Mormon Interpreter Foundation

  In the March 16, 2025 episode of The Interpreter Radio Show, our hosts are Bruce Webster and Kris Frederickson. They discuss Come, Follow Me Doctrine & Covenants lesson 15 and Easter. You can listen to or download the March 16th broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show below. These audio tracks are also included in […]

Review of Covenant of Christ, A Modern English Version of the Book of Mormon (Restoration Scriptures Foundation, 2024). 525 pages. $26.95 (hardback), $21.36 (paperback). This edition of the Book of Mormon has been produced through the restoration church commonly called the Snufferites, after their prophet, Denver Snuffer. It is a serious edition of the Book […]

Review of Warren P. Aston, Godfrey J. Ellis, and Neal Rappleye, Into Arabia: Anchoring Nephi’s Account in the Real World (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2024). 298 pages. $44.99 (hardback), $39.99 (paperback). Abstract: Into Arabia is a collected reprint of six articles. The first chapter reprints an article that first […]

Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article originally appeared in The Temple: Plates, Patterns, & Patriarchs, edited by Stephen D. Ricks and Jeffrey M. Bradshaw. For more information, go to https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/the-temple-plates-patterns-patriarchs/. For video and audio recording of this conference talk, go to https://interpreterfoundation.org/conferences/2022-temple-on-mount-zion-conference/videos/griggs/. “The Latin term sacer (and related forms, e.g., sacred) means […]

During 1978, 1979, and 1980, Hugh Nibley taught a Doctrine and Covenants Sunday School class. Cassette recordings were made of these classes and some have survived and were digitized by Steve Whitlock and recently enhanced by Nick Galieti. Most of the tapes were in pretty bad condition. The original recordings usually don’t stop or start […]

D&C 27:5-14 “The Hour Cometh” After revealing what is important—and what is not—in relation to the ordinance of the sacrament (see verse 2), the Lord teaches Joseph Smith about a future event that will involve the sacrament. Jesus had also foretold this event when He initiated the sacrament among His disciples the evening before His […]

  In the March 9, 2025 episode of The Interpreter Radio Show, our hosts are Terry Hutchinson, Mark Johnson, and Kevin Christensen, with special guest Sam Brunson during the second hour. They discuss Come, Follow Me Doctrine & Covenants lesson 14 and Sam’s new book Between the Temple and the Tax Collector. You can listen […]

The way the Nephites kept track of their historical records changed with the first year of the reign of the judges. At that point, the previous sporadic listing of years from the time Lehi left Jerusalem became a very complete listing of years. At first, the counts were fixed to the reign of the judges […]

Abstract: James Lucas has made a passionate response to the negative review I offered for his and Jonathan Neville’s book By Means of Urim & Thummim. Though we agree on many important issues, there are some troubling gaps that readers of their book need to understand. Some of these issues may be illustrated in the […]

Abstract: James Lucas had the opportunity to respond to the review of the book that he and Jonathan Neville wrote, By Means of the Urim & Thummim. He elected not to really respond to the issues I brought up but rather summarized his essential points. That doesn’t leave much to respond to. However, there is […]

Abstract: Two recent reviews of By Means of the Urim & Thummim: Restoring Translation to the Restoration by Jeff Lindsay and Brant Gardner seriously misrepresent the book’s argument. Perhaps most significantly, they largely sidestep the book’s central thesis that the statements by Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery that the Book of Mormon was translated from […]

Abstract: In its action, setting, and arrangement, the Crucifixion may be viewed as a stark mockery of the Final Judgment scene. This article provides a brief review of the relevant scriptures, considered together with some related apocryphal and other early Christian writings of interest regarding the Crucifixion. These sources point to the interpretation that the […]

During 1978, 1979, and 1980, Hugh Nibley taught a Doctrine and Covenants Sunday School class. Cassette recordings were made of these classes and some have survived and were digitized by Steve Whitlock and recently enhanced by Nick Galieti. Most of the tapes were in pretty bad condition. The original recordings usually don’t stop or start […]

D&C 23 The Lord Personalizes His Messages Section 23 is actually a series of five revelations. The Lord told the first four recipients that they were “under no condemnation,” but did not say this to Joseph Knight, perhaps because he was the only one of the five who was not yet baptized and thus still […]

  In the March 2, 2025 episode of The Interpreter Radio Show, our hosts are Martin Tanner, Brent Schmidt, and Hales Swift. They discuss Come, Follow Me Doctrine & Covenants lesson 13, Margaret Barker, perfectionism, and other topics. You can listen to or download the March 2nd broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show below. These […]

This post is a summary of the article “The Heavenly Lamb, Sacrifices on the Heavenly Altar, and the Song of the Lamb” by Meir Bar-Ilan in Volume 64 of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. All of the Interpreting Interpreter articles may be seen at https://interpreterfoundation.org/category/summaries/. An introduction to the Interpreting Interpreter […]

Abstract: The symbolic image of the Lamb of God is well-known in the New Testament and The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. This image derives from the Old Testament, later adopted by early Christians. Words of Gad the Seer is an apocalyptic pseudepigraphal book written in pseudo-biblical Hebrew from a manuscript copied in the eighteenth […]

Abstract: Dr. Meir Bar-Ilan’s paper, “The Heavenly Lamb, Sacrifices on the Heavenly Altar, and the Song of the Lamb,” appearing concurrently in Interpreter, is a welcome contribution from a noted Jewish scholar. Bar-Ilan has called the world’s attention to a remarkable Hebrew manuscript with origins in antiquity, Words of Gad the Seer. Those interested in […]