![\"Sunrise,](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2015\/04\/800px-Celtic_cross_Knock_Ireland.jpg\")
<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve had a number of people ask whether I could share a link to a video of my remarks on Easter Sunday.\u00a0 Not feeling entirely comfortable (or authorized) to treat a sacrament meeting talk that way, though, I sat down today with my friend Tom Pittman and recorded it.\u00a0 The talk is now available on YouTube as \u201cTruly He has risen!\u201d<\/a>\u00a0 My delivery seems a bit lifeless to me, as I watch it now \u2014 sometimes a live audience is energizing \u2014 but I suppose it will serve the purpose.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n My wife and I are pleased today to begin our slow and careful reading through the first draft of the script for Six Days in August<\/em><\/a> \u2014 or, at least, for the feature-film component of \u201cSix Days in August,\u201d which is the next Interpreter Foundation movie project.\u00a0 We\u2019ve been here before, with the \u201cWitnesses\u201d project.\u00a0 (For the products of which, see Witnesses<\/a><\/em> and Undaunted Witnesses of the Book of the Book of Mormon<\/em><\/a> and the website Witnesses of the Book of Mormon<\/em><\/a> and the thirty-two short features \u2014 thus far (two or three are yet to be posted) \u2014 in the Witnesses of the Book of Mormon \u2014 Insights<\/em><\/a> series.)\u00a0 This is an exciting moment, of course, but also a daunting one.\u00a0 Can we pull it off?\u00a0 We step forward with faith.\u00a0 If you would like to join with us in this effort, please do.<\/p>\n And, once gain, Jonn Claybaugh has kindly provided the Interpreter Foundation audience with some short notes for students and teachers of the Church\u2019s \u201cCome, Follow Me\u201d curriculum:\u00a0 Come, Follow Me<\/em> \u2014 New Testament Study and Teaching Helps: Lesson 17, April 17 \u2014 23: Matthew 18; Luke 10 \u2014\u00a0\u201cWhat Shall I Do to Inherit Eternal Life?\u201d<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n For the 26 March 2023 Come, Follow Me<\/em> segment of the Interpreter Radio Show, Martin Tanner discussed New Testament lesson 17, \u201cWhat Shall I Do to Inherit Eternal Life?\u201d on Matthew 18 and Luke 10:\u00a0The New Testament in Context Lesson 17: \u201cWhat Shall I Do to Inherit Eternal Life?\u201d <\/em>Matthew 18 and Luke 10<\/a>.<\/p>\n The other segments of the 26 March 2023 radio show can be accessed at https:\/\/interpreterfoundation.org\/interpreter-radio-show-march-26-2023<\/a>.\u00a0 The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard weekly, on Sunday evenings, from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640.\u00a0 Or, of course, you can listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n To coin an absolutely original new phrase, folks, the Interpreter Foundation is a gift that goes on giving.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt is\u00a0winter\u00a0in\u00a0Narnia<\/em>,\u201d said Mr. Tumnus, \u201cand has been for ever so long. . . . Why,\u00a0it is she who has got all\u00a0Narnia<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0under her thumb.\u00a0It\u2019s she that makes it always winter.\u00a0Always winter and never Christmas; think of that!\u201d \u201cHow awful,\u201d replied Lucy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I don\u2019t know about you, but I always find January and February, and even the very end of December, just a bit depressing.\u00a0 Christmas is over.\u00a0 There\u2019s little to which to look forward except gray skies, cold weather, often-dirty snow, and bare, ruined trees.\u00a0 It can seem a bit desolate.<\/p>\n But I have an idea<\/em> for you!\u00a0 At the invitation of Bountiful Travel, my wife and I are set to accompany a nearly two-week cruise<\/a> from Australia around New Zealand and back, beginning on 9 February 2024 and concluding on 20 February 2024.\u00a0 (That will, of course, be during summer in the southern hemisphere \u2014 a good time to be there, and perhaps a good time not<\/em> to be here<\/em>.)\u00a0 We would enjoy having you along.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been reading the story again today about how, some time back, the Brethren were furious at John Gee and me for our having published something that was critical of the Joseph Smith Papers project, which led to our being summoned up to Salt Lake City and rebuked for our misbehavior.<\/p>\n There\u2019s at least one thing, though, that\u2019s wrong with this account:\u00a0 It\u2019s essentially false.<\/p>\n A couple of the employees in the Historical Department of the Church were displeased that the Department\u2019s then-recently published volume regarding the Book of Abraham had come under criticism in two reviews that had lately appeared in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship<\/em>.