Scriptures
Recommended
The Sidney Sperry/Heber Snell Debates: Critical Biblical Scholarship and Mormon Tradition
Clyde D. FordIn 2018, the Sunday School instructor of my Mormon congregation was assigned to teach the stories about Lot found in Genesis 19. The teacher confessed that he was very uncomfortable discussing these narratives. Instead, he…
Roundtable: When Unnecessary Overinterpretation of Scripture Hurts, It Must Cease
Brian D. KingI am not a member of any Native American tribal nation, neither do I claim Indigenous heritage. I am a white American, and three of my four grandparents trace their family back to Mormon pioneers.…
The Lamanite Dilemma: Mormonism and Indigeneity
Monika Brown CrowfootPodcast version of this Personal Essay. Many times throughout my childhood, I heard various church members or my parents tell me that we had to choose between being Navajo and being Mormon. Our family went…
Finding Agency in Captivity: Resistance, Co-optation, and Replication Among Indentured Indians, 1847–1900
Matthew GarrettWhen Mormon settlers entered the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, they brought with them their institutions and attitudes. These included a perception of Native Americans as fallen Israelites who, the Book of Mormon promised, would…
The Pearl’s Price Terryl Givens with Brian M. Hauglid, The Pearl of Greatest Price: Mormonism’s Most Controversial Scripture
Jenny WebbGivens and Hauglid are direct: their goal is to provide a sustained, academic, and nuanced treatment of the Pearl of Great Price [PGP]. Their motive lies in the fact that this volume has received relatively…
On Care: Performative Theology, Mosiah, and a Gathered Community
Jenny WebbThe question I am considering here is at its heart relational. What kind of relationship with scripture exists within performative theology? When we understand scripture as wisdom rather than history, what does this understanding do…
Review: Embraced in Love Eric D. Huntsman. Becoming the Beloved Disciple: Coming unto Christ through the Gospel of John.
Jenny WebbReasonably Good Tidings of Greater- than-Average Joy Grant Hardy, ed. The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Maxwell Institute Study Edition.
Michael AustinPlain and Precious Things Lost: The Small Plates of Nephi
Rebecca A. RoeslerDialogue 52.4 (Winter 2019): 85
Such inconsistencies may cause some readers to question the credibility of the text. Upon observing doctrinal andprophetic variation within the Book of Mormon, some dismiss the book’s divinity
The Sidney Sperry/Heber Snell Debates: Critical Biblical Scholarship and Mormon Tradition
Clyde D. FordIn 2018, the Sunday School instructor of my Mormon congregation was assigned to teach the stories about Lot found in Genesis 19. The teacher confessed that he was very uncomfortable discussing these narratives. Instead, he…
Roundtable: When Unnecessary Overinterpretation of Scripture Hurts, It Must Cease
Brian D. KingI am not a member of any Native American tribal nation, neither do I claim Indigenous heritage. I am a white American, and three of my four grandparents trace their family back to Mormon pioneers.…
The Lamanite Dilemma: Mormonism and Indigeneity
Monika Brown CrowfootPodcast version of this Personal Essay. Many times throughout my childhood, I heard various church members or my parents tell me that we had to choose between being Navajo and being Mormon. Our family went…
Finding Agency in Captivity: Resistance, Co-optation, and Replication Among Indentured Indians, 1847–1900
Matthew GarrettWhen Mormon settlers entered the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, they brought with them their institutions and attitudes. These included a perception of Native Americans as fallen Israelites who, the Book of Mormon promised, would…
The Pearl’s Price Terryl Givens with Brian M. Hauglid, The Pearl of Greatest Price: Mormonism’s Most Controversial Scripture
Jenny WebbGivens and Hauglid are direct: their goal is to provide a sustained, academic, and nuanced treatment of the Pearl of Great Price [PGP]. Their motive lies in the fact that this volume has received relatively…
On Care: Performative Theology, Mosiah, and a Gathered Community
Jenny WebbThe question I am considering here is at its heart relational. What kind of relationship with scripture exists within performative theology? When we understand scripture as wisdom rather than history, what does this understanding do…
Dealing with Difficult Questions
Roger TerryReview: Embraced in Love Eric D. Huntsman. Becoming the Beloved Disciple: Coming unto Christ through the Gospel of John.
Jenny WebbReasonably Good Tidings of Greater- than-Average Joy Grant Hardy, ed. The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Maxwell Institute Study Edition.
