This is an Interpreter Radio Roundtable for Come, Follow Me Book of Mormon Lesson 24, “Enter into the Rest of the Lord,” on Alma 13-16. The panelists for this roundtable were Bruce Webster, Kris Fredrickson and Mike Parker. This roundtable was extracted from the May 17, 2020 broadcast of Interpreter Radio. The complete show may be heard at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreter-radio-show-may-17-2020/. The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640, or you can listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com. Call in to 801-254-1640 with your questions and comments during the live show.

The Interpreter Radio Show is a weekly discussion of matters of interest to the hosts, guests, and callers of the show. The views expressed on the Interpreter Radio Show are those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Interpreter Foundation, nor should statements made on the show be construed as official doctrinal statements of the Church.

 

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This series is cross-posted with the permission of Book of Mormon Central

from their website at Pearl of Great Price Central

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As Enoch set out to fulfill his prophetic commission, it seems that his preaching at first attracted listeners only because of its value as local entertainment. Everyone was eager to see the noisy religious fanatic:

And they came forth to hear him, upon the high places, saying unto the tent-keepers:[1] Tarry ye here and keep the tents, while we go yonder to behold the seer, for he prophesieth, and there is a strange thing in the land; a wild man hath come among us. (Moses 6:38, emphasis added)

The rare term “wild man” fairly pops out at the reader. It is used only once elsewhere in scripture, as part of Jacob’s prophecy about how Ishmael will live to become everyone’s favorite enemy.[2] However, a much more interesting parallel to the Book of Moses can be found in the Book of Giants —an Aramaic Enoch manuscript discovered at Qumran. To fully appreciate the significance of what this small detail adds to the larger Enoch story, some background will be helpful.

 

Holy and Unholy Wild Men

The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar is the best-known biblical type of a “wild man.” After spurning the Lord’s call to repentance, his fate was announced by the prophet Daniel:[3]

O king Nebuchadnezzar, … The kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field … until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.

In William Blake’s grotesque depiction of Nebuchadnezzar shown above, “we see [the king] in exile, animal-like on all fours. Naked, he gazes with mad horror at his own reflection like some kind of anti-Narcissus.”[4]

Seeking to characterize the typological “children of Nebuchadnezzar” in sacred and secular literature, Penelope Doob contrasted the literary convention of the “unholy wild man” with that of the “holy wild man.”[5] Nebuchadnezzar is the prototype of the former category, his madness and self-exclusion from society ending only when he satisfactorily completed the process of penance.[6] Other “wild men” in the Bible who, by way of contrast to Nebuchadnezzar, never lost their “wildness” include Ishmael,[7] Esau,[8] Samson,[9] and the archetypal forebear of the biblical gibborim, Nimrod.[10] Of interest in tracing the history of these characters is that they often served as “t...

Abstract: After publishing several articles in peer-reviewed journals, the author published Uto-Aztecan: A Comparative Vocabulary (2011), the new standard in comparative Uto-Aztecan, favorably reviewed1 and heartily welcomed by specialists in the field. Four years later, another large reference work, Exploring the Explanatory Power of Semitic and Egyptian in Uto-Aztecan (2015), was also favorably reviewed2 but not as joyfully welcomed among specialists as its predecessor. While some saw it as sound, more were silent. Some disliked the topic, but no one produced substantive refutations of it. In August 2019, Chris Rogers published a review,3 but John S. Robertson’s response to Rogers’s review4 and my response in the first 24 items rebutted below shed new light on his criticisms. Following on the heels of Rogers’s review, Magnus Pharao Hansen, specializing in Nahuatl, blogged objections to 14 Nahuatl items among the 1,528 sets.5 Rogers’s and Hansen’s articles gave rise to some critical commentary as well as to a few valid questions. What follows clarifies the misconceptions in Rogers’s [Page 238]review, responds to Hansen’s Nahuatl issues, and answers some reasonable questions raised by others.

