Category: history
Recalling the Tragic Tuskegee Experiment: A Case Study in “Secret Combinations” and How They Can Thrive for Decades
My recent post, “A Practical Guide to the Book of Mormon’s Most Neglected Theme, Secret Combinations,” examined the Book of Mormon’s teachings on “secret combinations” and how they are a…
What Does Jacob 2:30 Say About Polygamy? Is the Church’s Traditional Interpretation Wrong?
One of the many conundrums related to the controversial past practice of polygamy is the Book of Mormon’s stance on the issue. In Jacob 2, the prophet Jacob condemns the…
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…
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…
BillionGraves: A Remarkable Tool for Finding Graves of Your Ancestors
With the need to return to Utah for a while, my wife and I decided to drive instead of our normal routine of flying. This gave us a chance to…
New Scholarship on the Influence of the Small Plates on Mormon’s Writings
One of the things that fascinates me in my role as a co-editor for the Interpreter Foundation’s journal, Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship, is seeing how…
Geocentric Astronomy in the Book of Abraham? Dan Vogel’s Refutation of LDS Scholars
Circumpolar star trails in a long-exposure photo of several hours, showing that stars closer to Polaris move on shorter trails, thus moving more slowly. The circumpolar stars always stay…
The Jewish Copper Plates of Cochin, India and a Hint of an Ancient Jewish Tradition of Writing on Metal Plates
A recent post here critiqued an attempt to explain the origins of the book of Ether based on inspiration from a rare book, A Key to the Chronology of the…
Religious Liberty: Have We Forgotten the Pain of the Hutterites?
College students these days learn what a wise leader President Woodrow Wilson was, a good progressive. An example of the positive summary of his work is the historical summary of…
No, B.H. Roberts Did Not Abandon Belief in the Book of Mormon
Sad to see an irresponsible critic of the Church pushing the easily debunked theory that a General Authority, B.H. Roberts, lost his testimony due to the overwhelming problems in the…
