![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2021\/10\/La_Trinita_-_Guido_Reni.jpg\")
<\/a>Wikimedia Commons public domain image<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n A new article \u2014 this one by Taylor Halverson<\/a> \u2014 went up today in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship<\/em>:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBe Ye Therefore Loyal, Even as Your Father Which is in Heaven is Loyal\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Abstract:\u00a0<\/strong>The scriptures are saturated with covenantal words and terms. Any serious or close reading of the scriptures that misses or ignores the covenantal words, phrases, and literary structure of scripture runs the risk of missing the full purpose of why God preserved the scriptures for us. This is especially true for the Old Testament and the Book\u00a0of\u00a0Mormon, which emerged out of an Old Testament cultural context. Research during the past century on ancient Near Eastern covenants has brought clarity to the covenantal meaning and context of a\u00a0variety of words and literary structures in the Old Testament and the Book\u00a0of\u00a0Mormon. This article builds on that revealing research to show that the English word \u201cperfect\u201d in a\u00a0covenantal context in scripture can also be represented with the covenantal synonyms of \u201cloyal, loyalty, faithful, and trustworthy.\u201d God has revealed and preserved the scriptures as records of these covenants and of the consequences of covenantal loyalty or disloyalty. The Lord\u2019s injunction to \u201cbe ye therefore perfect\u201d (Matthew\u00a05:48) is beautifully magnified when we realize that we are not simply asked to be without sin, but, rather, to \u201cbe ye therefore covenantally loyal\u201d even as God has been eternally and covenantally loyal to us.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n And here are links to five articles that were previously<\/em> published in Interpreter<\/em>:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Daniel C. Peterson, \u201cNotes on Mormonism and the Trinity\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Abstract:<\/strong> With \u201cawe, humility, and circumspection,\u201d Daniel C. Peterson provides a useful summary and discussion of Latter-day Saint beliefs as they relate to traditional Christian conceptions of the Trinity. In particular, his discussions reveals the many nuances of the questions raised, including the precise nature of the unity of the three persons of the Godhead and how the overall conception relates to doctrines of salvation and practical discipleship, which continued to be a controversial issue in both the Eastern and Western Churches for centuries. Peterson argues that the Latter-day Saint doctrine affirms both biblical precedents and, to a degree, some modern theological trends such as social theories of the Trinity.<\/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 Daniel C. Peterson, \u201cNotes on Mormonism and the Trinity,\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), 267\u2013316. 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 Ralph C. Hancock, \u201cNephi\u2019s Obsession, Or, How to Talk with Nephi about God\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Review of Joseph\u00a0M.\u00a0Spencer,\u00a01 Nephi: A\u00a0Brief Theological Introduction<\/em>\u00a0(Provo, UT: The Neal\u00a0A.\u00a0Maxwell\u00a0Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2020). 146 pages. $9.99 (paperback).<\/span><\/p>\n Abstract:<\/strong>\u00a0Joseph Spencer\u2019s intimate familiarity with the Book of Mormon text, based upon years of close textual study and informed by a\u00a0well-\u200adeveloped theological sensibility, is in full evidence in this lead-off volume in Neal\u00a0A.\u00a0Maxwell\u00a0Institute\u2019s new series of books on the various books of the Book of Mormon. Leaving to prophets and apostles the responsibility for \u201cdeclaring official doctrine,\u201d this new series approaches the book with the tools of the \u201cscholarly practice\u201d of theology. In Spencer\u2019s case at least, his practice is understood to be (1) informed by an emphasis on grace that is skeptical of claims of personal righteousness and (2) very much engaged with contemporary moral and social issues grounded in a\u00a0fundamental concern for \u201cequality.\u201d Accordingly, Spencer\u2019s reading is much more interested in \u201cwhat God is doing in history with what we call the Abrahamic covenant\u201d than with the more popular (non-scholarly) concerns of \u201ceveryday faithful living;\u201d it is also more interested in Nephi\u2019s \u201crealistic\u201d and \u201cmature\u201d regret over his youthful over-boldness than in his confident statements of righteous faith. In the end, Spencer\u2019s extremely careful but theologically tendentious reading alerts us very skillfully to certain features of Nephi\u2019s imperfect humanity but reveals a\u00a0consistent preoccupation with any possible faults in the prophet that might be extracted from an ingenious reading of the text. Finally, concerning women in the Book of Mormon, Spencer again expertly raises provocative questions about barely heard female voices but is too eager to frame these questions from the standpoint of the \u201cmodern sensibility\u201d of \u201csexual egalitarianism.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Jeff Lindsay, \u201cAn Intelligent, Thoughtful Work on One of the Richest Portions of the Book of Mormon\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Review of Terryl Givens,\u00a02nd Nephi: A\u00a0Brief Theological Introduction<\/em>\u00a0(Provo, UT: The Neal\u00a0A.\u00a0Maxwell\u00a0Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2020). 124 pages. $9.95 (paperback).<\/span><\/p>\n Abstract:<\/strong>\u00a0Terryl Givens\u2019s well-written and enjoyable book does much to equip readers of the Book of Mormon with new tools to appreciate the riches of a\u00a0text often viewed as the most difficult part of the Book of Mormon. Givens helps us recognize Nephi\u2019s sorrow over Jerusalem and his passionate hope and joy centered in the Messiah, Jesus Christ. He helps us understand the weightier matters that Nephi focuses on to encourage us to accept the covenants of the Lord and to be part of Zion. Readers will better respect 2 Nephi as a\u00a0vital part of the Restoration with content critically important for our day.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Dana M. Pike, \u201cFormed in and Called from the Womb\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Abstract:<\/strong>\u00a0Drawing on his deep knowledge of biblical Hebrew, Dana Pike gives us a close reading of Jeremiah 1:5, the most important Old Testament verse relating to the Latter-day Saint understanding of premortal existence of human spirits and the foreordination of prophets to their appointed callings. He shows that the plain sense of this verse cannot be easily dismissed: first, and consistent with Latter-day Saint understanding, God knew Jeremiah before he was conceived and that afterward, in a second phase that transpired in the womb, he was, \u201caccording to the Israelite perspective preserved in the Bible,\u201d appointed to become a prophet.<\/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 Dana M. Pike, \u201cFormed in and Called from the Womb,\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), 317\u201332. 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