Michael AustinPlain and Precious Things Lost: The Small Plates of Nephi
Rebecca A. RoeslerDialogue 52.4 (Winter 2019): 85
Such inconsistencies may cause some readers to question the credibility of the text. Upon observing doctrinal andprophetic variation within the Book of Mormon, some dismiss the book’s divinity
Empirical Witnesses of the Gold Plates
Larry MorrisDialogue 52.2 (Summer 2019): 59–84
Due to the fact that visiting with angels isn’t part of the normal human experience, it makes it hard for historians to prove that it happened through an academic investigation. The best way, as discussed by the author, to determine what really happened is by studying other individual’s first-hand accounts about the Gold Plates.
THE GOLD PLATES AND ANCIENT METAL EPIGRAPHY: APPENDIX
Ryan ThomasThe Gold Plates and Ancient Metal Epigraphy
Ryan ThomasDialogue 52.2 (Summer 2019):37–58
Ryan Thomas highlights the different metal writing cultures from around the same time as the Book of Mormon periods to see if it is historically likely for the Gold Plates to exist from that time period.
Automatic Writing and the Book of Mormon An Update
Brian C. HalesDialogue 52.2 (Spring 2019):1–58Attributing the Book of Mormon’s origin to supernatural forces has
worked well for Joseph Smith’s believers, then as well as now, but not so
well for critics who seem certain natural abilities were responsible. For over
180 years, several secular theories have been advanced as explanations.
Review: A Private Revelation William Victor Smith. Textual Studies of the Doctrine and Covenants: The Plural Marriage Revelation
Gary James Bergera“Behold, Other Scriptures I Would that Ye Should Write”: Malachi in the Book of Mormon
Colby Townsend“A Portion of God’s Light”: Mormonism and Religious Pluralism
Brian D. BirchA Double Portion: An Intertextual Reading of Hannah (1 Samuel 1–2) and Mark’s Greek Woman (Mark 7:24–30)
Julie M. Smith“In Christ All Things Hold Together”: A Christian Perspective (via Levinas and Shimony) on Quantum Entanglement
David Grandy“The Perfect Union of Man and Woman”: Reclamation and Collaboration in Joseph Smith’s Theology Making
Fiona GivensDialogue 49.1 (Spring 2016): 1–26
Central to Joseph’s creative energies was a profound commitment to an ideal of cosmic as well as human collaboration. His personal mode of leadership increasingly shifted from autocratic to collaborative—and that mode infused both his most radical theologizing and his hopes for Church comity itself.
Some Voices from the Dust | Ross T. Christensen, ed., Papers of the Fifteenth Annual Symposium on the Archaeology of the Scriptures
John L. SorensonAny volume with “fifteenth annual” in its title requires placement in historical and sociological context before it can be evaluated properly. Sponsor of this symposium is the 800-member University Archaeological Society. (The name was changed…
The Bible, the Church, and Its Scholars
Kent E. RobsonIn Professor Snell’s article and in the response to it by Professor Sperry, one finds the work of two committed members of the Church, who nevertheless appear to differ greatly on their interpretation of the…
Scholars and Prophets
Sidney B. SperryProfessor Snell’s article, “The Bible in the Church,” leaves me with very mixed feelings. On the first page of his essay he implies that his criticisms are intended to be constructive and that he seeks…
Lot’s Wife in the Latter Days
Lenet H. ReadMy dear brothers and sisters, this evening marks the end of a cycle in my life. Five years ago my husband and I left Durham, with his law degree and a lot of expectation. We…
Why the King James Version?: From the Common to the Official Bible of Mormonism
Philip L. BarlowNew Wine and New Bottles: Scriptural Scholarship as Sacrament
Kevin ChristensenJesus the Peasant
John Dominic CrossanThe Identity of Jacob’s Opponent: Wrestling with Ambiguity in Genesis 32:32
Steven MolenGnosticism Reformed
Bertrand C. BarroisToward a Feminist Interpretation of Latter-day Scripture
Lynn Matthews AndersonDialogue 27.2 (Summer 1994): 197–230
I am astonished that it took so many readings and a focus on the question of using gender-inclusive language in the simplified version to discover something that should have been obvious to me from the beginning: females scarcely figure or matter in our sacred books.
