The Interpreter Foundation Podcast

The Interpreter Foundation Podcast

The Interpreter Foundation is a nonprofit educational organization focused on the scriptures of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price, the Bible, and the Doctrine and Covenants), early LDS history, and related subjects. Publications in Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture are peer-reviewed and all publications are made available as free internet downloads or through at-cost print-on-demand services.

  1. VOR 19 STD.

    Alma or Mormon? The Voice of Alma 29

    Abstract: For more than a century, Alma 29 has been read as a direct quotation from the prophet Alma. Yet, unlike every other extended quotation in Mormon’s record, this passage lacks attribution, framing, or transition. This anomaly has gone largely unnoticed because of a chapter break, added in 1879, that masks the continuity of Mormon’s voice from Alma 28 into chapter 29. This paper challenges the traditional attribution and argues that Alma 29 is more likely Mormon’s editorial reflection than Alma’s psalm. While the study focuses on Alma 1–29, the editorial patterns it identifies—Mormon’s consistent use of speaker attribution, narrative framing, and formal introductions to quoted speech—hold true across his entire abridgment. Alma 29, if understood as Alma’s psalm, would stand out as the sole exception, with no introduction to mark a change in speaker. Close attention to verb tense usage, narrative posture, and thematic continuity with Alma 28, together with the prophetic vocabulary Mormon uses elsewhere, suggests that these words reflect Mormon’s own meditation. Attributing Alma 29 to Mormon reframes the chapter as the theological culmination of his editorial design. Mormon situates his record within a prophetic chain stretching from Joseph in Egypt, through Nephi, to his own day. His repeated use of “my brethren” reflects covenant kinship rather than contemporaneity, and his testimony of a “holy calling” reveals a prophet who, even in an age of societal collapse, experienced his own quiet triumph in saving souls. The post Alma or Mormon? The Voice of Alma 29 first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.

    2 Std. 13 Min.
  2. 13. FEB.

    Epiphanies and Reasonings: Compatibility between Evolutionary Biology and Divine Creation

    Review of Samuel T. Wilkinson, Purpose: What Evolution and Human Nature Imply About the Meaning of Our Existence (New York: Pegasus Books, 2024). 338 pages. $29.95 (hardback). Abstract: Many believers in God are troubled by assertions that the theory of evolution means life on earth is accidental and has no purpose. Additionally, some people worry that the theory’s implied selfishness and “survival of the fittest” mantra have terrible implications for human society. Samuel T. Wilkinson’s book Purpose is a thoughtful addition to the literature corroborating compatibility between creation by God and the theory of evolution. Evolution has a random component, but the critical selection step is non-random. Moreover, the process is iterative. As evidence for non-randomness, Wilkinson cites convergent evolution (where similar traits emerged in divergent organisms). Numerous examples suggest that natural selection has limited choices, not infinite or random possibilities as was once thought. Wilkinson discusses how human behavior and evolution imply that life has purpose. These purposes are compatible with teachings embraced by diverse believers in God. Behavioral studies strongly suggest human beings evolved to have both good and evil natures and to have ultimate happiness in loving family relationships. Such relationships build good lives and societies. Facilitating all of this, natural selection appears to occur at individual, kin, and group levels. When combined with the observation that we can freely choose, our dual nature suggests that this life is a test. For Wilkinson and others, harmony between faith in God and evolutionary theory came through epiphanies and by reasoning. These experiences increased their faith in God. Amid difficulties, persisting with faith is rewarded. The post Epiphanies and Reasonings: Compatibility between Evolutionary Biology and Divine Creation first appeared on The Interpreter Foundation.

    37 Min.

Info

The Interpreter Foundation is a nonprofit educational organization focused on the scriptures of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price, the Bible, and the Doctrine and Covenants), early LDS history, and related subjects. Publications in Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture are peer-reviewed and all publications are made available as free internet downloads or through at-cost print-on-demand services.

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