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Book Review: The Joseph Smith Papers Documents, Volume 12: March-July 1843

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Available in the FAIR bookstore

This volume of the Joseph Smith Papers contains 96 representative documents from the period of March – July 1841. During this time period, Joseph continued having legal problems with Missouri, the Kinderhook Plates were found, he led the Nauvoo Legion, construction continued on the Nauvoo House and temple, and he taught about the temple, eternal marriage, and plural marriage. Meanwhile Nauvoo continued to grow, and the church grew outside of Nauvoo and outside of the United States.

One document that I thought showed an interesting side of Joseph Smith’s personality was a response to a letter he had received from Abraham Jonas of Columbus, Illinois, asking to borrow a cannon. He wanted it for use in celebrating the failure of the establishment of a new county. Joseph’s response was to grant permission, along with a note at the end saying “Five hund[r]ed cannons you should have if I had them” (page 112). [Read more…] about Book Review: The Joseph Smith Papers Documents, Volume 12: March-July 1843

Come, Follow Me Week 36 – Doctrine and Covenants 94-97

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by Cassandra Hedelius

In D&C 88, the Lord instructed Joseph that the School of the Prophets should always begin with a striking demonstration of affection between the participants:

“[L]et the teacher arise, and, with uplifted hands to heaven, yea, even directly, salute his brother or brethren with these words:

“Art thou a brother or brethren? I salute you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, in token or remembrance of the everlasting covenant, in which covenant I receive you to fellowship, in a determination that is fixed, immovable, and unchangeable, to be your friend and brother through the grace of God in the bonds of love, to walk in all the commandments of God blameless, in thanksgiving, forever and ever. Amen.” (D&C 88:132-133) [Read more…] about Come, Follow Me Week 36 – Doctrine and Covenants 94-97

Come, Follow Me Week 33 – Doctrine and Covenants 88

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By René Krywult

In September 1832 Joseph Smith received D&C 84, which talks about the oath and covenant of the Priesthood, about receiving the Son and the Father, and about the necessity of the ordinances of the Melchizedek Priesthood in order to see God and live. Also, a command to build a temple was issued. In December, these temple topics were deepened, when Joseph and nine high priests “assembled in the translating room in Kirtland”.

The connection to the temple starts with the description Joseph gave to this section, saying this revelation was “plucked from the Tree of Paradise”, from the Garden of Eden, and it is evident in D&C 109, the inspired prayer of dedication for the Kirtland temple, which “drew liberally on section 88.” (https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/historical-context/dc-88/) [Read more…] about Come, Follow Me Week 33 – Doctrine and Covenants 88

Come, Follow Me Week 26 – Doctrine and Covenants 67-70

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D&C 67: Four Steps to Rend the Veil and See God

By Jasmin Gimenez Rappleye

Doctrine and Covenants 67 addresses the printing of Joseph Smith’s revelations, but it more fundamentally narrows in on the source of the revelations: the presence of God. In November 1831, while discussing the printing of the Book of Commandments, some of the elders questioned the unpolished and sometimes abrasive language of the revelations. Joseph Smith promised the elders that they could receive a testimony of the revelations for themselves. When the elders tried to receive this revelation and failed, the Lord taught them how to rend the veil and approach God. Joseph had predicted that if the Saints could all “come together with one heart and one mind in perfect faith the vail might as well be rent to day as next week or any other time.” [1] [Read more…] about Come, Follow Me Week 26 – Doctrine and Covenants 67-70

“We Will Still Weep for Zion”:[1] War and Wealth

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Post 7 of 9

by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw

For more information on the book, visit https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/

This is the seventh of nine weekly blog posts published in honor of the life and work of Hugh Nibley (1910–2005). The series is in honor of the new, landmark book, Hugh Nibley Observed, available in softcover, hardback, digital, and audio editions. Each week our post is accompanied by interviews and insights in pdf, audio, and video formats. (See the links at the end of this post.)

The German class at Camp Ritchie, Maryland. Hugh Nibley is the second person on the left in the last row.[2]

War

In Alex Nibley’s superb documentary history of his father’s wartime years, he shares Hugh’s account of his departure from Claremont Colleges. Having enjoyed a good relationship as a professor with the university president, Hugh rued the arrival of the new pharaoh[3] after the president died: “He didn’t like Mormons. He said, ‘You know, you are not one of us.’ I could feel the tension growing, so I left. I said, well this certainly justifies me in pursuing a patriotic duty.”[4] Elsewhere Alex continues the story:[5] [Read more…] about “We Will Still Weep for Zion”:[1] War and Wealth

FAIR Voice Podcast #29: Don Bradley on The Lost 116 Pages

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Don Bradley, is an author and independent historian of religion specializing in the beginnings of the Restoration. He completed a Bachelor’s in History at BYU and a Master’s in History at Utah State University, where he wrote his thesis on “American Proto-Zionism and the ‘Book of Lehi’: Recontextualizing the Rise of Mormonism.” Don has performed an internship with the Joseph Smith Papers Project working with the earliest Joseph Smith sources. He was the primary researcher for Brian C. Hales’s Joseph Smith’s Polygamy series. He has published on the translation of the Book of Mormon, plural marriage, Joseph Smith’s “grand fundamental principles of Mormonism,” the Kinderhook plates, and early Latter Day Saint understandings of the New Jerusalem. His first book is The Lost 116 Pages: Reconstructing the Book of Mormon’s Missing Stories (Greg Kofford Books, 2019), and he is currently completing a book on Oliver Cowdery as revelator and translator. He lives in Springville, Utah.

