In Parts 1 and 2 of this series, we explored the miraculous preservation of the Egyptian papyri and the scholarly debates surrounding them. Parts 3 and 4 focus on how the Lord, by revealing the Book of Abraham to the Prophet Joseph Smith, further prepared him to restore ancient temple ordinances, which were “had . . . from before the world was” (D&C 124:38). As I prepare to post this, we have just participated in a ritual of “great significance” [ 1 ] —a solemn assembly to su

Welcome back! In Part 1 of this blog series, we began our exploration into the ministry of Abraham and its rich temple-related features. Because of the sheer complexity of this history and its relevance to God’s ongoing efforts to tutor the Prophet Joseph Smith in all things temple-related, I noted in my last post that this exploration would be divided into several parts. Fragment of Book of Breathing for Horos–B, between 238 and circa 153 BC, JSP, https://www.josephsmithpape

“Abraham . . . abode in my law; as Isaac also and Jacob did none other things than that which they were commanded; and because they did none other things than that which they were commanded, they have entered into their exaltation, according to the promises , and sit upon thrones, and are not angels but are gods” (D&C 132:37). Abraham and Sarah are two of the most important figures in all our standard works. Much of what we know about them comes from the Book of Abraham. Desc

As I have been preparing the first Come Follow Me Gospel Doctrine lesson for 2026, “Introduction to the Old Testament,” I have been struck by the things Joseph Smith may have learned from Moroni and from the Prophet's translation of the Book of Mormon about the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which included the endowment and sealing ordinances, as it was taught and administered in its purity by Moses and his prophetic successors to the Israelites. The Book of Mormon’s

In Part 1 of this blog, I suggested several questions: Who assembled at the Bountiful Temple and how were they “chosen” to be there (did they simply “self-select” or randomly show up or were they invited)? Why were they at the temple (as opposed to some other place)? Did Mormon use an ancient Israelite temple rite to structure his composition of Third Nephi? If so, why? Did the Lord reveal to and authorize His servants to administer, as part of the Law of Moses-prescribed New

Today is Christmas Day, December 25, 2025, as I send out the next installments in my on-going study of Joseph Smith’s restoration of temple ordinances and doctrine (to be delivered in three parts). It is fitting that the signs given on the American continent of our Savior’s birth in Bethlehem have increasingly been the subject of apostolic Christmas testimonies in recent years. [1]   Each of these blogs explores and asks what the Prophet Joseph Smith might have learned—as he

As we conclude our review of the priesthood and temple themes Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery learned about in their translation and transcription of Alma 12-13, it is worth contemplating what this revelatory process might have looked like. For starters, it must have been intellectually and physically exhausting. Brother Welch calculates that between April 7 and the end of May 1829, “Joseph translated and Oliver wrote” “about 75 percent” of the roughly 390-page Book of Mormon

It has been gratifying to watch as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have rallied behind their new leader, President Dallin H. Oaks. Equally noteworthy to me has been the way in which President Oaks, both in his General Conference message after President Russel M. Nelson’s passing and in his first public statements, has subtly but firmly affirmed the LDS Church’s view of the nature of God, which is unique among all Christian denominations—indeed among

It is easy, I think, to feel that Book of Mormon stories about the “mighty change of heart” experienced by King Benjamin’s people (Mosiah 5:2), Alma and his people (Alma 5:12-13), and Alma the Younger (Mosiah 27), do not apply to us, our families or our wards and stakes. It is even harder for many of us, myself included, to equate these experiences with our temple worship. Painting by Jeremy Winborg* While I always feel lifted, even changed, in my temple service, too often wi

President Thomas S. Monson announced the Lisbon Portugal Temple on October 2, 2010. On June 24, 2012, then Elder Russell M. Nelson set me...

In the Service of Your God, by Walter Rane. Copyright By the Hand of Mormon Foundation. Joseph Smith’s unparalleled mortal achievements...

“I am a rough stone. The sound of the hammer and chisel was never heard on me until the Lord took me in hand. I desire the learning and...

“These were days never to be forgotten—to sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the  inspiration  of heaven, awakened the utmost...

The Doctrine of Christ is temple doctrine. Earlier in my life I viewed the first principles and ordinances of the gospel as the...

Latter-day Saints are familiar with the story of Martin Harris’s loss of the first 116 manuscript pages containing the translation of the...

Joseph commences translating the Book of Lehi. Upon returning to Harmony, Pennsylvania from his February 1828 trip to show the “learned”...

No doubt that the promise my maternal grandfather made to me in my patriarchal blessing when I was 13—that I would have “a pure knowledge...

Elijah Restores the Power to Seal Families for Eternity, by Gary E. Smith c. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints In contemplating...

Nothing focuses the mind upon your mortality (and the ultimate purposes of life as taught us in the temple) quite like attending a...

Like many of you, I find myself at this point in the new year taking one last look over a pile of Christmas cards and letters...