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Welcome to Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship, the peer-reviewed journal of The Interpreter Foundation, a nonprofit, independent, educational organization focused on the scriptures of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Non-print versions of our journal are available free of charge, with our goal to increase understanding of scripture. Our latest papers can be found below.
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In Scripture, History, and Tradition Saturday, May 3, 2025 Sponsored by For more information, go to https://interpreterfoundation.org/conferences/2025-abraham-and-his-family-conference/ |
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Edited by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw Available Now This two-volume set (1100 pages total) seeks to enrich study of the life and teachings of Joseph Smith through essays by knowledgeable and faithful scholars on selected punctuation marks of Joseph Smith’s final years in Nauvoo. While some of Joseph Smith’s contemporaries saw these events and doctrinal developments as evidence that he was a fallen prophet, modern Latter-day Saints, looking back, see them as a glorious culmination to a faithful life. Go to https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/ for more information |
[Editor’s Note: We are pleased to present chapter 2 from a book entitled Anachronisms: Accidental Evidence in Book of Mormon Criticisms. It is presented in serialized form in this volume of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship.]
Abstract: Jarom strongly evidences the use of chiasmus to structure his short book. This paper seeks to uncover, display, and discuss the chiastic patterning of the book and hopefully suggests an enhanced understanding of the hidden beauty and deep meaning of this brief but important text. The book of Jarom indeed offers more than what may otherwise be revealed by only a cursory reading of its fifteen verses. Awareness of the chiastic pattern of the text reinforces an understanding of Jarom’s important message.
[Editor’s Note: We are pleased to present chapter 1 from a book entitled Anachronisms: Accidental Evidence in Book of Mormon Criticisms. It is presented in serialized form in this volume of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship.]
[Editor’s Note: We are pleased to present the Introduction from a book entitled Anachronisms: Accidental Evidence in Book of Mormon Criticisms. It is presented in serialized form in this volume of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship.]
Review of Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, ed., Joseph Smith: A Life Lived in Crescendo, 2 vols. (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2024). 1,101 pgs., $24.95 per vol. (softback), $69.95 per vol. (hardback).
Abstract: Joseph Smith: A Life Lived in Crescendo is one of the most extensive and ambitious scholarly works on the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Its twenty-one essays address various issues relating to the culmination of the Prophet’s ministry. They provide diverse and profound insights worthy of examination by serious students of the latter-day Restoration.
Abstract: This article, which focuses on the role of Jeremiah as a prophet, is based on a study of the Hebrew Bible and the Greek Septuagint. It also analyzes references to Jeremiah in the Book of Mormon and connects those references to current scholarly research on the book of Jeremiah. Consistent with the general consensus among biblical scholars today, as well as Nephi1’s own references to Jeremiah in the Book of Mormon, the author proposes that even though Jeremiah embodied the office of a prophet, he was not recognized as being “among the prophets” during his lifetime. This is a subtle yet significant difference. If this view is correct, it would further substantiate the alignment between the Book of Mormon and contemporary scholarly perspectives on the historical reception of Jeremiah’s identity as a prophet in antiquity.
Abstract: Using the context of Easter, this personal essay explores perceptions of God’s presence and absence during human suffering. There is a theological thread that ties Christ’s suffering for our griefs and sorrows during his Atonement directly to his ability to succor us as we enter into despair due to our own trauma. Our suffering occurs during moments of transition and vulnerability known as “liminal spaces.” It is in these moments that the Savior meets us at the threshold, helping us move through trauma toward transformation in Christ. Our ability to move forward openly in liminal spaces will help us to recognize God’s presence in these moments as well as to discern the reflection of his presence in those who minister to us in our grief.
Abstract: Centuries-long speculation continues regarding the circumstances surrounding the death of the Savior. Whether he died sooner than would have been expected, as some scholars believe, or lived longer than expected, statements from the scriptures and modern-day prophets indicate that the Lord died at the exact moment of his choice. According to the Gospels and historical accounts, that moment coincided with the sacrifice of the later of the two daily tamid sacrifices. The tamid had been instituted by Jehovah and symbolized the future atoning sacrifice of the Savior. Each of the other offerings throughout the sacrificial day between the two tamid sacrifices symbolized other qualities of the Lord. The proximity of his death to the Passover suggests an additional association between the two. Ritual prayers offered as the final tamid was being offered coincide further with the missions of the Savior. Jesus Christ chose the moment of his death to synchronize with these events as he symbolically fulfilled the ancient law of sacrifice.
