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Church History

Zerah Pulsipher: A Pioneer Day Reflection

by Chad Nielsen • July 21, 2020

In the movie version of the popular Harry Potter series, a father-figure to the titular character tells Harry that: “The world isn’t split into good people and Death Eaters [henchmen of the main villain].  We’ve all got both light and…

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Church History, Mormon Publications, Mormon Thought

First Vision Special Edition

by Chad Nielsen • July 15, 2020

Before I move on from discussing the First Vision, I wanted to share something that I find exciting.  Once in a while in Mormon studies journals, special volumes focus on the First Vision—such as the Spring 1969 issue of BYU Studies and a 1980…

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Mormon Studies, SS Lesson - Doctrine and Covenants

“By his own admission”: a one-footnote review

by Jonathan Green • July 13, 2020

John Hammond’s Quest for the New Jerusalem: A Mormon Generation Sagastates that Sidney Rigdon, “by his own admission, ‘made up’ religious experiences in his youth,” which seems like something worth looking into.

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General Doctrine, Mormon Thought, News and Politics

It Matters Why the Church is Pro-Life

by Nathaniel Givens • July 9, 2020

Edited with author’s note on the comments at end of post. Abortion is a hot-button issue. Maybe the hot-button issue. That’s why–after finishing a draft of this post in November of 2019–I sat on it for almost a year. I’ve…

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10 Questions, Church History, Mormon Studies

Memory and the First Vision

by Chad Nielsen • July 7, 2020

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…

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General Conference, SS Lesson - Book of Mormon, Women in the Church

Quotes to accompany your Come Follow Me study – Alma 30-31

by David Evans • July 4, 2020

This coming week’s Come, Follow Me lesson covers Alma 30-31. Here are a collection of quotes from General Auxiliary Leaders of the Church, that you can use in your family or personal study. Alma 30 The Book of Mormon warns…

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Book of Mormon, Liberal Arts, Mormon Studies

Notes on Book of Mormon Philology. Vb4. The utility of philology: Jacob and Sherem

by Jonathan Green • July 3, 2020

Imagining the Book of Mormon as a complex work reflecting numerous steps of compilation and abridgment helps explain some curious features of the encounter with Sherem in Jacob 7.

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Church History, General Doctrine, News and Politics

All Are Alike Unto God

by Chad Nielsen • July 1, 2020

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…

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Book of Mormon, Liberal Arts

Notes on Book of Mormon Philology. Vb2-3. The utility of philology: Nephite origins

by Jonathan Green • June 30, 2020

Thinking of the Book of Mormon as the result of a series of textual accretions and combinations might help make sense of how curiously overdetermined the account of Nephite origins is.

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Comparative religion, Guest Bloggers, Mormon Life

I Even Remain Alone: LDS Men sans Families

by Michael Haycock • June 29, 2020

I wrote this in over three years ago in response to a call for personal essays on LDS single experiences; alas, it was declined primarily for a lack of anecdotes. It’s not something I would necessarily write today and is…

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News and Politics

Covid-19 and religious freedom?

by Walter van Beek • June 28, 2020

This is a comment and reflection on David Bednar’s speech on corona and religious freedom, to be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGU7GG5t6Ek Of course religious freedom is an important value in human civilization, and, yes, of course it has to be defended,…

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Church History, General Doctrine

Fundamental Principles of Mormonism

by Chad Nielsen • June 27, 2020

Today marks the 176th anniversary of the day that Joseph Smith died in an untimely fashion.  As I’ve been pondering on what his legacy means to me personally, I wanted to write about three topics that were central to Joseph…

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Book of Mormon, Liberal Arts

Notes on Book of Mormon Philology. V.The permissibility and utility of philology for studying the Book of Mormon

by Jonathan Green • June 25, 2020

Is philological deliberation useful for studying the Book of Mormon? Is it even permitted?

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Church History

Touring the Kirtland Temple… In Utah

by Chad Nielsen • June 24, 2020

I finally achieved a long-term goal of mine.  For years, I’ve been trying to talk my wife into going out on a Church History pilgrimage, with the Kirtland Temple being one of the highlights of the trip we’ve been talking…

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Book of Mormon, Liberal Arts

Notes on Book of Mormon Philology. IV. The Puzzle of 3 Nephi

by Jonathan Green • June 22, 2020

Why is 3 Nephi, which records the central event in the history of Nephite salvation and destruction, located between Helaman and 4 Nephi?