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Editor’s Note

Critics of the Book of Mormon often argue that no evidence exists for contact between the ancient Near East and the Americas. Accordingly, proof of such contact would demolish a principal objection to Joseph Smith’s prophetic claims. If the thesis of Brian Stubbs’s works is correct, he has furnished precisely that proof.

As might be expected, Stubbs’s efforts have drawn criticism from some, but not all, of his linguistic peers. This article represents a response by Stubbs to those criticisms. Stubbs’s works are admittedly complex and highly technical. They are, therefore, difficult, and it can take quite a bit of work for a reader to assimilate and understand the implications of his arguments. That very complexity and difficulty, though,

You can listen to or download the May 31 broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show below. It will also be included in our podcast feed (https://interpreterfoundation.org/feeds/podcast). The hosts were Martin Tanner and Daniel C. Peterson. In this episode, they interviewed Stanford Carmack and discussed his research on Early Modern English syntax in the Book of Mormon. Also featured was a roundtable on the upcoming Come, Follow Me Book of Mormon lesson #26 on Alma 23-29. The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640, or you can listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com. Call in to 801-254-1640 with your questions and comments during the live show.

Original air date: May 31, 2020. This recording has been edited to remove commercial breaks.

The Interpreter Radio Show is a weekly discussion of matters of interest to the hosts, guests, and callers of the show. The views expressed on the Interpreter Radio Show are those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Interpreter Foundation, nor should statements made on the show be construed as official doctrinal statements of the Church.

 

This is an Interpreter Radio Roundtable for Come, Follow Me Book of Mormon Lesson 23, Jesus Christ Will Come to Redeem His People, on Alma 8-12. The panelists for this roundtable were Terry Hutchinson, John Gee and Kevin Christensen. This roundtable was extracted from the May 10, 2020 broadcast of Interpreter Radio. The complete show may be heard at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreter-radio-show-may-10-2020/. The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640, or you can listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com. Call in to 801-254-1640 with your questions and comments during the live show.

The Interpreter Radio Show is a weekly discussion of matters of interest to the hosts, guests, and callers of the show. The views expressed on the Interpreter Radio Show are those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Interpreter Foundation, nor should statements made on the show be construed as official doctrinal statements of the Church.

 

You can listen to or download the May 24 broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show below. It will also be included in our podcast feed (https://interpreterfoundation.org/feeds/podcast). The hosts were Steve Densley, Matthew Bowen and Kevin Christensen. In this episode, they discuss Kevin’s review of the book Americanist Approaches to the Book of Mormon. Also featured was a roundtable on the upcoming Come, Follow Me Book of Mormon lesson #25 on Alma 17-22. The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640, or you can listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com. Call in to 801-254-1640 with your questions and comments during the live show.

Original air date: May 24, 2020. This recording has been edited to remove commercial breaks.

The Interpreter Radio Show is a weekly discussion of matters of interest to the hosts, guests, and callers of the show. The views expressed on the Interpreter Radio Show are those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Interpreter Foundation, nor should statements made on the show be construed as official doctrinal statements of the Church.

 

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This series is cross-posted with the permission of Book of Mormon Central

from their website at Pearl of Great Price Central

Listen to an audio recording of this Essay:

  Download PDF

  Download audio recording

 

 

In this Essay, we will introduce the most well-known ancient Enoch manuscripts and review the possibility that Joseph Smith could have derived the Enoch accounts in Moses 6–7 from any of them.[2] Pioneering insights on the relationship between ancient Enoch manuscripts and the Book of Moses can be found in the writings of Hugh W. Nibley, who wrote a series of articles on the subject for the Ensign magazine in 1975–1977.[3]

1 Enoch

Of the extant Enoch manuscripts, the best-known is 1 Enoch, also referred to as Ethiopic Enoch, or simply The Book of Enoch. 1 Enoch is one of the most important Jewish works of pseudepigrapha, highly valued in the early Christian community and explicitly[4] (and implicitly[5]) cited in New Testament epistles.[6]

Except for quotations of 1 Enoch found in Christian patristic literature, the full form of the text was unknown to the Western world until 1773, when it was discovered in Abyssinia by James Bruce. While this discovery brought 1 Enoch out of obscurity, it remained largely untouched until it was translated into English by Richard Laurence in 1821.

