*** The literarily-inclined Orson F. Whitney served as a member of the Council of the Twelve from 1906 until his death in 1931. I share a quotation from his memoirs that may already be familiar to most of my readers. But it’s a wonderful passage, and perhaps some out there don’t know it. It refers to an experience from his first mission, in the Eastern States, in roughly the year 1876. He had apparently been a... Read more
*** With his kind permission, I republish here the summary of Episode 4 of Under the Banner of Heaven that the inimitable Jim Bennett posted on his Facebook page: Come, Brother. Come, sister. Abide with me as we range Under the Banner of Heaven Episode Four, Church and State. Beards vigorously encouraged. Our show opens with the cops bursting into someone’s house that’s been ransacked. We don’t know who’s house it is, and we don’t know why... Read more
*** Just up! Undaunted Witnesses Episode 4: Joseph Smith: Man, Prophet—or Both? As an uneducated farm boy claiming to see God the Father, Jesus Christ, and various angels, Joseph Smith also claimed to translate an ancient record and receive modern revelation. Experiencing sorrow and failure as well as joy and success in his abbreviated life, he was eventually killed by a mob for his beliefs. Can someone be both very human and also a mouthpiece for... Read more
*** Two new articles appeared today at noon in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: ““Can You Suppose That the Lord Will Spare You?”: Moroni’s Charged Rhetoric in Alma 60:30–32,” by Matthew L. Bowen Abstract: Under the duress of a lengthy war, and prompted by recent Lamanite military successes, as well as incensed at the government’s failure to resupply Helaman’s armies with provisions and to send men to reinforce the city Nephihah, Moroni sent a second... Read more
*** It’s an appropriate time, I think, for a status report on the Interpreter Foundation’s Witnesses movie project. The first part of the project was production of the film Witnesses, which was released in theaters in June of 2021. We are excited that it is now available everywhere on streaming platforms: Deseret Video+: https://deseretbook.com/video Living Scriptures: https://stream.living scriptures.com/movies/witnesses Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/witnesses/id1619571357?ls=1 Google: https://play.google.com/store/movies/details?id=S_IussZpGG0.P Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.d1dbb090-26e6-491d-bf67-f9acb10d95d2?autoplay=1&ref_=atv_cf_strg_wb The second portion of the project was the development of a two-part, 2.5-hour... Read more
*** The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is being held up right now more or less as a foreign object of horror and ridicule in the Hulu/FX miniseries Under the Banner of Heaven. Not for the first time — think of such cultural monuments as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet and Zane Grey’s Riders of the Purple Sage and the 1911 Danish silent film A Victim of the Mormons — and certainly... Read more
*** If you’re at all interested in the topic of life before and after life, don’t let the opportunity pass you by to see Remembering Heaven while it’s in movie theaters. (I don’t know the extent of its distribution, but I know that it’s playing at several locations here in Utah Valley.). The film’s run may be over before you realize. *** Interpreter Radio Show — April 10, 2022 In the first hour of this... Read more
*** But briefly, first, please have a look at this article from today’s Meridian Magazine: ““Undaunted”: See the Docudrama that Tells the Rest of the Story Behind the Witnesses of the Book of Mormon” *** I’m pleased to mention here that tomorrow, 10 May 2022, is the date for which Yale University Press has scheduled the release of the second edition of The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text. Edited by my longtime friend... Read more
*** Well over three decades ago now, I spent a summer in Berkeley, California, participating in a small seminar led by the preeminent student of comparative religions Huston Smith (1919-2016) and sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities. It was an extraordinary and memorable experience on many levels — not the least of which was being able to attend a complete performance of Wagner’s “Ring Cycle” over at the San Francisco Opera during my stay in... Read more
*** I’m pleased to announce (although, owing to my schedule today, I’m announcing it about four and a half hours late) that the third installment of the Interpreter Foundation’s “Undaunted Witnesses” reels went up this (Saturday) evening: Undaunted Witnesses Episode 3: David Whitmer, Witness, with Camrey Bagley Fox and Gerrit Dirkmaat David Whitmer was one of the Three Witnesses, from a whole family of witnesses of the Gold Plates. Yet after falling out with Joseph Smith,... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In