The Gospel of Thomas and Jesus
Stephen J. PattersonDivine Dialogue and the Lord’s Prayer: Socio-rhetorical Interpretation of Texts
Vernon K. RobbinsThe Structure of the Book of Mormon: A Theory of Evolutionary Development
Quinn BrewsterDialogue 29.2 (Summer 1998):129–154
WHEN JOSEPH SMITH BEGAN TO DICTATE the Book of Mormon, he did not understand the structure the book would ultimately take. He did not know that the first part of the manuscript would be lost, resulting in a major structural change in the first quarter of the book.
The Johannine Comma: Bad Translation, Bad Theology
Marc A. Schindler“White” of “Pure”: Five Vignettes
Douglas CampbellDialogue 29.4 (Winter 1996): 119–135
The Book of Mormon variously uses “white” and “pure” in the same verse in different editions. This article traces the history of those changes, who was behind them, and why.
Scripture, History, and Faith: A Round Table Discussion
Todd M. ComptonRetelling the Greatest Story Ever Told: Popular Literature as Scripture in Antebellum America
Clyde R. Forsberg Jr.A Mosaic for a Religious Counterculture: The Bible in the Book of Mormon
Mark D. ThomasDialogue 29.4 (Winter 1998):59–83
THE BOOK OF MORMON HAS OCCASIONALLY been portrayed as a deficient
first novel. Its characters appear flat and stereotypical; the plots and characters seem to lack moral subtlety; and so on. Should we wonder that today’s high literary circles ignore it?
Heaven and Hell: The Parable of the Loving Father and the Judgmental Son
Todd M. ComptonJesus’ Dispute in the Temple and the Origin of the Eucharist
Bruce ChiltonThe Woman of Worth: Impressions of Proverbs 31:10-31
Jana RiessLaban’s Ghost: On Writing and Transgression
Thomas W. MurphyDid the Author of 3 Nephi Know the Gospel of Matthew?
Ronald V. HugginsAs Translated Correctly: The Inspiration and Innovation of the Eighth Article of Faith
Douglas F. SalmonCosmos, Chaos, and Politics: Biblical Creation Patterns in Secular Contexts
Sheldon GreavesScriptural Chastity Lessons, Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife; Corianton and the Harlot Isabel
B. W. JorgensenFeasting on the Word by Richard Dilworth Rust
L. Mikel VauseLDS Perspectives on the Dead Sea Scrolls by Donald W. Parry and Dana M. Pike
Wade KotterThe Use and Abuse of Anti-Semitism in the Scriptures
Keith E. NormanThe Authorship of the Pentateuch
Thomas B. DozemanWisdom Traditions in the Hebrew Bible
Carole R. FontaineReflections on the Documentary Hypothesis
Kevin L. BarneyHebraicisms, Chiasmus and Other Internal Evidence for Ancient Authorship in Green Eggs and Ham
Robert PattersonDialogue 33.4 (Winter 2001):127–173
Upon an initial and cursory reading, the book appears to be a simple morality play. A zealous purveyor of an unusual gustatory selection hawks his wares to an Everyman, whose initial biases preclude his acceptance of the unfamiliar.
Coming Out of the Evolution Closet
Dynette ReynoldsDialogue 34.4 (Winter 2002): 143–145
Sometimes, I seem to be the only person in the entire church who
knows that it’s okay to believe in evolution and still be a faithful, believing Mormon.
Helaman’s Stripling Warriors and the Principles of Hypovolemic Shock
Robert Patterson“Without a Cause” and “Ships of Tarshish”
Ronald V. HugginsJude’s Use of the Pseudepigraphal Book of 1 Enoch
Cory D. AndersonA Triple Combination for Proclaiming Peace
Rob FergusCritique of Alma 36 as an Extended Chiasm
Earl M. WunderliDialogue 38.4 (Winter 2006):105–156
He has written about it at least four times. It reflects most of the problems with all of his extended chiasms. My argument is that he has imposed chiasmus on the Book of Mormon where none was intended.
Lehi on the Great Issues: Book of Mormon Theology in Early Nineteenth-Century Perspective
Clyde D. FordDialogue 38.4 (Winter 2006):83–104
Thus, regardless of how one chooses to resolve the issues surrounding its origins, one must conclude that the Book of Mormon’s theological arguments should be seen as designed to be read and understood by its early nineteenth-century audience.
