Posted in Apologetics Book of Mormon chiasmus Critics Evidence language Prayer Problems Scholarship Scripture

Thoughts from a Sunday School Lesson on Enos and the Words of Mormon

  During our recent Sunday school lesson on Enos and the Words of Mormon, I had the chance to point out a couple of apparent problems in the text that…

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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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Posted in Bible Book of Mormon Evidence Israel

News from Mount Ebal: An Ancient Hebraic Inscription on Metal, a Chiasmus, Possibly Dating to the 13th Century BC or Earlier

An ancient Hebraic text dating to the 13th to 14th century BC has been discovered by sifting through the detritus of an archaeological dig at Mount Ebal in Israel. The…

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Posted in Bible Book of Mormon chiasmus Evidence Hebrew language literature poetry Scholarship

Four Types of Chiasmus in Deuteronomy and Jeremiah, with Implications for the Book of Mormon

Students of biblical literature and of the Book of Mormon can now access an important new volume on chiasmus, Chiasmus: The State of the Art, just published as a special…

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Posted in Critics Evidence Jesus Christ Resurrection

Mary at the Tomb: How We Can Easily Misjudge Evidence of a Miracle

Last month I had the pleasure of speaking at the FAIRMormon Conference in Provo, where I spoke about the ancient biblical theme of “dust” that is so artfully woven into…

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Posted in Uncategorized

Out of the Best Books: Donald Parry’s Valuable Poetic Parallelisms in the Book of Mormon

If you don’t have this book already, I recommend that you download (for free!) one of the best tools for study of the Book of Mormon, Donald W. Parry’s  Poetic…

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Posted in Uncategorized

Don’t Ignore Complexity: A Broad Look at a Basic Book of Mormon Issue

The more complex a machine is, the more beautiful and awe-inspiring it can be. Great Swiss watches, though far beyond my budget, inspire me with their craft and brilliance. In…

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Posted in Book of Mormon chiasmus Evidence Scholarship

Fifty Years of Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon: The Story of Its Discovery

One of my favorite stories from the world of Book of Mormon studies is the discovery of chiasmus in the text by a young missionary serving in Germany. Fifty years…

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Posted in Uncategorized

Elder Holland on LDS Apologetics

Recent weeks have been interesting for the unofficial, highly heterogeneous and sometimes contradictory cluster of so-called “LDS apologists.” I fall into that motley group. In fact, I was doing LDS…

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Posted in Book of Mormon chiasmus dust Evidence poetry

Dusting Off the Chiasmus in Alma 36: The “Loose” Parts May Have More Structure Than We Thought

Part 3 of my series on dust-related themes in the Book of Mormon has just published:  “‘Arise from the Dust’: Insights from Dust-Related Themes in the Book of Mormon (Part…

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