Category: Translation
The Divine Is in the Details: How Paying Attention to Word Choice in the Book of Mormon Can Reveal Important Meaning
When you read the Book of Mormon, do you ever notice how common language can connect two distant verses and sometimes add meaning? For example, when you read the angry…
What Did Oliver Look at When He Began to Translate? Or, What Doctrine and Covenants 9 Really Tells Us About the Translation of the Book of Mormon
Quick overview: Doctrine and Covenants 9 refers to a time when Oliver Cowdery had permission to attempt to translate the Book of Mormon. He “began to translate” (Doctrine and Covenants…
Possible Benefits of the Broad Early Modern English Elements in the Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon as dictated by Joseph Smith contains a wide spectrum of Early Modern English (EModE) elements that distinguish it from the language of the King James Bible…
Exciting News on an Apparent Breakthrough in Deciphering the Indus Valley Script: A Great Way to Turn the Hearts of the Children to Their Ancestors
The closing words of the Old Testament are a prophecy about the Lord sending Elijah, who “shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of…
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…
A Sacrament Meeting Worth Shouting About
Sunday turned out to be one of the most exciting sacrament meetings I can recall. It was exciting because a wonderful young lady, a 16-year-old who came to America as…
Trying to Take the Shine off Shinehah: Vogel’s Response to a Commonly Cited Evidence for Book of Abraham Authenticity
This morning I was reading from what may be the premier work of Latter-day Saint scholarship on the Book of Abraham, the far-ranging magnum opus of Dr. Hugh Nibley with…
New Scholarship on the Influence of the Small Plates on Mormon’s Writings
One of the things that fascinates me in my role as a co-editor for the Interpreter Foundation’s journal, Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship, is seeing how…
Geocentric Astronomy in the Book of Abraham? Dan Vogel’s Refutation of LDS Scholars
Circumpolar star trails in a long-exposure photo of several hours, showing that stars closer to Polaris move on shorter trails, thus moving more slowly. The circumpolar stars always stay…
A Highlight from Dan Vogel’s Book: A Clever Explanation for the Most Obvious Evidence of Scribes Using an Existing Translation in Making the Book of Abraham Manuscripts
In my previous posts reviewing Dan Vogel’s recent Book of Abraham Apologetics (Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books, 2021), including Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3, I’ve noted that…
