Since Cumorah

This four volume work, which was originally created as a university course, is a whole new approach to an advanced study of the Book of Mormon. In a sense, it is a private tutoring course. If the reader will concentrate on one verse at a time, drain the essential message from it, read any background material provided in the book by W. Cleon Skousen, and then apply the verse to his or her own life, they will be richly blessed. By this means, the reader will have a chance to absorb the message far more deeply and make the Book of Mormon a vital part of daily living. These books are easy to read and have proven highly popular with seminary students and those preparing for missions. They are also used as a family home evening course of study. Volume One covers 1 Nephi 1 to Jacob 7. This eBook includes the illustrations, footnotes, table of contents and page numbering from the printed format.

In the early 1800s, many people criticized the Prophet Joseph Smith for his prophecies and revelations; today, several evidences prove that Joseph was right. Michael Ash, a well-known LDS apologist, explains why it is useful, and perhaps even necessary, to combine reason with faith in our testimony of Joseph Smith. He reminds us that although secular evidences can't replace a spiritual witness, they can support a testimony and provide an atmosphere where a spiritual witness can flourish. Using scholarly journal articles and ancient Jewish and Christian writings, Ash provides evidences that show how the Book of Mormon is a true account of an ancient people, how LDS scriptures are consistent with the traditions and culture of ancient Israel, and how the doctrines of the Church accurately reflect the teachings of Christ. Ash writes clearly and simply, providing numerous resources to foster further study. With over 80 evidences, this book is an excellent resource for those seeking more information about Joseph Smith and his works.

This is volume 24 of Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture published by The Interpreter Foundation. It contains articles on a variety of topics including: "Looking Back, Almost Five Years On," "Deuteronomy 17:14–20 as Criteria for Book of Mormon Kingship," "Meeting Zoram," "Seers and Stones: The Translation of the Book of Mormon as Divine Visions of an Old-Time Seer," "Bare Record: The Nephite Archivist, The Record of Records, and the Book of Mormon Provenance," and "'By the Blood Ye Are Sanctified': The Symbolic, Salvific, Interrelated, Additive, Retrospective, and Anticipatory Nature of the Ordinances of Spiritual Rebirth in John 3 and Moses 6."

The story of the birth of the Religious Right is a familiar one. In the 1970s, mainly in response to Roe v. Wade, evangelicals and conservative Catholics put aside their longstanding historical prejudices and theological differences and joined forces to form a potent political movement that swept across the country. In this provocative book, Neil J. Young argues that almost none of this is true. Young offers an alternative history of the Religious Right that upends these widely-believed myths. Theology, not politics, defined the Religious Right. The rise of secularism, pluralism, and cultural relativism, Young argues, transformed the relations of America's religious denominations. The interfaith collaborations among liberal Protestants, Catholics, and Jews were met by a conservative Christian counter-force, which came together in a loosely bound, politically-minded coalition known as the Religious Right. This right-wing religious movement was made up of Mormons, conservative Catholics, and evangelicals, all of whom were united--paradoxically--by their contempt for the ecumenical approach they saw the liberal denominations taking. Led by the likes of Jerry Falwell, they deemed themselves the "pro-family" movement, and entered full-throated into political debates about abortion, school prayer, the Equal Rights Amendment, gay rights, and tax exemptions for religious schools. They would go on to form a critical new base for the Republican Party. Examining the religious history of interfaith dialogue among conservative evangelicals, Catholics, and Mormons, Young argues that the formation of the Religious Right was not some brilliant political strategy hatched on the eve of a history-altering election but rather the latest iteration of a religious debate that had gone on for decades. This path breaking book will reshape our understanding of the most important religious and political movement of the last 30 years.

Despite being the founding scripture of a prominent religion, the Book of Mormon has escaped the attention of world scholars. Why is this? Thomas asks. To date, most research, conducted almost exclusively by Latter-day Saints, has been aimed at reconstructing the book's historical origins rather than at interpreting its message. In a sense, this begs readers to take the book seriously.Thomas wants to see prejudice, on the one hand, and over-reverence, on the other, set aside, to see people approach the Book of Mormon on its own terms. He follows the current direction in biblical studies. In determining the intent of a passage, he considers narrative patterns and literary forms. He does so both sensitively and honestly. He says he writes for the non-believer as well as for believers -- for seekers of a lost world and for those who seek a new one -- those who may have misplaced their world somewhere along the way.

Stop looking for the Book of Mormon in Mesoamerica and start looking for Mesoamerica in the Book of Mormon! Second Witness, a new six-volume series from Greg Kofford Books, takes a detailed, verse-by-verse look at the Book of Mormon. It marshals the best of modern scholarship and new insights into a consistent picture of the Book of Mormon as a historical document. Taking a faithful but scholarly approach to the text and reading it through the insights of linguistics, anthropology, and ethnohistory, the commentary approaches the text from a variety of perspectives: how it was created, how it relates to history and culture, and what religious insights it provides. The commentary accepts the best modern scholarship, which focuses on a particular region of Mesoamerica as the most plausible location for the Book of Mormon’s setting. For the first time, that location—its peoples, cultures, and historical trends—are used as the backdrop for reading the text. The historical background is not presented as proof, but rather as an explanatory context. The commentary does not forget Mormon’s purpose in writing. It discusses the doctrinal and theological aspects of the text and highlights the way in which Mormon created it to meet his goal of “convincing . . . the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God.”