We build enduring faith in Jesus Christ by making the Book of Mormon accessible, comprehensible, and defensible to the entire world.
Mormon’s role as a historian has recently been highlighted by…
The use of the name Alma in the Book of…
If the Nephites’ neighbors practiced human sacrifice throughout Book of…
One of the most central and yet perplexing questions in…
Lions are mentioned thirteen times in the Book of Mormon,…
Remarkably, many aspects of Jesus’s ministry in the Book of…
Unlike with Lehi’s journey or the voyage of the Jaredites,…
One prominent feature in the natural disasters at Christ’s death…
A few scholars, including John W. Welch and Daniel L.…
Since the Book of Mormon was published in 1830, much…
Beginning in the book of Helaman, readers are introduced to…
A branch of modern science known as paleoclimatology uses methods…
A groundbreaking new YouTube video, produced by Scripture Central on…
Episode 6 of "A Marvelous Work" asks the question "Were…
Friday, June 28th, is the 195th anniversary of the three…
While it is undisputed that ancient American peoples wore clothing…
This particular detail of falling to the earth may seem…
One aspect of the Book of Mormon that sometimes turns…
Because the book of Deuteronomy used the prophetic gifts of…
Benjamin did not want the people to “think that I…
This year's BYU New Testament Commentary Conference will be held…
The famous speech King Benjamin gave from his tower near…
Seeing the allegory in that temple context, it is possible…
Recognizing the stylistic fingerprint of Jacob serves modern-day readers in…
The Book of Mormon was first published on March 26,…
In multiple passages, Book of Mormon prophets describe the three…
Nephi’s wordplay on the name Joseph is one of many…
For over two hundred years, the Book of Mormon has…
Nephi could explain Isaiah to his people, he said, because…
Jacob’s and Ezekiel’s reactions to exile can teach us about…
For many modern readers, these and similar passages in the…
Up to this point, Nephi had already been acting as…
When the Book of Mormon was first published, the idea…
Shortly before his death, Lehi offered his sons personalized blessings.…
Shortly before the death of his father, Lehi, the prophet…
Latter-day Saint scholars have long recognized a likely correlation between…
The idea that God plays a significant role in certain…
In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Nephi receives a…
Jeremiah 35 includes a brief mention of the Rechabites, who…
During the initial stage of translation of the Book of…
Since Jerusalem was the capital of the southern Kingdom of Judah, it…
With the new year of “Come, Follow Me” on the…
While we do not know the full details of the…
Joseph Smith once explained that the Title Page “is a…
Just as the Gospel of Luke begins with the account…
At the end of the Book of Revelation, the Lord…
When John began writing his revelation, he was instructed to…
Many of us at Scripture Central, myself included have held…
At the start of John’s revelation, John is instructed: “Write…
The language of saints becoming gods or like God is…
On October 3, 1918, President Joseph F. Smith received a…
The Ark of the Covenant is one of the most…
Given James’s focus on prayer at the beginning of the…
The Epistle to the Hebrews emphasizes many themes regarding the…
Throughout the Epistle to the Hebrews, Jesus is depicted as…
The belief in the Great Apostasy is central to Latter-day…
Very memorable is Philippians 2:6-11, where Paul appears to be…
As people all over the world read the articles of…
In organizing the New Testament church, multiple offices and callings…
People may usually think of God’s grace as a personal…
The symbol Paul used of “the right hands of fellowship”…
On February 16, 1832, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon had…
Throughout Paul’s ministry, he wrote many epistles to different churches…
On August 15, 1840, the Prophet Joseph Smith introduced one…
The sacrament is a sacred ordinance instituted by the Lord…
To avoid misunderstanding or misconstruing Paul’s counsel regarding marriage in…
Faith is an essential element of righteous living often emphasized…
The ancient Apostle Paul is perhaps the most well-known early…
Interestingly, both Joseph Smith and Paul left several accounts of…
After being driven out of Thessalonica and Berea by an…
The Jerusalem Council served to establish several important Church policies…
This month, as part of our Come, Follow Me study,…
As the Church quickly grew in Jerusalem, the Twelve Apostles…
At the beginning of Acts, Luke mentions how Jesus Christ…
One of the greatest challenges many early Christians experienced during…
Precisely what rationale led to these judicial proceedings isn’t fully…
Many scholars have recognized within the Gospel of John deep…
The Gospel of John contains the longest account of the…
Regardless of whether or not Jesus originally intended to relay…
This parable immediately follows somber warnings of the events that…
Jesus Christ is our perfect exemplar. From the very beginning,…
Many people seem to be interested in details of The…
While on His way to Jerusalem for the last time,…
As John and Jeannie Welch have noted, this parable “is…
Throughout the Gospel of John, various images and symbols point…
This detailed parable gives “a summary of the plan of…
After being exiled to Patmos, the Apostle John saw a…
Central to all of Christianity—ancient and modern—are the testimonies that…
According to the Gospel of John, Jesus offered a powerful…
The parable of the sower and the vision of the…