Mormon Laundry List
Julianna Gardner BerryThe Unbidden Prayer
Frances Lee MenloveJacob and the Angel: Modern Readers and the Old Testament
Karl C. SandbergResponse to Boyd and Farrell Edwards’s Response to My “Critique of Alma 36 as an Extended Chiasm”
Earl M. WunderliResponse to Earl M. Wunderli’s “Critique of Alma 36 as an Extended Chiasm”
W. Farrell EdwardsResponse to Earl M. Wunderli’s “Critique of Alma 36 as an Extended Chiasm”
Boyd F. EdwardsDialogue 39.3 (Fall 2007):188–206
Others, including Wunderli, hold that the proposed chiasms in the
Book of Mormon are not deliberate applications of the chiastic form and
ascribe their chiastic structure to the ingenuity of the analyst, rather than
to the intent of the author.
John T. Clark: The “One Mighty and Strong”
Brian C. Hales“To Set in Order the House of God”: The Search for the Elusive “One Mighty and Strong”
William ShepardThe Prophet Elias Puzzle
Samuel M. BrownOn Balancing Faith in Mormonism with Traditional Biblical Stories: The Noachian Flood Story
Mark D. ThomasOn Balancing Faith in Mormonism with Traditional Biblical Stories: The Noachian Flood Story
Clayton M. White“The Living Oracles”: Legal Interpretation and Mormon Thought
Nathan B. OmanViolence in the Scriptures: Mormonism and the Cultural Theory of René Girard
Mack C. StirlingUnity and the King James Bible
Ronan James HeadThe King James Bible and the Future of Missionary Work
Grant HardyMormon Scholars in the Humanities Conference: Mormons, Films, Scriptures
Joseph SpencerMormon Scholars Foundation Summer Fellowship Conference: The Gold Plates in the Contemporary Popular Imagination
Mees TielensLetter to the Editor: Reading Scripture
(author)Letter to the Editor: Brother, Can You Spare a Book?
Letters to the EditorLetter to the Editor: Bender Responds
(author)Letter to the Editor: A Postapocalyptic Perspective?
Letters to the EditorReview: Patrick Q. Mason, J. David Pulsipher, and Richard L. Bushman, eds. War and Peace in Our Time: Mormon Perspectives
Rachel Esplin OdellReview: Jenn Ashworth. The Friday Gospels
Julie J. NicholsAn Interview with Rabbi Harold Kushner
Harold KushnerEarly Mormon Priesthood Revelation: Text, Impact, and Evolution
William V. SmithArchaic Pronouns and Verbs in the Book of Mormon: What Inconsistent Usage Tells Us about Translation Theories
Roger TerryDialogue 44.3 (Fall 2014):53–101
Initially, I intended only one article on the usage of archaic pronouns
and the implications of certain irregularities. But as I delved deeper
into the implications, particularly what the erratic usage suggests
about the translation of the Book of Mormon, it became obvious
that this particular detour needed to stand alone as a companion
piece to the main article
Learning to Read with the Book of Mormon
Jared HickmanDialogue 48.1 (Spring 2015):169–177
In this “From the Pulpit,” Jared Hickman discussed the self-confessed weaknesses of multiple authors in the Book of Mormon, indicating that the text is not the literal word of God. He observes that it still has sacred truths to teach us including on racism.
Review: Job: A Useful Reading Michael Austin. Re-reading Job: Understanding the Ancient World’s Greatest Poems
John CrawfordLiving Scriptures
Scott HalesTimothy smiles as he hands a five-dollar bill to the teenager behind the window. “Keep the change,” he says. The teenager—a red-headed seventeen-year-old with almost as many piercings on her face as freckles—giggles and gives…
Chauvinist
Clifton Holt JolleyThe Lost Chapters of Moroni
Clifton Holt JolleyAdam Had an Eden
Ronald WilcoxThe Thirteenth Article of Faith as a Standard for Literature
Jack Harrell& the day that i believe is known as pentecost to some
Lara CandlandThe “Breathing Permit of Hor” Thirty-Four Years Later
Robert K. Ritner Dialogue 33.4 (Winter 2000): 91 – 119
In 1967, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York made a gift to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of eleven papyrus fragments once owned by Joseph Smith and employed as the basis for “The Book of Abraham.”
Joseph Smith’s Identification of “Abraham” in Papyrus: JS the “Breathing Permit of Hor”
Edward H. AshmentDialogue 33.4 (Winter 2000): 91 – 119
In 1967, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York made a gift to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of eleven papyrus fragments once owned by Joseph Smith and employed as the basis for “The Book of Abraham.”
