There Will Be Blood
On Saturday President Obama took to the podium in the Rose Garden and announced that he had decided that in response to the Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons against its own people, resulting...
View ArticleThe Next Century of Book of Mormon Studies
For at least one very obvious reason, I’ve been thinking a good deal lately about the past, the present, and especially the future of academic study of the Book of Mormon. What roads have led us from...
View ArticleThe “Value” of the Book of Mormon
As part of a project I’m currently at work on, I’ve been reading as systematically as possible through the literature on the Book of Mormon that has been produced by adherents to the Community of...
View ArticleOn Translation Theories and the Interpretation of the Book of Mormon
Since Blake Ostler’s landmark article appeared in Dialogue in 1987, there’s been something of a trend among believing Mormon intellectuals. Increasingly, the tendency is to account for the English text...
View ArticleThe Restoration and War
Written on Memorial Day, 2014 This is my first Memorial Day home after combat. In Afghanistan, I prayed over the injured, the dying, and the dead—and I suppose it’s fitting to pray for all of them...
View ArticleWhat do we mean by “Another Testament”?
Before 1981, the Book of Mormon was simply the Book of Mormon; since then, however, it has borne the subtitle “Another Testament of Jesus Christ.” I suspect that this addition had several purposes....
View ArticleConsecrating the widow’s mite
The Filipino widow’s mite The widow’s mite is a poignant story, but one in which we might be missing the point Jesus meant to convey. What if instead of admiring the woman’s sacrifice, he was instead...
View Article“The Prophecy of This Book”
Believers in the Book of Mormon are inevitably acquainted with Revelation 22:18-19: For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these...
View ArticleA Review and a Farewell: Of Manuscripts and Seer Stones
I’ve been, as Mormons say, “less active” here at the blog for the past few months. A number of changes have forced me to contribute less—among them graduation (“Doctor Spencer,” now!) and a move to...
View ArticleThe 5 Best References to Mormonism in the History of Television
So that Quantico show debuted a little while back. It’s a show about FBI agents and stuff that critics seem to generally like, but Mormons are generally nervous about. Apparently there’s a steamy hot...
View ArticleHow I choose to see the revisions
I write this as a heterosexual person, one who is not directly affected by the new strictures in the Church Handbook of Instructions (CHI). For that reason, this is all very easy for me to say. I do...
View ArticleFamiliar with All and Free with Our Substance
This past year I read (or returned to) a handful of both fiction and nonfiction portraits of poverty. Part of the motivation for this reading was the significance of economic inequality as a...
View ArticleAmmon, before Trump
On social media I passed along a quip that, while Donald Drumpf is applying to be president with no political experience, listing for even menial entry-level positions include years of experience as...
View ArticleReview: The Mormon Jesus
Perhaps my devotional life’s greatest flaw is that I forget about Jesus. Intellectually, of course, I know that I cannot ignore the Savior when speaking about theology, but much of the time my musings...
View ArticleMormon Illustration and the Burden of History – 1 of 2
In his book Miracles, C.S. Lewis dwells for a peculiarly long time on the Ascension of Christ. Namely, he muses on the how onlookers perceived and today’s Christians imagine the event. Why the...
View ArticleUnbridling Mormon Illustration: “From the Dust”– 2 of 2
In yesterday’s post, I discussed the relationship between Mormon illustration and historical accuracy, specifying that I’d prefer to see a efflorescence of approaches in the Mormon illustrative...
View ArticleSorry to Bother You: The (Human) Body as Technology
This review contains major spoilers for Boots Riley’s 2018 film Sorry to Bother You. It’s well worth the watch, so come back to this after you’ve got to the theater! In the recent film Sorry to Bother...
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