An interesting and newly discovered primary source on Mormonism has fallen into the hands of the bloggers here at FPR,and I was duly selected to analyze it for publication. A rare document like this might rightfully belong in the Journal of Mormon History, or perhaps BYU Studies, which occasionally publishes interesting newly discovered documents. Nevertheless, the rise of popularity regarding the Bloggernacle and the intense competition amongst various blogs to provide the best and most interesting coverage has led me... Read more

The “early” in this post title is intended to modify the word “responses,” not “Mormon.” I apologize to anyone who saw the post title and mistakenly thought I had discovered some sort of prophetic statement from the olden days regarding the new musical. I’ve been watching the various reviews and responses to the new Book of Mormon Musical with interest. I enjoyed Ken Jennings’s “to each his own” response, which interestingly compared the structure of the musical’s plot to the... Read more

Latter-day Saints often discuss the merits of thinking about the Book of Mormon as a “pious fraud” or a “pious forgery.” It might be surprising to know that this term was not initially used with respect to the Book of Mormon. Rather, biblical scholars like Wilhelm Martin Lebrecht de Wette used it to describe the book of Deuteronomy. Interestingly, the idea that Deuteronomy is a pious fraud forms the backbone to many contemporary apologetic claims about the Book of Mormon’s... Read more

The Articles of Faith, as is well-known, were orginally penned by Joseph Smith in the Wentworth letter outlining some of the distinctive teachings of this new religious movement. These brief statements would later be modified, and eventually take on canonical status as a part of the Pearl of Great Price. We teach our children to memorize them. We pass them out on pass along cards. We exegete them for specific wording on matters that remain important today, such as the... Read more

When I first entered divinity school I met a friend who described his home denomination as “Methodist but with more of an emphasis on Holiness.” I was befuddled. I had assumed that it was common practice even among the most liberal denominations to at least make a gesture at avoiding profaneness. I was embarrassed to ask him what he meant by “holiness.” His response was a diplomatic, “Oh. Wow,” and then an awkward attempt to explain something he had assumed... Read more

Of course, we all know that Abraham didn’t kill Isaac in the end. Or do we? Richard Elliot Friedman has made a strong case that in the original version of the story, Abraham actually does kill Isaac as he had been commanded in the classic Who Wrote the Bible? and other texts he’s written. On what possible basis could he come to this conclusion? He offers seven reasons: (more…) Read more

This afternoon, my co-host will be Bored in Vernal. BiV is a regular guest here at FPR and she is also a driving force behind Wheat and Tares. Some ground rules for the open threads: 1. Be Nice. 2. Disagreement with the comments and talks is allowed…mocking is not. 3. This is a faithful..though liberal at times…Mormon blog. The threads will be conducted accordingly. I look forward to everyone’s comments. Let us end this on a strong note…by again having... Read more

This morning, we have a three-guest powerhouse panel of co-hosts, though the post title does make it sound a bit like a law firm. Ardis Parshall is an independent historian and researcher. Her award-winning blog exploits can be found at www.keepapitchinin.org Guy Murrray is an attorney in California. He blogs at messengerandadvocate.wordpress.com Steve Taysom is a religious studies professor in Ohio. In addition to his books and articles, he does a bit of blogging at www.juvenileinstructor.org Some ground rules for... Read more

Just kidding! It is a non-partisan thread, but my co-host for this session is Dan. He is also known as Dan the Good Democrat. We have partnered in many battles on the bloggernacle. With degrees in political science and library science, Dan focuses most off his energy on being a kick-butt dad. Read more

I am excited for Conference this weekend! I have always loved General Conference and General Conference Weekend. This weekend, I am particularly excited because a number of my friends from Mormon Studies and the Bloggernacle have agreed to join me for these open threads. This morning we will be joined by Sheldon L., a doctoral student in English. He also teaches reading and writing at the university-level. He guest posted here at FPR a while back. Oh, and he is... Read more