Joseph Smith’s boldly declaring the Book of Mormon “the most correct of any book on earth” (TPJS, 194) invites serious scrutiny. Apart from the fact that millions of people have received a spiritual testimony of its truthfulness by the power of the Holy Ghost, others have searched and additionally gained an intellectual testimony. That “a […]
Most Correct Book? Read More »
The concept of “the birthpangs of Messiah” arose out of Israel’s need for a divinely empowered deliverer of God’s people when conditions became intolerable. When Israel served in hard bondage in Egypt and the people cried to God for deliverance, he raised up Moses, who led them to the Promised Land. When the Philistines were
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Because as yet there has occurred no real Mormon (LDS) embrace of the words of Isaiah—neither of his endtime prophecy, of which his historical prophecies are an allegory, nor of his theology that is embedded in his literary devices—perhaps that could account for some of the disconnect developing between two Mormon narratives: (1) the recapitulation
A “precept of men” we may have heard is that we should not search out mysteries. As if seeking the truths of God for ourselves is prohibited! In a day when “all things shall be revealed” (2 Nephi 27:11, 22; cf. Doctrine & Covenants 101:32—and indeed are beginning to be revealed—won’t seeking the truth save
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Question: My wife is Native American. Being of Manasseh, she would like to know something about Manasseh & Ephraim and what they were promised as blessings? And what are the titles of books we could read about them? Thank you. Answer: In Jacob’s birthright blessing of Ephraim in Genesis 48:19, Jacob mentions that Ephraim (or
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Having first established—by analyzing the Book of Isaiah’s internal literary features—that “all things that he spake have been [in ancient times] and shall be [in the end-time]” (3 Nephi 23:3; cf. Ecclesiastes 1:9), we learn that Egypt, the great superpower of Isaiah’s day, forms a type of America, the great superpower of our day. But
One way the Middle East today differs from Moses’ day is that many of its inhabitants descend from Abraham, whom God promised all the Land from Mesopotamia to Egypt (Genesis 15:18). Besides Isaac—Abraham’s son by Sarah—and Isaac’s sons Jacob and Esau by Rebekah, those descendants include Ishmael—Abraham’s son by Hagar, ancestor of the Arabs—and Zimran,
I have shown that ancient Near Eastern emperor–vassal covenants are helpful in understanding the workings of the Sinai and Davidic Covenants. On a parallel with those ancient models, God acts in the role of emperor and his people or King David and his heirs act in the role of vassals. But there is a third
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When Jehovah God of Israel addresses his end-time people through Isaiah, saying “I announce to you new things, things withheld and unknown to you, things now coming into being, not hitherto, things you have not heard of before, lest you should say, Indeed I knew them! You have not heard them, nor have you known
There is something right or righteous about praising our Savior Jesus Christ. As Jehovah God of Israel—who “paid the price of our peace” and “by whose wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5; cf. 57:19)—he apprises those who believe in him that they are “a people I formed for myself to speak out in praise of
Question: If we (LDS) are the covenant people in the scriptures how did Brigham Young and everyone after him obtain the keys necessary for baptism if he/they did not rise to the level of a prophet? How do we have the keys to perform this basic ordinance? Can we still be labeled as covenant people
Does the Church Have the Priesthood? Read More »
In the Father’s “gift of his Son” (Ether 12:11)—a gift that keeps on giving—we observe the great “condescension of God” (1 Nephi 11:26) that underlies his plan of salvation and exaltation. Born in the flesh as a babe in Bethlehem (beit lehem, “the House of Bread”), Jehovah, God of the Old Testament, manifests himself to