Through these parables, Jesus offers a stark contrast between how…
The Book of Mormon has virtually all the same features…
The world will be given ample time to repent and…
Most people have experienced torrential storms and seen the effects…
Practically all living things depend on water for life. Water…
These are only a handful of the many meanings embedded…
Jesus’s statement to the people of Nazareth remains a powerful…
The baptism of Jesus was the inauguration of Jesus’s ministry…
Despite many similarities, the two accounts of Jesus’s birth were…
An article by John S. Thompson appearing in the Interpreter Journal attempts…
Where is the exact spot Joseph Smith was born? Where…
The prophet Malachi promised the Israelites that if they kept…
Clearly, these five verses must have been significant to Joseph…
Of these prophets who preached in the final years leading…
The inclusion of horses in the Book of Mormon is…
These evidences are well-vetted—not just willy-nilly corollaries—and should meet the…
As a record written by ancient prophets, it isn’t too…
As Latter-day Saints are completing their Come, Follow Me study…
Few prophetic passages in the Old Testament rival Isaiah 53 (known…
It is possible that multiple interpretations of Isaiah’s prophecies exist…
Recognizing how the environment they traveled through overlapped with and…
In many ways, Isaiah’s vision of God on His throne…
Abinadi told the priests of King Noah that they had…
An often misunderstood but obviously important figure from the Bible…
Many passages in the Old Testament—but especially in the Psalms—refer…
Christians have often read and appreciated Psalm 22, interpreting many of…
Although the book of Job raises very challenging questions, it…
A new volume of the Joseph Smith Papers Project has…
Innovative scholarship focusing on the roles of women in antiquity—including…
Better understanding the gestures of approach used by the ancient…
Bruce Satterfield identified six “features that characterize those who have…
In a study published in 2002, biblical scholar Brian Britt…
Recently, biblical scholar David R. Seely has taken a closer…
When an unknown assailant unsuccessfully attempted to kill former governor…
Throughout the Bible, journeys toward Jerusalem are described as going…
We invite any who are curious to learn more about…
The Book of Mormon states that King Zedekiah had a…
The power of naming can be seen in the Creation…
View a new 30-minute film on Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac…
When reading the story of Noah and the ark, many…
The Joseph Smith Translation is not a translation in the…
Could ancient Americans really have known how to make cement?…
For centuries, the Judeo-Christian tradition has wrestled with the theological…
Why did the city council take this action? The decision…
At the beginning of every year, lots of us try…
After Joseph Smith’s death in 1844, Emma remained in Nauvoo…
In a moving new video, Casey Griffiths and Scott Woodward…
Some have tried to use the details of this bankruptcy…
“Partly because of this persecution, Latter-day Saints who settled Nauvoo…
On some occasions, prophets in the Bible would speak of…
The letter Joseph Smith wrote in Liberty Jail between March…
Historical events can sometimes be difficult to picture because the…
While there were certainly many complex factors that contributed to…
The months and weeks surrounding the completion and dedication of…
Doctrine and Covenants 88, sometimes called “The Olive Leaf,” is…
In the new video, “The Book of Mormon Explained in…
As news of the persecutions in Missouri reached Kirtland, enemies…
In the 1830s, the United States was still a young…
Of all Joseph Smith’s family and friends, perhaps none were…
Thanks to archaeology and on-the-ground surveying, scholars have made progress…
As part of a new video series, Evidence Central's YouTube…
Most Latter-day Saints today are unfamiliar with the collection of…
Rebecca actively sought to share the gospel with her family,…
Joseph Smith had just been murdered, and the Saints in…
Despite being excommunicated and becoming an opponent of the Church,…
While the exact occasion that inspired the short revelation now…
Joseph Smith said that he ordained David “to be a…
David Whitmer and his family played a crucial role in…
Despite being one of the earliest and most important contributors…
Martin Harris was among the very earliest supporters of Joseph…
After the Prophet Joseph Smith, no single person was more…
“Within a week of opening,” according to the recent analysis…
After the Prophet Joseph Smith, there was no more important…
Two of the documents in this volume related to plural…
John and other members of the Whitmer family left the…
"Tracing Ancient Threads in the Book of Moses" is a…
Sidney Rigdon had spent a decade from 1821–1830 as a…
Karl Ricks Anderson is affectionately known throughout the Church as…
Written by BYU religion professor John Hilton III and adapted…
Shortly after Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery arrived at the…
In the early months after the Church was first organized…
Messages of Christ’s latest video offers a unique perspective of…
The organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day…
Martin and Joseph’s meetings with Grandin and other printers in…
In June 1829, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris…
The trust between Joseph and the Knight family was mutual.…
Ever wonder what the home of the apostle Peter might…
Why was Joseph accused? There are at least four reasons.
