![\"17th](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2017\/03\/664px-Shaki_khan_palace_interier.jpg\")
<\/a>(Wikimedia Commons public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Newly appearing in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship<\/em>, an article by John A. Tvedtnes: \u00a0 \u201cTree of Life, Tree of Healing\u201d<\/a><\/span> Abstract:<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0The late Hebrew scholar John Tvedtnes takes readers on a grand tour of Jewish and Christian stories and traditions that attest to the Tree of Life as not only a means to prolong life, but also to impart a healing power to individuals and to the earth itself. In a future day, it is said that the Saints will eat of its sweet fruit forever.<\/em><\/span> [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> See John Tvedtnes, \u201cTree of Life, Tree of Healing,\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), 495\u2013520. Further information at\u00a0https:\/\/interpreterfoundation.org\/books\/to-seek-the-law-of-the-lord-essays-in-honor-of-john-w-welch-2\/<\/a>.]<\/span> \u00a0 ***<\/span><\/strong> \u00a0 I don\u2019t know whether I\u2019ve called attention to this item here before, but I just came across it (again, I think) while looking for something else, and I thought that it might be worth bringing to your notice today: \u00a0 \u201c10 questions with John Gee\u201d<\/a> \u00a0 It appeared all the way back on 30 January 2018 \u2014 precisely three years ago this past Saturday \u2014 so a few things have changed since then.\u00a0 Most recently, John has taken notice of one of those things in a pair of articles for Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship<\/em>: \u00a0 \u201cProlegomena to a Study of the Egyptian Alphabet Documents in the Joseph Smith Papers\u201d<\/a> \u00a0 \u201cFantasy and Reality in the Translation of the Book of Abraham\u201d<\/a> \u00a0 Another notable change came for John personally in the first half of 2019:\u00a0 He was finally able to move from the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship (formerly the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, or FARMS) to the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages \u2014 my home department \u2014 in BYU\u2019s College of Humanities.\u00a0 \u00a0At the Maxwell Institute, he had long been the sole surviving remnant of the organization\u2019s original founding vision.\u00a0 We\u2019re delighted to have him in our department as the William (Bill) Gay Research Professor. \u00a0 ***<\/span><\/strong> \u00a0 And, once again, here are some \u201cgolden oldies\u201d from a past volume of what was known then as Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture<\/em> but is now titled Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship<\/em>: \u00a0 Daniel C. Peterson, \u201cIntroduction\u201d<\/a><\/span> Abstract:\u00a0This introduction to Volume 5 considers the modern notion of a cessation of Bible-like divine manifestations and revelations, a belief which Joseph Smith encountered when he told others of the First Vision. This perception of an end to miracles and visions had become common by Joseph\u2019s time, as evidenced by various writers, and continues to the present day. The Latter-day Saints, however, continue to believe in modern-day revelation, which we believe gives us a unique vantage point for the study of the Bible and other scripture, as illustrated in\u00a0<\/em>Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture.<\/em><\/span> \u00a0 Benjamin L. McGuire, \u201cFinding Parallels: Some Cautions and Criticisms, Part One\u201d<\/a><\/span> Benjamin L. McGuire, \u201cFinding Parallels: Some Cautions and Criticisms, Part Two\u201d<\/a><\/span> Review of Rick Grunder.\u00a0<\/em>Mormon Parallels: A Bibliographic Source. Layfayette, New York: Rick Grunder\u2014Books, 2008. 2,088 pp. On CD-ROM. $200.00.<\/em><\/span> Abstract:\u00a0Discovering parallels is inherently an act of comparison. Through comparison, parallels have been introduced frequently as proof (or evidence) of different issues within Mormon studies. Despite this frequency, very few investigations provide a theoretical or methodological framework by which the parallels themselves can be evaluated. This problem is not new to the field of Mormon studies but has in the past plagued literary studies more generally. In Part One, this review essay discusses present and past approaches dealing with the ways in which parallels have been used and valued in acts of literary comparison, uncovering the various difficulties associated with unsorted parallels as well as discussing the underlying motivations for these comparisons. In Part Two, a methodological framework is introduced and applied to examples from Grunder\u2019s collection in Mormon Parallels. In using a consistent methodology to value these parallels, this essay suggests a way to address the historical concerns associated with using parallels to explain both texts and Mormonism<\/a> as an historical religious movement.<\/em><\/span> \u00a0 Brant A. Gardner, \u201cWhen Hypotheses Collide: Responding to Lyon and Minson\u2019s \u201cWhen Pages Collide\u201d\u201d<\/a><\/span> Abstract:\u00a0At the end of 2012, Jack M. Lyon and Kent R. Minson published \u201cWhen Pages Collide: Dissecting the Words of Mormon.