![\"W](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2016\/01\/800px-Aswan_Elephantine_west_bank_Egypt_Oct_2004.jpg\")
<\/a>The name of the island hearkens back to the day when Aswan was a major center of the Egyptian ivory trade with sub-Saharan Africa.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n As part of my on-going effort to remind people of the rich variety of offerings that has been provided in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship<\/em> \u2014 or to call it to their attention in the first place \u2014 I provide here a few more links from a previous volume of the journal:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Daniel C. Peterson, \u201cCompassion as the Heart of the Gospel\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Abstract:<\/strong>\u00a0The Greek philosopher Aristotle, clearly one of the world\u2019s great geniuses, created the concept of the \u201cunmoved mover,\u201d which moves \u201cother things, but is, itself, unmoved by anything else.\u201d This label became the standard Jewish, Christian, and Muslim description of an impersonal God \u2014 a God without body, parts or passions \u2014 a concept that has, for nearly 20 centuries, dominated western theology, philosophy, and science. The problem for thinkers in these religious traditions is that the God depicted in the Bible and the Qur\u2019an is plainly personal. A careful review of the Bible and modern scripture reveals a \u201ccompassionate, feeling\u201d God. Numerous scriptures confirm that God, in fact, \u201cfeels more deeply than we can even begin to imagine.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Neal Rappleye, \u201cRevisiting \u201cSariah\u201d at Elephantine\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Abstract:\u00a0<\/strong>Jeffrey R. Chadwick has previously called attention to the name \u015aRYH (Seraiah\/Sariah) as a\u00a0Hebrew woman\u2019s name in the Jewish community at Elephantine. Paul Y. Hoskisson, however, felt this evidence was not definitive because part of the text was missing and had to be restored. Now a\u00a0more recently published ostracon from Elephantine, which contains a\u00a0sure attestation of the name \u015aRYH as a\u00a0woman\u2019s name without the need of restoration, satisfies Hoskisson\u2019s call for more definitive evidence and makes it more likely that the name is correctly restored on the papyrus first noticed by Chadwick. The appearance of the name Seraiah\/Sariah as a\u00a0woman\u2019s name exclusively in the Book\u00a0of\u00a0Mormon and at Elephantine is made even more interesting since both communities have their roots in northern Israel, ca. the eighth\u2013seventh centuries BCE.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Clifford P. Jones, \u201cThe Record of My Father\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Abstract:<\/strong>\u00a0In 1\u00a0Nephi\u00a01:16\u201317, Nephi tells us he is abridging \u201cthe record of my father.\u201d The specific words Nephi uses in his writings form several basic but important patterns and features used repeatedly by Nephi and also by other Book\u00a0of\u00a0Mormon writers. These patterns and features provide context that appears to indicate that Nephi\u2019s abridgment of Lehi\u2019s record is the third-person account found in 1\u00a0Nephi\u00a01:4 through 2:15 and that Nephi\u2019s first-person account of his own ministry begins in 1\u00a0Nephi\u00a02:16.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n S. Kent Brown, \u201cThe First Easter\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Abstract:<\/strong>\u00a0Scriptural accounts are rife with information about the import of the first Easter. Understanding the events of the week before the death and resurrection of Christ can help us appreciate the words of the witnesses as well as the importance of these events in our lives.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n George L. Mitton, \u201cThe Crucifixion as a Mockery, Witness, and Warning of the Judgment\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Abstract:<\/strong>\u00a0In its action, setting, and arrangement, the crucifixion may be viewed as a\u00a0stark mockery of the final judgment scene. This article provides a\u00a0brief review of the relevant scriptures, considered together with some related apocryphal and other early Christian writings of interest in regard to the crucifixion. These sources point to the interpretation that the gospel writers saw in the crucifixion a\u00a0striking symbolism that can provide a\u00a0strong reminder, witness, and warning of the coming judgment. The Lord is seen in the crucifixion as at once representing His humility in submitting Himself to be judged and, conversely, His authority and power to be the judge of all. The crucifixion signifies the concept of a\u00a0reciprocal or two-way judgment, as emphasized in the Book\u00a0of\u00a0Mormon, where mankind first judges the Lord, and later are to be judged accordingly by Him in return.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Steven T. Densley, Jr., \u201cProcedural Violations in the Trial of the Woman Taken in Adultery\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Abstract:<\/strong>\u00a0The story in John 8 of the woman taken in adultery is sometimes used to argue that Jesus was lenient toward sin and that we should be too. However, when placed in its broader context, we can see the story is not one in which Christ shows indifference or contempt for the law, but rather utmost respect for it.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Bruce E. Dale and Brian Dale, \u201cJoseph Smith: The World\u2019s Greatest Guesser (A Bayesian Statistical Analysis of Positive and Negative Correspondences between the Book of Mormon and The Maya)\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Abstract:<\/strong>\u00a0Dr. Michael Coe is a\u00a0prominent Mesoamerican scholar and author of a\u00a0synthesis and review of ancient Mesoamerican Indian cultures entitled\u00a0<\/em>The Maya.1<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0Dr. Coe is also a\u00a0prominent skeptic of the Book\u00a0of\u00a0Mormon. However, there is in his book strong evidence that favors the Book\u00a0of\u00a0Mormon, which Dr. Coe has not taken into account. This article analyzes that evidence, using Bayesian statistics. We apply a\u00a0strongly skeptical prior assumption that the Book\u00a0of\u00a0Mormon \u201chas little to do with early Indian cultures,\u201d as Dr. Coe claims. We then compare 131 separate positive correspondences or points of evidence between the Book\u00a0of\u00a0Mormon and Dr. Coe\u2019s book. We also analyze negative points of evidence between the Book\u00a0of\u00a0Mormon and\u00a0<\/em>The Maya, between the Book\u00a0of\u00a0Mormon and a\u00a01973\u00a0<\/em>Dialogue\u00a0article written by Dr. Coe, and between the Book\u00a0of\u00a0Mormon and a\u00a0series of Mormon Stories podcast interviews given by Dr. Coe to Dr. John Dehlin. After using the Bayesian methodology to analyze both positive and negative correspondences, we reach an enormously stronger and very positive conclusion. There is overwhelming evidence that the Book\u00a0of\u00a0Mormon has physical, political, geographical, religious, military, technological, and cultural roots in ancient Mesoamerica. As a\u00a0control, we have also analyzed two other books dealing with ancient American Indians:\u00a0<\/em>View of the Hebrews\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>Manuscript Found. We compare both books with\u00a0<\/em>The Maya\u00a0using the same statistical methodology and demonstrate that this methodology leads to rational conclusions about whether or not such books describe peoples and places similar to those described in\u00a0<\/em>The Maya.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n