LDS historian and scholar Richard Lloyd Anderson (1926–2018) passed away late in the night on Sunday, August 12, 2018, at the age of 92. Anderson was among the foremost historians of the early Restoration throughout the later half of the 20th century. Anderson’s work covered a broad range of topics , including the early family history of Joseph Smith, the reliability of the First Vision, Joseph...
On Sunday, August 26th at 7:00 PM the Hurricane West Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will host a special fireside by Book of Mormon Central. Researchers David J. Larsen , Jonathon Riley , and Stephen Smoot will present on the topic of “The Book of Mormon and the Ancient Near East.” They will present cutting-edge work on how the Book of Mormon fits in an ancient Near...
The BYU Religious Studies Center has recently published a new book that will surely be helpful to anyone interested in understanding Isaiah in the Book of Mormon. Ann Madsen and Shon Hopkin’s new book, Opening Isaiah: A Harmony lays out five different versions of the book of Isaiah in parallel columns, allowing the reader to compare each version: (1) the King James Version, (2) the...
LDS scholar John A. Tvedtnes (1941–2018) passed away on June 3, 2018. Tvedtnes had a broad education, with advanced training in anthropology, archaeology, and history to go along with background in several languages, including French, Arabic, Hebrew, and Egyptian. He earned degrees in anthropology (BA), linguistics (MA), Middle East Studies (MA), and did further graduate work in Egyptian and...
In a landmark move from the almost 200 year-old church, leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced at the faith's semi-annual General Conference on April 1st that the translation department will begin working on a Book of Mormon in the Elvish language. Sam Gamgee, an employee from the Church Translation department, explained that this new translation sparks from an...
Synopsis Some early critics of the Book of Mormon ridiculed its literary qualities. Over time, however, it’s become clear that the Book of Mormon is actually a remarkably complex and sophisticated text. This can be demonstrated on dozens of different levels, and when looked at together, its impressive literary features offer excellent evidence that Joseph Smith truly translated it by the gift and...
The Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has released a new video exploring Joseph Smith’s use of seer stones in the translation process of the Book of Mormon. In the video (“ Seer Stones and the Translation of the Book of Mormon ”), Mason Allred interviews Dr. Mark Ashurst-McGee of the Joseph Smith Papers Project concerning “the various historical accounts...
Former mission president and YSA bishop Lynn McMurray explains how the Book of Mormon has been the knot at the end of his faith rope when his testimony has waivered.
Attacks against the Book of Mormon have experienced a kind of “mission creep” since its publication in 1830. [1] Critics began by labeling the book “ bungling and stupid ,” [2] Joe Smith a “ perfect ignoramus ,” [3] and they claimed “ any blunderhead, with the Bible at his side, might have written [it] . . .” [4] As Church membership mushroomed, and it became clear the...
A new archaeological excavation at the south of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem has just barely uncovered an 8 th century seal impression that might have belonged to the biblical prophet Isaiah, revered by Nephi and other Book of Mormon prophets.
