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<\/a>A new article has just gone up, yet again, on the website of the moribund Interpreter Foundation: C. Robb Smith,<\/a> \u201cAlma or Mormon? The Voice of Alma 29,\u201d Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship<\/em> 68 (2026) : 53-118<\/a>:<\/p>\n Abstract:<\/strong> For more than a century, Alma 29 has been read as a direct quotation from the prophet Alma. Yet, unlike every other extended quotation in Mormon\u2019s record, this passage lacks attribution, framing, or transition. This anomaly has gone largely unnoticed because of a chapter break, added in 1879, that masks the continuity of Mormon\u2019s voice from Alma 28 into chapter 29. This paper challenges the traditional attribution and argues that Alma 29 is more likely Mormon\u2019s editorial reflection than Alma\u2019s psalm. While the study focuses on Alma 1\u201329, the editorial patterns it identifies\u2014Mormon\u2019s consistent use of speaker attribution, narrative framing, and formal introductions to quoted speech\u2014hold true across his entire abridgment. Alma 29, if understood as Alma\u2019s psalm, would stand out as the sole exception, with no introduction to mark a change in speaker. Close attention to verb tense usage, narrative posture, and thematic continuity with Alma 28, together with the prophetic vocabulary Mormon uses elsewhere, suggests that these words reflect Mormon\u2019s own meditation. Attributing Alma 29 to Mormon reframes the chapter as the theological culmination of his editorial design. Mormon situates his record within a prophetic chain stretching from Joseph in Egypt, through Nephi, to his own day. His repeated use of \u201cmy brethren\u201d reflects covenant kinship rather than contemporaneity, and his testimony of a \u201choly calling\u201d reveals a prophet who, even in an age of societal collapse, experienced his own quiet triumph in saving souls.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The appearance of C. Robb Smith\u2019s article is paired with the publication online of \u201cInterpreting Interpreter: Who Wrote Alma 29?\u201d<\/a> written by the inimitable Kyler Rasmussen<\/a>:<\/p>\n This post is a summary of the article \u201cAlma or Mormon? The Voice of Alma 29<\/a>\u201d by C. Robb Smith in Volume 68 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<\/em> article is now available on all of our social media channels, including on YouTube at https:\/\/youtube.com\/shorts\/gZQvKy7xdm4<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Takeaway:<\/strong> Smith proposes that Alma 29, traditionally attributed to Alma, may instead have been written by Mormon. He argues that the words and themes are as much a fit for Mormon as they are Alma, that the use of \u201cmy brethren\u201d could reflect covenantal kinship, and that it would be uncharacteristic for Mormon to fail to properly attribute the passage to Alma.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And don\u2019t miss this, which is newly up on the Interpreter Foundation\u2019s website: \u00a0The Interpreter Insights Podcast \u2014 February 19, 2026 \u2014 \u201cThe Early History of God: Yahweh and Other Deities in Ancient Israel, by Mark Smith\u201d<\/a><\/em>:<\/p>\n In the February 19, 2026 episode of The Interpreter Insights Podcast, our host Martin Tanner<\/a> describes how Mark Smith, PhD, Harvard researcher, now a professor at NYU, in his book The Early History of God: Yahweh and Other Deities in Ancient Israel<\/em>, demonstrates ancient Israel, and early books of the Bible describe God (YHWH) as a divine human. This looks like Joseph Smith\u2019s descriptions of God in his accounts of the First Vision. The audio track is also included in our podcast feed (https:\/\/cms.interpreterfoundation.org\/feed\/podcast<\/a>).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n In the meanwhile, have you visited becomingbrigham.com<\/a> yet?\u00a0 Four episodes of our new series of mini-documentaries have already gone up onlline; a fifth will drop on Monday.\u00a0 Don\u2019t fall too<\/em> far behind.<\/p>\n \u201cO that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n If it were only so, I would be able to get the word out quite a bit better regarding Becoming Brigham<\/em>. \u00a0As it is, I rely largely upon word-of-mouth, hoping that people out there will watch our series, subscribe to it, and recommend it to friends, neighbors, and relatives.<\/p>\n You may have noticed, by the way, that I have some interest in the cinema, and specifically in Latter-day Saint cinema. \u00a0So I\u2019m pleased to remind you that the annual Zions Indie Film Fest<\/a> commences this coming Monday, in Orem, Utah.<\/p>\n My wife and I went out last night to watch the Angel Studios release Solo Mio<\/em><\/a>. \u00a0(No Interpreter Foundation donor funding was diverted to buy our tickets.) \u00a0I enjoyed the movie. \u00a0For one thing, Nicole Grimaudo<\/a> is adorable as Gia, and, for another, the Roman and Tuscan scenery is gorgeous. \u00a0It\u2019s a sweet film, and I didn\u2019t have to compromise my moral worldview to like it. \u00a0(Has anybody else out there seen it? \u00a0If so, what did you<\/em> think of it?) \u00a0I\u2019m very pleased with what the folks at Angel Studios<\/a> are doing, and I wish them every success.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>