So it looks like the fragment is not going to be published, at least not now and not in Harvard Theological Review. Why not? If it is because of the ethical question, better late than never I suppose. But hasn’t whatever damage already been done there? If it is because of the question of forgery, still why not publish? Questions of forgery were hanging and have continued to hang in the air around any number of material objects said to... Read more

Backlash against news of the Coptic papyrus fragment now known as the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife did not take long. There is the ethical question: does publishing (on) a text that appears to have been removed from Egypt illegally and separated from its archaeological context, including the rest of the manuscript, due to ignorance and/or greed, not promote more of the same? I think this is the truly compelling question, and it is one that I have to ask myself.... Read more

1. I would change the layout of the LDS scriptures to create paragraphs and sections that look like modern study Bibles. 2. I would make prophetic oracles and poetry appear differently from prose on the page.  (I would strongly consider moving to a single column of text instead of two.) 3. I would adopt almost all of the appendices at the end of Hardy’s Reader’s Edition of the Book of Mormon as well as the notes for names for both... Read more

BCC is doing a couple of posts on my campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives. Check it out! Read more

We are pleased to announce this upcoming conference: THE FOURTH BIENNIAL FAITH AND KNOWLEDGE CONFERENCE WESLEY THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY WASHINGTON, D. C. FEBRUARY 22–23, 2013 The Faith and Knowledge Conference was established in 2006 to bring together Latter-day Saint graduate students in religious studies and related disciplines in order to explore the interactions between religious faith and scholarship. During the past three conferences, students have shared their experiences in the church and the academy and the new ideas that have emerged... Read more

I have no idea how many Mormons there are in biblical and related studies. It’s a very small percentage, I’m sure. But they and Mormonism were nicely included in the two volume reference work, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. A Mormon scholar wrote the entry on the Testament of Adam, and Mormons in general are listed on the back cover (easily accessible here) along with Christians, Jews, and Muslims, as ‘people of the book.’ This was due entirely to the magnanimity... Read more

In a recent article by John Gee, “An Egyptian View of Abraham,” in Bountiful Harvest: Essays in Honor of S. Kent Brown, Andrew Skinner, et al., eds. (NAMI, Provo: BYU Press, 2012) 137-56, Gee provides a fresh edition of a pair of Sahidic Coptic manuscripts about Abraham.  The updated text and new translation are useful for scholars, though the offering is less than a critical edition because it is not clear from his presentation that he has consulted the original manuscripts.... Read more

Need some inspiration for school, whether you yourself are just starting out, returning for yet another year, or you are going to be teaching the next group of collegiate hopefuls? Look no further than Sidney Rigdon’s address to the Nauvoo Library and Literary Institute, 1844 (you can read the complete record of the NLLI here in Jones’ edition): Elder S Rigdon then took the floor and remarked that as it was getting late he did not feel as though he... Read more