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March 2020

Celebrating the Restoration Day 3: Differences and Similarities in the First Vision Accounts

Image from Ask of God: Joseph Smith's First Vision. Image via ChurchofJesusChrist.org
Submitted by Jack Welch on April 1, 2020.
The article for today goes farther than any other publication in analyzing the elements mentioned by Joseph Smith in his accounts of his First Vision. The chapter below builds on an article published in 1970 by Professor James B. Allen in the official Church magazine, The Improvement Era. This chapter discusses in detail how the differences in these accounts can be understood. A first...

Celebrating the Restoration Day 2: Accounts of the First Vision

The Sacred Grove. Photo by Ken Lund via Flickr.
Submitted by Jack Welch on March 31, 2020.
How many accounts of Joseph Smith's First Vision in 1820 are there? Their sheer number can make things confusing. But the below article by Dean C. Jessee can be very helpful in answering this question. Reading the full texts of this whole collection of First Vision accounts was for me a powerful spiritual experience. The impact of these original writings is immeasurable. I recommend reading them...

Celebrating the Restoration Day 1: Seeing the Hand of God in History

Figure of Christ by Heinrich Hoffman and Portrait of Joseph Smith likely by William Warner Major. Images via Wikmedia Commons.
Submitted by Jack Welch on March 30, 2020.
Twenty-five years ago, I was deeply struck, seeing up close many striking details present in the rise of Christianity two thousand years ago with parallels in the rise of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ two hundred years ago. At that time, I was teaching a course at BYU on Masada and the world of the New Testament. At the same, I was editing BYU Studies and Church history...

Ancient Perspectives on Enos, Jarom, Omni, and Words of Mormon

Digital Paintings of Enos, Jarom, Omni, and Words of Mormon by Normandy Poulter and the BYU Virtual Scriptures Group.
Submitted by Neal Rappleye on March 26, 2020.
Cross-posted from Studio et Quoque Fide. This week for Come, Follow Me , we study the short series of books filling in the gap between Nephi and Jacob (both members of the founding generation of Nephites) and King Benjamin (who reigned about 476 years after Lehi left Jerusalem). Naturally, we would all love to have more information about this period in between. It’s impossible...

ScripturePlus now available on Amazon Kindle

Screen of ScripturePlus on Amazon kindle showing Mosiah 1 and Jacob 5
Submitted by Scripture Central on March 19, 2020.
Book of Mormon Central is very pleased to announce that ScripturePlus is now available for download for Amazon Kindle devices , in addition to Android and iOS . Our development team has been working very hard to be able to release this app to the rest of our audience. With home-centered church, deeply engaging with the scriptures is more important than ever before. We hope that users of all ages...

Podcast episode on Nephi’s Temple

Aerial view of Tel Motza and drawing of Nephi's Temple by Jody Livingston.
Submitted by Stephen Smoot on March 18, 2020.
Cross-posted from Book of Mormon History . In this new episode of the Book of Mormon History podcast, BMC associate Stephen Smoot discusses the new archaeological discovery of an ancient temple within four miles of Jerusalem with independent Book of Mormon researcher Joshua Gehly. Stephen provides his reasons for a historical approach to the Book of Mormon and...

A Step-by-Step Guide to Help Make Home-Centered Church Easier During the Coronavirus

Family Scripture Study. Image via Church of Jesus Christ Gospel Media Library
Submitted by Jasmin Gimenez on March 13, 2020.
Because The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has temporarily suspended all church meetings , we would love to offer a few suggestions on how you can better worship as individuals and families at home. We are grateful to have a prophet of God on the earth today to lead, guide, and prepare disciples of Jesus Christ. In the October 2018 General Conference , President Nelson prophetically...

How “Saints” and Jacob’s Teachings Can Help Contextualize Polygamy

Detail of Courageous Daughters in Mosiah 18 by James Fullmer.
Submitted by Stephen Smoot on March 10, 2020.
The second chapter of the book of Jacob in the Book of Mormon contains the only explicit teaching about polygamy in the Nephite record. Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord. Wherefore, thus saith the Lord, I have led this people forth out of the land of Jerusalem, by the power of mine arm, that I might raise up unto me...

Church Releases Trailer for Next Season in Book of Mormon Videos Series: Mosiah - Alma

Soldiers in King Noah's court. Image via Churchofjesuschrist.org
Submitted by Daniel Smith on March 6, 2020.
The trailer for season three of the Book of Mormon videos was released today! The new season, which is planned to begin on March 13 th , will include from Mosiah through Alma. Like the last two seasons, a new video will be released every Friday until May 15 (except for Conference and Easter weekend). This new season includes some of the most favorite stories from the Book of Mormon including King...

5 Insights into Temples from Nephi’s Final Teachings (2 Nephi 31-33)

Temple of Solomon via ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Photograph of Salt Lake City Temple via Wikimedia Commons.
Submitted by Jasmin Gimenez on March 4, 2020.
Nephi concludes his record with stirring and profound pleadings to his readers to follow the necessary steps to obtain eternal life. Nephi teaches in 2 Nephi 31–33 about baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, prayer, repentance, and enduring to the end. However, some scholars have pointed out that Nephi may be using these principles of the gospel to underscore sacred principles and teachings of the...