Chapter 14

Beginning with Part 6 of Nibley’s An Approach to the Book of Mormon, he spends several chapters on the Dead Sea Scrolls and how they tie in to this study of the Book of Mormon. Sadly, one of the scholars he quotes frequently in these chapters, Frank Moore Cross, passed away on October 16, 2012, just days ago.  He has been a stellar scholar in ancient Judaism, and particularly with the Dead Sea Scrolls.  His scholarship and guidance to the world in these issues will be missed.

Nibley does not go into detail on the discovery of the DSS, except for certain issues that tie into the discussion. Continue reading →

Here is lesson 42 for the Gospel Doctrine lessons.  Discussing translation, Zion, and etc.

http://joelsmonastery.blogspot.com/2012/10/lesson-42-this-is-my-gospel-3-nephi.html

read there / comment here

view all my posts here

Chapter 13, Churches in the Wilderness.

You can read this chapter here: http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/books/?bookid=60&chapid=593

In this chapter, Nibley notes that the Nephites brought a microcosm of their Israelite ancestry, culture and religion with them into the New World, where it became a minority culture within a larger one.  He isn’t clear, in my view, on whether he sees this as a dominantly Lamanite culture, or an ancient American culture, where Lamanites and Nephites are both a minority.

Nibley notes the importance of the records for the Nephites. The records are what help them to retain their unique culture while among others and their cultures. This is an important point, which Joseph Smith may not have been aware of – had he been trying to produce a fake book.  We now know that with written records, language and culture tend to change slower than for those groups without. Even the BoM shows this in light of the Mulekites, who because they had no records, ended up with a corrupted language, religion and culture, none of which maintained any similarity with ancient Israelite customs. Continue reading →

Lesson 41 is now on my blog.  It discusses Isaiah, Samuel the Lamanite and Malachi, and how prophecies from the three of them sit together in Jesus’ teachings.

http://joelsmonastery.blogspot.com/2012/10/lesson-41-he-did-expound-all-things.html

Read there / comment here

See all of Rameumptom’s blog posts here.

Daniel Mitchell at the Cato Institute contrasts this recession/recovery with the one in 1981.  Reagan was able to create a rebound that lasted years and created real growth, even while fighting high inflation. The current Keynesian treatment has stalled the economy and jobs.  Mitchell uses pretty charts he made to show the difference.

He also compares GW Bush and Obama’s economic activity:

• Bush increased government spending. Obama has been increasing government spending.
• Bush adopted Keynesian “stimulus” policies. Obama adopted Keynesian “stimulus” policies.
• Bush bailed out politically connected companies. Obama has been bailing out politically connected companies.
• Bush supported the Fed’s easy-money policy. Obama has been supporting the Fed’s easy-money policy.
• Bush created a new healthcare entitlement. Obama created a new healthcare entitlement.
• Bush imposed costly new regulations on the financial sector. Obama imposed costly new regulations on the financial sector.

That they are so alike, Mitchell combines their joint 12 year effort:

“The problem isn’t Obamanomics, it’s Bushobamanomics. But since that’s a bit awkward, let’s just call it statism.”