The Book of Abraham and the Islamic Qisas al-Anbiya’ (Tales of the Prophets) Extant Literature
Bradley CookDialogue 33.4 (Winter 2000): 137 – 146
“Perhaps the most controversial and intensely contested revelatory claim of Joseph Smith Jr. is his translation of ancient papyri ostensibly written by the hand of Abraham.”
Egyptology and the Book of Abraham
Stephen E. Thompson Dialogue, 28.1 (Spring 1995): 143 – 161
The matter which I propose to examine is whether the “present understanding of Egyptian religious practice” supports Joseph Smith’s explanations of the facsimiles found in the Book of Abraham. In addition, I will discuss the contribution which a study of Egyptian history can maketo our understanding of the nature of this book of scripture.
“That Is the Handwriting of Abraham”
Milan D. Smith Jr. Dialogue, 23.4 (Winter 1990): 167 – 169
In his stimulating article, “Knowing Brother Joseph Again: The Book of Abraham and Joseph Smith as Translator” (DIALOGUE, Winter 1989), Karl Sandberg seeks to explain the Prophet Joseph Smith’s translation of the Book of Abraham almost exclusively in terms of seership (where one does not necessarily actually view the material being deciphered, as opposed to using prophetic gifts to bring to light what was previously hidden or unknown).
The Sidney Sperry/Heber Snell Debates: Critical Biblical Scholarship and Mormon Tradition
Clyde D. FordIn 2018, the Sunday School instructor of my Mormon congregation was assigned to teach the stories about Lot found in Genesis 19. The teacher confessed that he was very uncomfortable discussing these narratives. Instead, he…
Roundtable: When Unnecessary Overinterpretation of Scripture Hurts, It Must Cease
Brian D. KingI am not a member of any Native American tribal nation, neither do I claim Indigenous heritage. I am a white American, and three of my four grandparents trace their family back to Mormon pioneers.…
The Lamanite Dilemma: Mormonism and Indigeneity
Monika Brown CrowfootPodcast version of this Personal Essay. Many times throughout my childhood, I heard various church members or my parents tell me that we had to choose between being Navajo and being Mormon. Our family went…
Finding Agency in Captivity: Resistance, Co-optation, and Replication Among Indentured Indians, 1847–1900
Matthew GarrettWhen Mormon settlers entered the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, they brought with them their institutions and attitudes. These included a perception of Native Americans as fallen Israelites who, the Book of Mormon promised, would…
The Pearl’s Price Terryl Givens with Brian M. Hauglid, The Pearl of Greatest Price: Mormonism’s Most Controversial Scripture
Jenny WebbGivens and Hauglid are direct: their goal is to provide a sustained, academic, and nuanced treatment of the Pearl of Great Price [PGP]. Their motive lies in the fact that this volume has received relatively…
On Care: Performative Theology, Mosiah, and a Gathered Community
Jenny WebbThe question I am considering here is at its heart relational. What kind of relationship with scripture exists within performative theology? When we understand scripture as wisdom rather than history, what does this understanding do…
Dealing with Difficult Questions
Roger TerryReview: Embraced in Love Eric D. Huntsman. Becoming the Beloved Disciple: Coming unto Christ through the Gospel of John.
Jenny WebbReasonably Good Tidings of Greater- than-Average Joy Grant Hardy, ed. The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Maxwell Institute Study Edition.
Michael AustinPlain and Precious Things Lost: The Small Plates of Nephi
Rebecca A. RoeslerDialogue 52.4 (Winter 2019): 85
Such inconsistencies may cause some readers to question the credibility of the text. Upon observing doctrinal andprophetic variation within the Book of Mormon, some dismiss the book’s divinity
Empirical Witnesses of the Gold Plates
Larry MorrisDialogue 52.2 (Summer 2019): 59–84
Due to the fact that visiting with angels isn’t part of the normal human experience, it makes it hard for historians to prove that it happened through an academic investigation. The best way, as discussed by the author, to determine what really happened is by studying other individual’s first-hand accounts about the Gold Plates.
THE GOLD PLATES AND ANCIENT METAL EPIGRAPHY: APPENDIX
Ryan ThomasThe Gold Plates and Ancient Metal Epigraphy
Ryan ThomasDialogue 52.2 (Summer 2019):37–58
Ryan Thomas highlights the different metal writing cultures from around the same time as the Book of Mormon periods to see if it is historically likely for the Gold Plates to exist from that time period.