\u201d They suggest that there is textual evidence that supports the idea that Words of Mormon 12-18 is the translation of the end of the previous chapter of Mosiah. The rest of the chapter was lost with the 116 pages, but this text remained because it was physically on the next page, which Joseph had kept with him.<\/em><\/span> In this paper, the textual information is examined to determine if it supports that hypothesis. The conclusion is that while the hypothesis is possible, the evidence is not conclusive. The question remains open and may ultimately depend upon one\u2019s understanding of the translation process much more than the evidence from the manuscripts.<\/em><\/span> \u00a0 Roger Nicholson, \u201cThe Spectacles, the Stone, the Hat, and the Book: A Twenty-first Century Believer\u2019s View of the Book of Mormon Translation\u201d<\/a><\/span> Abstract:\u00a0This essay seeks to examine the Book of Mormon translation method from the perspective of a regular, nonscholarly, believing member in the twenty-first century, by taking into account both what is learned in Church and what can be learned from historical records that are now easily available. What do we know? What should we know? How can a believing Latter-day Saint reconcile apparently conflicting accounts of the translation process? An examination of the historical sources is used to provide us with a fuller and more complete understanding of the complexity that exists in the early events of the Restoration. These accounts come from both believing and nonbelieving sources, and some skepticism ought to be employed in choosing to accept some of the interpretations offered by some of these sources as fact. However, an examination of these sources provides a larger picture, and the answers to these questions provide an enlightening look into Church history and the evolution of the translation story. This essay focuses primarily on the methods and instruments used in the translation process and how a faithful Latter-day Saint might view these as further evidence of truthfulness of the restored Gospel.<\/em><\/span> \u00a0 Kevin Christensen, \u201cBook Review: Temple Mysticism: An Introduction<\/em>, by Margaret Barker\u201d<\/a><\/span> Review of Margaret Barker, <\/em>Temple Mysticism: An Introduction (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2011), 181 pp. $18.94.<\/em><\/span> \u00a0 Matthew L. Bowen, \u201c\u201cIn the Mount of the Lord It Shall Be Seen\u201d and \u201cProvided\u201d: Theophany and Sacrifice as the Etiological Foundation of the Temple in Israelite and Latter-day Saint Tradition\u201d<\/a><\/span> Abstract:\u00a0For ancient Israelites, the temple was a place where sacrifice and theophany (i.e., seeing God or other heavenly beings) converged. The account of Abraham\u2019s \u201carrested\u201d sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22) and the account of the arrested slaughter of Jerusalem following David\u2019s unauthorized census of Israel (2 Samuel 24; 1 Chronicles 21) served as etiological narratives\u2014explanations of \u201ccause\u201d or \u201corigin\u201d\u2014for the location of the Jerusalem temple and its sacrifices. Wordplay on the verb\u00a0<\/em>r\u0101\u02be\u00e2\u00a0(to \u201csee\u201d) in these narratives creates an etiological link between the place-names \u201cJehovah-jireh,\u201d \u201cMoriah\u201d and the threshing floor of Araunah\/Ornan, pointing to the future location of the Jerusalem temple as the place of theophany and sacrifice par excellence. Isaac\u2019s arrested sacrifice and the vicarious animal sacrifices of the temple anticipated Jesus\u2019s later \u201cun-arrested\u201d sacrifice since, as Jesus himself stated, \u201cAbraham rejoiced to see my day\u201d (John 8:56). Sacrifice itself was a kind of theophany in which one\u2019s own redemption could be \u201cseen\u201d and the scriptures of the Restoration confirm that Abraham and many others, even \u201ca great many thousand years before\u201d the coming of Christ, \u201csaw\u201d Jesus\u2019s sacrifice and \u201crejoiced.\u201d Additionally, theophany and sacrifice converge in the canonized revelations regarding the building of the\u00a0latter-day temple. These temple revelations begin with a promise of theophany, and mandate sacrifice from the Latter-day Saints. In essence, the temple itself was, and is, Christ\u2019s atonement having its intended effect on humanity.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 Newly appearing in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship, an article by John A. Tvedtnes: \u00a0 \u201cTree of Life, Tree of Healing\u201d Abstract:\u00a0The late Hebrew scholar John Tvedtnes takes readers on a grand tour of Jewish and Christian stories and traditions that attest to the Tree of Life as not only […]<\/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":[56,1809,2905,1812,1815,788,55,1667,21269],"class_list":["post-90103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-book-of-mormon","tag-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints","tag-latter-day-saint","tag-latter-day-saints","tag-lds","tag-mormon","tag-mormonism","tag-mormons","tag-tree-of-life"],"yoast_head":"\n