Posted in Book of Abraham Critics Evidence Scripture

The New Hauglid and Jensen Podcast from the Maxwell Institute: A Window into the Personal Views of the Editors of the JSP Volume on the Book of Abraham

The Maxwell Institute recently revamped their website after roughly a week of downtime, introducing dramatic changes (and some painful losses). The new website currently gives pride of place to a…

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Posted in Books BYU General history Scholarship

Lost Treasures from the Maxwell Institute?

I noted with some anxiety last week that my many hundreds of links to archived articles, books, and other scholarly materials at the Maxwell Institute (mi.byu.edu) all became dead as…

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Posted in Art Education General Photography

BYU: A Beautiful Solution for the Needs of Many Families and Students in China

I’ve come back to Utah for a few weeks to start an exciting and challenging new job. After having lived in China for 8 years, loving almost every day of…

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BOA-scripts
Posted in Book of Abraham history Scripture

Update on Inspiration for W.W. Phelps’ Use of an Archaic Hebrew Letter Beth for #2 in the Egyptian Counting Document

I previously noted that one of the Hebrew books Oliver Cowdery brought to Kirtland, Ohio near the end of 1835 showed an archaic form of the Hebrew letter beth which…

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Posted in Uncategorized

Inspired by Utah: A Warm and Encouraging Welcome for My Temporary Return

I’ve been in Salt Lake City, Utah for a few days as part of my transition to an exciting new job with a very young and promising consumer products company….

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Posted in Book of Abraham history Scripture

More Connections Between the Kirtland Egyptian Papers and Prior Documents

In a previous post, I discussed William Schryver’s 2010 presentation that pointed out some surprising connections in the Kirtland Egyptian Papers that are related to the Book of Abraham project….

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Posted in China Friends Society Stories

How to Make a Chinese Woman Cry (Please Try This!)

Last night my wife and I had the pleasure of speaking with a large group of students from a US university who were touring China to learn about business and…

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Hugh Nibley Observed
Posted in Book of Abraham Critics

He Whose Name Cannot Be Spoken: Hugh Nibley

Whether you agree with Hugh Nibley or not, those doing research on the Book of Abraham and the Kirtland Egyptian Papers must recognize that he was certainly the most prolific…

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BOA Facs. 1
Posted in Book of Abraham history Scripture

More on the Impact of Hebrew Study on the Kirtland Egyptian Papers: Hurwitz and Some Curiosities in the GAEL

One of the many strange things in W.W. Phelps’ Grammar and Alphabet of the Egyptian Language (GAEL) is his discussion of the “parts of speech.” He shares some strange theories…

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Posted in Book of Mormon Sacrifice Stories

John Hajicek on the Hidden Sacrifices Behind the Printing of the Book of Mormon

One of the really remarkable friends of the Church is John Hajicek (pronounced “high-check,” I believe). John is an expert in documents and LDS history with vast resources of knowledge…

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