Automatic Writing and the Book of Mormon An Update
Brian C. HalesDialogue 52.2 (Spring 2019):1–58Attributing the Book of Mormon’s origin to supernatural forces has
worked well for Joseph Smith’s believers, then as well as now, but not so
well for critics who seem certain natural abilities were responsible. For over
180 years, several secular theories have been advanced as explanations.
Review: A Private Revelation William Victor Smith. Textual Studies of the Doctrine and Covenants: The Plural Marriage Revelation
Gary James Bergera“Behold, Other Scriptures I Would that Ye Should Write”: Malachi in the Book of Mormon
Colby Townsend“A Portion of God’s Light”: Mormonism and Religious Pluralism
Brian D. BirchA Double Portion: An Intertextual Reading of Hannah (1 Samuel 1–2) and Mark’s Greek Woman (Mark 7:24–30)
Julie M. Smith“In Christ All Things Hold Together”: A Christian Perspective (via Levinas and Shimony) on Quantum Entanglement
David Grandy“The Perfect Union of Man and Woman”: Reclamation and Collaboration in Joseph Smith’s Theology Making
Fiona GivensDialogue 49.1 (Spring 2016): 1–26
Central to Joseph’s creative energies was a profound commitment to an ideal of cosmic as well as human collaboration. His personal mode of leadership increasingly shifted from autocratic to collaborative—and that mode infused both his most radical theologizing and his hopes for Church comity itself.
Some Voices from the Dust | Ross T. Christensen, ed., Papers of the Fifteenth Annual Symposium on the Archaeology of the Scriptures
John L. SorensonAny volume with “fifteenth annual” in its title requires placement in historical and sociological context before it can be evaluated properly. Sponsor of this symposium is the 800-member University Archaeological Society. (The name was changed…
The Bible, the Church, and Its Scholars
Kent E. RobsonIn Professor Snell’s article and in the response to it by Professor Sperry, one finds the work of two committed members of the Church, who nevertheless appear to differ greatly on their interpretation of the…
Scholars and Prophets
Sidney B. SperryProfessor Snell’s article, “The Bible in the Church,” leaves me with very mixed feelings. On the first page of his essay he implies that his criticisms are intended to be constructive and that he seeks…
Lot’s Wife in the Latter Days
Lenet H. ReadMy dear brothers and sisters, this evening marks the end of a cycle in my life. Five years ago my husband and I left Durham, with his law degree and a lot of expectation. We…
Why the King James Version?: From the Common to the Official Bible of Mormonism
Philip L. BarlowNew Wine and New Bottles: Scriptural Scholarship as Sacrament
Kevin ChristensenJesus the Peasant
John Dominic CrossanThe Identity of Jacob’s Opponent: Wrestling with Ambiguity in Genesis 32:32
Steven MolenGnosticism Reformed
Bertrand C. BarroisToward a Feminist Interpretation of Latter-day Scripture
Lynn Matthews AndersonDialogue 27.2 (Summer 1994): 197–230
I am astonished that it took so many readings and a focus on the question of using gender-inclusive language in the simplified version to discover something that should have been obvious to me from the beginning: females scarcely figure or matter in our sacred books.
The Gospel of Thomas and Jesus
Stephen J. PattersonDivine Dialogue and the Lord’s Prayer: Socio-rhetorical Interpretation of Texts
Vernon K. RobbinsThe Structure of the Book of Mormon: A Theory of Evolutionary Development
Quinn BrewsterDialogue 29.2 (Summer 1998):129–154
WHEN JOSEPH SMITH BEGAN TO DICTATE the Book of Mormon, he did not understand the structure the book would ultimately take. He did not know that the first part of the manuscript would be lost, resulting in a major structural change in the first quarter of the book.
The Johannine Comma: Bad Translation, Bad Theology
Marc A. Schindler“White” of “Pure”: Five Vignettes
Douglas CampbellDialogue 29.4 (Winter 1996): 119–135
The Book of Mormon variously uses “white” and “pure” in the same verse in different editions. This article traces the history of those changes, who was behind them, and why.
Scripture, History, and Faith: A Round Table Discussion
Todd M. ComptonRetelling the Greatest Story Ever Told: Popular Literature as Scripture in Antebellum America
Clyde R. Forsberg Jr.A Mosaic for a Religious Counterculture: The Bible in the Book of Mormon
Mark D. ThomasDialogue 29.4 (Winter 1998):59–83
THE BOOK OF MORMON HAS OCCASIONALLY been portrayed as a deficient
first novel. Its characters appear flat and stereotypical; the plots and characters seem to lack moral subtlety; and so on. Should we wonder that today’s high literary circles ignore it?
