Mary
Posted in Bible Book of Mormon Charity children Christianity Family Jesus Christ wordplays

Mary, Mother of the Lord: Thoughts for Mother’s Day

In the final week of Christ’s life, we see more of an ongoing theme in which Christ reveals to us the importance of, and His love for, the people we…

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Posted in Ancient Near East Antiquity Bible Book of Mormon Books Charity Christianity covenants Critics Doctrine Evidence Faith Gospel of Jesus Christ Greek history Repentance Restoration

Relational Faith: An Essential Book for Understanding “Faith” as Used in New Testament Times and for Appreciating the Restoration

There’s a new book, Brent Schmidt’s Relational Faith, that may be one of the best resources around to help Latter-day Saints and perhaps many other Christians understand and explain what…

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Posted in Book of Mormon Book of Moses language Scripture Witnesses

To Bear Testimony: Insights on a Popular Latter-day Saint Phrase and Its Connections to Modern Scripture and Early Modern English

Latter-day Saints often use the verb “bear” with “testimony” when expressing their religious conviction, as in “I’d like to bear my testimony that I know that Jesus Christ lives and…

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Posted in Ancient Near East Book of Mormon Evidence Scholarship

Kevin Christensen’s Twenty-year Retrospective on Margaret Barker’s Influence on the Church

Twenty years ago Kevin Christensen introduced Latter-day Saints to the revolutionary work of a unique biblical scholar in the United Kingdom, Margaret Barker. Her message resonated with numerous Latter-day Saint…

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Posted in Book of Mormon Books Doctrine Evidence history Origins Problems Repentance Scholarship Scripture Translation

A Simple Example from the Book of Mormon Showing Why Scholarship Is Needed

Many Latter-day Saints seem unaware of the great body of scholarship that can strengthen faith and understanding for members of the Church and those exploring it. Such scholarship can be…

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Posted in Ancient Near East Book of Mormon Book of Moses Evidence Scholarship Scripture Videos

An Overlooked Example of the Book of Mormon’s Surprising Use of Book of Moses Material

While Noel Reynolds and I felt like we had pretty well mined all the relevant connections between the Book of Moses and the Book of Mormon when we published our list of nearly 100 connections, there’s an important one that we missed. Missing the connection may have been easy to do since the related Book of Mormon verse uses different wording that succinctly summarizes a longer Book of Moses passage, and at first glance appears to just be referring to a familiar story from Genesis. This connection involves Satan’s influencing Cain to slay Abel in Helaman 6:27 and Moses 5:25.

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Lehi-and-Sariah
Posted in Arabian Peninsula Book of Mormon Books Evidence Media Scholarship

A Key Book to Understand Nahom and Bountiful is Now Free Online: Warren Aston’s Lehi and Sariah in Arabia

A thorough and valuable book on Lehi’s Trail and the Arabian Peninsula evidence for the Book of Mormon is now available free online, thanks to the generosity of the author,…

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Ani Maamin cover
Posted in Ancient Near East Bible Book of Mormon Books covenants Critics Doctrine Hebrew Israel literature Revelation Scholarship Scripture

Joshua Berman’s Ani Maamin: An Orthodox Jewish Scholar Provides Help in Keeping the Faith in the Face of Secular Bible Scholarship

During a recent trip to Atlanta, my wife and I connected two of our Latter-day Saint friends with dear Jewish friends there. Among the many topics of the evening, we…

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arise from the dust
Posted in Ancient Near East Bible Book of Mormon covenants dust Evidence Jesus Christ Origins Scholarship Videos Witnesses

A Tough Question: What’s the Single Most Impressive Evidence for the Book of Mormon?

A critic recently asked me a tough question: what’s the single most impressive piece of evidence for the Book of Mormon? I think he wasn’t looking for evidence that might change open his mind, but perhaps was looking to simplify his goal of attacking the Book of Mormon. But for those who really want to understand more, what evidence is most important and impressive? Here I offer a few thoughts and several possibilities for the “one best” issue to consider.

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Lehi's Trail in the Arabian Peninsula
Posted in Ancient Near East Arabia Arabian Peninsula Book of Mormon Critics Evidence Scholarship

Nahom/NHM: Only a Tribe, Not a Place?

Executive summary: Discoveries from the Arabian Peninsula supporting the existence of a place called Nahom (see 1 Nephi 16:34) face recent criticism for only showing that the NHM tribal name…

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