” in the Hebrew Bible. The term refers to a handclasp between God and his human servant that had a place in ancient Israelite temple worship. Calabro indicates it... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In