The Interpreter Foundation Podcast

Why did a people preparing to abandon Nauvoo still finish the temple and receive their endowment?

What did it cost ordinary Saints to complete the temple, and what does that sacrifice say to modern people who have a temple nearby?

The post Becoming Brigham Episode 38: Sacred Sacrifice: The Nauvoo Exodus first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.

Review of Alan Goff, A Stop to the Shedding of Blood: The Book of Mormon, Violence, and the Sacred (Draper, UT: Common Consent Press, 2025). 427 pages. $18.95 (paperback).

Abstract: Alan Goff’s new book, A Stop to the Shedding of Blood, is a valuable reading of the Book of Mormon with and against René Girard’s theories of imitative violence and scapegoating. He provides helpful introduction to the work of Girard, engages Latter-day Saint scholars such as Eugene England and Mack Stirling who have drawn on Girard, and provides his own readings of many Book of Mormon stories. While he respects and admires Girard, he takes the position that Girard’s theories on violence should be treated as useful tools in many situations, but not an absolute that applies to all situations.

The post René Girard, Violence, and the Book of Mormon first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.

Why did Brigham finish a temple he already knew they were going to abandon—and what does that decision say about Brigham Young as Joseph Smith’s successor?

Why did the same Illinois neighbors who once sheltered the Saints later tell them their mere presence was the problem?

The post Becoming Brigham Episode 37: Until the Last Stone: Temple under Fire first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.

This episode of Conversations with Interpreter is part one in a three-part series where we speak with Jeffrey M. Bradshaw on Isaiah 53, one of the most important chapters for understanding Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. However, as with much of Isaiah, this chapter can be somewhat obscure to our modern understanding. This chapter describes a servant of God who seems to suffer on behalf of others. In this conversation we look at Isaiah 53 in connection with the other Servant Songs of Isaiah and discuss ways in which this chapter has been interpreted, including a discussion of its importance in Christian understanding on the mission of Jesus Christ.

The post Conversations with Interpreter: Jeff Bradshaw: The Interpretation of the Righteous Servant in Isaiah 53 — Part 1 first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.

Abstract: Alma 63, the concluding chapter of the book of Alma, displays a sophisticated literary structure that gives meaning and emphasis to events that might otherwise appear to be routine historical details. This paper proposes a six-element chiasm in Alma 63:1–11, framed by the transfer of sacred records and centered on large-scale Nephite migrations by ship to the land northward. Detailed verbal, thematic, and chronological correspondences among the paired elements support the possibility that Mormon purposefully constructed the arrangement. Applying established criteria for evaluating chiasmus, the analysis highlights the structure’s literary boundaries, symmetry, central focus, distinctive terminology, and relationship to the chronological framework of the chapter. The proposed chiasm also supports interpreting Alma 63:9 as a land migration and draws attention to the unusual function of verse 8. Additional literary features in Alma 63:12–17 include Donald Parry’s chiasm concerning the transmission and distribution of sacred records, an escalating progression of references to the thirty-ninth year, an inclusio framing the entire chapter, and textual links to Alma 37. Together, these features portray Mormon as a deliberate literary craftsman whose structural techniques reinforce historical developments, scriptural preservation, and the religious purpose of the Book of Mormon.

The post The Literary Structure of Alma 63 first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.

If the Saints would not leave without their endowment, how did Brigham try to both keep God’s promise and preserve their lives when Nauvoo was no longer safe?

Why did so many Saints follow a blunt, sometimes offensive Brigham Young into the wilderness—and what does that fact say to modern people whose faith is shaken by that history?

Brigham Young tells the Saints they must leave because it is no longer safe, but members refuse to go without the endowment they were promised. Brigham receives inspiration that they need to complete the temple before they depart for the West. Historian Brett Dowdle traces the westward idea back to Joseph as early as 1838, to Brigham’s March 1845 dream of a mountain refuge, and then Governor Thomas Ford’s April letter warning that the mobs were growing and that Illinois could not protect them. By late August Brigham tells the Saints they have a second goal besides finishing the temple: get ready to leave. Dowdle also addresses a question for people unsettled by Church history: Brigham was sharp-tongued and made enemies, yet most Saints still followed him to Utah and regarded him as a father-figure.

The post Becoming Brigham Episode 36: Abandoned Dream, New Hope first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.

Abstract: James E. Talmage, John A. Widtsoe, and Joseph F. Merrill brought unusually strong scientific training to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, joining the quorum between 1911 and 1931. Tracing their education, scientific work, publications, university leadership, and ecclesiastical service, this paper details how each combined intellectual rigor with religious commitment in distinctive ways. Talmage, a geologist, defended the compatibility of science and faith, accepted geologic time and biological evolution while qualifying human origins, and gained international recognition for his geological work and museum contributions. Widtsoe, trained in chemistry, became an influential agricultural scientist whose research on soils, irrigation, and dry farming achieved worldwide reach while he also helped shape higher education in Utah and Latter-day Saint thought. Merrill, a physicist by training, redirected much of his career toward education, becoming instrumental in developing the Church’s seminary and institute programs while consistently affirming science as a legitimate avenue to truth. Considered together, their careers illuminate the interplay of science, education, and religion in twentieth-century Latter-day Saint leadership, leaving open the broader question of how their scientific backgrounds may have influenced Church culture and policy.

The post Scientist Apostles first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.

What did Brigham’s letter to the daughter he left behind reveal about how he saw himself as a substitute “father” to the Church?

Why did the unfinished Nauvoo Temple become the sharpest dividing line between Brigham Young and Sidney Rigdon?

The post Becoming Brigham Episode 35: Why not Sidney Rigdon? first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.

In this episode of Conversations with Interpreter, Kevin L. Tolley speaks about his research into temple connections in Jacob’s sermon and especially with Jacob’s use of Isaiah. Dr. Tolley, who is a Coordinator for Seminary and Institutes, has been studying the idea of temples and temple themes in especially the Book of Isaiah, and the connection between the latter part of Isaiah and Psalms and priesthood. This paper, which was presented at a conference on the small plates held in early 2026 at Brigham Young University in Provo, UT, brings that research into conversation with the Book of Mormon. Jacob, Nephi’s brother, was a priest and he gives his famous sermon in 2 Nephi 6–10 at the temple in the land of Nephi. Dr. Tolley intriguingly connects Jacob’s use of Isaiah with his priestly and temple focus.

The post Conversations with Interpreter: Kevin Tolley: Temple Themes in Jacob’s Sermon in 2 Nephi first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.

Abstract: This paper explores the oath sworn by Akish and his followers in Ether 8:13–15 as a possible remnant of ancient Sumerian legal and religious tradition. It draws on comparative evidence from early Mesopotamian oath formulae, including the Vulture Stele of Lagash and other Sumerian contractual texts. The study proposes that the structure of the oath sworn “by the God of heaven, and also by the heavens, and also by the earth” reflects a triadic invocation pattern consistent with Sumerian invocations of An, Enlil, and Ki. Modern commentators have noted Moroni’s interpretive Christianization of the Jaredite record. This analysis suggests that, beneath that redaction, the oath preserves linguistic and theological elements traceable to a Mesopotamian origin. The comparison illuminates both the antiquity of Jaredite culture and the deep continuity between Near Eastern oath traditions and Book of Mormon narrative patterns visible in the first recorded formation of a secret combination.

The post Were the Jaredites Sumerians or Influenced by Them? Evidence from the Oath of Akish first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.