Why is 4th Nephi so short? Two interrelated ideas, I think. Continue reading
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Come Follow Me (Brief): 3Ne 22-26
First, D&C is coming. I still haven’t decided how to approach it for the blog, but I will be posting a suggested reading list in another week or two. My 2016 list is here, and there are some things to update. So stay tuned.
Rough notes on 3Ne 16, 20-30
I updated this from an isolated cabin in Wisconsin, while working on my final dissertation proposal draft (post-defense), our upcoming BYU Studies special issue, and some other projects. And then, working on that other stuff, I forgot to actually hit “update.” Re: these other projects, I’ll post some updates on all this soon. Continue reading
Mark E. Petersen, Expertise, Interpretation, and McConkie’s Mormon Doctrine
Many people are aware that Elder Bruce R. McConkie’s book Mormon Doctrine was not universally received among Church leadership as a positive thing. That story has been told in a number of places, from a number of perspectives. This, however, was new to me, summarizing from this article and expanding from the McKay diaries, around Jan 14, 1960. Continue reading
Tales from the Archives part 1: “So, things are normal.”
I will occasionally post things from the archives, with minimal explanation or point, sometimes. Here’s a fun one recently.
Come Follow Me:3 Nephi 11-15
Today we enter into a very interesting section of the Book of Mormon. Like the Isaiah chapters, it closely parallels a section of the Bible. Like the Isaiah chapters, there are some subtle differences. 3Ne 12-15 parallels the Sermon on the Mount, from Matthew 5-7. It’s been lined up so that if you want to compare verses (and you should!), take the Book of Mormon chapter number and subtract 7 to get the right verse in Matthew, e.g. 3 Nephi 12:48 ≈ Matthew 5:48.
Let’s compare those. Continue reading
Interpreting Science and Scripture: Joseph Fielding Smith, Seventh-Day Adventists, and Hermeneutics in LDS History
I was set to present a paper at the Mormon History Association this year (now pushed to next year), “Seventh-day Adventist Influence on LDS Creationism, from Joseph Fielding Smith to Ezra Taft Benson.”
Here’s an expanded teaser with some analysis of philosophical underpinnings.
A new Hugh Nibley story, from the Archives
I found this in a short autobiography by Glenn Pearson, a BYU professor. Boyd Peterson, Hugh Nibley’s biographer and son-in-law, had not seen it before.
While running an Institute in California, Pearson completed PhD coursework in History of Education at UCLA, but went back to BYU before finishing. Here’s Pearson’s story. Continue reading
Science, religion, and evolution… in the 12th century
Many deeply religious people have concerns about subordinating religion to science, the tail wagging the dog as it were. I see it a LOT in LDS history. There’s certainly some legitimacy to that fear, but also a lot of misunderstandings. Ideas of progressive or developmental creation are not necessarily a response to Darwin.
I’ve written before about how “science” and “religion” as commonly understood today are not well-defined categories, and can’t simply be retrojected into the past; Galileo wasn’t a “scientist” because such a thing didn’t exist yet, nor did he think he was doing “science.” Continue reading
LDS History and History-writing
An insightful comment in an archival letter highlighted an irony for me this week. While the Church cares deeply about history, encourages historical research and production— personal journal writing, family history, etc.— it is simultaneously true that Church materials have long tended to flatten or even ignore all that history. Continue reading
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