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Select a Month October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 October 2017 September 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 November 2016 October 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012

December 2015

December 17, 2015

Familiar with All and Free with Our Substance

This past year I read (or returned to) a handful of both fiction and nonfiction...

November 2015

November 10, 2015

These Three Things Are True

Sharp divisions make it hard to pinpoint "how Mormons feel" about the policy barring children...

November 08, 2015

Mistakes in Mormonism; or Why the Church Handbook isn’t Doctrine

By Gary Ashcroft Let me preface my comments with a few statements. I am Mormon....

November 06, 2015

How I choose to see the revisions

I write this as a heterosexual person, one who is not directly affected by the...

September 2015

September 24, 2015

125 Years of the Manifesto – and an overlooked change in Mormon scripture

“It seemed to me to be the awfulest moment in my life," - wrote...

August 2015

August 13, 2015

Matt Bowman and Ben Park Talk Seer Stones On RadioWest

For the lucky few vacationing in isolated corners of the world without internet access,...

August 07, 2015

A 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...

July 2015

July 08, 2015

The Risks and Revelations of Protest and Lament

On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass gave voice to the unspeakable injustice of American slavery...

February 2015

February 18, 2015

“The Prophecy of This Book”

Believers in the Book of Mormon are inevitably acquainted with Revelation 22:18-19: For I testify...

October 2014

October 05, 2014

Junia The Apostle and Mormonism’s Priesthood

Most Mormons don’t know it yet, but Romans 16:7, "Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives...

October 01, 2014

What Is a “Mormon” Reading of Scripture? Thoughts on Michael Austin’s “Re-reading Job”

Every four years, every Sunday School in the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day...

August 2014

August 22, 2014

What do we mean by “Another Testament”?

Before 1981, the Book of Mormon was simply the Book of Mormon; since then, however,...

May 2014

May 29, 2014

On 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...

March 2014

March 26, 2014

Emma, My Daughter in Zion: A Preliminary Study of D&C 25, Part 2

In the preceding post (part 1), I work through a set of exegetical preliminaries to...

March 26, 2014

Emma, My Daughter in Zion: A Preliminary Study of D&C 25, Part 1

This and the post following it (part 2) are pieces I wrote a few years...

January 2014

January 22, 2014

The “Value” of the Book of Mormon

As part of a project I’m currently at work on, I’ve been reading as systematically...

November 2013

November 25, 2013

Justice and Fairness

It’s been interesting to follow discussions about gender and priesthood during the last several months....

November 04, 2013

In Praise of Cafeteria Mormonism

It was both troubling and fascinating (something like watching a car wreck) to witness the...

September 2013

September 11, 2013

The Next Century of Book of Mormon Studies

For at least one very obvious reason, I've been thinking a good deal lately about...

July 2013

July 10, 2013

The Humanist’s Book of Mormon

The past decade has witnessed a remarkable surge of interest in the Book of Mormon---or...

May 2013

May 09, 2013

On “Bracketing”

I’ll begin this post in italics, mostly so that---since this is my first post here...

March 2013

March 11, 2013

How Mormons Read the Bible

A little more than a week ago, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...

October 2012

October 31, 2012

Mitt’s Coffee Ice Cream and Mormons in Bars: Is it Necessary to Avoid the Appearance of Evil?

About a month back I went to a bar for the first time in my...

July 2012

July 30, 2012

Individualism, Communalism, and the Foreign Past of Mormonism

For verily I say unto you, the time has come, and is now at hand;...

June 2012

June 22, 2012

Wildcard Friday Post: Tragedy Part II

My last post cast a broad net over the dilemma of tragedy in Mormonism, so...

June 06, 2012

The Illuminated Mundane

In Washington, DC, I didn't have a good view of the Venus Transit. It was...