For many years now, my wife and I have belonged to a monthly reading group, the rarely used but genuine formal title of which is The Gadianton Polysophical Marching and Chowder Society. I led our discussion this past Sunday evening, on Imagining and Reimagining the Restoration, by Robert A. Rees. My wife and I chose the book for this month’s discussion. Why? Because, for one thing, it’s thought-provoking and very discussable. Bob Rees is definitely located to the left... Read more
Unbelievably, it’s been thirteen years since I received the (to me) completely unexpected and devastating news that my brother, Kenneth Dee Walters — strictly speaking, my half-brother — my only sibling, to whom I was exceptionally close, had died. I was stunned and immobilized. I still think of him, and I still miss him, every day. Literally every day. I’ve made it my practice on this blog to post something about him (typically my hastily composed and inadequate remarks at... Read more
A number of the addresses given at our just-completed general conference really spoke to me, and I look forward to reading them. I’ve been thinking of my late friend Ann Madsen (my friend Truman Madsen’s widow), and of something that I posted in remembrance of her when she passed away back in 2022: Once, many years ago, I was over in the old Joseph Smith Building on the BYU campus for some sort of meeting. When that meeting finished,... Read more
The story that we told in the Interpreter Foundation’s 2024 dramatic film Six Days in August — and on which we’ll be expanding in our forthcoming series of short Becoming Brigham documentaries — continues to be directly relevant to current events in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as general conference proceeds and as we approach the establishment of a new First Presidency. Pending release of our mini-documentaries (which we expect to begin in January), here’s a... Read more
The president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is dead. The First Presidency of the Church has been dissolved. As the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, led by President Dallin H. Oaks, has assumed leadership of both the Church and this weekend’s general conference, we are seeing a kind of reenactment of the story told in the Interpreter Foundation’s theatrical film Six Days in August, the story upon which our forthcoming documentary series Becoming Brigham will... Read more
A new review essay went up earlier today in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: “Some Good Questions, but Large Inferences from Tidbits,” written by David M. Belnap Review of R. Kent Crookston, Book of Mormon Ecology: What the Text Reveals about the Land and Lives of the Record Keepers (Provo, UT: Village Lane, 2020). 267 pages. $12.95 (paperback). Abstract: As is well known, the Book of Mormon is a brief spiritual account from many centuries... Read more
Today, Thursday, is the Interpreter Foundation’s traditional day for sharing materials online that have previously been published in print as book chapters. Here is the latest: Seek Ye Words of Wisdom: “The Reach, the Handclasp, and the Embrace: Gestures of the Gods in the Ancient Egyptian Abydos Formula,” written by David Calabro Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article originally appeared in Seek Ye Words of Wisdom: Studies of the Book of Mormon, Bible, and Temple in... Read more
“Elder Bednar ministers in Michigan to victims of Sunday’s deadly attack: Apostle leads families at devotional to sing ‘Gethsemane’ twice, says Quorum of the Twelve wants them to feel their love in person” Yesterday, I mentioned here a fundraiser that has been organized by an inspired Latter-day Saint for the widow and the special-needs son of the Michigan attacker, Thomas Jacob Sanford. I’m pleased that it’s going extremely well, as these items illustrate: Fox News: “Mormon church members raise more... Read more
I’m pleased to announce the imminent arrival of Stephen O. Smoot, ed., The Pearl of Great Price: A Study Edition for Latter-day Saints, published by Scripture Central and the Interpreter Foundation. Rarely, every once in a while and to the shocked surprise of those who have long declared it either dead or near death, the Interpreter Foundation unexpectedly emerges from its lethargic coma, opens its eyes, raises itself briefly up on its elbows, and emits yet one more last-gasp... Read more
For whatever little it’s worth, I published a piece in Meridian Magazine about President Russell M. Nelson. Many tributes to him have appeared over the last couple of days, but I was happy to be invited to contribute one of them myself. It was a very difficult weekend for Latter-day Saints, and President Dallin H. Oaks — who is, as of Saturday night, the new leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — published something today... Read more
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