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But first, this new \u201cInsights\u201d video has just gone up on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:<\/p>\n
\u201cWitnesses of the Book of Mormon \u2014 Insights Episode 24:\u00a0What was Joseph\u2019s Witness?\u201d<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n When we discuss the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, we often overlook the first witness of the plates: Joseph Smith himself. What were his experiences with the plates?<\/span><\/p>\n This is the twenty-fourth in a series compiled from the many interviews conducted during the course of the Witnesses film project. This series of mini-films is being released each Saturday at 7pm MDT. These additional resources are hosted by Camrey Bagley Fox, who played Emma Smith in\u00a0Witnesses<\/em>, as she introduces and visits with a variety of experts. These individuals answer questions or address accusations against the witnesses, also helping viewers understand the context of the times in which the witnesses lived. This week we feature Daniel C. Peterson, President of the Interpreter Foundation and Executive Producer of\u00a0Witnesses<\/em>. For more information, go to\u00a0https:\/\/witnessesofthebookofmormon.org\/<\/a>\u00a0or watch the documentary movie\u00a0Undaunted<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Short clips from this episode are also available on\u00a0TikTok<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel at\u00a0https:\/\/youtube.interpreterfoundation.org\/<\/a>\u00a0and our other social media channels on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0Instagram<\/a>, and\u00a0TikTok<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n On Thursday\u2019s flight from Salt Lake City to New York City, among other things, I read Shinji Takagi, \u201cGold, Silver, and Grain: Money and Prices in the Book of Mormon,\u201d BYU Studies Quarterly<\/em> 61\/2 (2022): 5-30<\/a>.<\/p>\n This outline, created by the author or by his editors, should give you some idea of the general content of the article:<\/p>\n \u201cIn this paper,\u201d Professor Takagi writes, \u201cI discuss, from the perspective of a monetary economist, the operational aspects of the system of fixed prices for gold, silver, and all kinds of grain described in the Book of Mormon (Alma 11:3\u201319), based on internal evidence, economic logic, and historical precedents from antiquity.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShinji Takagi, Professor Emeritus of Economics at Osaka University, is currently Distinguished Research Professor at the Asian Growth Research Institute in Kitakyushu. He has an MTS in Mediterranean and Near Eastern studies from Vanderbilt Divinity School and a PhD in economics from the University of Rochester. Author or coauthor of nearly two hundred publications in international economics and related fields, he has a dozen or so publications in Mormon and biblical studies, including in Journal of Mormon History<\/a>, Biblical Theology Bulletin, Journal of the Bible and Its Reception,<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0Christianity & Literature.<\/i>\u00a0His 2016 book,\u00a0The Trek East: Mormonism Meets Japan, 1901\u20131968,<\/i> received the 2017 Best International Book Award from the Mormon History Association. He divides his time between two homes in Ashburn, Virginia, and Fukuoka, Japan.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n What is my tentative conclusion, based on a cursory reading of Professor Takagi\u2019s paper?\u00a0 It is, simply, this:\u00a0 The frontier yokel Joe Smith, if he really done made the whole Book of Mormon thang up, done created a surprisingly sophisticated system of currency pretty much on the fly.\u00a0 Given the rate at which we know him to have dictated the entire Book of Mormon, Alma 11:3-19 can\u2019t have occupied more than just a few minutes of his dictation time.\u00a0 It shouldn\u2019t be even remotely worth the attention of a serious monetary economist or economic historian.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n You might be interested in reading the testimony that Shinji Takagi contributed to my Mormon Scholars Testify<\/em> website \u2014 now, of course, Latter-day Saint Scholars Testify<\/em>! \u2014 back in 2013:\u00a0 Shinji Takagi<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n As I write, all of the sessions of General Conference for today (Saturday) have concluded.\u00a0 But the Sabbath day remains, with two more Conference sessions to come.\u00a0 So, with that fact in mind, it occurs to me that this thoughtful essay from Public Square Magazine<\/em> might be helpful to you:<\/p>\n \u201cThe Deceptively Boring Adamant Notecard: Why is General Conference the way it is? Maybe because \u201cthe inner change that makes the outer Zion possible depends, first and finally, on our ability to accept and to apply the simple, basic principles of the gospel.\u201d\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n By the way, based on the recommendation of an acquaintance here in New York \u2014 he even went ahead and made our reservation for us \u2014 we had dinner last night at Frankie & Johnnie\u2019s Steakhouse<\/a> on West 37th, right across the street from where we\u2019re staying.\u00a0 Now, I\u2019m not actually much of a steak-eater.\u00a0 Left to my own devices, I never order a steak and really never even think of going to a steakhouse.\u00a0 But I have to admit that our steaks ranked among the very best that I\u2019ve ever tasted, that the mixed seafood appetizer that we enjoyed was definitely one of the best, and that, yes, just as our acquaintance had predicted, the creamed spinach was delicious.\u00a0 Heartily recommended.\u00a0 A bit expensive for peasants like ourselves, but really very good.<\/p>\n<\/a>\n
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It was here that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> was formally organized.
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