![\"Friberg's](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2016\/12\/brother-of-jared-seeing-finger-of-lord-39668-gallery.jpg\")
<\/a>We spent much of today flying over the eastern portion of the Gulf of Australia (formerly known as the Pacific Ocean). \u00a0Happily, the flight was boring and uneventful. \u00a0Happily, too, the Interpreter Foundation continues to produce even while I\u2019m strapped in at 37,000 feet. \u00a0Actually, as a matter of fact, it performs better<\/em> when I\u2019m away from the controls.<\/p>\n Today being Friday, a new article went up early this afternoon: \u00a0\u201c\u201cWhen Ye Shall Rend That Veil of Unbelief\u201d: A Typological Reading of Ether 3 and 4,\u201d<\/a> written by Matthew Scott Stenson<\/a>:<\/p>\n Abstract:<\/strong> In the book of Ether, the prophet Moroni \u201cChristianizes\u201d the Jaredite story, inserting extensive Christian elements into an original text that predates the house of Israel, the Nephite nation, and the Christian era. In this paper, a typological and intertextual method is used to show how Moroni uses the words of Christ in Ether 3 and 4 to exhort his Gentile readers to embrace the Nephite record when it is manifest to them that they might receive even greater things (divine truths). Specifically, Moroni uses the brief account of the brother of Jared atop Mount Shelem to illustrate how Gentiles may \u201crend the veil of unbelief\u201d and gain perfect knowledge of all things ever revealed. As the Lord revealed his finger to the brother of Jared, so also the Book of Mormon, itself a portion of the word of the Lord, will come forth to try their faith. Those Gentiles who believe and come to know with perfectness of its truthfulness are positioned to lay hold of even greater things than these through Christ. The value of this reading is to clarify Moroni\u2019s effort to adapt the early Jaredite history to a later event\u2014the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and its implications.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n And it was accompanied by \u201cInterpreting Interpreter: A Christianized Ether,\u201d<\/a> which was written by Kyler Rasmussen<\/a>:<\/p>\n This post is a summary of the article \u201c\u201cWhen Ye Shall Rend That Veil of Unbelief\u201d: A Typological Reading of Ether 3 and 4<\/a>\u201d by Matthew Scott Stenson in Volume 64 of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship<\/em>. All of the Interpreting Interpreter<\/em> articles may be seen at https:\/\/interpreterfoundation.org\/category\/summaries\/<\/a>. An introduction to the Interpreting Interpreter<\/em>series is available at https:\/\/interpreterfoundation.org\/interpreting-interpreter-on-abstracting-thought\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n A video introduction to this Interpreter article is now available on all of our social media channels, including on YouTube at https:\/\/youtube.com\/shorts\/pW4gIUV8GnY<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Takeaway:<\/strong> \u00a0Stenson suggests that Moroni framed Christ\u2019s words in Ether 3 and 4 as a way of encouraging future Gentile readers to accept the Nephite record, as a way of showing that they were in a position to receive a greater understanding of Christ and his truths, much as a view of Christ\u2019s finger allowed the brother of Jared to see Christ\u2019s whole body.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n From our series of short-video features on the Book of Mormon plates and related subjects: \u00a0\u201cEpisode 31: John Whitmer and the Plates\u201d<\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n Witnesses of the Book of Mormon\u2014Insights Episode 31: John Whitmer was a practical, level-headed man. He was also one of the Eight Witnesses. And yet he eventually left the church along with the rest of his family. What did he actually say about his experience with the plates? This is Episode 31 of a series compiled from the many interviews conducted during the course of the Witnesses film project. . . These additional resources are hosted by Camrey Bagley Fox, who played Emma Smith in Witnesses<\/em>, as she introduces and visits with a variety of experts. These individuals answer questions or address accusations against the witnesses, also helping viewers understand the context of the times in which the witnesses lived. This week we feature Daniel C. Peterson, President of the Interpreter Foundation and Executive Producer of Witnesses<\/em> and Gerrit Dirkmaat, Associate Professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University. For more information, go to <\/span>https:\/\/witnessesofthebookofmormon.org\/<\/a><\/span>. Learn about the documentary movie Undaunted\u2014Witnesses of the Book of Mormon<\/em> at <\/span>https:\/\/witnessesundaunted.com\/<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Incidentally, you will continue to be able to access the docudrama Undaunted<\/em> at no charge into the indefinite future. \u00a0But \u2014 I\u2019m not exactly sure how we\u2019ve configured things \u2014 today may well be your very last day to stream Witnesses<\/em> itself for free. \u00a0It will continue to be available for a nominal charge, but the window for its free streaming was always slated to be a limited one. \u00a0If you want to watch Witnesses<\/em> for free, run (don\u2019t walk) to The Witnesses Initiative<\/a>, where you will find the appropriate links.<\/p>\n I was happy to see this article in National Review<\/em>: \u00a0\u201cUtah Higher Ed Breakthrough\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe Utah legislature is currently considering a bill (Senate Bill 334<\/a>) that could jump-start a major reform of America\u2019s higher education system. The bill, sponsored by Senator John Johnson, would require every student at Utah State University to take a full year-and-a-half course in Western civilization and an additional one-semester course in American civics.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I strongly support this bill, and I consider Senator Johnson a friend. \u00a0I should add, however, that I am in no way opposed to teaching non-Western civilizations at the collegiate level and even in high school. \u00a0How could I be? \u00a0After all, I earned my living for more than three decades at Brigham Young University teaching not only the Arabic language but, even more commonly, teaching about the religion of Islam, Islamic philosophical texts, Islamic art and architecture, and Islamic literature. \u00a0I\u2019m passionate about these subjects.<\/p>\n I remember one day, though, trying to make a point about Kalila wa-Dimna<\/em>, the wonderful eighth-century collection of animal fables by Ibn al-Muqaffa\u2019. \u00a0Dimna, I said, was a seeming friend who is actually plotting to destroy a rival in the king\u2019s court. \u00a0(Appropriately enough, while the king in the story is a lion, Dimna is a jackal.) \u00a0I compared him to the consummately villainous Iago, from Shakespeare\u2019s tragedy Othello<\/em>. \u00a0When the students responded with uniformly blank looks, I asked whether anybody in that class of roughly seventy-five was familiar with Othello<\/em>. \u00a0To my shock, not a single person in the room (beside me) had read the play or even recognized the name Iago<\/em>. \u00a0I found that profoundly depressing, and I wondered why I was teaching these mostly American and Canadian students about Islamic culture when they had so much more to learn about their own.<\/p>\n I could have seen it more often had I been paying more systematic attention, but I was pleased to see the \u201cgreen flash\u201d<\/a> at sunset three evenings in a row while we were on Maui. \u00a0I haven\u2019t really seen it all that often in the past. \u00a0Usually, of course, I\u2019m in no position to watch the sun at the horizon but, when I have been, clouds have often interfered. \u00a0The last three nights, though, we made a special effort \u2014 and I wasn\u2019t disappointed.<\/p>\n This is really important, because the subject has been a major angle of attack against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> and its leaders over at least the past two or three years: \u00a0\u201cStewardship of Tithing Funds: Recent Court Ruling Acknowledges Church Integrity\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>
(Wikimedia Commons public domain photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a>
(Wikimedia Commons public domain photograph)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a><\/a>
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n