The Immortal Soul – Gordon B. Hinckley and King Follett

At a meeting in Nauvoo, to accept the loan from the state of Illinois of an original “sun stone” from the 19th century incarnation of the Nauvoo temple, President Gordon B. Hinckley remarked:

Alexander Neibaur – Nauvoo Journal

Hugh Nibley’s great grandfather, Alexander Neibaur, was a Mormon convert who emigrated to Nauvoo, Ill. in 1841. His short Nauvoo journal is available now at boap.org. It contains an interesting account of shipboard problems when Neibaur sailed from Liverpool to New Orleans. Neibaur tutored Joseph Smith in German, and Smith related several interesting incidents which Neibaur reports in his journal.

Joseph Smith’s Polyglot New Testament

When Joseph Smith lived in Nauvoo, Ill. he had acquired a polyglot NT. One can narrow down which one it was by the languages it contained. Hebrew, Greek, German, Latin. I’m not sure where he got it, but it might have been from Alex Neibaur. I’ve done a little searching for this NT, but have not found it. It’s not in the LDS archives, the CoC archives or the usual major libraries – unless of course it’s uncatalogued. So it may be in private hands, if it still exists at all. Joseph made reference to it in the King Follett sermon, which of course makes it relevant to this blog. So. Anyone out there know where this NT is? If you don’t want to reply by comment, you can email me at boap at boap dot org.

Old Testament Study Coming Up – BOAP Resources

With the OT the topic of study in 2010 in LDS Sunday Schools, I thought I’d mention that there are some resources at boap.org that may be useful to all you teachers and students.

Some additions to “Presidents”

We’ve added some Hinckley sermons to the Presidents file. We’ll gradually
be adding more.

Cotton Mather – and Scripture

A new edition of Cotton Mather’s Biblical Commentary (Biblia Americana) is beginning publication. At 10 volumes, it’s being compiled by a list of good scholars of the period. Jonathan Edwards often gets the title for America’s theologian, but Mather had profound influence. His commentary was in question-answer form and it reminds me of Joseph Smith’s revelatory approach, many of his revelations are in that format. Was there a cultural reason in addition to the obvious candid recitals of how they happened?

Anyway, look for Mather’s Genesis at a library or bookstore near you. Worth a peak if for nothing else than restoration movement context.