The Interpreter Foundation Podcast

Review of Avram R. Shannon and Kerry Hull, eds., A Hundredth Part: Exploring the History and Teachings of the Book of Mormon (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2023). 374 pages, $29.99 (hardback).

Abstract: This volume collects papers published in multiple venues over a wide time span. A diligent researcher might find all of them, but that difficult search has been done. The included papers represent multiple ways of approaching the Book of Mormon and therefore provide the reader with a rounded perspective on how and why a careful reading should be done.

A Hundredth Part collects articles and papers that have been previously published under the auspices of the Religious Studies Department of Brigham Young University. The benefit for the reader isn’t that this is new information but that it is doubly curated. First, it was originally accepted for publication after peer review. Second, the editors of the volume selected each of the articles from those available. Thus, this becomes a focused look at a range of topics related to the Book of Mormon. The selected articles were published in various books and magazines, from 1991 to 2021. Pulling them into a single volume makes important research available to a much wider audience. With the approaching Come, Follow Me year focusing on the Book of Mormon, this volume opens up a deeper and wider vista on the complexity of the Book of Mormon.

The editors declare in their introduction, “The authors’ contributions in the present volume approach the Book of Mormon from a variety of perspectives and approaches. This variety, in and of itself, speaks to the richness and the depth of the Book of Mormon record and to the value [Page 54]that can be found in an in-depth study of this important book” (p. x). The editors categorize the contributions into the following categories:

* Doctrinal Contributions

* Church and Priesthood

* Cultural Contributions and Close Readings

* Post-Book of Mormon Readings of the Text

Prior to the articles that are categorized under these headings comes one that does not fall under any of the categories but deserves its place as the introductory article.

“The Historicity of the Book of Mormon” (President Dallin H. Oaks)

Some read the Book of Mormon as an inspiring collection of wonderful teachings that has no connection to a real people with a real history. President Oaks writes in direct contradiction of that premise. “The historicity — historical authenticity — of the Book of Mormon is an issue so fundamental that it rests first upon faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, which is the first principle in this, as in all other matters” (p. 2).

President Oaks does not present evidence of historicity, but rather a discussion of the logic of the investigation and to what ends it might lead. Doubtless a result of his training in law, President Oaks examines positions and possibilities. He provides a useful summary of his important points in his conclusion:

In this message I have offered some thoughts on matters relating to the historicity of the Book of Mormon.

* On this subject, as on so many others involving our faith and theology, it is important to rely on faith and revelation as well as scholarship.

* I am convinced that secular evidence can neither prove nor disprove the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.

* Those who deny the historicity of the Book of Mormon have the difficult task of trying to prove a negative. They also have the awkward duty of explaining how they can dismiss the Book of Mormon as a fable while still praising some of its contents.

* We know from the Bible that Jesus taught His apostles that in the important matter of His own identity and mission they were “blessed” for relying [Page 55]on the witness of revelation (“the things that be of God”),

The book of Ruth easily lends itself to an allegorical interpretation, which corresponds in many ways to the endowment. Ruth, typifying any individual or Israel as a whole, undertakes and completes a journey to the Lord, typified by Boaz, the kinsman-redeemer. Ruth goes from emptiness/famine and the bitterness of family death to fulness and renewed family. As Ruth demonstrates obedience, initiative, and creativity, her ever strengthening relationship with Boaz (kinsman-redeemer) is betokened by intermittent gifts of food/grain (word of God, spiritual nourishment) from Boaz, which go beyond the requirements of the law. Finally, after washing, anointing, and putting on special clothing and under the cover of a night-veil Ruth achieves union with Boaz, the kinsman-redeemer. Afterwards, Boaz makes sure there is no legal claim to prevent his marriage to Ruth, Ruth brings forth a son, and she is acclaimed a mother in Israel.

Presented at:

2020 Temple on Mount Zion ConferenceSaturday, November 7, 2020https://interpreterfoundation.org/conferences/2020-temple-on-mount-zion-conference/

Conference Proceedings:

The Temple: Past, Present and Future at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/the-temple-past-present-and-future/

Listen to an audio recording of this talk:

  Download audio recording

 

 

Transcript

 

In the October 8th Come, Follow Me segment of the Interpreter Radio Show, our hosts Terry Hutchinson, John Gee, and Kevin Christensen, with special guest Malcolm Adcock, discuss New Testament lesson 45, “Jesus Christ, ‘the Author of Eternal Salvation’” covering Hebrews 1-6.

