Some further notes from Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, Personal Glimpses of the Prophet Joseph Smith (American Fork, Utah: Covenant Communications, 2009): James Leithead emigrated from Scotland to Canada, and it was there that he first heard the Restoration preached. He and his wife were baptized in May 1837, and they joined the Latter-day Saints in Missouri around the beginning of August 1838. They were then obliged to flee Missouri with the Saints and settle... Read more
The latest piece to appear in the pages of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship is by Craig L. Foster: “Offering Americans Religious and Political Salvation” Review of Derek R. Sainsbury, Storming the Nation: The Unknown Contributions of Joseph Smith’s Political Missionaries (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2020). 400 pages. $27.99 (hardback). Abstract: Derek Sainsbury’s book discusses Joseph Smith’s quest for the presidency of the United States of America and how more than six hundred missionaries were sent out... Read more
I’ve spent a fair amount of time here sharing notes excerpted from Paul McFate, 52 Good Reasons to Go to Church, Besides the Obvious Ones (Chicago: ACTA Publications, 2004). With the two quotations below, I bring to a conclusion my working through McFate’s very brief (and, sadly, very hard to find) little book. They will help as useful summations: Does every study on religion turn up positive results? The answer is no. The overall picture, however, is... Read more
Here are a couple of passages from Susan Easton Black and Larry C. Porter, Martin Harris: Uncompromising Witness of the Book of Mormon (Provo: BYU Studies, 2018): On 19 August 1870, headed ultimately for Salt Lake City and accompanied by Elder Edward Stevenson, Martin Harris boarded a westbound train for Chicago. Stevenson later recalled some of Martin’s reminiscences during the journey: “Joseph Smith, the Prophet, was very poor, and had to work by the day for his support,... Read more
In case you don’t already have sufficient reason to suspect that the current Chinese regime is evil, here’s one for you. If you’re really determined, you can perhaps even try to fit it into your Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File, but I doubt that it will fit very well: “China Forces Birth Control on Uighurs to Suppress Population” *** Some have asked me to tell more about my having been disinvited from... Read more
Brigham Young University has just announced the naming of a new university librarian. He is Rick Anderson, and he will be officially coming to campus on 1 September 2020 from his current position as associate dean for Collections & Scholarly Communication in the J. Willard Marriott Library at the University of Utah. BYU’s previous chief librarian, Jennifer Paustenbaugh, died in November of 2019. “Rick Anderson named university librarian at BYU” I’m pleased to point out that, among... Read more
Here is some new material for your enjoyment and edification that has recently appeared on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: “Alma 30-31 Two More Anti-Christs,” by Jonn Claybaugh Come, Follow Me — Study and Teaching Helps: Lesson 27, July 6-12: Alma 30-31 — “The Virtue of the Word of God” Audio Roundtable: Come, Follow Me Book of Mormon Lesson 27 “The Virtue of the Word of God” Alma 30-31 The Interpreter Radio Roundtable for Come, Follow Me Book of Mormon Lesson 27, “The Virtue of the... Read more
I’ve been on the campus of Brigham Young University only once, I believe, since in-person classes were cancelled on 12 March 2020 under the pressure of the coronavirus pandemic. This has, obviously, had enormous impact on normal social interactions with students and fellow faculty. And it has often caused me to lose track of days and dates. Thus, although I knew that Van Gessel was soon to retire (and even, intellectually speaking, knew the date when his retirement... Read more
As I contemplate the idea of retirement (from my job, though emphatically not from my work), I’ve found this document quite useful. It was shared with me earlier today by my friend Louis Midgley; I don’t know its original source: Retirement locations evaluated…. You can retire to Arizona where: 1. You are willing to park three blocks away from your house because you found shade. 2. You’ve experienced condensation on your rear end from the hot water... Read more
My father died seventeen years ago today. I still miss him very much. I think about him every day. Certain sights always, invariably, remind me of him. There are many things that I would like to tell him, many questions that I would like to ask of him. Virtually all, if not absolutely all, of the people I knew and loved when I was young, the people who formed me and to whom I looked up, are... Read more
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