Let’s talk about the Old Testament languages and Bible translation for a bit. Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic are very different from English.
Category: Gospel Doctrine Resources
Black Friday and Boston reports
Logos has two sets of study Bible notes I recommend on sale. I don’t know how long these will last: the Jewish Study Bible notes, and the Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible notes, both of which I highly recommend. Per the demo video on this post, you can link these (or others) together to whatever translation(s) you want for your daily reading.
As it turns out, you can legitimately download the former for free in PDF now, though the price is offset by the format. Go here and click on PDF.
Church History/ Doctrine& Covenants Resources (and the blog) for 2025
(Post with minor updates from four years ago.)
I do not intend to write a weekly post on the Come Follow Me section. D&C is the book I have taught the least, read the least, know the least about, and have the most limited mental bibliography. While I do American religious history, 1820-1850 is not my time period or specialty at all. Second, I am up to my eyeballs in writing projects: turning my dissertation into a book, some spin-off articles, and some other things. I will continue to write posts, some about D&C and Church history, but approximately… whenever the muse strikes and I have time.
2024 Come Follow Me Resources: Book of Mormon (Updated)
2024 update: With my dissertation focus, I’m aware of a lot of new material that’s come out on the Book of Mormon, and I’ve not been able to touch any of it, really. (There is one exception, which merits some highlighting, below. ) Nevertheless, I hope this list will be useful for some people.
I have written elsewhere that you cannot fully learn from scripture unless you are also actively learning about scripture.The first is the act of a disciple and the second that of a scholar, although in an ideal world, they blur together. So this list includes both kinds of thing, and aimed at different audiences. I’ve got a section for Seminary teachers, for example.
The BoM is really kind of a double-edged sword; on the one hand, people haven’t been writing about it for 2000 years, so the bibliography is a bit more manageable. On the other hand, we tend to assume that because the Book of Mormon is easy to read, it’s easy to understand, and therefore “we don’t really need anything else.” But the Book of Mormon rewards slow, careful, deep reading and teaching.
And of course, this list is all enhancement. I don’t want to imply that if you’re not reading these, somehow you lack all spiritual insight— spiritual in-tune-ness has little to do with Oxford Press— or that you are a clueless chump who knows nothing. I can, however, testify that these books have taught me things and rid me of some of my ignorance. They’re worth reading.
Covenant, Law, Grace, Works, and Faith: Understanding the Contexts of Scripture (updated)
Let me open by saying that this is a wide-ranging and complex subject. I may well prove to be wrong on this or that point. I may be missing important nuances here or there, and it’s a bit scattered and repetitive. Let’s get those disclaimers out of the way and talk about this important subject. Continue reading
Studying the New Testament: Cross-cultural Contexts
As we begin our year in the New Testament, we naturally start with the Gospels… which is a problem, funny enough. Continue reading
Studying the Bible: On Strong’s Concordance and Biblical Languages
Let’s talk about languages, particularly, Biblical languages: Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. These are very different from English. Greek has five grammatical cases, for example, and Biblical Hebrew doesn’t have tenses, strictly speaking.1Modern Hebrew has reworked its verbal system on the basis of European languages so that it does have tenses. Many people are interested in looking at the underlying languages of the translation they’re reading. Frankly, to paraphrase King Benjamin,
I cannot tell you all the things whereby ye may commit linguistic sin; for there are divers ways and means, even so many that I cannot number them.
Even people with a semester or two can make serious errors.
So… what about Strong’s Concordance?
Studying the New Testament: Top 5 Books
This is the first of several posts talking about studying the NT and resources to do so.
It’s that time of year when sales happen, Christmas money appears in your stocking, and January is coming and bringing changes. We’ll study the New Testament again, and I suspect this will be an interesting year for many; Church-oriented Gospel Doctrine experience now happens half as often, and most of our study and learning will take place at home, by ourselves or with family (as it should be.) Continue reading
Reading Genesis to Teach Genesis: a Short Guide for Latter-day Saints
On January 1, we hit Genesis like a brick wall, and stay in it through the week of March 20.1Then we’re in Exodus until May 8! What makes Genesis so hard? Well, Genesis chapter 1 dumps us immediately into a maelstrom of issues and questions, and Church materials aren’t the most complete or up-to-date at helping us navigate those, or even be aware of the options and the history behind them.
What’s the relationship between Genesis, Moses, Abraham and the Temple? Why are there significant differences between them? Does the translation matter? What’s the relationship between Genesis and science? What about dinosaurs and evolution? How old is the earth? What about the Flood? Is Genesis meant to be read as simple history? Is it literal or figurative? or is there some other way to approach Genesis, other than that binary? Continue reading
Reading and Teaching the Old Testament: Suggestions and Resources for Seminary Teachers and Parents (and Everybody else)
Soon we start the Old Testament. It’s a challenging book to read, study, and teach, but it’s also my favorite. I have a few suggestions this year, which I’ve simplified.
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