ePub feed of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

ePub feed of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship


Latest Episodes

Glad Tidings from Cumorah: Interpreting the Book of Mormon through the Eyes of Someone in Hell
July 09, 2021

Abstract: This article offers evidence that at least some Book of Mormon authors may have understood the potential for post-mortal preaching of the gospel. Indeed, they may have recognized that the fu

Early Christian Temples and Baptism for the Dead: Defining Sacred Space in the Late Antique Near East
July 05, 2021

Abstract: This paper addresses the early Christian transition from temple-based Judaism to the Constantinian basilica of the fourth century. David argues that some Christians of the second and early t

“If Ye Believe on His Name”: Wordplay on the Name Samuel in Helaman 14:2, 12–13 and 3 Nephi 23:9 and the Doctrine of Christ in Samuel’s Speech
July 02, 2021

Abstract: The Semitic/Hebrew name Samuel (šĕmûʾēl) most likely means “his name is El” — i.e., “his name [the name that he calls upon in worship] is El” — although it was also associated with “hearing”

Ancient Temple Imagery in the Sermons of Jacob
June 28, 2021

Abstract: This essay makes a compelling argument for Jacob, the brother of Nephi, having deep knowledge of ancient Israelite temple ritual, concepts, and imagery, based on two of Jacob’s sermons in 2

The Implications of Some Standard Assumptions of New Testament Scholars: Responding to a Modern Anti-Christ
June 25, 2021

Review of Raphael Lataster, Questioning the Historicity of Jesus: Why a Philosophical Analysis Elucidates the Historical Discourse (Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 2019). 508 pages. Hardback, $210. Abstract: In a recent book,

Nephi’s Gethsemane: Seventeen Comparisons from the Literary Record
June 25, 2021

Abstract: This note explores a literary comparison between Nephi’s confronting of Laban and shrinking from the act of shedding blood, to Jesus’s experience in the Garden of Gethsemane of shrinking from the act of shedding blood.

De Profundis
June 18, 2021

Abstract: Is the Gospel profound? Yes, it is. And one of the goals of the Interpreter Foundation is to call attention to that sometimes-overlooked profundity. In one sense, though, the question is a peripheral one. If we were drowning — which,

Psalm 105: Chiasmus, Credo, Covenant, and Temple
June 14, 2021

Abstract: In this essay Stephen Ricks takes a close look at the literary structure of a psalm, reintroducing us to chiasmus both in modern and ancient texts, including the Book of Mormon, then uses this literary structure to show how the psalm contains...

Understanding the Year 1820
June 11, 2021

Book Note: Richard E. Bennett, 1820: Dawning of the Restoration (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center at Brigham Young University / Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2020). 380 pages. Hardcover, $31.99. Abstract: Richard E.

Seeking a Global Context for the First Vision
June 11, 2021

Review of Richard E. Bennett, 1820: Dawning of the Restoration (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center at Brigham Young University / Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2020). 380 pages. Hardcover, $31.99. Abstract: Richard E. Bennett’s latest volume,