During the limited time when the Book of Mormon was…
Martin Harris' wife and others were planning to file a…
When Moroni visited Joseph Smith on the night of September…
The Smith family’s reputation in their Palmyra community has been…
For a young Joseph Smith living on the frontier of…
At times we too might feel like Abish or the…
As Moroni prepared to seal up the record that he…
Several scholars have looked carefully at Mormon’s letter in Moroni…
As Moroni wandered in the final years of his life,…
This video offers insights into an often overlooked Bible story.…
In the Old Testament, people were often warned that if…
Throughout the Book of Mormon, secret combinations are frequently associated…
For many, this year has been very challenging and disheartening…
Regarding the significance of a sacred encounter with the Brother…
While teaching at a synagogue in Capernaum, Jesus asks a…
Efforts to understand Nephite language have naturally focused on Hebrew…
Careful study of Mormon’s autobiographical account can help readers better…
What emerges from the documents featured in this volume relating…
Much of the world today is marked with sharp divisiveness…
As Nephi and his younger brother Jacob laid the foundation…
Last week, ending on Friday was the Feast of Tabernacles…
President Russell M. Nelson has taught, “The practice of Church…
As we continue our study through 3 Nephi, we immerse…
This week, Latter-day Saints around the globe prepare for the…
In the Sermon on the Mount, beloved by Christians all…
When Jesus appeared to the people at Bountiful, he taught…
Carefully studying this evidentiary data can enrich, inform, and ultimately…
No message could be more important for all people in…
In the Book of Mormon we find many examples of…
No part of the Book of Mormon exudes greater holiness…
Since 1842 when it was first published, the Book of…
“Reasonable people can absolutely accept the Book of Abraham as…
Samuel the Lamanite was likely not what the Nephites expected…
Nephi’s lamentation must have involved some dramatic actions in order…
Because we believe that the Book of Moses includes authentic…
A general rule for fiction writing is that the authors…
In the latest video produced by Messages of Christ, Daniel…
"The things of God are of deep import, and time…
Careful consideration of the clues and details about Pahoran reveals…
In the ancient world, victory was never thought to be…
This week’s Come Follow Me lesson teaches us how Alma…
Astute readers of the Book of Mormon may have noticed…
Strong interest in the study of chiasmus, especially in biblical…
Scholars are increasingly recognizing that Alma’s story is about more…
The story of Jesus raising the widow’s son from the…
Controversy has surrounded the Book of Abraham ever since it…
I continue to be intrigued that God not only knows…
Throughout the Book of Mormon, a set of synonymous (or…
There can be no doubt that the Anti-Nephi-Lehies “supply what…
Hugh Nibley observed, “The whole affair at the waters of…
In the Book of Mormon, Ammon cuts off the arms…
During this turbulent and contentious time, many are searching the…
One way to read the account of Alma and Amulek…
Alma 11 contains an intriguing story of a lawyer named…
After unsuccessfully trying to preach at Ammonihah, Alma was ready…
Alma the Younger’s teachings to the people of Gideon about…
While not formally celebrated by the members of the Church…
Alma the Younger faced multiple challenges as the first chief…
True conversion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, through His…
Chapter 20 of Mosiah begins with the statement: “There was…
As the people were on their way back to the…
As we have spent this weekend honoring mothers on Mother’s…
In an ancient biblical context, the “east wind” was sometimes…
Readers may have some questions about what a seer is,…
As readers encounter the often bloody battles between the Nephites…
Just before Benjamin closed his ceremonial speech, he placed the…
The magnificent new Church symbol, derived from Bertel Thorvaldsen's Christus…
As reported in the Book of Mormon, certain objects were…
Sometime in early 1830 (probably between January and early March),…
Drawing from both cutting-edge and pioneering academic literature on the…
Lucy Mack Smith, mother of the Prophet Joseph Smith, was…
Fascinatingly, the social and historical developments that set the stage…
So here are 4 ancient insights into these four short…
The mention of horses among domesticated animals kept by Book…
After reading and interpreting the Allegory of the Olive Tree…
Because The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has…
As Jacob eulogized his older brother Nephi, and commented on…
The second chapter of the book of Jacob in the…
The trailer for season three of the Book of Mormon…
Nephi concludes his record with stirring and profound pleadings to…
As Nephi begins to close his record, he emphatically teaches…
Because of secret combinations and pride in their own learning…
Here are seven great tips (with accompanying resources) that can…
While many of the Book of Mormon’s stories are told…
The existence of these two related, but distinct, sets of…
Through Isaiah’s prophecies, Jacob reveals many doctrinal and spiritual gems…
On January 31, 2020, Pearl of Great Price Central published…
Some have wondered whether building a temple outside of Jerusalem…
The Book of Mormon was criticized during Joseph Smith’s lifetime…
Nephi, “went forth to slay food,” but “did break [his]…
For many years, researchers have been carefully studying Nephi’s account…
While there is still much to learn about the people…
If Columbus is, indeed, the “man among the Gentiles” seen…
Two months ago, a colleague and I visited the best…
The dangers Lehi saw in his dream are just as…
The Prophet Nephi recorded that on several occasions Lehi and…
In his newly available article, entitled “Into Arabia: Lehi and…
Each of us can see ourselves in Lehi’s dream as…
This week we are studying the introductory pages to the…
The Book of Mormon prophet Nephi recorded a panoramic vision…
This KnoWhy will look at the probability that the translation…
More than two thousand years ago, angels appeared to startled…
Only a person with proper authority could break the seals…
The Revelation of John presents modern readers with a dizzying…
While Latter-day Saints primarily cherish the Book of Abraham for…