Abstract: In this article, I discuss how the ancient analogue to what President Nelson has called “the covenant path” might be seen in the Book of Mormon and elsewhere in scripture not so much as a journey of covenant-keeping that takes us to the temple but as a journey that takes us through the temple. Throughout the Book of Mormon, observant readers will find not only the general outline of the doctrine of Christ but also corresponding details about the covenant path as represented in temple layout and furnishings. Nowhere is this truth better illustrated than in 2 Nephi 31:19–20 where Nephi summarizes the sequence of priesthood ordinances that prepare disciples to enter God’s presence. In doing so, he masterfully weaves in related imagery—guiding readers on an end-to-end tour of the temple while reminding them of the three cardinal virtues of faith, hope, and charity. The doctrinal richness of these two verses is a compelling demonstration of the value of President Nelson’s encouragement to study the biblical context of modern temples as a source of enlightenment about the meaning of the ordinances. This essay also suggests that the foundational elements of Latter-day Saint temple rites are ancient and were given to Joseph Smith very early in his ministry as he translated the Book of Mormon. It is hoped that a closer look at the beautiful imagery in 2 Nephi 31 will provide profitable reflection for readers.
Abstract: This paper considers the well-known account of Paul having been struck blind on the road to Damascus and his equally well-known statement that “for now we see through a glass darkly.” Both are examined in light of a solar eclipse that occurred across the Mediterranean in AD 49. It is possible that Paul could have been referring to an experience of viewing the solar eclipse through a filter. The article provides an exploration of potential astronomical aids that may have been available to first-century viewers of the eclipse. Views of solar phenomenon are shown and then Jewish and Christian thoughts are discussed regarding glass, crystals, clouds, and the veil. At the end of the nineteenth century, a conflict arose among commentators about whether 1 Corinthians 13:12 was referring to looking at a reflection in a cloudy mirror or viewing an eclipse through darkened glass. Ultimately those advocating for an interpretation of his words as referring to a reflection in a blurry mirror prevailed. However, based on new information and on the religious context, the darkened-glass interpretation appears to be the correct one. The paper concludes with the presentation of a Jewish perspective of the darkened glass, which, typologically, equates to a veil.
Review of Warren P. Aston, Godfrey J. Ellis, and Neal Rappleye, Into Arabia: Anchoring Nephi’s Account in the Real World (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2024). 298 pages. $44.99 (hardback), $39.99 (paperback).
Abstract: Into Arabia is a collected reprint of six articles. The first chapter reprints an article that first appeared in BYU Studies. The other five appeared in Interpreter. Both BYU Studies and Interpreter are peer-reviewed academic journals, which means that all these articles were examined and reviewed prior to publication. Thus, my review is more of a synopsis of the importance of each chapter rather than a detailed critique.
Abstract: James Lucas has made a passionate response to the negative review I offered for his and Jonathan Neville’s book By Means of Urim & Thummim. Though we agree on many important issues, there are some troubling gaps that readers of their book need to understand. Some of these issues may be illustrated in the methodology of Lucas’s response. In general, the unreliable methodology and its often extreme, unnuanced approach to dealing with complex, unclear issues must be challenged, as painful as that has been. The complaints in my review remain intact if not further underscored by Lucas’s response. The basic concern remains that the approach taken in the book not only represents inadequate scholarship, but may improperly stir disrespect for the modern Church and its leaders.
Abstract: James Lucas had the opportunity to respond to the review of the book that he and Jonathan Neville wrote, By Means of the Urim & Thummim. He elected not to really respond to the issues I brought up but rather summarized his essential points. That doesn’t leave much to respond to. However, there is a continuing misunderstanding of how historians work that I feel must be underscored.
Abstract: Two recent reviews of By Means of the Urim & Thummim: Restoring Translation to the Restoration by Jeff Lindsay and Brant Gardner seriously misrepresent the book’s argument. Perhaps most significantly, they largely sidestep the book’s central thesis that the statements by Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery that the Book of Mormon was translated from the plates using the “Urim and Thummim” interpreters which God provided with the plates should be at the center of any account of the Book of Mormon’s production. Prioritizing problematic and unreliable seer stone accounts conflicts with the testimonies of these primary eyewitnesses, and thus is not a useful basis for formulating any faithful understanding of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.
