Audio podcast of Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture

This is Scripture Roundtable 139 from The Interpreter Foundation, in which we discuss the New Testament Gospel Doctrine Lesson #41, “I Have Finished My Course” focusing on scriptures in 1 Timothy 4, 6, 2 Timony 1-4, and Titus 1-3.

This article is the third in a series of three articles responding to the recent assertion by Jonathan Neville that Benjamin Winchester was the anonymous author of three unsigned editorials published in Nauvoo in 1842 in the Times and Seasons. The topic of the unsigned editorials was the possible relationship of archeological discoveries in Central America to places described in the Book of Mormon narrative. The first article shows that, contrary to Neville’s claims, Winchester was not a proponent of a Mesoamerican setting for the Book of Mormon, but rather a hemispheric one. Since this was a view commonly held by early Mormons, his ideas did not warrant any anonymity for their dissemination. The second article shows that, also contrary to Neville’s claims, Joseph Smith was not opposed to considering Central American geographic parallels to the Book of Mormon. The Prophet even seemed to find such possibilities interesting and supportive of the Book of Mormon. This third article shows that despite Neville’s circumstantial speculations, the historical and stylometric evidence is overwhelmingly against Winchester as the author of the Central America editorials.

The temporarily rather comfortable “fit” between the Restored Gospel and American civic religion is a thing of the past, and we contemporary Latter-day Saints seem to find ourselves in a more and more marginalized position, theologically and socially. This was where our predecessors, both earlier in this dispensation and among the first Christians, were located, and it may not be an altogether bad thing. It will, for instance, force us to take our beliefs more seriously, less casually. And it may well drive us back to the unique resources provided by the Restoration, which have much to offer.

This is a presentation given at the conference entitled 2015 Exploring the Complexities in the English Language of the Book of Mormon, which took place on 14 March 2015 in Provo, Utah.

This is Scripture Roundtable 138 from The Interpreter Foundation, in which we discuss the New Testament Gospel Doctrine Lesson #40, “I Can Do All Things through Christ” focusing on scriptures in Philippians, Colossians 1-4, and Philemon.

The crux of the creation–evolution conflict is a futile desire to scientifically prove or disprove the existence of God. The conflict is manifest in the common belief that creation means a divine, supernatural process and that evolution denotes an atheistic, accidental event. Evolution involves a random change in an inherited trait followed by selection for or against the altered trait. If humans use this principle to design machines, solve complex mathematical problems, engineer proteins, and manipulate living organisms, then certainly a super-intelligent being could have used evolution to create life on earth. This reasoning indicates that evolution does not prove atheism and that evolution is a constructive process. The theory of evolution is a mechanistic description and therefore, like all other scientific principles, is neutral on the question of God’s existence. Evolution is compatible with the simple scriptural accounts of creation. Consequently, belief or unbelief in God is put back where it should be — on individual choice.

The New Testament Made Harder is a book that collects study questions that follow the Gospel Doctrine reading schedule. The book contains very little commentary and does not provide answers to the questions posed. The main objective is not to provide information, but rather to encourage students of the New Testament to think more deeply about what they are reading. For those who are willing to put forth the effort, they will find this book to be a helpful tool in learning to analyze the scriptures more closely.

On Saturday, 8 August 2015, about ninety people gathered in Orem, Utah, to celebrate The Interpreter Foundation’s third birthday. Among those in attendance were Dr. Margaret L. Barker and Dr. Stephen H. Webb. After dinner, it was my privilege to moderate a brief question-and-answer session with Drs. Barker and Webb. Here is that discussion.

This is a presentation given at the conference entitled 2015 Exploring the Complexities in the English Language of the Book of Mormon, which took place on 14 March 2015 in Provo, Utah.

This is Scripture Roundtable 137 from The Interpreter Foundation, in which we discuss the New Testament Gospel Doctrine Lesson #39, “For the Perfecting of the Saints,” focusing on scriptures in Ephesians 1-2, 4-6.

This is Scripture Roundtable 133 from The Interpreter Foundation, in which we discuss the New Testament Gospel Doctrine Lesson #35, “Be Ye Reconciled to God,” focusing on scriptures in 2 Corinthians 1-2, 4-7, 11, 12.

The claim that God revealed the details of Book of Mormon geography is not new, but the recent argument that there was a conspiracy while the Prophet was still alive to oppose a revealed geography is a novel innovation. A recent theory argues that the “Mesoamerican theory” or “limited Mesoamerican geography” originated in 1841 with Benjamin Winchester, an early Mormon missionary, writer, and dissident, who rejected the leadership of Brigham Young and the Twelve after 1844. This theory also claims that three unsigned editorials on Central America and the Book of Mormon published in the Times and Seasons on September 15 and October 1, 1842, were written by Benjamin Winchester, who successfully conspired with other dissidents to publish them against the will of the Prophet. Three articles address these claims. The first article addressed two questions: Did Joseph Smith, as some have claimed, know the details of and put forth a revealed Book of Mormon geography? Second, what is a Mesoamerican geography and does it constitute a believable motive for a proposed Winchester conspiracy? This second article provides additional historical background on the question of Joseph Smith’s thinking on the Book of Mormon by examining the influence of John L. Stephen’s 1841 work, Incidents of Travel in Central America, upon early Latter-day Saints, including Joseph Smith.

The claim that God revealed the details of Book of Mormon geography is not new, but the recent argument that there was a conspiracy while the Prophet was still alive to oppose a revealed geography is a novel innovation. A recent theory argues that the “Mesoamerican theory” or “limited Mesoamerican geography” originated in 1841 with Benjamin Winchester, an early Mormon missionary, writer, and dissident, who rejected the leadership of Brigham Young and the Twelve after 1844. This theory also claims that three unsigned editorials on Central America and the Book of Mormon published in the Times and Seasons on September 15 and October 1, 1842 were written by Benjamin Winchester, who successfully conspired with other dissidents to publish them against the will of the Prophet. Three articles address these claims. This first article addresses two questions: Did Joseph Smith, as some have claimed, know the details of and put forth a revealed Book of Mormon geography? Second, what is a Mesoamerican geography and does it constitute a believable motive for a proposed Winchester conspiracy?

This is a presentation given at the conference entitled 2015 Exploring the Complexities in the English Language of the Book of Mormon, which took place on 14 March 2015 in Provo, Utah.

This is Scripture Roundtable 136 from The Interpreter Foundation, in which we discuss the New Testament Gospel Doctrine Lesson #38, “Thou Hast Testified of Me,” focusing on scriptures in Acts 21-23, and 26-28.