Chat-GPT created abstract: This article argues that Jacob’s temple sermon in the Book of Mormon should be understood not simply as a defense of traditional sexual morality but as an example of scriptural reinterpretation. Reading Jacob’s earlier sermon and his confrontation with Sherem alongside Jacob 2, the article identifies a consistent willingness to reinterpret inherited scripture in light of new revelation and immediate human needs. Although Jacob presents monogamy as scripturally mandated, the Hebrew Bible frequently permits or regulates polygamy and other sexual arrangements that privilege men. Jacob’s teaching therefore represents a departure from, rather than a straightforward application of, scriptural precedent. The article contends that this departure is grounded in Jacob’s concern for the suffering of Nephite women and children and in an underlying ethical commitment to minimizing harm. Jacob may also be correcting or challenging priorities associated with his predecessor, Nephi. The article concludes that Jacob’s method offers contemporary Book of Mormon readers a model for reconsidering inherited sexual ethics, including teachings concerning legal marriage, LGBTQ+ relationships, and monogamy. Rather than treating Jacob 2 as a fixed prooftext, readers may follow Jacob’s example by placing scripture and prophetic precedent in conversation with deeper theological values and the experiences of those harmed by prevailing religious teachings.

Gooren, Henri. “Latter-day Saints Membership Growth in Haiti, 1978–2018.” Dialogue A Journal of Mormon Thought 59, no. 2 (2026): 51-90.

ChatGPT created abstract: This article examines Latter-day Saint membership growth in Haiti from 1978 to 2018 as a case study of the broader slowdown of LDS expansion in Latin America. It introduces a country church growth protocol that integrates internal religious and organizational factors with external conditions, including competition, urbanization, poverty, political instability, disease, and natural disaster. Analysis of official membership statistics identifies four periods: explosive growth from 1977 to 1989, low growth from 1990 to 1995, renewed high growth from 1996 to 2002, and modest growth from 2003 to 2018. The article tests whether Durkheimian anomie—operationalized through economic crisis, political violence, rapid urbanization, epidemics, and disasters—encouraged LDS growth. Although anomie corresponds with several early growth periods, its explanatory power becomes inconsistent after Haiti’s transition to formal democracy, and the 2010 earthquake and cholera epidemic produced no immediate LDS membership surge. Drawing on ethnographic literature, the article also considers internal attractions of Haitian Mormonism, including belief in continuing revelation, eternal families, institutional connections to the United States, and Haitian members’ creative adaptation of Mormon practices within a cultural setting shaped partly by Vodou. Haiti’s moderate recent growth despite its exceptionally low Human Development Index complicates secular-transition theory and suggests that recruitment, retention, institutional capacity, and local cultural dynamics require greater attention.

Wallin, Cianne. “High Stakes and Holy Land: Mormonism, IGRA, and the Gamble on Tribal Gaming in Utah.” UNLV Gaming Law Journal 16, no. 2 (2026): 251.

This article examines how the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) and Utah’s comprehensive prohibition of gambling constrain the economic self-determination of the Shivwits Band of Paiutes. Despite occupying trust lands near southern Utah’s heavily visited tourism corridor, the Shivwits experience substantial poverty and have limited opportunities to benefit from the region’s growing hospitality economy. After reviewing the Band’s history, restoration of federal recognition, and current development efforts, the article explains how IGRA makes tribal gaming rights dependent on the laws of the surrounding state. Because Utah—shaped in part by the historical and continuing influence of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—permits no meaningful form of gambling, the Shivwits are effectively restricted to low-revenue Class I gaming. The article compares Utah with Hawaii, another historically religiously influenced state that prohibits gambling but has recently considered legalization proposals. It then examines the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma and the Seminole Tribe of Florida to illustrate how gaming revenues can reduce poverty, finance health care, education, housing, and public safety, and promote tribal self-sufficiency, while also generating revenue for states through gaming compacts. The article argues that IGRA improperly subordinates tribal sovereignty to state policy and proposes that tribes negotiate gaming arrangements with the federal government rather than states, allowing tribal nations greater authority over economic development on their own lands.

Gooren, Henri, and Reinaldo Espino Reyes. “Non-Catholic Church Growth in Honduras, 1960–2025.” International Journal of Latin American Religions (2026): 1-25.

This paper chronologically reviews non-Catholic church membership growth in Honduras, using a new country church growth protocol that was developed from an earlier church growth model for Guatemala. Analytical, background, and church membership data come from three editions of the World Christian Encyclopedia, seven editions of Operation World, local surveys, and the website cumorah.com. From the 1960s to the 1980s, both Protestants and Latter-day Saints had high compound average annual growth rates from 9% (Protestants) to 13% to 41% (LDS); however, the nonreligious population also exploded from 0.1% to 1.9%. This period saw high anomie in Honduras from urbanization, repressive military governments (1963-81), poverty, and high employment from a big economic crisis in the 1980s. In the 1990s, the compound annual LDS growth rate continued at 11.9%, while compound annual Protestant growth continued at 9% annually. This period included the return to democracy, political optimism, strong urbanization, and economic recovery. In 2000–2015, the compound annual Protestant growth rate was only 3.5% whereas the Mormon AAGRs hovered between 1.1% and 4.5%. The secular transition theory can help explain this.

Riyanto, Geger, Harry Bawono, Sabara, Sitti Arafah, and Abd Karim. “Wounding charity and charity diplomacy: the dynamics of Mormon Christian charity in Indonesia.” Journal of Contemporary Religion (2026): 1-18.

Interreligious aid is a contentious issue in Indonesia. Muslim recipients feel compromised when receiving Christian charity as such aid creates uncomfortable indebtedness. This tension is further complicated by a history of antagonistic relationships between Christians and Muslims. This article attempts to delve deeper into these complexities by focusing on the case of Mormon Christian charity. In practice, Mormon Christian charity creates a peculiar field of interplay between donors, recipients, and mediators. By attending to what it refers to as wounding charity and charity diplomacy, this article explores the relationships that emerge from Mormon Christian charitable endeavors—how such aid can be both valuable and wounding for communities and how it becomes a means of making connections for a religious minority group which is under close scrutiny.