***   A new article appeared today in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship:   “An Unfortunate Approach to Joseph Smith’s Translation of Ancient Scripture,” by Spencer Kraus Review of Jonathan Neville, A Man That Can Translate: Joseph Smith and the Nephite Interpreters. Salt Lake City: Digital Legends Press, 2020. 385 pages. $22.99 (paperback). Abstract: This is the first of two papers that explore Jonathan Neville’s two latest books regarding the translation of the Book of Mormon. Neville... Read more

    ***   Sahar Qumsiyeh is an assistant professor of mathematics at Brigham Young University-Idaho in Rexburg and the author of Peace for a Palestinian: One Woman’s Story of Faith Amidst War in the Holy Land.  (The Interpreter Foundation published two reviews of her book soon after its publication.  See “Peace in the Holy Land,” by Shirley S. Ricks, and “Dehumanization and Peace,” by Kent P. Jackson.)  With her kind permission, I share here four recent entries from her... Read more

    ***   I’m afraid that you’re either going to have to skip this entry or endure another very personal entry from me.   The other day, I marked the anniversary of the birth of our first granddaughter.  (See “It’s been eight years now.”)  She was our first grandchild, altogether, and she spent the entirety of her short mortal life in a hospital in Orlando, Florida.   We knew her so very briefly that, to my shame and horror,... Read more

    ***   Here are some new items that have recently gone up on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:   Nibley Lectures: Time Vindicates the Prophets — Introduction From 7 March 1954 to 17 October in 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 the right of members of the Church of... Read more

    ***   A new Witnesses-related short feature has been posted for your viewing pleasure:   “Witnesses of the Book of Mormon — Insights Episode 8: What was the Cost of Being a Witness?” What price did the witnesses pay for being witnesses—and for never denying their testimonies of the Book of Mormon? This is the eighth in a series compiled from from the many interviews conducted during the course of the Witnesses film project. This series of mini-films is... Read more

    ***   I’m very tardy in mentioning it — I’m a bit occupied over here, with little free time and far out of sync with North American time zones — but a new article appeared at noon on Friday in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship:   “Contending without Contention,” by one Daniel C. Peterson Abstract: “Think not,” said the Savior at Matthew 10:34, “that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to... Read more

    ***   We spent the day in and around Salzburg today.  (That is to say, we spent it in Austria.)  This is a place that I have genuinely loved since I first came here in 1970, and it was very pleasant to see familiar places again — including two favorite bookstores.   First, we met a local guide, Ilse, for a visit to the trick gardens (the Wasserspiele) erected by the prince-archbishop of Salzburg, Graf Markus Sittikus von Hohenems,... Read more

    Back in July 2018, I wrote a newspaper column devoted to the question “Was Adolf Hitler religious?”  My answer to that question was that he was not religious.  Certainly not in any common understanding of the term, whether Christian or simply theistic.  I’ve sometimes been challenged on my answer, but I stand by it.   One of the titles that I bought at the book shop at KZ-Dachau a couple of days ago is Hitler: Die 101 wichtigsten... Read more