Heaven and Hell: The Parable of the Loving Father and the Judgmental Son
Todd M. ComptonJesus’ Dispute in the Temple and the Origin of the Eucharist
Bruce ChiltonThe Woman of Worth: Impressions of Proverbs 31:10-31
Jana RiessLaban’s Ghost: On Writing and Transgression
Thomas W. MurphyDid the Author of 3 Nephi Know the Gospel of Matthew?
Ronald V. HugginsAs Translated Correctly: The Inspiration and Innovation of the Eighth Article of Faith
Douglas F. SalmonCosmos, Chaos, and Politics: Biblical Creation Patterns in Secular Contexts
Sheldon GreavesScriptural Chastity Lessons, Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife; Corianton and the Harlot Isabel
B. W. JorgensenFeasting on the Word by Richard Dilworth Rust
L. Mikel VauseLDS Perspectives on the Dead Sea Scrolls by Donald W. Parry and Dana M. Pike
Wade KotterThe Use and Abuse of Anti-Semitism in the Scriptures
Keith E. NormanThe Authorship of the Pentateuch
Thomas B. DozemanWisdom Traditions in the Hebrew Bible
Carole R. FontaineReflections on the Documentary Hypothesis
Kevin L. BarneyHebraicisms, Chiasmus and Other Internal Evidence for Ancient Authorship in Green Eggs and Ham
Robert PattersonDialogue 33.4 (Winter 2001):127–173
Upon an initial and cursory reading, the book appears to be a simple morality play. A zealous purveyor of an unusual gustatory selection hawks his wares to an Everyman, whose initial biases preclude his acceptance of the unfamiliar.
Coming Out of the Evolution Closet
Dynette ReynoldsDialogue 34.4 (Winter 2002): 143–145
Sometimes, I seem to be the only person in the entire church who
knows that it’s okay to believe in evolution and still be a faithful, believing Mormon.
Helaman’s Stripling Warriors and the Principles of Hypovolemic Shock
Robert Patterson“Without a Cause” and “Ships of Tarshish”
Ronald V. HugginsJude’s Use of the Pseudepigraphal Book of 1 Enoch
Cory D. AndersonA Triple Combination for Proclaiming Peace
Rob FergusCritique of Alma 36 as an Extended Chiasm
Earl M. WunderliDialogue 38.4 (Winter 2006):105–156
He has written about it at least four times. It reflects most of the problems with all of his extended chiasms. My argument is that he has imposed chiasmus on the Book of Mormon where none was intended.
Lehi on the Great Issues: Book of Mormon Theology in Early Nineteenth-Century Perspective
Clyde D. FordDialogue 38.4 (Winter 2006):83–104
Thus, regardless of how one chooses to resolve the issues surrounding its origins, one must conclude that the Book of Mormon’s theological arguments should be seen as designed to be read and understood by its early nineteenth-century audience.
Mormon Laundry List
Julianna Gardner BerryThe Unbidden Prayer
Frances Lee MenloveJacob and the Angel: Modern Readers and the Old Testament
Karl C. SandbergResponse to Boyd and Farrell Edwards’s Response to My “Critique of Alma 36 as an Extended Chiasm”
Earl M. WunderliResponse to Earl M. Wunderli’s “Critique of Alma 36 as an Extended Chiasm”
W. Farrell EdwardsResponse to Earl M. Wunderli’s “Critique of Alma 36 as an Extended Chiasm”
Boyd F. EdwardsDialogue 39.3 (Fall 2007):188–206
Others, including Wunderli, hold that the proposed chiasms in the
Book of Mormon are not deliberate applications of the chiastic form and
ascribe their chiastic structure to the ingenuity of the analyst, rather than
to the intent of the author.
John T. Clark: The “One Mighty and Strong”
Brian C. Hales“To Set in Order the House of God”: The Search for the Elusive “One Mighty and Strong”
William ShepardThe Prophet Elias Puzzle
Samuel M. BrownOn Balancing Faith in Mormonism with Traditional Biblical Stories: The Noachian Flood Story
Mark D. ThomasOn Balancing Faith in Mormonism with Traditional Biblical Stories: The Noachian Flood Story
Clayton M. White“The Living Oracles”: Legal Interpretation and Mormon Thought
Nathan B. OmanViolence in the Scriptures: Mormonism and the Cultural Theory of René Girard
Mack C. StirlingUnity and the King James Bible
Ronan James HeadThe King James Bible and the Future of Missionary Work
Grant HardyMormon Scholars in the Humanities Conference: Mormons, Films, Scriptures
Joseph SpencerMormon Scholars Foundation Summer Fellowship Conference: The Gold Plates in the Contemporary Popular Imagination
Mees TielensLetter to the Editor: Reading Scripture
(author)Letter to the Editor: Brother, Can You Spare a Book?
