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

A Democratic Salvation
May 08, 2020

Abstract: Over the centuries, many religious thinkers — precisely because they are religious thinkers — have put a premium on intellectual attainment as a prerequisite for salvation. This has sometimes yielded an elitism or snobbishness that is utterly...

Death to Seducers! Examples of Latter-day Saint-led Extralegal Justice in Historical Context
May 01, 2020

Abstract: Some people have suggested a strain of violence within nineteenth- century Latter-day Saint culture as violent as and perhaps more so than that of most Americans around them. Critics of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints point to...

Becoming Men and Women of Understanding: Wordplay on Benjamin — An Addendum
April 24, 2020

Abstract: Royal and divine sonship/daughterhood (bānîm = “children”/“sons,” bānôt = “daughters”) is a prevalent theme throughout the Book of Mosiah. “Understanding” (Hebrew noun, bînâ or tĕbûnâ; verb, bîn) is also a key theme in that book.

“Feast upon the Words of Christ”
April 17, 2020

Review of Book of Mormon Central, “ScripturePlus” (https://www.scriptureplus.org/); The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Gospel Library” (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/pages/mobileapps/gospellibrary); and Living Tree Software,

Christ and the Work of Suffering
April 10, 2020

Abstract: Christ’s voluntary subjection to the horrible realities of this world transformed him forever. His vulnerability became his capacity to save and heal all humankind. Our own suffering develops our capacity for love,

Now If This Is Boasting, Even So Will I Boast!
April 03, 2020

Abstract: When the sons of Mosiah were returning from their preaching among the Lamanites, Ammon was accused by his brother Aaron of boasting. This article demonstrates how Ammon’s response to this charge employed wordplay involving the Hebrew roots ה-...

Pitfalls of the Ngram Viewer
March 27, 2020

Abstract: Google’s Ngram Viewer often gives a distorted view of the popularity of cultural/religious phrases during the early 19th century and before. Other larger textual sources can provide a truer picture of relevant usage patterns of various conten...

The Lost Prologue: Reading Moses Chapter One as an Ancient Text
March 20, 2020

Abstract: The character and complexion of the Prophet Joseph Smith’s translation of the Bible (JST) is often a puzzle to students and scholars. One text in particular, the first chapter of the Book of Moses,

Was the Denarius a Daily Wage? A Note on the Parable of the Two Debtors in Luke 7:40–43
March 13, 2020

Abstract: This note provides a brief overview of Roman economic history and currency in order to throw light on the value and significance of the two debts illustratively used by Jesus in his parable to Simon the Pharisee.

The Character and Knowledge of Mary, the Mother of Christ
March 06, 2020

Abstract: The Virgin Mary is arguably the archetype of the virtuous woman and even the divine feminine on earth, but we know very little about her. She is remembered in Christianity in a variety of ways including with cathedrals built in her honor.