Winter 1996
The Winter 1996 Issue examines theological and historical aspects of Jesus’ life, scriptural interpretations, and religious themes within a broader cultural context. John P. Meier addresses historical perspectives on the miracles of Jesus, while Bruce Chilton explores Jesus’ disputes in the temple and possible connections to the Eucharist's origins. Todd Compton interprets the parable of the loving father and judgmental son, offering insights into themes of mercy and judgment. Mark D. Thomas considers how the Bible is integrated into the Book of Mormon, reflecting on its role in a countercultural religious mosaic. Clyde R. Forsberg, Jr. examines how popular literature in antebellum America shaped scriptural perceptions. A roundtable discussion with Todd Compton, Paul Edwards, and others delves into the intersections of scripture, history, and faith. Douglas Campbell’s “White” or “Pure” presents five short reflections, and Vincent C. Rampton’s “The Fire of God” contemplates the divine.
Once upon a time, down Mexico way—actually down in San Diego in 1988—an unsuspecting editor from Doubleday offered me a contract to write a book on the historical Jesus for the Anchor Bible Reference Library…
Critical discussion of Jesus throughout the modern period has been stumped by a single, crucial question. Anyone who has read the Gospels knows that Jesus was a skilled teacher, a rabbi in the parlance of…
Recently I taught the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) in priesthood meeting and was, as always, impressed by its beauty, simplicity, and profundity. It seemed to me as if this was the central…
Dialogue 29.4 (Winter 1998):59–83
THE BOOK OF MORMON HAS OCCASIONALLY been portrayed as a deficient
first novel. Its characters appear flat and stereotypical; the plots and characters seem to lack moral subtlety; and so on. Should we wonder that today’s high literary circles ignore it?
To express a belief in more or less than what Christians consider to be scripture has rarely evoked a tolerant or sympathetic response.[1] “Of the Holy Scriptures/’ the Westminster Confession of Faith says, “nothing at…
Participants
Todd Compton: Ph.D., classics, University of California, Los Angeles. Dean, Graduate Studies, Park College, Independence, Missouri; Director, Temple School Center, Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Independence, Missouri.
Steven Epperson: Assistant Professor of History, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, specializing in American religious history and history of Christian doctrine.
Mark D. Thomas: Scriptural Studies Editor, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought.
Margaret Toscano: Ph.D. candidate, comparative literature, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.
David P. Wright: Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near East, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts.
Dialogue 29.4 (Winter 1996): 119–135
The Book of Mormon variously uses “white” and “pure” in the same verse in different editions. This article traces the history of those changes, who was behind them, and why.
For many members of the LDS church, the word “testimony” calls up images stretched over a lifetime: fervent declarations uttered in half darkness around waning campfires, quiet successions of stories and assurances in sunwashed chapels,…
[1]It is time to resurrect W. H. Chamberlin. Chamberlin lived the life of an intellectual and spiritual pilgrim. With little money he filled a mission to the Society Islands and later served as mission president…
Over the years Lavina Fielding Anderson’s friendship and approval have helped me understand I am a real, if irregular, Mormon. It is therefore ironic that she, who believes so devoutly, has been excommunicated while I…
Johnny take a walk With your sister the moon Let her pale light in To fill up your room You’ve been living underground Eating from a can You’ve been running away from what you don’t understand U2, “Mysterious Ways” Sister Alice Dallon…
All winter and into spring Charlie Sutton tended his wife as best he could. It was awkward from the start, knowing that the outcome was never really in doubt. The cancer that Bettie defeated six…
Eden was a winter
when gods skated the earth.
They’d warm themselves by the fires
that lit the man-high snowbanks
Neither masculine nor feminine a powerful
androgyny like wind surrounding shoulders
of a crowd, drawing in, along, persuasive as scent.
Tonight I wear your dress
like a shell to my most graceless springing.
The brown velvet shimmers with the folds
and the tucks hang like loosely gathered wind,
Painted on the wall behind the seats where choir sings
See the shining figure in a steep green wood
Angel wears a shirtwaist robe, fabric wing as thin as filament
He looks downslope where Joseph kneels, treasure spread in dirt
Cheek to pillow I slide my scalp up
away from my ear the way I lifted the mother of pearl stem on the
silver lid
that closed and opened to disappear under itself
In the dark,
a cat will fly on rain-slicked blacktop
like a bat,
hydroplaning, flicking malevolence sideways
out of fluorescent eyes.
What are the greatest books ever written within Mormonism? Without question, one would name Jesus the Christ and The Articles of Faith by James E. Talmage. Alternatively, one might think of Evidences and Reconciliations by John…
Book of Mormon criticism is entering an era envisioned by hypertext pioneer Vannevar Bush in 1945 in which [w]holly new forms of encyclopedias will appear, ready-made with a mesh of associative trails running through them…
