Mormon Interpreter Foundation

Abstract: Moses 7 is one of the most famous passages in all of Restoration scripture. It is also one of the most problematic in regard to its description of the people of Canaan as black (v. 8) and as a people who were not preached to by the patriarch Enoch (v. 12). Later there is also […]

It seems unlikely that someone could fake stylometric evidence for multiple authors within the Book of Mormon text. Stylometric evidence regarding the Book of Mormon has been around for almost four decades now. It made a bit of a splash back in the 80s, but it seems to be plagued by dismissal from critics and ambivalence from the faithful.

  You can listen to or download the September 5th broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show below. It will also be included in our podcast feed (https://interpreterfoundation.org/feeds/podcast). This episode is hosted by Neal Rappleye, Jasmin Rappleye and Hales Swift. In this episode, our hosts discussed the possibility of Janus parallelism in the Book of Mormon […]

  You can listen to or download the August 29th broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show below. It will also be included in our podcast feed (https://interpreterfoundation.org/feeds/podcast). This episode is hosted by Martin Tanner. In this episode, Martin elaborated on reasons why the Book of Mormon is best suited to have taken place in ancient […]

This is an Interpreter Radio Roundtable for Come, Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants Lesson 39, “To Have the Heavens Opened” on D&C 106-108. The panelists for this roundtable were Martin Tanner, Kris Frederickson and Mike Parker. This roundtable was extracted from the August 15th broadcast of Interpreter Radio. The complete show may be heard at […]

D&C 106 Warren Cowdery In verses 1-2 the Lord called Warren Cowdery (Oliver’s older brother) to preside over a Church congregation and to preach the gospel. Find: What instructions and promised blessings did the Lord give Warren in verses 3, 7-8? What did the Lord say in verse 4 about His coming? What promise did […]

In this unsettling scene, we see God speaking from a cloud to the fleeing Cain as he runs past the still-burning altar. Abel’s lifeless body, dominating the foreground, loudly proclaims the falsity of Cain’s profession of ignorance. The contrast of the skin color to the gray monochroome of the background highlights the link between the three actors.

Review of Fiona Givens and Terryl Givens, All Things New: Rethinking Sin, Salvation, and Everything In Between (Faith Matters Press, 2020). 188 pages. $12.95 (paperback). Abstract: Fiona and Terryl Givens once again deliver a book worthy of the comparatively wide readership they have gained within Latter- day Saint circles. Their orderly treatment of individual gospel concepts […]

Review of Dan Vogel, Book of Abraham Apologetics: A Review and Critique (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2021). 250 pp. $18.95 (softback). Abstract: Dan Vogel’s latest book claims to offer clear-cut evidence showing what, when, and how Joseph Smith fraudulently translated the Book of Abraham. While he claims to use an objective approach, he instead weaves […]

It seems unlikely that an independent translation of Isaiah could be so similar to the King James text, while at the same time different from it in such apparently fraudulent ways. Much has been made of the material shared between the Book of Mormon and the 1769 King James Bible, in the Isaiah chapters and elsewhere, with the implication that the material was plagiarized by Joseph as he was writing the Book of Mormon.

  You can listen to or download the August 22nd broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show below. It will also be included in our podcast feed (https://interpreterfoundation.org/feeds/podcast). This episode is hosted by Mark Johnson, Bruce Webster and Matthew Bowen. In this episode, our hosts discussed the recent Interpreter journal article by Dan Peterson as well […]

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 recently digitized by Steve Whitlock. Most of the tapes were in pretty bad condition. The original recordings usually don’t stop or start at the beginning of the […]

This is an Interpreter Radio Roundtable for Come, Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants Lesson 38, “After Much Tribulation … Cometh the Blessing” on D&C 102-105. The panelists for this roundtable were Terry Hutchinson, John Gee and Kevin Christensen. This roundtable was extracted from the August 8, 2021 broadcast of Interpreter Radio. The complete show may […]

D&C 102 Membership Councils This section is composed of meeting minutes which give instructions regarding “important difficulties that arise in the Church,” including procedures for “hearing cases” (see the section summary, which follows the section heading). What were once called church courts, then disciplinary councils, are now designated as membership councils. Those who have participated […]

Abstract: This essay traces the modern-day usage and understanding of temples from the Kirtland Temple to Nauvoo and the Salt Lake Temple. Architecture was used to teach principles. While the Kirtland Temple was preparatory (think of the vision of Christ and the conference of keys by Abraham, Moses, Abraham, Elias, and finally Elijah), the Nauvoo […]

Moses 5:4 tells us that Adam and Eve offered prayer after they left the Garden of Eden:

And Adam and Eve, his wife, called upon the name of the Lord, and they heard the voice of the Lord from the way toward the Garden of Eden, speaking unto them, and they saw him not; for they were shut out from his presence.

Abstract: A little more than 40 years ago, Cyrus Gordon discovered and described for the first time an ancient literary technique which he had found in the Hebrew Bible, and he gave it a name — a Janus parallel. That is why no one, more than 40 years ago, could have faked a Hebrew Janus parallel in an English […]

  You can listen to or download the August 15th broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show below. It will also be included in our podcast feed (https://interpreterfoundation.org/feeds/podcast). This episode is hosted by Martin Tanner, Kris Frederickson and Mike Parker. In this episode, our hosts discussed following the counsel of the First Presidency as well as […]

It seems unlikely that Joseph or his scribes could fill the Book of Mormon with examples of grammar and word use that fit better in Early Modern English than in the nineteenth century. Stanford Carmack and Royal Skousen have painstakingly documented a strange argument—that much of the language used in the Book of Mormon reflects usage patterns that align with the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, making it unlikely that Joseph or anyone else in the nineteenth century authored the book.

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 recently digitized by Steve Whitlock. Most of the tapes were in pretty bad condition. The original recordings usually don’t stop or start at the beginning of the […]