Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship published a new article today entitled “The Literary Structure of Alma 21–22.” It was written by Derek Squire. Abstract: This article is part two of an analysis of the literary structure of Alma 17–27. The current article analyzes the literary structure of Alma 21–22, which is “an account of the preaching of Aaron and Muloki and their brethren to the Lamanites” as noted in the heading before Alma 21. These... Read more
Just in case you haven’t already seen this from President Dallin H. Oaks and his wife Kristen: “A Birthday Wish to My Wonderful Wife.” From the Law School of the University of Chicago: “Dallin H. Oaks, ’57, Former UChicago Law Professor, Named President of the Mormon Church” “In first interview as prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ, President Oaks calls the faith ‘a gospel of happiness and growth’” President Oaks, President Eyring and President Christofferson sat down for an... Read more
This article that I wrote went up yesterday in Meridian Magazine: “The Keys of Heaven and Apostolic Succession.” At its conclusion, I recommend several resources that I think some will find both useful and enjoyable. (I’m still stunned at the fact that we can hear the recorded voice of President Wilford Woodruff from 1897 as he testifies of the Prophet Joseph Smith.) Also in Meridian, here is a summary of the meeting in which the new First Presidency was... Read more
The big news for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today, of course, was the organization of a new First Presidency, with President Dallin H. Oaks heading it up as the eighteenth President of the Church. The ordination of President Oaks was scarcely surprising; he had already been the presiding officer in the Church since the moment of President Russell M. Nelson’s passing. The call of Henry B. Eyring to serve as First Counselor to... Read more
For a large occasional project of mine on the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I’ve put together some notes toward a discussion of the topic. How important is the claim of Christ’s resurrection to the Christian message? How central is it to the message of the Restoration? A well-known and vitally important text from the earliest Christian movement is the detailed declaration of the apostle Paul that is recorded in 1 Corinthians 15:1-22. For the sake of freshness, I will... Read more
We attended sacrament meeting this morning in the meetinghouse that is situated directly next door to the Newport Beach California Temple. It was, I thought, a very good service. The first speaker, a brother, used two talks from the recently concluded semi-annual general conference of the Church to address the topic of families. The second, a sister, spoke with great panache about spiritual promptings, and related some personal stories of her own. Before attending the Los Angeles California Temple... Read more
This is a really good article in Public Square Magazine, and it’s very timely: “When Law Meets Love: Dallin H. Oaks’ ministry to sexual and gender minorities: Dallin H. Oaks pairs law with love, showing humility, outreach, and a call to hold truth with tenderness.” And this one, an article in The Conversation by Brittany Romanello, a sociocultural anthropologist and ethnographer at the University of Arkansas, is also worth reading: “The new president of The Church of Jesus Christ... Read more
It being Friday, a new article has appeared in the Interpreter Foundation’s flagship publication: Carl J. Cranney (on whom, see here), “Reading Disciple Consistently As New-world Apostle in the Book of Mormon.” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 66 (2025): 385-402, https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/reading-disciple-consistently-as-new-world-apostle-in-the-book-of-mormon/. Abstract: In the Book of Mormon, the term disciple occurs fifty-five times. Of those, forty-eight are unambiguous references to the Twelve called by the risen Christ to preside over his new-world Church. The remaining... Read more
Here’s a curious voice out of Wyoming. Not likely to tumble into the baptismal font anytime soon, but still admiring in this one respect: “My Mormon manifesto: In the wake of a deadly attack on a Michigan church, one Latter-day Saint’s particularly noble act of grace deserves our attention.” And here is a very good piece in The Chronicle of Philanthropy from Dr. Eboo Patel, an American Ismaili Muslim, an important writer, and a prominent figure in current interfaith relations:... Read more
A pseudonymous online critic has launched an attack against my supposed view that irreligious people cannot be moral — a view that is obviously false and that I do not hold. He also suggests that, in my opinion, people only rein in their impulses and restrain their actions because they’re terrified of the wrath of God, and that I think that, if I were ever to cease to believe in God as a kind of crutch for morality, I... Read more
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