“Understanding How the Scriptures Came to Be”

Last updated on: October 2, 2022 at 10:11 pm By Dan Peterson

Three new articles appeared today, Friday, in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. We hope that you’ll take the time to enjoy them! “The Last Nephite Scribes,” written by Noel B. Reynolds Abstract In an earlier paper, I concluded that Lehi and Nephi were highly trained Josephite scribes and were associated with an official Jerusalem scribal school that preserved ancient Manassite traditions. There they acquired advanced writing skills and classical Hebrew and Egyptian, which would become... Read more

“A continuous melody and a thunderous appeal”

Last updated on: September 29, 2022 at 9:30 pm By Dan Peterson

First of all, just so that you’ll be aware: Interpreter Foundation Tour Announcement! The tour will run from 9 October 2023 to 18 October 2023, with an optional five-day extension running from 18 October 2023 to 22 October 2023. Please note, too, that one of our hosts on the tour, Murat Çakir, is in Utah preparing to translate for General Conference. While he is in the area, he will be speaking at the Jordan Event Center at 7... Read more

The Prophet Joseph F. Smith

Last updated on: September 28, 2022 at 3:25 pm By Dan Peterson

But, first, here are a couple of items that have recently gone up on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: “Conference Talks: The Divine Handclasp in the Hebrew Bible and in Ancient Near Eastern Iconography,” by David M. Calabro David Calabro explores what he describes as the “divine handclasp” in the Hebrew Bible. The term refers to a handclasp between God and his human servant that had a place in ancient Israelite temple worship. Calabro indicates it... Read more

“If I were placed on a cannibal island”

Last updated on: September 28, 2022 at 4:43 pm By Dan Peterson

Two new items have gone up today on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: Come, Follow Me — Old Testament Study and Teaching Helps: Lesson 41, October 3–9: Isaiah 58–66 — “The Redeemer Shall Come to Zion” Once again, Jonn Claybaugh has generously supplied a concise set of notes for students and teachers of the “Come, Follow Me” curriculum in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Audio Roundtable: Come, Follow Me Old Testament Lesson 41: “The... Read more

A River Ran Over Her (Conclusion)

Last updated on: September 28, 2022 at 4:52 pm By Dan Peterson

Gee but it’s great to be back home. Home is where I want to be. I’ve been on the road so long my friend. And if you came along I know you couldn’t disagree. It’s the same old story: Everywhere I go, I get slandered, Libeled, I hear words I never heard In the Bible. Paul Simon’s lyrics actually apply remarkably accurately to me, although the slander, libel, and cursing that I received in California came via... Read more

Accounting for the past week

Last updated on: September 26, 2022 at 12:59 am By Dan Peterson

When we arrived here on Monday afternoon, my wife and I and my two visiting Utah cousins had an early dinner at the Farmhouse at Roger’s Gardens in Corona del Mar. Only my second time, I think. Maybe my third. (My wife had been introduced to the place by friends, and she introduced me.) Wonderful outdoor southern California ambience and really good food. Then we stocked up at the grocery store and checked into our lodgings for a... Read more

Don’t I already have trouble enough?

Last updated on: September 25, 2022 at 12:49 am By Dan Peterson

Newly posted at 7 PM Utah time on Saturday: “Witnesses of the Book of Mormon — Insights Episode 23: Why did Martin Harris Join So Many Churches?“ Martin Harris was away from the church for many years before finally returning. Critics have tried to use the fact that he joined other denominations as something that invalidates his testimony of The Book of Mormon. What’s the real story here? This is the twenty-third in a series compiled from from... Read more

“Brother Brigham”

Last updated on: September 24, 2022 at 2:06 am By Dan Peterson

Three new items appeared today in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. As with all such articles, they are made freely available to anybody who might be interested: ““For Their Good Have I Written Them”: The Onomastic Allusivity and Literary Function of 2 Nephi 25:8,” written by Matthew L. Bowen Abstract: Nephi’s writings exhibit a distinctive focus on “good” and divine “goodness,” reflecting the meaning of Nephi’s Egyptian name (derived from nfr) meaning “good,” “goodly,” “fine,” or... Read more

Hurrah for Excommunication!

Last updated on: September 23, 2022 at 1:04 am By Dan Peterson

Something new has gone up on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: Conference Talks: “Edfu and Exodus” (John Gee) In this essay John Gee draws a connection between the Egyptian “Book of the Temple” and the book of Exodus, both in structure and topic, describing the temple from the inside out. Gee concludes that both probably go back to a common source older than either of them. All day long, I’ve either been at a... Read more

On evaluating possibly jarring information

Last updated on: September 22, 2022 at 12:00 am By Dan Peterson

On several occasions over the past few years, in various venues — see here, for example — I’ve published a list of four books that I recommend as a kind of “basic packet” for people struggling with their testimonies, and I’ve explained that I think it important to preemptively strengthen faith as well as to fend off attacks, criticisms, or doubts. Let me explain a little bit of what I have in mind: Suppose that, one... Read more