The author of the letters 1, 2, and 3 John…
This video prepares our hearts and minds for the Christmas…
Exactly how and why did New Testament phrases, verses, and,…
The presence of parts of the Sermon on the Mount…
Although it is difficult to always know why similarities appear…
Samuel the Lamanite’s famous prophetic warnings are found in Helaman…
One of the common questions many people have asked about…
Last week Pearl of Great Price Central published a Book…
The Book of Mormon is a volume of sacred scripture,…
At the center of this passage, one thing that stands…
Book of Mormon Central teamed up with artist Katie Payne…
The selfless service shown by Paul and Silvanus as recorded…
In Colossians 2:7, Pauls asks us to be "Rooted and…
Although there are different emphases and choices of phrases used,…
We should never give up on friends or loved ones…
In this analogy, various leaders and members of the Church…
Far more often than readers usually realize, many New Testament…
As more and more people across the world join the…
Some have argued that Korihor is an anachronistic figure in…
One of the great miracles of the Gospel is that…
In Part 3 of this series, the phrase, “Repent ye,…
Paul taught that even though trials and adversity can be…
The prophet Mormon, in his account of the people of…
Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, includes a…
Although we do not know exactly in each case, many…
Readers of the Book of Mormon have always been aware…
In an epistle to the Ephesians, Paul used Old Testament…
The Apostle Paul taught that through the grace of God,…
Near the end of His Sermon on the Mount and…
Joseph Smith claimed that in 1820 he beheld a vision…
Ether 3 contains the prayer of the Brother of Jared…
After extensive travels that included preaching the gospel and visiting…
Readers of the Book of Mormon have, since it was…
As recorded in Acts 10–15, the leaders of the church…
The Book of Mormon contains a prophecy that the “Lord…
The Book of Mormon frequently discusses warfare from 1 Nephi…
In 1938 the people of the world faced some of…
Clearly, textual questions about the ending of Mark remain open…
The good news that Jesus is risen from the dead…
We had the opportunity to sit down with Katie Payne…
The combined testimonies of the Three and Eight Witnesses of…
The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the most central doctrine…
In his memorable speech, King Benjamin quoted words delivered to…
For many years, researchers have been carefully studying Nephi’s account…
The total amount of history that the Book of Mormon’s…
Many teachings from these chapters are especially pertinent to Latter-day…
Just days before His mortal ministry would end with His…
As the Book of Mormon and the Bible make clear,…
The Book of Mormon, like the New Testament, powerfully commands…
Without understanding the culture of the time and the Greek-to-English…
In this video, Book of Mormon Central research associate Jonathon…
In Mosiah 11:27, King Noah asks, “Who is Abinadi, that…
In the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, those…
A new volume of the Joseph Smith Papers has been…
The prophet Moroni indicated that he and his father Mormon…
Few of the parables of Jesus are better known than…
One of the most important sources related to Martin Harris’s…
One of the most powerful and memorable parables of the…
There is more to the story than what is recounted…
At the beginning of 1 Nephi, Nephi said that he…
One of the most influential stories told by Jesus is…
According to H. Curtis Wright, a bibliographer with expertise in…
As we better understand Passover and the spring Jewish Feasts,…
Christianity revolves around Christ’s resurrection from the dead, and every…
With Easter fast approaching, Latter-day Saints and Christians all over…
Easter is the most important holiday of the year. While…
In several ways, the authors and editors of the Book…
New evidence for the Book of Mormon name Sariah was…
Because God has eternal divine attributes, it may be tempting…
The shared elements in these transfiguring events reported in the…
Easily some of the most beloved and popular books in…
Latter-day Saints are accustomed to speaking of Joseph Smith as…
One of the notable aspects of Jesus’ ministry is that…
The Book of Mormon presents itself to the world as…
Jesus famously promised “rest” to all those “that labour and…
When speaking to his people, King Benjamin stated that “the…
The miracles of the New Testament symbolize to different aspects…
Both Joseph Smith and Martin Harris learned many important principles…
When Jesus gave his Sermon at the Temple in 3…
When any trusted local or general leader in The Church…
Many readers of the Book of Mormon naturally assume that…
One of the things that Jesus commands in the Sermon…
When the Book of Mormon was published in March 1830,…
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently released…
Nephi says he wrote using “the learning of the Jews…
This video vividly illustrates the main story lines and purposes…
The need for Christ’s followers to be “born again,” as…
Many Christians are aware that Jesus was tempted by the…
The scriptures show that from dispensation to dispensation, and from…
Sometimes, the Book of Mormon uses the word good the…
In the Book of Mormon, a prophet was called to…
Did you know that the Book of Mormon helps us…
On some level or another, most readers notice these recurring…
Recent research on early Israelite religion and belief has led…
The prophets Ether and Moroni prophesied that “a New Jerusalem”…
The temple is seen as the holiest place on earth,…
Serving one’s country in the military can and should always…
The answer to making scripture study more meaningful may very…
The phrase “land of Jerusalem” shows up about 40 times…
In 1982, the phrase “Another Testament of Jesus Christ” was…
Beginning in the Prophet Joseph’s lifetime, the unfortunate creation and…
Lehi and his son Nephi both experienced profound visions in…
In his prophecies about the last days, Nephi declared that…
The prophet Moroni felt self-conscious about the wording of the…
Not much is known about the land and hill Cumorah.…
The translation of the Book of Mormon was already a…
The Book of Mormon does not present itself as a…
As the Book of Mormon and prophets since the beginning…
For many people, there is something about the Book of…
