Dave's Mormon Inquiry

The Quest for Religious Authority

I just renewed my Dialogue subscription and decided I should work a little harder to, you know, actually read it when it comes. Then I got ambitious and decided I should start at the beginning. Below is a quotation from page 77-78 of Mario S. De Pillis, “The Quest for Religious Authority and the Rise of Mormonism," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Vol. 1 No. 1 (1966): 68–88 (bold font and formatting added). The entire issue is available at the Dialogue archive.

Updated Book of Mormon Seminary Scriptures

With no public announcement or explanation that I am aware of, CES has modified LDS seminary scriptures for all four courses of study. Some old favorites like 1 Nephi 19:23 (liken all scriptures unto us) are gone. New additions include 2 Nephi 25:25 (we talk of Christ, we preach of Christ). I have heard speculation that the changes were intended to give a better match with the topics covered in the new youth curriculum or to give more focus on preparing seminary students for earlier missionary service, but there is no official comment or explanation for the changes. LDS.org now lists the new Book of Mormon scriptures. A nicely formatted table showing changes for all four years is available here.

The Life and Times of Parley P. Pratt

I recently finished reading Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism (OUP, 2011), by Terryl L. Givens and Matthew J. Grow. Most Mormons know Pratt by name from reading the Doctrine and Covenants. A few Mormons have read Pratt's autobiography, which gives some idea of the extent of his missionary travels, but provides little detail about his influential writings or his busy family life (he had 9 wives and 23 children at the time of his death). Any reader of this biography will come to appreciate just how significant a role Pratt played in the early LDS Church, almost from the moment of his conversion in 1830 right up to his death in 1857. Here are a few of the highlights from the book.