\u00a0 Here are the two reviews:<\/p>\n Jeff Lindsay, \u201cA Precious Resource with Some Gaps\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Review of\u00a0The Joseph Smith Papers, Revelations and Translations<\/em>, Volume 4:\u00a0Book of Abraham and Related Manuscripts<\/em>, eds. Robin Scott Jensen and Brian M. Hauglid (Salt Lake City: Church Historian\u2019s Press, 2018), 381 pages.<\/p>\n Abstract:<\/em>\u00a0The publication of high-resolution documents and carefully prepared transcripts related to the origins of the Book of Abraham in\u00a0<\/em>The Joseph Smith Papers, Revelations and Translations, Volume 4: Book of Abraham and Related Manuscripts\u00a0is a remarkable achievement that can help students of Church history and of the Book of Abraham explore many aspects of that volume of scripture for themselves. The book, especially when coupled with the resources and advanced interface of the Joseph Smith Papers website, will provide lasting value for scholars, students, and anyone wishing to better understand the Book of Abraham and its complex origins. However, there are some gaps in the book that must be understood, including a mix of minor errors, questionable assumptions, and a few major problems that can unnecessarily lead readers to question the ancient roots and the divine inspiration behind the Book of Abraham. A future addendum could help resolve many such issues and would be a welcome addition. However, there may be a fundamental flaw in the commentary that tends to align with the way critics of the Church approach the Book of Abraham as a product of Joseph\u2019s environment rather than a text rooted in revelation and antiquity. Sadly, in spite of hundreds of footnotes with extensive references to the research and perspectives of some scholars, this volume tends to exclude a great deal of relevant research provided by some noteworthy scholars. For example, it fails to mention even once the past scholarship of Hugh Nibley on these documents and generally neglects the work of other scholars that can point to the strengths of the Book of Abraham and give tools for coping with the thorny issues. The openness about the conundrums of the\u00a0[Page 14]<\/span>Book of Abraham should be encouraged, but it should be balanced with at least an awareness that there are noteworthy positives that readers can weigh against the question marks, and that there are frameworks that can help faithful readers understand how a divinely revealed text can be produced by the same man who wanted to begin learning Egyptian and Hebrew after he had already provided divine translation. Such a balance is needed in a book from the Church dealing with such sensitive issues, where misunderstanding has led some people out of the Church. Sadly, in spite of its many achievements in opening the doors to the documents associated with the Book of Abraham, this book lacks the balance that is needed.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n John Gee, \u201cThe Joseph Smith Papers Project Stumbles\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Review of\u00a0The Joseph\u00a0Smith Papers, Revelations and Translations, Volume 4: Book of Abraham and Related Manuscripts<\/em>, eds. Robin Scott Jensen and Brian M. Hauglid (Salt Lake City: Church Historian\u2019s Press, 2018), 381 pages.<\/p>\n Abstract: Volume 4 of the Revelations and Translations series of the Joseph\u00a0Smith Papers does not live up to the standards set in previous volumes. While the production values are still top notch, the actual content is substandard. Problems fill the volume, including misplaced photographs and numerous questionable transcriptions beyond the more than two hundred places where the editors admitted they could not read the documents. For this particular volume, producing it incorrectly is arguably worse than not producing it at all.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n We weren\u2019t \u201csummoned\u201d to Salt Lake City.\u00a0 We weren\u2019t \u201ccalled on the carpet.\u201d\u00a0 No General Authorities, none of the Brethren, were involved in any way.\u00a0 John Gee and I happily met with a couple of senior staffers from the Church Historical Department, with whom we had a good conversation that, I think, led to better understanding between us.<\/p>\n You can pretty much rely on the fact that this kind of story, recounted by The Usual Suspects, is not true.\u00a0 Sometimes there will be a kernel of truth to it.\u00a0 Sometimes, though, it will lack even that<\/em>.<\/p>\n While I\u2019m at it, though, here are a couple of additional links that are relevant to the Gee and Lindsay reviews that displeased some people on the Historical Department staff up in Salt Lake City:<\/p>\n<\/a>
(Wikimedia Commons pubic domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a>
Photo by C. M. Lynch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a>