OK, there are innumerable ways to answer this. But here’s a definition that might deserve more consideration–The Word of God. Read the rest of this entry »

While we often focus on the spiritual messages of the Book of Mormon, the Book of Mormon itself is not written as a mere collection of sermons or prophetic teachings. In order to take it seriously on its own terms, we need to pay closer attention to the Book of Mormon as historiography–”an account written by the hand of Mormon” and others containing “an abridgment of the record” of at least two ancient historic peoples. Read the rest of this entry »

How much scripture are we still missing or not recognizing? If we take Nephi seriously, perhaps quite a bit! Read the rest of this entry »

I’m puzzled by a line in Jacob 1:5, where we are told that Nephi and Jacob had received revelations “concerning our people, what things should happen unto them” and that these revelations had come “because of faith and great anxiety.” What role did anxiety play in the receipt of this revelation in particular, and what is the spiritual role of anxiety in general? Read the rest of this entry »

In Alma 1 Nehor comes out of nowhere, causes a big scene with Alma the Younger, and is summarily executed. All in less than 15 verses! While this episode may seem like a flash in the pan, Nehor holds the key for understanding Alma the Younger—including his early rebellion and his entire ministry. Read the rest of this entry »

The Book of Mormon uses the term harrow or harrowing 10 times. Harrowing is the agricultural practice of dragging a series of spikes or disks over a field to either smooth or tear up the surface. The practice is mentioned three times in the Old Testament, but only the Book of Mormon mentions the harrowing up of souls or minds. Where does this phrase come from? Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve heard this quote over and over. It is repeated several times in official class manuals (see for instance, here and here). But where does this teaching come from? Read the rest of this entry »

For those of us working on the Alma 14 wiki project, what are some of your thoughts or insights as you work through this chapter?

I was pleasantly surprised when I started reading Skousen’s The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text to see that his reformatting of the text provided a new perspective and raised new questions for me from the very first lines of the Title Page. Read the rest of this entry »

While there are other possible interpretations, perhaps the most popular LDS view of Lehi’s promised land is to see it as referring to the United States of America. If we accept that interpretation, what are we to make of Lehi’s prophecy, “according to the workings of the Spirit which is in [him], that there shall none come into this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord” (2 Nephi 1:6)? Read the rest of this entry »