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***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The new article that went up today in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship<\/em> is our annual Easter article \u2014 though, for reasons that I fully understand and with which I can sympathize, its author, Claudia Bushman, is not overly fond of that word, Easter<\/em>:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cResurrection Month\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Abstract:\u00a0<\/strong>We tend to have big events and a\u00a0full month celebrating Christmas, but here we are in a\u00a0very Christian church that has come to almost ignore the events of the crucifixion and the resurrection. The Last Supper and the events that followed it are the important events of the season. With some planning and creativity, we can immerse ourselves in a\u00a0Resurrection Month by thinking about the gift of life and promise for the future that we have been given, reading the old scriptures, and reliving the life and times of our elder brother and great teacher.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n A reader of this blog named Nathan Whilk has kindly reminded me of the epitaph for Joy Davidman, C. S. Lewis\u2019s American-born wife.\u00a0 It\u2019s wonderfully appropriate for this season of the year:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Here the whole world (stars, water, air,<\/span><\/strong> \u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n A. Keith Thompson, \u201cThe Doctrine of Resurrection in the Book of Mormon\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Abstract:\u00a0The doctrine of resurrection was taught by Lehi and Jacob among the first Nephites but was not mentioned again in the record until the time of Abinadi, perhaps 350 years later. In the court of King Noah that doctrine and the idea of a suffering Messiah who would bear the sins of his people and redeem them, were heresies and Abinadi paid for them with his life. While Abinadi\u2019s testimony converted Alma1<\/sub>\u00a0and the doctrine of the resurrection inspired Alma2<\/sub>\u00a0after his conversion, it was a source of schism in the church at Zarahemla along lines that remind us of the Sadducees at Jerusalem. The doctrine of the resurrection taught in the Book of Mormon is a precursor to the doctrine now understood by the Latter-day Saints in the light of modern revelation. One example is that the Nephite prophets used the term first resurrection differently than we do. But perhaps the most remarkable thing about the way that the doctrine of resurrection develops in the Book of Mormon, is that it develops consistently. That consistency bears further testimony to the prophetic mission of Joseph Smith. He could not have done that by himself.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Matthew L. Bowen, \u201cNot Leaving and Going On to Perfection\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n A Review of Samuel M. Brown\u2019s\u00a0<\/em>First Principles and Ordinances: The Fourth Article of Faith in Light of the Temple, Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute, 2014. 167 pp., index. $16.95.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Neal Rappleye, \u201cLearning Nephi\u2019s Language: Creating a Context for 1 Nephi 1:2\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Matthew Roper, \u201cThe Treason of the Geographers: Mythical \u201cMesoamerican\u201d Conspiracy and the Book of Mormon\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Abstract:\u00a0The claim that God revealed the details of Book of Mormon geography is not new, but the recent argument that there was a conspiracy while the Prophet was still alive to oppose a revealed geography is a novel innovation. A recent theory argues that the \u201cMesoamerican theory\u201d or \u201climited Mesoamerican geography\u201d originated in 1841 with Benjamin Winchester, an early Mormon missionary, writer, and dissident, who rejected the leadership of Brigham Young and the Twelve after 1844. This theory also claims that three unsigned editorials on Central America and the Book of Mormon published in the Times and Seasons on September 15 and October 1, 1842 were written by Benjamin Winchester, who successfully conspired with other dissidents to publish them against the will of the Prophet. Three articles address these claims. This first article addresses two questions: Did Joseph Smith, as some have claimed, know the details of and put forth a revealed Book of Mormon geography? Second, what is a Mesoamerican geography and does it constitute a believable motive for a proposed Winchester conspiracy?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Matthew Roper, \u201cJohn Bernhisel\u2019s Gift to a Prophet:\u00a0Incidents of Travel in Central America<\/em>\u00a0and the Book of Mormon\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Abstract:\u00a0The claim that God revealed the details of Book of Mormon geography is not new, but the recent argument that there was a conspiracy while the Prophet was still alive to oppose a revealed geography is a novel innovation. A recent theory argues that the \u201cMesoamerican theory\u201d or \u201climited Mesoamerican geography\u201d originated in 1841 with Benjamin Winchester, an early Mormon missionary, writer, and dissident, who rejected the leadership of Brigham Young and the Twelve after 1844. This theory also claims that three unsigned editorials on Central America and the Book of Mormon published in the Times and Seasons on September 15 and October 1, 1842, were written by Benjamin Winchester, who successfully conspired with other dissidents to publish them against the will of the Prophet. Three articles address these claims. The first article addressed two questions: Did Joseph Smith, as some have claimed, know the details of and put forth a revealed Book of Mormon geography? Second, what is a Mesoamerican geography and does it constitute a believable motive for a proposed Winchester conspiracy? This second article provides additional historical background on the question of Joseph Smith\u2019s thinking on the Book of Mormon by examining the influence of John L. Stephen\u2019s 1841 work,\u00a0<\/em>Incidents of Travel in Central America, upon early Latter-day Saints, including Joseph Smith.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Steven T. Densley, Jr., \u201cA Treasure Trove of Quotations\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
\nAnd field, and forest, as they were<\/span><\/strong>
\nReflected in a single mind)<\/span><\/strong>
\nLike cast off clothes was left behind<\/span><\/strong>
\nIn ashes, yet with hopes that she,<\/span><\/strong>
\nRe-born from holy poverty,<\/span><\/strong>
\nIn lenten lands, hereafter may<\/span><\/strong>
\nResume them on her Easter Day.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n