Letters to the EditorLetter to the Editor: Bender Responds
(author)Letter to the Editor: A Postapocalyptic Perspective?
Letters to the EditorReview: Patrick Q. Mason, J. David Pulsipher, and Richard L. Bushman, eds. War and Peace in Our Time: Mormon Perspectives
Rachel Esplin OdellReview: Jenn Ashworth. The Friday Gospels
Julie J. NicholsAn Interview with Rabbi Harold Kushner
Harold KushnerEarly Mormon Priesthood Revelation: Text, Impact, and Evolution
William V. SmithArchaic Pronouns and Verbs in the Book of Mormon: What Inconsistent Usage Tells Us about Translation Theories
Roger TerryDialogue 44.3 (Fall 2014):53–101
Initially, I intended only one article on the usage of archaic pronouns
and the implications of certain irregularities. But as I delved deeper
into the implications, particularly what the erratic usage suggests
about the translation of the Book of Mormon, it became obvious
that this particular detour needed to stand alone as a companion
piece to the main article
Learning to Read with the Book of Mormon
Jared HickmanDialogue 48.1 (Spring 2015):169–177
In this “From the Pulpit,” Jared Hickman discussed the self-confessed weaknesses of multiple authors in the Book of Mormon, indicating that the text is not the literal word of God. He observes that it still has sacred truths to teach us including on racism.
Review: Job: A Useful Reading Michael Austin. Re-reading Job: Understanding the Ancient World’s Greatest Poems
John CrawfordLiving Scriptures
Scott HalesTimothy smiles as he hands a five-dollar bill to the teenager behind the window. “Keep the change,” he says. The teenager—a red-headed seventeen-year-old with almost as many piercings on her face as freckles—giggles and gives…
Chauvinist
Clifton Holt JolleyThe Lost Chapters of Moroni
Clifton Holt JolleyAdam Had an Eden
Ronald WilcoxThe Thirteenth Article of Faith as a Standard for Literature
Jack Harrell& the day that i believe is known as pentecost to some
Lara CandlandThe “Breathing Permit of Hor” Thirty-Four Years Later
Robert K. Ritner Dialogue 33.4 (Winter 2000): 91 – 119
In 1967, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York made a gift to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of eleven papyrus fragments once owned by Joseph Smith and employed as the basis for “The Book of Abraham.”
Joseph Smith’s Identification of “Abraham” in Papyrus: JS the “Breathing Permit of Hor”
Edward H. AshmentDialogue 33.4 (Winter 2000): 91 – 119
In 1967, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York made a gift to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of eleven papyrus fragments once owned by Joseph Smith and employed as the basis for “The Book of Abraham.”
The Book of Abraham and the Islamic Qisas al-Anbiya’ (Tales of the Prophets) Extant Literature
Bradley CookDialogue 33.4 (Winter 2000): 137 – 146
“Perhaps the most controversial and intensely contested revelatory claim of Joseph Smith Jr. is his translation of ancient papyri ostensibly written by the hand of Abraham.”
Egyptology and the Book of Abraham
Stephen E. Thompson Dialogue, 28.1 (Spring 1995): 143 – 161
The matter which I propose to examine is whether the “present understanding of Egyptian religious practice” supports Joseph Smith’s explanations of the facsimiles found in the Book of Abraham. In addition, I will discuss the contribution which a study of Egyptian history can maketo our understanding of the nature of this book of scripture.
“That Is the Handwriting of Abraham”
Milan D. Smith Jr. Dialogue, 23.4 (Winter 1990): 167 – 169
In his stimulating article, “Knowing Brother Joseph Again: The Book of Abraham and Joseph Smith as Translator” (DIALOGUE, Winter 1989), Karl Sandberg seeks to explain the Prophet Joseph Smith’s translation of the Book of Abraham almost exclusively in terms of seership (where one does not necessarily actually view the material being deciphered, as opposed to using prophetic gifts to bring to light what was previously hidden or unknown).