PDF feed of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
PDF feed of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
50 episodes
13 hours ago
The Interpreter Foundation is a nonprofit educational organization focused on the scriptures of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price, the Bible, and the Doctrine and Covenants), early LDS history, and related subjects. All publications in its journal, Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship, are peer-reviewed and made available as free internet downloads or through at-cost print-on-demand services. Other posts on the website are not necessarily peer-reviewed, but are approved by Interpreter’s Executive Board.
Our goal is to increase understanding of scripture through careful scholarly investigation and analysis of the insights provided by a wide range of ancillary disciplines, including language, history, archaeology, literature, culture, ethnohistory, art, geography, law, politics, philosophy, statistics, etc. Interpreter will also publish articles advocating the authenticity and historicity of LDS scripture and the Restoration, along with scholarly responses to critics of the LDS faith. We hope to illuminate, by study and faith, the eternal spiritual message of the scriptures—that Jesus is the Christ.
Although the Board fully supports the goals and teachings of the Church, The Interpreter Foundation is an independent entity and is not owned, controlled by, or affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or with Brigham Young University. All research and opinions provided on this site are the sole responsibility of their respective authors, and should not be interpreted as the opinions of the Board nor as official statements of LDS doctrine, belief, or practice.
All content for PDF feed of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship is the property of PDF feed of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship and is served directly from their servers
with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
The Interpreter Foundation is a nonprofit educational organization focused on the scriptures of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price, the Bible, and the Doctrine and Covenants), early LDS history, and related subjects. All publications in its journal, Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship, are peer-reviewed and made available as free internet downloads or through at-cost print-on-demand services. Other posts on the website are not necessarily peer-reviewed, but are approved by Interpreter’s Executive Board.
Our goal is to increase understanding of scripture through careful scholarly investigation and analysis of the insights provided by a wide range of ancillary disciplines, including language, history, archaeology, literature, culture, ethnohistory, art, geography, law, politics, philosophy, statistics, etc. Interpreter will also publish articles advocating the authenticity and historicity of LDS scripture and the Restoration, along with scholarly responses to critics of the LDS faith. We hope to illuminate, by study and faith, the eternal spiritual message of the scriptures—that Jesus is the Christ.
Although the Board fully supports the goals and teachings of the Church, The Interpreter Foundation is an independent entity and is not owned, controlled by, or affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or with Brigham Young University. All research and opinions provided on this site are the sole responsibility of their respective authors, and should not be interpreted as the opinions of the Board nor as official statements of LDS doctrine, belief, or practice.
PDF feed of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
12 months ago
A Deep Dive on War
Review of Morgan Deane, To Stop a Slaughter: Just War and the Book of Mormon (Middletown, DE: Morgan Deane, 2024). 138 pages. $14.99 (paperback).
Abstract: Morgan Deane’s To Stop a Slaughter: Just War and the Book of Mormon defines and discusses the concepts of war in the Book of Mormon and places “just war” within a larger context. The various aspects of just war and its impact are compared to the teachings and writings of scholars and philosophers from the early Church Fathers to Chinese military strategists. This interesting and informative book helps Latter-day Saints understand when war is necessary and justified.
William Tecumseh Sherman, a Union army general in the Civil War, is credited with saying, “War is hell.”1 War is hell, but according to Morgan Deane in To Stop a Slaughter: Just War and the Book of Mormon, there are times it is necessary. Indeed, war at times is not only needed, but it can and should be just. The purpose of To Stop a Slaughter is to discuss a “powerful, animating, Christlike love that motivates the use of force” (p. 5) at times when it is truly needed.
With that said, I’m going to do what I haven’t done in any previous book review—I’m going to start with the negatives of the book. Deane’s book, which is self-published, needed an extra set of editing [Page 104]eyes, or perhaps two. There were noticeable grammar and punctuation errors that could have been avoided with some professional editing. And, incomprehensibly, there was no printed pagination. I went through and manually wrote page numbers for the purpose of this review. Page numbers could have and should have been added to the text, and an index would have been helpful.
These few negatives are literally my only complaints, and these quibbles should not dissuade any potential reader. The book, which isn’t long, was an enjoyable and interesting read as the author discusses the concept of “just war,” defined as “love compelling the reluctant use of arms to stop a slaughter” (p. 6).
Morgan Deane, a military historian and former U.S. Marine, demonstrates an excellent knowledge of the literature pertaining to war, the philosophical and theological reasons for war, and the conduct of war. This is not surprising, given that some of his earlier publications include Offensive Warfare in The Book of Mormon and a Defense of the Bush Doctrine (2011) and Bleached Bones and Wicked Serpents: Ancient Warfare in the Book of Mormon (2014). In To Stop a Slaughter, he equally quotes and analyzes the writings of early Church Fathers and Chinese and other philosophers as he interweaves the writings of Book of Mormon prophets and warriors like Captain Moroni.
Among the chapters in the book are some provocative topics that encourage fascinating and meaningful discussion. These chapters include “Loving Your Neighbors by Standing Up to Their Slaughter,” “More than Angry: The Debates in Moroni’s Letter,” “Waiting for Revolution: Gideon’s Lessons,” “Kishkummen’s Dagger, Helaman’s Servant, and First Strike,” and “Renounce Peace and Proclaim War, Mormon 4 and Doctrine and Covenants 98.”
Near the beginning of the book, Deane succinctly sets the parameters of the discussion:
Just war flows from two central impulses that people recognize to varying degrees but rarely articulate. Most people understand on a fundamental level that some situations justly demand the use of force. At the same time, most [people] instinctively realize that war is an evil that should be avoided [altogether].
PDF feed of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
The Interpreter Foundation is a nonprofit educational organization focused on the scriptures of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price, the Bible, and the Doctrine and Covenants), early LDS history, and related subjects. All publications in its journal, Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship, are peer-reviewed and made available as free internet downloads or through at-cost print-on-demand services. Other posts on the website are not necessarily peer-reviewed, but are approved by Interpreter’s Executive Board.
Our goal is to increase understanding of scripture through careful scholarly investigation and analysis of the insights provided by a wide range of ancillary disciplines, including language, history, archaeology, literature, culture, ethnohistory, art, geography, law, politics, philosophy, statistics, etc. Interpreter will also publish articles advocating the authenticity and historicity of LDS scripture and the Restoration, along with scholarly responses to critics of the LDS faith. We hope to illuminate, by study and faith, the eternal spiritual message of the scriptures—that Jesus is the Christ.
Although the Board fully supports the goals and teachings of the Church, The Interpreter Foundation is an independent entity and is not owned, controlled by, or affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or with Brigham Young University. All research and opinions provided on this site are the sole responsibility of their respective authors, and should not be interpreted as the opinions of the Board nor as official statements of LDS doctrine, belief, or practice.