You can listen to or download the New Testament in Context segment of the October 8 broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show below. It will also be included in our podcast feed (https://interpreterfoundation.org/feeds/podcast). The other segments of the October 8 radio show can be accessed at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreter-radio-show-october-8-2023.

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.

 

Original air date: October 8, 2023. 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.

 

 

In this episode of The Interpreter Radio Show, our hosts are Terry Hutchinson, John Gee, and Kevin Christensen, with special guest Malcolm Adcock. They discuss Come, Follow Me New Testament lesson 45, tithing, and Malcolm’s new book, The Latter-day Saint Image in the British Mind, coauthored with Fred E. Woods. You can listen to or download the October 8th broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show below. These audio tracks are also included in our podcast feed (https://interpreterfoundation.org/feeds/podcast).

The “New Testament in Context” portion of this show, for the Come, Follow Me New Testament lesson 45, “Jesus Christ, ‘the Author of Eternal Salvation’” on Hebrews 1–6, will also be posted separately on Tuesday, October 24.

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.

Original air date: October 8, 2023. These recording have been edited to remove commercial breaks.

The New Testament in Context Lesson 45: “Jesus Christ, ‘the Author of Eternal Salvation’” on Hebrews 1–6

Gospel Advocacy: Tithing

Podcast: Download

Discussion: The Latter-day Saint Image in the British Mind by Malcolm Adcock and Fred E. Woods

Podcast: Download

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.

 

Abstract: This article examines the treatment of several personages identified as Hamites in the Book of Abraham. It proposes that, in contrast to traditional readings of the text, Hamites are featured positively in the Book of Abraham. This is particularly true of the daughters of Onitah and of Pharaoh himself, both of whom are presented as righteous people practicing an early form of monotheism. While I do not claim that the Book of Abraham is completely free of elements possibly deemed to be racially problematic, until now, the positive depiction of the Hamites in the text has largely been overlooked.

It has become in vogue as of late to attack the Restoration by attacking the Book of Abraham (hereafter BoA). One sees this in the recent CES Letter published by Jeremy Runnells and in the frequent discussions of the BoA from numerous critics of the Latter-day Saint faith.1 While most of these arguments against the BoA have been thoroughly rebutted by Latter-day Saint scholars,2 one argument that has not received adequate [Page 34]attention is the charge that the BoA is an explicitly racist, particularly anti-black racist, document.3 John Dehlin, for example, makes this contention in several of his online presentations.4

Scholars who have acknowledged this concern take two positions. The first is that those passages in the BoA that appear to have racist content were not original to the text. This is the view taken by Dan Vogel in his work Book of Abraham Apologetics.5 He argues that the passages referring to a priesthood curse and traditionally applied to black persons of African descent in the history of interpretation were themselves interpolations made by W. W.

A number of passages in the Hebrew Bible describe the temple and its iconography. Two of the features of the temple are the presence of cherubim and seraphim. These were well known to the writers of the Bible, but the images that spring to the modern western mind are probably not correct. I will demonstrate what the ancient iconography of these figures was and how we know that this is correct.

Presented at:

2020 Temple on Mount Zion ConferenceSaturday, November 7, 2020https://interpreterfoundation.org/conferences/2020-temple-on-mount-zion-conference/

Conference Proceedings:

The Temple: Past, Present and Future at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/the-temple-past-present-and-future/

Listen to an audio recording of this talk:

  Download audio recording

 

 

Transcript

 

In the October 1st Come, Follow Me segment of the Interpreter Radio Show, our hosts Spencer Kraus, Hales Swift, Brent Schmidt, and Martin Tanner discuss New Testament lesson 44, “Be Thou an Example of the Believers” covering 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon.

You can listen to or download the New Testament in Context segment of the October 1 broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show below. It will also be included in our podcast feed (https://interpreterfoundation.org/feeds/podcast). The other segments of the October 1 radio show can be accessed at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreter-radio-show-october-1-2023.

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.

 

Original air date: October 1, 2023. 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.