What is the likelihood that Joseph Smith knew about Laurence’s translation?[7] In his 2010 master’s thesis, Salvatore Cirillo[8] cites and amplifies the position of Michael Quinn,[9] who more than a decade earlier had argued that Joseph Smith’s access to this translation of 1 Enoch had moved “beyond probability—to fact.” However, Cirillo’s confidence is at odds with the views of other scholars who have addressed this issue. For example, renowned Latter-day Saint historian Richard L. Bushman concluded:[10] “It is scarcely conceivable that Joseph Smith knew of Laurence’s Enoch translation.”[11]

Because Cirillo agrees that Joseph Smith likely didn’t have access to the 1821 printing of Laurence’s translation, he has argued that the Prophet may have used a purported 1828 American edition of the work. However, evidence has now been provided that there was no such edition.[12] Though researchers will no doubt continue their search for sources through which Joseph Smith could have become aware of 1 Enoch, conclusively arguing that he actually saw and studied such sources will likely prove difficult. More importantly, for reasons we outline further below, 1 Enoch as a whole would have been a relatively unfruitful source of ideas when compared with other ancient Enoch texts that Joseph Smith could not have known.

Most Enoch scholars break the text of 1 Enoch into five separate books: (1) The Book of the Watchers (chapters 1–36); (2) The Book of the Parables[13] or Similitudes (chapters 37–71); (3) The Book of the Luminaries or the Ast...

Abstract: Lehi’s dream symbolically teaches us about many aspects of Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation. The central message of Lehi’s dream is that all must come unto Jesus Christ in order to be saved. Each of us has the choice to pursue the path that leads to eternal joy and salvation or to choose a different way and experience undesirable outcomes. In this paper, elements of Lehi’s dream and supporting scriptures are analyzed to see how they relate to key aspects of the plan of salvation and our journey through life.

Lehi’s dream of the tree of life recorded in the Book of Mormon offers a symbolic portrayal of Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation. Lehi recognized his dream as a vision from God, and after awaking he felt confident in the eternal destiny of his sons Nephi and Sam but was deeply concerned for the eternal welfare of his two oldest sons, Laman and Lemuel.1

In his vision, Lehi was led to a large and spacious field in which he saw a tree that produced brilliant white fruit.2 After partaking of the fruit, which he said “was desirable to make one happy,” Lehi noted that its taste was “most sweet,” and his soul became filled “with exceedingly great joy” (1 Nephi 8:10–12). Lehi quickly became eager to have his family partake of the fruit also. He noted that his wife Sariah and his sons Sam and Nephi partook, but Laman and Lemuel refused to come to the tree.3

Lehi also saw a large and spacious field with a countless number of people in it, many of whom made their way toward a strait and narrow path with an iron rod to its side. The path and the rod extended along the bank of a river and led directly to the tree. After the travelers began their journey on the path toward the tree, they were soon overshadowed by a mist of darkness that caused many to veer off of the path and become [Page 142]lost. Others, however, pushed through the mist of darkness and made their way to the tree by holding onto the iron rod.4

On the other side of the river from the path and the tree was a great and spacious building that “stood as it were in the air high above the earth” (1 Nephi 8:26). Lehi observed that the building was filled with men and women of all ages who wore elaborate, fine clothing and mocked and pointed their fingers at those who had come to the tree to partake of its fruit. The scoffing from those in the great and spacious building caused all who heeded them to feel ashamed, “and they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost” (1 Nephi 8:27–28).