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Church History, News and Politics

Statues in the Balance

by Chad Nielsen • June 19, 2020

One of my favorite episodes of the science fiction TV series Firefly is the “Jaynestown” episode.  In it, a self-serving mercenary of questionable moral character ends up visiting a planet he has been to before.  In the past, he’d attempted…

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Book of Mormon, Liberal Arts

Notes on Book of Mormon Philology. IIIc. The source structure of the Book of Mormon

by Jonathan Green • June 18, 2020

If you trace the history of a text from earlier manuscripts to later ones, it’s not unusual for the text to be extended in various ways.

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Book of Mormon, Come Follow Me Currculum, General Doctrine, Philosophy and Theology

A Lake of Fire and the Problem of Evil

by Chad Nielsen • June 17, 2020

I remember talking to an atheist on the riverfront walk in Dubuque, Iowa one day while serving my mission.  He told my companion and me that he couldn’t believe in God after some of the things he had seen, and…

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News and Politics

Notes on Book of Mormon Philology. IIIb. The material culture of Nephite literacy

by Jonathan Green • June 15, 2020

The material culture of Nephite literacy is the one aspect of Nephite civilization about which we have any kind of historical evidence.

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Features, Guest Bloggers, News and Politics

Is Activity Increasing Among US-based Latter-day Saints?

by Nathaniel Givens • June 12, 2020

The following is a guest post from Stephen Cranny. Stephen Cranney is a Washington DC-based data scientist and Non-Resident Fellow at Baylor’s Institute for the Studies of Religion. He has produced over 20 peer-reviewed articles and five children. I calculated…

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Book of Mormon, Liberal Arts

Notes on Book of Mormon Philology. IIIb note 1. A note on the uniformity of the Golden Plates

by Jonathan Green • June 12, 2020
Histogram of parchment and paper manuscript sizes

Mark Ashurst-McGee asks about the uniformity of the Golden Plates in eyewitness accounts, even though they contain both Mormon’s abridgement and Nephi’s small plates, and this is in fact genuinely weird.

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Book of Mormon, Liberal Arts, Mormon Studies

Notes on Book of Mormon Philology. IIIa. Nephite literacy

by Jonathan Green • June 11, 2020

Unless someone gets lucky with a spade or a metal detector, the full extent of Mormon’s sources will remain unknown. To keep even tentative answers on the side of plausibility rather than fantasy, how we think about Mormon’s sources should be informed by any information we have about Nephite literacy and textual culture.

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Book of Mormon, Liberal Arts, Mormon Studies

Notes on Book of Mormon philology. II. What did Mormon know?

by Jonathan Green • June 10, 2020

The logical place for a philological approach to the Book of Mormon to begin is with Mormon, its eponymous editor, and his sources. How much did Mormon know about the Nephites, and what kind of records did he have to work with?

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Book of Mormon, Liberal Arts, Mormon Studies

Notes on Book of Mormon philology. The philological instinct

by Jonathan Green • June 9, 2020

When I look at recent studies of the Book of Mormon, the biggest deficit I see is the lack of instinct for philology.

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Book of Mormon, Book Reviews

Review: 2nd Nephi: A Brief Theological Introduction

by Chad Nielsen • June 8, 2020

I think one of the most repeated refrains I see in comment threads in the bloggernacle is that our Church meetings generally lack the vibrancy and ability to deeply engage with the scriptures and ideas in ways that can stimulate…

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Mormon Arts, Philosophy and Theology, Social Sciences and Economics

The Author and the Congressman

by Michael Haycock • June 6, 2020

The Author In my childhood, I watched my evangelical classmates devour the Left Behind series, curious what a Mormon analogue would look like. Lo and behold, in 2003 Deseret Book published a novel titled The Brothers. Befitting his history as…

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Mormon Thought, News and Politics

Hasten to Prepare

by Chad Nielsen • June 5, 2020

At the “Be One” celebration in 2018, President Dallin H. Oaks discussed the frustration he experienced as a member of the Church before the ban on individuals of black African descent holding the priesthood or receiving saving temple ordinances was…

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10 Questions, Church History

A Prophet for President

by Chad Nielsen • June 1, 2020

Imagine that when you check the news tomorrow morning you see that Russell M. Nelson has announced that he is running for the office of the President of the United States.  Now imagine that later the same day, you receive…

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Book of Mormon, Come Follow Me Currculum, Mormon Thought, Scriptures

Saving Alvin

by Chad Nielsen • May 29, 2020

How we approach the scriptures affects what we see in them. In other words, our assumptions, our traditions, our cultural baggage that we carry with us as we enter the world of scriptural texts are lenses that give meaning and…

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Mormon Arts, Music and Poetry

When You Believe: An EP Review

by Chad Nielsen • May 26, 2020

Last Friday, the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square released a new extended play record (EP), “When You Believe: A Night at the Movies.”  I bought and downloaded the music this weekend and I have listened to it several times since…

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