Hanna Seariac is a MA student in Greek and Latin at Brigham Young University. She works as a research assistant on a biblical commentary and as a research assistant on early Latter-day Saint history. Her interests thematically center around sacrifice, magic, and priesthood as it pertains to ancient Judaism, early Christianity, ancient Egyptian religion, and early Restoration history. She values Jesus Christ, family, friends, hiking, baking, and good ice cream.

FairMormon Conference Podcast #59 – Elder Kim B. Clark, “Seek the Lord Jesus Christ”

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This podcast series features past FairMormon Conference presentations. This presentation is from our 2020 conference, held earlier this month. If you would like to watch all the presentations from our 2020 conference, you can still purchase the video streaming.

Elder Kim B. Clark, Seeking Jesus Christ

The transcript and video are available here.

Kim ClarkElder Kim B. Clark was sustained as a General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 4, 2015. He was released on October 5, 2019. During his time in the Seventy he served as the Commissioner of the Church Educational System. At the time of his call, Elder Clark was serving as the president of BYU-Idaho.

Elder Clark received a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University. He joined the faculty of the Harvard Business School in 1978 and was named dean of that school in 1995. In 2005 he became president of BYU-Idaho. Elder Clark currently serves as the NAC Professor of Management at the BYU Marriott School of Business.

Kim Bryce Clark was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on March 20, 1949. He married Sue Lorraine Hunt in June 1971. They are the parents of seven children, and grandparents of 26 grandchildren.

 

Book Review: The Joseph Smith Papers, Documents, Vol. 10: May – August 1842

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Available from the FairMormon Bookstore

Nauvoo is getting busy. This volume contains 623 pages but covers only a four month timespan. Two of the biggest things that happened were the excommunication of John C. Bennett and rumors of Joseph Smith’s involvement in an assassination attempt on Lilburn W. Boggs. When Bennett left Nauvoo, Joseph became the mayor which made him even busier. For further context, this time period is covered in pages 453 – 477 of Saints, Voume. 1.

This volume features 105 documents out of nearly 400 available for this time period. Other documents are available at the Joseph Smith Papers website. However, as always, the footnotes and editorial information on each document make the book well worth having. Some of the items featured in the book are Nauvoo city scrip signed by Joseph Smith, a poem written by Eliza R. Snow for Joseph Smith, and the only known revelation giving instructions for performing a plural marriage. There are also notes from a number of sermons he gave. [Read more…] about Book Review: The Joseph Smith Papers, Documents, Vol. 10: May – August 1842

Interpreting Scripture, History, Science, and Creation

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Ben Spackman is a Latter-day Saint scholar who works in American religious history, history of science, and Biblical interpretation. He is writing a dissertation at Claremont on LDS creationism/evolution conflict in the 20th century, and has spoken at the FairMormon Conference in 2017 and 2019. This is cross-posted at his site, BenSpackman.com

May 4th holds significance in LDS history: it’s the day Joseph Smith introduced temple ordinances in the upper room of the red brick store in 1842. The temple ties together a number of questions, like: [Read more…] about Interpreting Scripture, History, Science, and Creation

Book Review: The Rise of the Latter-day Saints: The Journals and Histories of Newel Knight

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Available from the FairMormon Bookstore

Newel Knight lived from September 13, 1800 to January 11, 1847. He met Joseph Smith in 1826 and remained close friends with him until Joseph’s death. He was directly involved in some of the early events in church history, so his autobiography and journals are valuable to historians. However, these have only been available in manuscript form, in several different versions, which have made them difficult to use. This book amalgamates them in a coherent form and provides a transcription that can be better understood and cited.

The book splits Knight’s writing into five parts, covering different chronological periods of his life. Each section has an introduction with a biographical summary. Editorial remarks are given in footnotes, and spelling and punctuation are generally retained, except in cases where the editors felt clarification was necessary (which to me seemed inconsistent, and in at least one case, possibly incorrect[1]).

There are many things included that are important, such as a letter from Joseph Smith that has not been published in the Joseph Smith Papers Project, Christ’s appearance in the Kirtland Temple[2], many accounts of healings, the aftermath of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, and the exodus from Nauvoo. Despite his human imperfections, Knight comes to life as a role model worth emulating with his tremendous faith, even during discouragement, and always remembering to be grateful for the blessings that followed.

I found this particular episode of 1839 in Nauvoo to be very interesting, involving his wife Lydia: [Read more…] about Book Review: The Rise of the Latter-day Saints: The Journals and Histories of Newel Knight