Lehi saw others who “fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree” after having pressed forward along the path while “continually holding fast to the rod of iron” (1 Nephi 8:30). Lehi seems to have included himself and the other righteous members of his family among this group, noting that they also experienced the ridicule of those in the great and spacious building — but, he said, “we heeded them not” (1 Nephi 8:33).

In addition to those making their way to the path toward the tree, many others neglected the path altogether and instead sought after the great and spacious building. Although a large multitude entered into it, not all who journeyed toward the building were able to get there. Many of those pursuing the great and spacious building became lost from Lehi’s view as they wandered down “strange roads,

This is an Interpreter Radio Roundtable for Come, Follow Me Book of Mormon Lesson 22, “Have Ye Experienced This Mighty Change in Your Hearts?,” on Alma 5-7. The panelists for this roundtable were Neal Rappleye, Jasmine Rappleye and Hales Swift. This roundtable was extracted from the May 3, 2020 broadcast of Interpreter Radio. The complete show may be heard at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreter-radio-show-may-3-2020/. The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640, or you can listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com. Call in to 801-254-1640 with your questions and comments during the live show.

The Interpreter Radio Show is a weekly discussion of matters of interest to the hosts, guests, and callers of the show. The views expressed on the Interpreter Radio Show are those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Interpreter Foundation, nor should statements made on the show be construed as official doctrinal statements of the Church.

 

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This series is cross-posted with the permission of Book of Mormon Central

from their website at Pearl of Great Price Central

Listen to an audio recording of this Essay:

  Download PDF

  Download audio recording

 

 

Some of the most remarkable ancient affinities with the Book of Moses’ are found within Mandaean scripture. In this article, we will explore two examples: 1. Enoch’s power over the elements, and 2. Enoch’s divine protection. First, a little background on the Mandaeans.

The Mandaeans

Whereas early scholarship looked to the pre-Christian era for the origins of the Mandaeans as a distinct community, more recent studies point to their beginnings as a first-century “Jewish baptismal group somewhere in Palestine or Syria, perhaps in the Jordan valley. Later this religious group seems to have become heretic[al] from the orthodox Jewish point of view,” [2] and moved north-eastwards, eventually settling in today’s southern Iraq and southwestern Iran. Tragically, “turmoil in the Persian Gulf region has created a growing Mandaean diaspora. … Out of the over 60,000 Mandaeans in Iraq in the early 1990s, only about 5,000 to 7,000 remain there.”[3] In light of this scattering and scarcity of clergy, the very survival of this ancient religious community is in jeopardy.[4]

The Mandaeans are best known for their high regard for the teachings of John the Baptist, as found in their own scriptures. They are also known for their disdain for the figure of Jesus in the Christian tradition. Latter-day Saints will find particular interest in Mandaean teachings and practices pertaining to religious ordinances, including rituals related to baptism and heavenly ascent. Despite their probable post-Christian origins as a separate people, Hugh Nibley sees the “whole Mandaean ritual complex with its endless washings, garments, ritual meals, embraces, grips and crownings [as being] reminiscent of the Egyptian endowment, and Drower, the principal authority on the subject, long ago called attention to the common prehistoric origin of both.”[5] Richard Thomas argues for a connection to Palestinian baptist sects and the pre-exilic Israelite temple cult.[6] Edwin Yamauchi, who argued persuasively that, in contrast to mainstream scholarship, the Mandaean movement originated in the East and no earlier than the first centuries of the Christian era, nevertheless agreed with other researchers who saw the roots of their mythology and ritual in ancient Mesopotamian religion.[7]

Mandaean scripture speaks extensively about divine messengers (‘uthras) who have been sent to help and teach humankind. In the preeminent position is Manda d-Hiia (Knowledge of Life), followed by three “brothers … sometimes seen as belonging in three different generations”[8]: Hibil [Abel, son of Adam], Sitil [Seth, son of Adam], and Anosh [Enosh, son of Seth]. In Mandaean scripture, these three messengers are sent down from the “Lightworld” in the beginning to instruct Adam and Eve in the ordinances and in prayer.