The Book of Mormon is a collection of ancient records…
Often, when we think about the translation of the Book…
Following the visit of the resurrected Jesus to the New…
In a fortunate irony, it seems that the confusion about…
The efforts to read the Book of Mormon as “inspired…
Looking carefully at ritual cleanliness laws in the Old Testament…
How could there be so many legal and literary similarities…
Moroni 9 contains a letter from Mormon, written to his son…
The best-known words in all of the Book of Mormon…
The opening chapters of the Book of Mormon preserve an…
The speeches in the Book of Mormon sometimes contain long…
Some skeptical readers have claimed that the term cimeter in the…
Nephi had a vision in which heavenly messengers showed him…
When abridging the record of 3 Nephi, Mormon reported on…
Although comparisons between Lehi and Jeremiah are natural and welcome,…
The way that the chiasm in Alma 62:48–51 connects to…
In 2 Nephi 25:29 we learn that we must worship…
Readers familiar with Jacob 5 will probably recognize that Lehi’s…
Understanding the composition of Lehi’s traveling party is more than…
In a famous episode from the Book of Mormon, Nephi…
In a series of exhortations to his brothers, Nephi referred…
Early on in the book of 1 Nephi, the Lord…
In the first chapter of the Book of Mormon, Nephi…
Throughout the Book of Mormon, there are occasions where people’s…
Scholars have noted the similarity between the elements of some…
Not much is revealed about Zoram, except that he was…
The Book of Mormon phrase “visionary man” is curious since…
Several passages in the most recent editions of the Book…
The Three and Eight Witnesses of the Golden Plates stand…
In the first week of May 1843, six bell-shaped brass…
During his early tenure as editor of the paper, Oliver…
BYU Religious Education professors David Rolph Seely and Fred E.…
In 1873, a Greek Orthodox bishop named Philotheos Bryennios was…
When Ammon taught King Lamoni the plan of salvation, the…
Nephi’s clarification that the Messiah was “a Savior of the…
In the first chapter of his record, Nephi said he…
While harsh and disturbing imagery of God destroying sinners with…
“I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents …”. This…
The writers of the Book of Mormon often stated that…
Nephi’s introductory colophon is arguably the most notable example of…
In describing this experience, Nephi said he wanted “to know…
Nephi stated that at the time he lived in Jerusalem,…
The Old Testament-era prophet Zenos had considerable influence on the…
Here at Book of Mormon Central, we have done what…
When tragedy struck God’s people in Old Testament times, it…
The Psalms mention the word “temple” more than any other book in…
According to LDS scholar Benjamin Spackman, one of the keys…
Modern anthropological research tells us that the New World was…
Gaining an increased awareness of the Mulekites can help readers…
Although women do not play a prominent role in most…
Although most readers probably haven’t thought much about this detail,…
Readers of the Book of Mormon may wonder, at times,…
On several occasions, Captain Moroni spoke of pulling down the…
After the great destruction which was recorded in 3 Nephi,…
In Nephi’s vision of the Tree of Life, he beheld…
Angels play a significant role in 29 chapters of these…
The Law of Moses can seem, at times, to have…
In many respects, the style of warfare depicted in the…
In some parts of the Old Testament, the Lord can…
During Lehi’s travel through ancient Arabia, his sons needed to…
While the Passover tradition is referred to quite frequently in…
Early on in the Book of Mormon, Nephi often compared…
As part of his last blessing upon his son Joseph,…
When Joseph Smith was entrusted with the golden plates, he…
The writers of the Book of Mormon often alluded to…
The Book of Mormon is full of repeated words and…
As with all true stories, the author could have told…
Through the efforts of The Joseph Smith Papers project, numerous…
Jacob’s statement that the near-sacrifice of Isaac was “a similitude”…
From the time that Nephi drew Laban’s sword from its…
When reading through the Book of Mormon, one finds references…
Some may not realize that Joseph Smith obtained two Nephite…
In the Old Testament, the Abrahamic covenant does not seem…
For some, the story of the coming forth of the…
The biblical prophet Noah is famous for building an ark…
Why was it important for the Three Witnesses to visually…
Among latter-day saints, Enoch is a beloved ancient prophet about…
Nearly two dozen individuals had some sort of sensory encounter…
When describing his vision of the tree of life, Lehi…
Latter-day Saints have three different scriptural accounts of the creation:…
To date, the combined data from several valid stylometric studies…
When Alma, son of Alma, was speaking to the people…
No matter how many years (or seasons) Joseph attended school,…
Because the LDS Temple Endowment ceremony is so important to…
After traveling nearly 100 miles to reach Harmony, Pennsylvania, David…
In the United States, the “holiday season,” encompassing Thanksgiving, Christmas,…
Hugh Nibley once described the Book of Mormon as a…
One element of the Book of Mormon that is troubling…
Often, as we going about our daily lives, we may…
Since the Book of Mormon’s publication in 1830, a number…
When the first copies of the Book of Mormon came…
The phrase “day of grace” only appears once in the…
According to religion professors Amy Easton-Flake and Rachel Cope, “Emma…
Generally, when we think of witnesses of the Book of…
Sometimes, it is only in the depths of sorrow, struggle,…
In the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord declared, “Behold, there…
For many people, family is the most important thing in…
After finding out that his sons were not willing to…
One of the most powerful witnesses of the Book of…
Throughout the Book of Mormon, the phrase “secret combinations” is…
While preparing for a sacrament service sometime between August and…
Modern revelation through prophets and apostles is our most valuable…
When Lehi obtained the plates of brass, he discovered that…
Often, when we think of missionary work in the Book…
When Book of Mormon peoples kept their covenants, the Lord…
Latter-day Saints have long been taught that they can find…
Nephi’s statement “it is by grace that we are saved,…
Near the end of his time with the Nephites after…
