{"id":89036,"date":"2020-11-03T11:50:49","date_gmt":"2020-11-03T18:50:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=89036"},"modified":"2020-11-05T22:51:17","modified_gmt":"2020-11-06T05:51:17","slug":"the-book-of-mormon-focus-and-coherence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/11\/the-book-of-mormon-focus-and-coherence.html","title":{"rendered":"The Book of Mormon: Focus and Coherence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Aerial<\/a>
This Wikimedia Commons public domain photograph provides a\u00a0wholly inadequate view of Snow Canyon, which must be driven and hiked through to be appreciated.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a bit behind on my self-assigned task of keeping you informed of new publications from the Interpreter Foundation.\u00a0 Yesterday, we were driving back from St. George, and we took our time to do it.\u00a0 We spent some time in the always-glorious Snow Canyon State Park<\/a>, paid our sobered respect at the various Mountain Meadow Massacre National Memorial<\/a> sites, and visited with friends in Cedar City.\u00a0 So I\u2019ll try to catch up.\u00a0 Here are the new articles:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Covenant of Christ\u2019s Gospel in the Book of Mormon,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0an article written by Steven L. Olsen<\/a>\u00a0that has now appeared in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Abstract:<\/strong>\u00a0With the trained eye of an anthropologist and a historian, Steven Olsen refutes claims that the Book of Mormon is a simple hodge-podge of biblical phrases and responses to controversies that Joseph Smith absorbed from his surroundings. Through a careful discussion of four main claims, he illustrates his thesis that the Book of Mormon \u201cevidences a high degree of focus and coherence, as though its principal writers intentionally crafted the record from a unified and comprehensive perspective.\u201d He shows that the Book of Mormon is not merely a history in the conventional sense, but rather is purposeful in the selection and expression of its core themes.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

[Editor\u2019s Note:\u00a0<\/strong>Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original.<\/span><\/p>\n

See Steven L. Olsen, \u201cThe Covenant of Christ\u2019s Gospel in the Book of Mormon,\u201d in\u00a0\u201cTo Seek the Law of the Lord\u201d: Essays in Honor of John W. Welch,<\/em>\u00a0ed. Paul Y. Hoskisson and Daniel C. Peterson (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation, 2017), 209\u201346. Further information at\u00a0https:\/\/interpreterfoundation.org\/books\/to-seek-the-law-of-the-lord-essays-in-honor-of-john-w-welch-2\/<\/a>.]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Book of Moses Essays #27: Enoch\u2019s Grand Vision: The Weeping Voice of the Heavens (Moses 7:28\u201329, 40, 42\u201343)<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Come, Follow Me<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 Study and Teaching Helps: Lesson 44, November 9-15: Ether 1-5 \u2014\u00a0\u201cRend That Veil of Unbelief\u201d<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In case you missed them, here are some items from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial \u201cHow Religion Poisons Everything\u201d File<\/em>:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFood Donations Increase During Pandemic and Recent Harvest: Local food bank shelves filled from coast to coast\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHow the Church is spreading peanut butter across storehouses and food banks nationwide\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBYU\u2013Pathway Worldwide Enrollment Surpasses 50,000 Students\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 I\u2019m a bit behind on my self-assigned task of keeping you informed of new publications from the Interpreter Foundation.\u00a0 Yesterday, we were driving back from St. George, and we took our time to do it.\u00a0 We spent some time in the always-glorious Snow Canyon State Park, paid our sobered respect at the various […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[56,1356,1809,18785,18797,2325,18791,11731,18782,1098,14777,18788,380,2905,1812,1815,55,1667,18803,6237,18800,15145,18806,18794],"class_list":["post-89036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-book-of-mormon","tag-christ","tag-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints","tag-coherence","tag-comprehensive","tag-covenant","tag-crafting","tag-environment","tag-focus","tag-gospel","tag-influence","tag-intention","tag-joseph-smith","tag-latter-day-saint","tag-latter-day-saints","tag-lds","tag-mormonism","tag-mormons","tag-olsen","tag-purpose","tag-purposeful","tag-steven","tag-surroundings","tag-unified"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Book of Mormon: Focus and Coherence<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    I'm a bit behind 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