Posted in Ancient Near East Book of Mormon Evidence Scholarship

Kevin Christensen’s Twenty-year Retrospective on Margaret Barker’s Influence on the Church

Twenty years ago Kevin Christensen introduced Latter-day Saints to the revolutionary work of a unique biblical scholar in the United Kingdom, Margaret Barker. Her message resonated with numerous Latter-day Saint…

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Posted in Book of Mormon Books Doctrine Evidence history Origins Problems Repentance Scholarship Scripture Translation

A Simple Example from the Book of Mormon Showing Why Scholarship Is Needed

Many Latter-day Saints seem unaware of the great body of scholarship that can strengthen faith and understanding for members of the Church and those exploring it. Such scholarship can be…

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Posted in Ancient Near East Book of Mormon Book of Moses Evidence Scholarship Scripture Videos

An Overlooked Example of the Book of Mormon’s Surprising Use of Book of Moses Material

While Noel Reynolds and I felt like we had pretty well mined all the relevant connections between the Book of Moses and the Book of Mormon when we published our list of nearly 100 connections, there’s an important one that we missed. Missing the connection may have been easy to do since the related Book of Mormon verse uses different wording that succinctly summarizes a longer Book of Moses passage, and at first glance appears to just be referring to a familiar story from Genesis. This connection involves Satan’s influencing Cain to slay Abel in Helaman 6:27 and Moses 5:25.

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Lehi-and-Sariah
Posted in Arabian Peninsula Book of Mormon Books Evidence Media Scholarship

A Key Book to Understand Nahom and Bountiful is Now Free Online: Warren Aston’s Lehi and Sariah in Arabia

A thorough and valuable book on Lehi’s Trail and the Arabian Peninsula evidence for the Book of Mormon is now available free online, thanks to the generosity of the author,…

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Ani Maamin cover
Posted in Ancient Near East Bible Book of Mormon Books covenants Critics Doctrine Hebrew Israel literature Revelation Scholarship Scripture

Joshua Berman’s Ani Maamin: An Orthodox Jewish Scholar Provides Help in Keeping the Faith in the Face of Secular Bible Scholarship

During a recent trip to Atlanta, my wife and I connected two of our Latter-day Saint friends with dear Jewish friends there. Among the many topics of the evening, we…

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arise from the dust
Posted in Ancient Near East Bible Book of Mormon covenants dust Evidence Jesus Christ Origins Scholarship Videos Witnesses

A Tough Question: What’s the Single Most Impressive Evidence for the Book of Mormon?

A critic recently asked me a tough question: what’s the single most impressive piece of evidence for the Book of Mormon? I think he wasn’t looking for evidence that might change open his mind, but perhaps was looking to simplify his goal of attacking the Book of Mormon. But for those who really want to understand more, what evidence is most important and impressive? Here I offer a few thoughts and several possibilities for the “one best” issue to consider.

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Lehi's Trail in the Arabian Peninsula
Posted in Ancient Near East Arabia Arabian Peninsula Book of Mormon Critics Evidence Scholarship

Nahom/NHM: Only a Tribe, Not a Place?

Executive summary: Discoveries from the Arabian Peninsula supporting the existence of a place called Nahom (see 1 Nephi 16:34) face recent criticism for only showing that the NHM tribal name…

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Jesus Washes the Feet of His Disciples
Posted in Ancient Near East Bible Book of Mormon covenants dust Evidence Gospel of Jesus Christ Resurrection Scholarship Scripture

The “Arise from the Dust” Theme and the Unity of Isaiah

In my exploration of the “arise from the dust” theme in the Book of Mormon, published in several articles for Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day saint Faith and Scholarship (see “Arise from the Dust,” Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and “Strong Like Unto Moses”) and the topic of my 2018 presentation at the FAIR Latter-day Saints Conference, I noted that passages from Isaiah 49 and Isaiah 52 play an important role in the Book of Mormon. Both involve the theme of dust….

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Crucifixion of Christ: Crown of Thorn
Posted in Bible Book of Mormon Evidence Jesus Christ

What Day Was Christ Crucified? Dr. Jeffrey Chadwick Argues That the Book of Mormon Provides Valuable Information

An archaeologist and professor at BYU, Dr. Jeffrey R. Chadwick, published an article in  that provides a great example of how the Book of Mormon can help us better understand…

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Book of Mormon cover
Posted in Book of Mormon Evidence

What to Make of “Plagiarism” of the Bible in a Purportedly Ancient Text? A Jewish Scholar Offers a Thoughtful Perspective

The Book of Mormon’s frequent “plagiarism” of passages from the Bible is one of the most common criticisms raised against it’s authenticity and antiquity. It’s actually not very much like…

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