Part of the stated function of the Book of Mormon…
In his Saturday morning address of the April 2017 session…
When King Benjamin gave his final speech, he spoke to…
We sustain modern prophets as prophets, seers, and revelators and…
There are two major covenants in the Bible, each associated…
Fleeing into the wilderness to escape the world is clearly…
Near the end of his record, Moroni recorded a speech…
Among the many faith-promoting stories that have come to us…
After his father’s death, Moroni wandered alone for sixteen years…
God’s people have often had to relocate to avoid oppression…
After relating so many examples of faith followed by miracles,…
Nephi’s use of chiasmus “is that of a sophisticated literary…
On September 21, 1827, in Port Byron, New York, a…
In the early, still-dark hours of the morning, August 16,…
After first discovering chiasmus in Mosiah 5:10–12, John W. Welch…
Several stories in the Book of Mormon can help explain…
In Ether 12, the prophet Moroni told the Lord he…
In the last fifty years, hundreds of chiasms have been…
Joseph had been previously instructed multiples times by heavenly beings…
One of the most fundamental and enduring covenant teachings in…
Many scholars have long recognized chiasmus as a characteristic literary…
In 1831, John Whitmer became the first official LDS church…
In 3 Nephi 18:15, the Lord gave further instructions for…
Upon the death of the Savior, the Nephites and Lamanites…
The word chiasmus comes from the Greek chiasma, “crossing,” based…
The Church endured much persecution in its early years. In…
Jesus declared, “Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye…
Some Latter-day Saints and others as well have overzealously engaged…
While marching with Zion’s Camp, Joseph Smith and the brethren…
Shortly after his baptism in 1830, John Murdock remarked, “Being…
Many people have seen the distinctive and repeated use of…
During a difficult time in which “the laws had become…
Most readers of the Book of Mormon know the story…
Early on in the Book of Mormon, there are references…
During Alma’s mission to the Zoramites, his son Corianton “[forsook]…
Toward the end of his life Jacob wrote of the…
In August of 1830, Joseph discovered that a man named…
One of Alma’s younger sons, Corianton, had committed serious sexual…
In 1 Nephi 8, father Lehi told his family about…
Clearly the Lord values instruction in both secular and spiritual…
When Alma visited the city of Gideon, he was pleased…
“A senum of silver was equal to a senine of…
In January of 1833, Joseph Smith created a training school…
When Alma began to baptize people, he declared that their…
Near the beginning of his record, Jacob clarified that the…
As early as 1823, Joseph Smith was made aware that…
To the poor and humble among the Zoramites, Amulek taught…
When Nephi’s brothers were mocking him for attempting to build…
What happens after death? People have been asking this question…
During his well-known speech, King Benjamin told his people that…
In 1 Nephi 19, Nephi related a series of prophecies…
The Doctrine and Covenants never gives a name to this…
King Benjamin organized his famous speech with literary patterns meant…
Some have found Abinadi’s use of a disguise rather puzzling,…
In July 1831, the Lord revealed to Joseph Smith that…
“And now ... ye shall be called the children of…
Toward the end of his record, Nephi taught about the…
The early members of the Church were clearly aware of…
As Nephi interpreted the long block of Isaiah he had…
Although family matters often recede to the background of the…
The end of the book of Mosiah introduces a new…
The Book of Mormon records the precise day the Nephites…
After the missionaries left for Missouri, their converts in Kirtland…
In 2 Nephi 31, Nephi expounded upon the doctrine of…
Throughout history, many civilizations and communities have sought to establish…
References to ordinances, as well as meaningful examples of them,…
In a pair of particularly pointed questions, Alma asked his…
President Hinckley made a point of teaching from the Book…
The Book of Mormon represents a great outpouring of truth…
Nephi declared, “thus saith the Lord God: I will give…
A successful farmer and businessman from a prominent Palmyra family,…
In September 1830, the Lord told Joseph Smith that he…
The importance of the priesthood is firmly demonstrated throughout the…
The Book of Mormon conference on March 18 at the…
Lehi uses the contrast between good and evil 40 times…
After traveling down to the Red Sea, Lehi and his…
In the early years of the Restoration, the Prophet Joseph…
When Samuel the Lamanite prophesied on the walls of Zarahemla,…
When Alma and his missionary companions journeyed to Antionum, they…
On April 6, 1830, Joseph Smith and more than 50…
The Book of Mormon was divinely prepared and preserved for…
In recent decades, some people have wondered if DNA might…
During the process of translating the Book of Mormon, Joseph…
Nephi stated that “all are alike unto God, both Jew…
Jacob’s powerful discourse recorded in 2 Nephi 6–10 uses some…
On March 1, 1842, the Church newspaper Times and Seasons…
The Book of Mormon is one of the most important…
The Book of Mormon absolutely decries murder, bloodshed, and aggressive…
Joseph Smith declared that he translated the Book of Mormon…
King Lamoni taught that God had sent His people angelic…
Much has been said about the use of chiasmus in…
While most Latter-day Saints know certain things about Oliver Cowdery,…
In 2 Nephi 2, Lehi offered the most complete teaching…
The prophet Nephi foresaw that the gold plates of the…
Throughout 1 Nephi, and perhaps most clearly in the account…
The doctrine of the Godhead is developed in several Book…
The story of the prophet Enos demonstrates some of the…
"Wherefore, the things which are pleasing unto the world I…
On March 1, 1842, the Church newspaper Times and Seasons…
The LDS Doctrinal Mastery resource offers a clear framework to…
After journeying in the wilderness for the “space of many…
At a conference held on November 1, 1831, the decision…
On December 25, Latter-day Saints join with many other Christians…
In his final farewell, Moroni declared, “And I seal up…
Soon after Moroni began his ministry, he received a letter…
In 3 Nephi 12–14, Jesus delivered the discourse known as…
In Moroni 6, as part of Moroni’s instructions regarding how…
