Category: Book of Mormon
Samuel the Lamanite: Echoes of the Account of Enoch in the Book of Moses?
I’ve had a profound journey in exploring connections between the Book of Mormon and the Book of Moses ever since I encountered a paper by Noel B. Reynolds, “The Brass Plates…
Of Nero, King-men, and Flaming Cities
Nero has been mocked for centuries as the man who allegedly fiddled while Rome burned. Fiddler or not, he apparently benefited from the Great Fire of Rome because it opened…
The Divine Is in the Details: How Paying Attention to Word Choice in the Book of Mormon Can Reveal Important Meaning
When you read the Book of Mormon, do you ever notice how common language can connect two distant verses and sometimes add meaning? For example, when you read the angry…
Was the Sacrifice of the Messiah Really Needed? How the Book of Moses + Book of Mormon May Help Remove a Stumbling Block
I received a thoughtful question from a former member of the Church who struggles with our belief that a sacrifice of the Messiah was really necessary to save mankind. Based…
What Did Oliver Look at When He Began to Translate? Or, What Doctrine and Covenants 9 Really Tells Us About the Translation of the Book of Mormon
Quick overview: Doctrine and Covenants 9 refers to a time when Oliver Cowdery had permission to attempt to translate the Book of Mormon. He “began to translate” (Doctrine and Covenants…
A Book for Refugees: The Book of Mormon
Recently I was invited to speak about Hmong culture to a group of missionaries working with the Hmong people in Wisconsin. My family used to be part of a Hmong…
Secret Combinations in the Book of Mormon, Part 4: Modern Scholarship and First-hand Sources on the Workings of Secret Combinations
“And it [the Book of Mormon] shall come in a day when the blood of saints shall cry unto the Lord, because of secret combinations and the works of…
Secret Combinations in the Book of Mormon, Part 3: Circumstantial Evidence of Further Secret Combinations
In Part 1, we considered the question of why secret combinations, one of the most prolific themes in the Book of Mormon, are so rarely discussed. In Part 2,…
Secret Combinations in the Book of Mormon, Part 2: Identified Secret Combinations
In Part 1 of this series (available at Meridian Magazine and in my recent post here), we considered why secret combinations, one of the most pervasive themes in the Book…
A Practical Guide to Secret Combinations in the Book of Mormon, Part 1: Conspiracy Theories vs. Corruption Reality and Our Unjustified Reluctance to Apply the Book of Mormon
This post provides Part 1 of a four-part series for Meridian Magazine (https://latterdaysaintmag.com/) on secret combinations in the Book of Mormon. The series is based on a recent post here at…
