New Book Notice: on “Heavenly Flesh”

Last updated on: January 19, 2012 at 11:02 am By William Hamblin

Stephen Webb, a Catholic theologian, has a book examining the materiality of spirit and the incarnation of God, which includes a chapter on Joseph Smith’s views. Stephen Webb, Jesus Christ, Eternal God: Heavenly Flesh and the Metaphysics of Matter, (Oxford, 2011), ISBN 0199827958 Available here on Amazon. Read more

1 Nephi 10:1-6

Last updated on: January 18, 2012 at 10:09 pm By William Hamblin

Exploration of 1 Nephi 10:1-6. I discuss Lehi’s prophecies of the destruction of Jerusalem, return of the Jews, and the coming of the Messiah. This an experimental attempt to make a video while simultaneously using my voice recognition software. It didn’t work too well, but you can take a look if you want. It is interesting to see the voice recognition function. Here is the YouTube version. I’ve got a written version of most of the ideas, with bibliography, in... Read more

Web Yeshiva

Last updated on: January 18, 2012 at 6:28 pm By William Hamblin

An interesting sight was recently brought to my attention. It is called “Web Yeshiva,” which offers a traditional Jewish Yeshiva (school) experience online. If you want to get a sense of the traditional Orthodox Jewish interpretations, thought, and Yeshiva experience, take a look. Main site = http://www.webyeshiva.org/ Blog at: http://blog.webyeshiva.org/ Read more

Class on Genesis

Last updated on: January 18, 2012 at 11:00 am By William Hamblin

Ben Spackman is blogging about his LDS Institute class on Genesis. His posts (with links to handouts) can be found at Time and Seasons. Read more

1 Nephi 9

Last updated on: January 15, 2012 at 10:32 pm By William Hamblin

Explorations of 1 Nephi 9: Discussion of the Small and Large plates of Nephi, the Lord’s command to make the plates, the argument from complexity at it relates to the plates 1- Detailed notes: 1 Nephi 9 2- Link to Video on Youtube. 3- Audio podcast on TalkShoe. (Look in the most recent (top) file in the “Past Episodes” section at the bottom.) Read more

New column with Deseret News

Last updated on: January 15, 2012 at 4:50 pm By William Hamblin

Dan Peterson and I have started a bi-weekly column on world religion with the local and national editions of the Deseret News. The first item can be found here. Read more

1 Nephi 8:19-38

Last updated on: January 14, 2012 at 4:52 pm By William Hamblin

Explorations of 1 Nephi 8:19-38: Exploration of Lehi’s Dream, Tree of Life, the Iron Rod, the Path, the “Two Ways” ideology of the Hebrew Bible, the mist of Darkness, and the Great and Spacious Building as the apostate Jerusalem temple. 1- Detailed notes: BOM 01h 1 Nephi 8b 2- Link to Video on Youtube. 3- Audio podcast on TalkShoe. (Look in the most recent (top) file in the “Past Episodes” section at the bottom.) Read more

1 Nephi 8:1-18

Last updated on: January 12, 2012 at 9:43 pm By William Hamblin

Explorations of 1 Nephi 8:1-18: Lehi’s Dream, the Tree [of Life], waste vs. wilderness, the family crisis. 1- Detailed notes. BOM 01h 1 Nephi 8a With additional biblical background and bibliography 2- Link to Video on Youtube. 3- Audio podcast on TalkShoe. (Look in the most recent (top) file in the “Past Episodes” section at the bottom.) Read more

Were the Brass Plates in Egyptian?

Last updated on: January 11, 2012 at 7:36 pm By William Hamblin

Mosiah 1:2-4 reads as follows: 2 And it came to pass that he had three sons; and he called their names Mosiah, and Helorum, and Helaman. And he caused that they should be taught in all the language of his fathers, that thereby they might become men of understanding; and that they might know concerning the prophecies which had been spoken by the mouths of their fathers [on the Plates of Nephi, etc.], which were delivered them by the hand of the Lord. 3 And he also... Read more

1 Nephi 8 (Lehi’s Dream) Bibliography

Last updated on: January 11, 2012 at 5:24 pm By William Hamblin

There’s been a great deal written in Lehi’s Dream of the Tree of Life. Two new books on the subject were published in 2011: Belnap, D., G. Strathearn and S. Johnson, eds., The Things which My Father Saw: Approaches to Lehi’s Dream and Nephi’s Vision (Deseret Book: 2011). Welch, J. and D. Parry, The Tree of Life: From Eden to Eternity (Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2011). Here is a bibliography of the most important studies on Lehi’s... Read more