Although readers rarely notice the intricate textual interdependency between Moroni…
During the final Jaredite battle, the great king Coriantumr cut…
Ether prophesied regarding what would happen in the future upon…
Although faith plays an important narrative and doctrinal role in…
Although typically thought of as a Nephite record, the Book…
Riplakish, the tenth Jaredite king, was a vain and wicked…
During the reign of Heth, prophets warned the people that…
When the brother of Jared expressed his concern about the…
Ether 4 and 5 present Moroni’s conclusion to the awe-inspiring…
The account of the brother of Jared seeing the finger,…
When the Brother of Jared and his companions traveled, they…
At the beginning his record of the Jaredites, Moroni included…
Moroni concluded his thoughts at the end of his father’s…
Turning the page of Mormon’s concluding farewell in Mormon 7,…
Mormon’s “soul was rent with anguish” as he witnessed “the…
In the final battle at the Hill Cumorah, the Lamanites…
While capturing the city Teancum, the Lamanites took many women…
After briefly reporting on 24 continuous years of war and…
The whole book of Mormon (chapters 1–6) covers a span…
Concerning Mormon’s record of his own life and ministry, Grant…
At the conclusion of the record of Christ’s visit to…
As one of His last acts in the New World,…
While describing the contents of the Book of Mormon in…
In 3 Nephi, Christ often focused on children, just as…
At the end of Jesus’ quotation of Malachi, the people…
The words of Malachi, one of the later Old Testament…
Even casual readers of the Book of Mormon are sure…
Jesus, at the conclusion to His great covenant speech, quoted…
On His second day of visiting the people at Bountiful,…
On His second day among the Nephites, reported in 3…
While this doctrine is commonly traced back to the First…
In 3 Nephi 19, the record recounts a remarkable experience…
According to the apostle Paul, when the Savior first administered…
To his apostles in Jerusalem, Jesus explained “Blessed are the…
In 3 Nephi 12–14, Jesus gave the discourse known as…
During His mortal ministry in Palestine, Jesus taught His disciples,…
At the pinnacle of the history recorded in the Book…
As Jesus Christ continued to present his “Sermon at the…
The New Testament Gospels include two slightly different versions of…
During Christ’s visit in the Book of Mormon, he presented…
When Jesus Christ declared His true identity to the people…
When Christ appeared to the Nephites, His first words were,…
As part of His message of redemption, Jesus declared, “how…
For a number of religious denominations in America, regular conferences…
In 3 Nephi 9, Christ spoke to the people, who…
In the thirty and fourth year, Mormon carefully documented “a…
In the years before the coming of Christ to the…
After eliminating the Gadianton robbers, the Nephites were blessed with…
In 3 Nephi 5, Mormon digressed into a commentary about…
“At length the time arrived for obtaining the plates ….…
When the Nephites captured the Gadianton leader Zemnarihah, they summarily…
One of the reasons so many were deceived was because…
Exactly how God produced such a sign is impossible to…
Mention of the appearance of angels bringing information concerning the…
Contributions from several scholars demonstrate that Samuel’s prophecies—when looked at…
During his extended address to the Nephites in Zarahemla, Samuel…
As part of a chapter-long reflection on the foibles of…
In Helaman 10, Nephi received great power from the Lord,…
In trying to convince the people of Zarahemla to rectify…
Speaking about a time of peace and growing prosperity, Mormon…
Although Mormon’s editorial voice is quite noticeable at key junctures…
War and contention in the land of Zarahemla did not…
In the mid-first century BC, Mormon reports that some Nephite…
This story may be shocking to many readers, who may…
At the “commencement of the fortieth year of the reign…
At the conclusion of the extended conflict between the Nephites…
Teancum played a pivotal role in the Nephite wars in…
In a sharp-toned letter to the Chief Judge Pahoran, Captain…
The concluding chapters of the book of Alma include a…
Helaman's stripling warriors are looked to by Latter-day Saints, especially…
The Book of Mormon’s rich accounts of warfare in the…
After retaking the city of Mulek and fortifying Bountiful, Moroni…
Amalickiah’s legacy did not die with him. Amalickiah’s brother Ammoron…
About a year into the great Nephite and Lamanite war,…
The rebellion of the king-men diverted the attention of Moroni…
Soon after Pahoran had been appointed as the chief judge,…
Around the year 75 BC, warfare between the Nephites and…
Mormon spends an entire chapter explaining how Amalickiah, through deceit…
It seemed that Mormon had many records from which to…
While gathering support for the Nephite military cause, Moroni curiously…
After preparing Helaman as his successor, Alma mysteriously disappeared while…
After affirming that the Nephites did “not desire to be…
How did Captain Moroni's youth contribute to his leadership? How…
Alma 42 concludes Alma the Younger’s powerful, four-chapter exhortation to…
In order to help Corianton understand the fairness and justice…
After censuring Corianton for his immoral and detrimental conduct, Alma…
Rather striking in Alma’s words to his young-adult son Corianton…
After their ministry among the Zoramites, Alma “caused that his…
Alma’s words to his son Helaman, as recorded in Alma…
The Zoramites denied the need for the Atonement. Hence, when…
Alma’s discourse on faith as recorded in Alma 32 is…
The multiple instances where Alma 32 draws from the creation…
Given the threat-level among the Zoramites, Alma knew they would…
At the end of the seventeenth year of the reign…
One of the most enduring lines in all of the…
The carnage in Alma 28, according to Mormon, was so…
After their conversion, the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi ran afoul of…
As Ammon speaks, he uses phrases from the scriptures, including…
The Anti-Nephi-Lehies, however, refused to take up arms, even in…
The extraordinary missionary work of the sons of Mosiah as…
Practically since the Book of Mormon was published, its geography…
As political scientist Noel B. Reynolds noticed, the Lamanite government…
Abish was remarkable for many reasons. First, she is one…
In the minds of most people today, the word chariot…