Abstract: The symbolic image of the Lamb of God is well-known in the New Testament and The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. This image derives from the Old Testament, later adopted by early Christians. Words of Gad the Seer is an apocalyptic pseudepigraphal book written in pseudo-biblical Hebrew from a manuscript copied in the eighteenth century. After over thirty-three years of investigation, many aspects of this recently discovered text are coming to light. There are more than twenty similarities between this largely unknown book and the book of Revelation, though one was written by a Jewish man who became Christian and the other by a (non-rabbinic) Jew. This old yet newly discovered book will be presented briefly, and the concept of the Heavenly Altar and the song of the Lamb will be discussed. Some esoteric traditions’ pseudepigraphic, rabbinic, and Hekhalot literature will be presented concerning what is sacrificed on the Heavenly Altar or goes up to God, giving the heavenly world a new look. The relationship of the Song of the Lamb to Revelation 15:3 and Jewish liturgy is also explored.
Abstract: Dr. Meir Bar-Ilan’s paper, “The Heavenly Lamb, Sacrifices on the Heavenly Altar, and the Song of the Lamb,” appearing concurrently in Interpreter, is a welcome contribution from a noted Jewish scholar. Bar-Ilan has called the world’s attention to a remarkable Hebrew manuscript with origins in antiquity, Words of Gad the Seer. Those interested in the relationship between Jewish texts and Latter-day Saint scriptures may also wish to compare the findings in Bar-Ilan’s paper with treatments of the Lamb of God in the Book of Mormon and the Book of Moses.
Abstract: In the book of Ether, the prophet Moroni “Christianizes” the Jaredite story, inserting extensive Christian elements into an original text that predates the house of Israel, the Nephite nation, and the Christian era. In this paper, a typological and intertextual method is used to show how Moroni uses the words of Christ in Ether 3 and 4 to exhort his Gentile readers to embrace the Nephite record when it is manifest to them that they might receive even greater things (divine truths). Specifically, Moroni uses the brief account of the brother of Jared atop Mount Shelem to illustrate how Gentiles may “rend the veil of unbelief” and gain perfect knowledge of all things ever revealed. As the Lord revealed his finger to the brother of Jared, so also the Book of Mormon, itself a portion of the word of the Lord, will come forth to try their faith. Those Gentiles who believe and come to know with perfectness of its truthfulness are positioned to lay hold of even greater things than these through Christ. The value of this reading is to clarify Moroni’s effort to adapt the early Jaredite history to a later event—the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and its implications.
Review of Lars Nielsen, How the Book of Mormon Came to Pass: The Second Greatest Show on Earth (Minnetonka, MN: self-pub., 2024). 390 pages. $19.95.
Abstract: Every so often an anti-Mormon book comes along that lowers the bar for attacks on the faith. How the Book of Mormon Came to Pass is one such work. It relies on speculation, conjecture, and tenuous connections to render, out of whole cloth, a hypothesis for the Book of Mormon’s creation that is almost laughable.
Abstract: This article presents a macro-chiasm for Alma 23:16 through Alma 27:30 that covers the account of the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi from the time they first take upon themselves that name to the time they relocate to the Nephite land of Jershon and are subsequently called the people of Ammon. The central element of this chiasm highlights the martyrdom of some Lamanite believers in the wilderness by the hand of the seed of Amulon in fulfillment of Abinadi’s prophecy in Mosiah 17:15. The meaning behind this puzzling prophecy may be illuminated by analyzing the structure of this macro-chiasm. It underscores the role Alma 26 plays as a strategic interruption in the narrative, much like how Alma 36–42 disrupts the story of the Zoramites. Events within the account of the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi were carefully crafted by Mormon and purposefully placed within the narrative to form a memorable foundation story justifying the acceptance and integration of the people of Ammon into Nephite society both religiously and politically. The same criteria previously used to measure the strength of a proposed chiasm are employed here.
Abstract: Intellectually acute, deeply learned, brilliantly imaginative, yet popular and easily accessible, C. S. Lewis was arguably the greatest Christian apologist of at least the past century. I believe that Latter-day Saints can benefit greatly from reading him and re-reading him and that those who are unfamiliar with his writing have an enviable treat awaiting them. I’m also convinced, by my own experience, that those who return to his work after having read some of it once, long ago, will find his books at least as good as they seemed on first acquaintance. In fact, they may even find, as I did, that they’re even better than they had realized. This essay is a shameless plug for a great and greatly admired writer.
