How do we account for differences between the various accounts we have on record of the First Vision? What role does memory play in how it was presented over time? How have we viewed those accounts since they were first…
Category: Church History
All Are Alike Unto God
I’ve been thinking about the issue of race in the Church (and the history of the temple and priesthood ban in particular) a lot lately. As part of that thinking, I am working on a series of posts wrestling with…
Fundamental Principles of Mormonism
Touring the Kirtland Temple… In Utah
Statues in the Balance
A Prophet for President
Seer Stones and Grammar
Race and Lineage among early Latter-day Saints
The Olive Tree Restoration
Embracing Jacob’s Sermon
The First Vision-A Close Reading
Saints, Volume 2: A Review
A New First Vision Podcast
The Standard Christmas Sacrament Meeting
Documents and Dialogic Revelations
Brigham Young and the Expansion of the Mormon Faith, a Review
First Vision Resources
We were left with a bit of a cliff hanger at the end of general conference this year—the promise of a unique general conference next April celebrating the 200th anniversary of the year Joseph Smith said he experienced the First…
A Word of Wisdom or a Commandment?
The revelation that forms the basis of the Latter-day Saint dietary code refers to its contents as “a word of wisdom for the benefit of the Saints in these last days” (D&C 89:1). The Word of Wisdom was treated like…
Hot Drinks and Cold Soda
One aspect of the Word of Wisdom that has long been debated is whether or not all caffeinated drinks should be included under its umbrella. The original revelation specified that hot drinks should not be consumed, which was interpreted to…
Cores and Corollaries of the Word of Wisdom
The Church recently published some clarifications on issues related to our health code in the New Era magazine and gave them official status in a statement a few weeks later.[1] Essentially, vaping or e-cigarettes, marijuana and opioids, green and iced…