Hugh Nibley observed, “The whole affair at the waters of…
Along with temples and sanctuaries, the Book of Mormon mentions…
Ancient Israelite law had a specific statute for the case…
As a result of missionary success, the people humbled themselves,…
While Alma and Amulek were imprisoned in Ammonihah, “the earth…
Alma brilliantly used Melchizedek as his primary model of righteous…
Upon seeing that “the words of Amulek had silenced Zeezrom,”…
Alma and Amulek’s preaching in Ammonihah was suddenly interrupted by…
After being prompted by an angel, Alma returned to the…
When Alma addressed the people of Ammonihah, he reminded them…
Upon his return, Alma was received by Amulek, who was…
Alma 7 records Alma the Younger’s address to the righteous…
Alma the Elder established his covenant community around 140 BC…
Alma 5 records one of the greatest addresses of the…
Both Alma and Abinadi discuss “the bands of death” in…
As explored in a previous KnoWhy, the issue of racial…
Not long after the establishment of the reign of the…
With none of his sons available to succeed him as…
Right after mentioning the twenty-four plates of gold, Mormon explained…
Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah were introduced…
Archaeologists excavating in Jerusalem discovered a small stamp seal (a…
After escaping from King Noah’s court, Alma the Elder established…
In Mosiah, the text repeatedly asserts that Alma the Elder,…
The account in Mosiah 22 depicts how the people of…
While editions of the Book of Mormon since 1837 have…
After Abinadi’s martyrdom and Alma the Elder’s flight into the…
From ancient times, covenants have been understood as mutual or…
The tragic yet faith-inspiring story of Abinadi ended when the…
Using past tense verbs or participles to speak of something…
The added detail of Abinadi raising or stretching out his…
As Abinadi explained to the priests of Noah the manner…
It says in Mosiah, “And because [Jesus Christ] dwelleth in…
When Abinadi stood before the court of Noah, accused of…
Abinadi would not have picked a better time for these…
“And it came to pass that one of them said…
The Book of Mormon only mentions one beverage among the…
When Zeniff took a group of Nephites back up to…
In Mosiah 8, the Nephite missionary Ammon included a discourse…
King Limhi was the “third in a line of kings…
Mormon saw Benjamin as an example of a righteous leader…
King Benjamin’s speech in Mosiah 2–5 can well be called…
At a ceremonial pause in king Benjamin’s coronation speech, all…
Although the precise ancient Israelite understanding of “hell” is not…
Mosiah 2:7 explains that the multitude was so great that…
When Mormon decided to include the small plates with the…
While the doctrinal content of Benjamin’s speech is the most…
When the people of Zarahemla met the elder Mosiah, they…
Both Jarom and Omni explicitly state that genealogy is one…
As Enos describes Nephite life in his day (fifth century…
John W. Welch observed that some of the keepers of…
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints celebrates the…
In this allegory in Jacob 5, the prophet Zenos likens…
Those who listen attentively to General Conference talks will often…
Every General Conference the Lord’s prophets and apostles teach, exhort,…
“How, one wonders, could an important prophet like Zenos, if…
The exceptional Allegory of the Olive Tree found in Jacob…
Jacob is the one who designated the two different sets…
Not long after the early Nephites established themselves in the…
Nephi had consecrated Jacob as a temple priest and teacher,…
Knowing he was writing his final words, Nephi sought to…
Although the ordinance of baptism is prominently featured in the…
Nephi mentioned being able to “speak with the tongue of…
In his prophecies of the last days, Nephi remarked that…
Nephi anticipated some of the objections latter-day readers may have…
As Nephi prophesied about the latter days, he warned of…
“The book shall be hid from the eyes of the…
“For those who shall be destroyed shall speak unto them…
Psalm 24 depicts those wanting to enter the Jerusalem Temple…
Four years before the first word of the Book of…
Nephi explained that one important key to understanding Isaiah is…
One of the many themes found in the writings of…
“The words of Isaiah are not plain unto you, nevertheless…
Several prophets have described the events that will transpire in…
The Book of Mormon includes a stark portrayal of Satan,…
Reading the Isaiah chapters that Nephi recorded through the lens…
Isaiah prophesied of a time “when the mountain of the…
Nephi’s vision of the Savior in 1 Nephi 11 is…
The Isaiah quotations in the Book of Mormon follow, to…
Using his vision recorded in 1 Nephi chapters 11–14 as…
“It is interesting to note that there were three...witnesses–––special witnesses–––not…
The Book of Mormon uses many names and titles for…
In 2 Nephi 9:27–38, Jacob pronounced ten “woes” against liars,…
Jacob, Nephi’s younger brother, in his epic discourse recorded in…
Neither the Old nor New Testaments makes any mention of…
“And now, behold, I would speak unto you concerning things…
Some have wondered whether building a temple outside of Jerusalem…
2 Nephi 4:16-35, known by many Book of Mormon readers…
After arriving in the Promised Land, Nephi records that his…
For many readers today, Lehi’s teachings may well seem unique…
Lehi, in his blessing to his son, Jacob, taught that…
Nephi quotes one unknown prophet, whose writings presumably were found…
Scattered throughout Isaiah 42–53 are four poems biblical scholars call…
Shortly after arriving in the New World, Nephi reports making…
As Lehi and his family traveled through the wilderness, they…
Pieced together from various biblical texts, careful readers of the…
“Behold there are save two churches only; the one is…
What has non-Mormon biblical and early Christian scholarship concluded about…
As his father’s dream was unfolded to Nephi, he also…
As the vision of the Tree of Life proceeds, Nephi…
Nephi made two sets of plates—the “large” plates and the…
The strong expectations in the Book of Mormon for a…
Lehi offering sacrifices outside the confines of the Jerusalem temple…
The Book of Mormon introduces Sariah, Lehi’s wife and Nephi’s…
Emma remembered, from when she acted as his scribe, a…
In the big picture, this is a minor detail, which…
Lehi’s admonition to his sons to be like the river…