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“An Early Christian Context for the Book of Moses”?

“An Early Christian Context for the Book of Moses”?

Last updated on: June 27, 2026 at 10:40 pm by Dan Peterson

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“An Early Christian Context for the Book of Moses”? 2026-06-27T22:40:11-06:00 Dan Peterson

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“I am the Lord God Almighty, and Endless is my name. . . . And worlds without number have I created; . . . and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten” (Moses 1:3, 33).

I hope that at least some of you will enjoy this installment of Conversations with Interpreter: David Calabro: “An Early Christian Context for the Book of Moses.” It features Thora Florence Shannon, Avram R. Shannon, and their guest, David M. Calabro:

In this episode of Conversations with Interpreter, Avram and Thora interview David Calabro about his intriguing article where he argues that there is an underlying Christian ritual context for the Book of Moses. This article, entitled “An Early Christian Context for the Book of Abraham,” was published in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. Drawing on a variety of ancient Christian baptismal texts, Dr. Calabro argues that there is a distinctive ritual progression visible in the Book of Moses that gives that a distinctive structure and context to the materials in Moses. The interview discusses how Dr. Calabro came to this position, potential difficulties with it, and new evidence for this Christian background that he has discovered since the original publication of the article.

The original article is available to read at https://interpreterfoundation.org/journal/an-early-christian-context-for-the-book-of-moses/.

In Conversations with Interpreter, we join Avram and Thora Shannon as they talk with scholars who contribute to The Interpreter Foundation through articles, book chapters, and conference presentations. Together, they explore the insights, research, and faith that inspire these contributions and enrich our understanding of the restored gospel.

Avram is an Associate Professor of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University, specializing in the intersection of early Christianity and Judaism. He earned a BA in ancient Near Eastern studies from Brigham Young University (2007), a master of studies in Jewish studies from the University of Oxford (2008), and a PhD in Near Eastern languages and cultures with a graduate interdisplinary specialization in religions of the ancient Mediterranean from The Ohio State University (2015).

Thora is a scholar and writer with a passion for scriptural study and education. She received a degree from Brigham University in Near Eastern Studies, where she studied Hebrew and Arabic, including a study abroad in Egypt. She has presented multiple time at BYU’s Religious Education Symposium and has appeared on the Y Religion podcast.

Weekly episodes will stream at noon on alternate Saturdays. Short clips from each episode will post on all of our social media channels twice a week.

Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel at https://youtube.interpreterfoundation.org/ and our other social media channels on Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok.

A street in the ruins of ancient Ephesus (Wikimedia Commons public domain photograph)

I would like to call your attention to an upcoming “Journeys of Paul Cruise” that will take place under the auspices of Bountiful Travel and the Interpreter Foundation from 12 April 2027 until 23 April 2027. The cruise will last eleven nights, and it will be accompanied by Steve Densley, the Executive Vice President of the Foundation, and somebody else. You can learn about the itinerary and further details here, on the Bountiful Travel website. The focus of next year’s Come, Follow Me curriculum for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be the New Testament, and this tour will, I think, offer some wonderful background for getting into the epistles of Paul in the latter half of the year.

A Nazi book-burning in Berlin, in May 1933. Among the books that were banned and burned in Berlin and throughout the Reich were those of the great German lyric poet Heinrich Heine (d. 1856). Prophetically, Heine had said that “Where books are burned, in the end people will be burned too.”

The morning was spent up in the Salt Lake Valley in a quarterly meeting of the board of directors of the Interpreter Foundation. It was pleasant to welcome Loren Spendlove as a new member of the board. (You might enjoy this 2022 item from Leading Saints: “An Unorthodox, Reluctant Leader | An Interview with Loren Spendlove.”)

After a quick Chinese lunch with a friend, my wife and I caught a performance of Harmony at the nearby Hale Centre Theatre. With music by Barry Manilow and book and lyrics by Bruce Sussman, it’s based on a true story that comes out of the Nazi era in Germany.

Brigham Young (John Donovan Wilson) and Mary Ann Angell (Twyla Wilson) walk home after their wedding in a scene from the Interpreter Foundation theatrical film Six Days in August. (Photo provided by James G. Jordan)

As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog entry, today marked the anniversary of the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and of his brother Hyrum in Carthage Jail, not far from Nauvoo. But I’ve been looking forward to today because I knew that, on this day, Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Council of the Twelve Apostles would be dedicating the new Nauvoo Temple Visitors’ Center and rededicating the newly restored early-nineteenth-century home of Brigham Young and Mary Ann Angell Young. On our various filming trips to Nauvoo over the past year or so, we’ve watched with interest as the Visitors’ Center has taken shape and as work on the Young home has progressed. I look forward to visiting them now that they’ve been completed: New Nauvoo Temple Visitors’ Center bridges early Church history and house of the Lord to Jesus Christ: Center’s exhibits and displays — including an 1896 Tiffany art-glass panel depicting the Savior — help visitors appreciate early Latter-day Saints’ sacrifices and faith in Christ to receive temple blessings. (Elder Gong’s remarks begin at 32:30 in the video that is embedded in the linked article, and his dedicatory prayer commences at 45:00.)

Zion National Park is not far from St. George, Utah
(Wikimedia Commons public domain photograph)

I (still) love California, my native state, but I love my adopted home state of Utah, as well. There is a great deal here to see and to do, as this article from the Deseret News helps to illustrate: “Utah ranked second-best road-tripping state: Utah is ranked second nationally for road trips and for good reason. Here are some tips for touring the state.”

On our recent filming expedition to southern Utah for Becoming Brigham, we passed by one of the places of which my wife and I are most fond: Snow Canyon State Park., although we had only enough time to look down into it from above. My wife and I bought a State Park pass quite a while ago largely because, when we’re in the area, we like to visit Snow Canyon multiple times if we’re able, seeing it in the morning and in the evening and at various times because the light and the colors are so different.

Another place that’s sadly worth visiting is the much more somber Mountain Meadows Massacre National Historic Landmark. It’s well off the beaten tourist path and it’s not exactly the feel-good center of the American West, but I recommend a visit. I was a bit surprised and even a little bit saddened, during the several hours that we spent there on both Tuesday morning and Tuesday afternoon this past week, to see not a single visitor or tourist other than ourselves.

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