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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improved search
Posted in General Scholarship Scripture

Finding Michael: Coping with the Improved Search Engine in the Gospel Library App and the Church Website

The home page of ChurchofJesusChrist.org, the generally very useful and professional website for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, currently touts the improved search feature in the Gospel Library app. However, if you’re trying to use it for research in the scriptures, there are some serious gaps that need to be understood. I’ve made multiple efforts over the past few weeks to point these problems out to the IT team responsible for the app, but I think they have been swamped with the roll out, so I’ve only received standardized responses so far. Until the bugs are recognized and fixed, users need to be aware of what can go wrong. There are some major gaps that can lead you to miss the things you are searching for. Any scholarly work requiring accurate search results may be impaired.

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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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FAIR Conference 2022
Posted in Evidence Family General Gospel of Jesus Christ Scholarship Scripture Social Issues

Watch the 2022 FAIR Conference for Free!

Watch the 2022 FAIR Conference for free! Formerly the FAIR Mormon Conference, the FAIR Conference features many outstanding Latter-day Saint scholars and authors who share insights on many important topics…

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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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Reardon meta-analysis: 50% increase in materla deaths after abortion
Posted in abortion children Family freedom health Policies politics Scholarship Science The Church

Discussing Abortion With Your Children and Others: Please Include the Science on the Health of Women

Members of  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who understand the Church’s position on abortion or the reasons for its emphasis on the family and the sanctity of human life need to be better prepared to talk to our children and others about the issue of abortion. As we listen gently to sincere questions or concerns, we must also find the right moments to teach based on sound doctrine but also sound science.

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COVID-19
Posted in freedom health Scholarship Science

Science as a Faith: Do We Need Another Restoration?

One of our nation’s leading bodies of scientific influence, the Center for Disease Control, is citing their recent scientific study — as are their media allies like the New York…

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