Abridging the Records of the Zoramite Mission: Mormon as Historian

I’ve had only intermittent internet access over the past few days — thus far, today, the WiFi where we’re staying has been down for at least the past nine hours (and I’ve had to walk to another, fairly distant, location to post this) — so I’m a little bit behind in announcing here the appearance of two new items on the website of the Interpreter Foundation.  (We’ve been here for four days, and the WiFi has failed for several hours on each and every one of those days.)  But here are links to the two articles:

“Abridging the Records of the Zoramite Mission: Mormon as Historian,” by Steven L. Olsen

Abstract: Since the mid-twentieth century, scholarly studies of the literary craftsmanship of biblical texts have revealed considerable insights into the intended purposes of the authors of these scriptural narratives. The present study applies the analytical methods of these studies to Mormon’s abridgment of Alma’s records of the Zoramite mission (Alma 31–35), revealing intricate patterns of literary conventions ranging from the most specific (e.g., diction, syntax, and figures of speech) to the most general (e.g., rhetoric, tone, and structural logic). From this perspective, Alma 31 provides a framework to distinguish Nephite and Zoramite religious practices and structure the narrative of the entire Zoramite mission, including the missionaries’ teachings. More broadly, Mormon’s account of the Zoramite mission sets the stage for the general degradation of Nephite society that focuses his abridgment of Nephi’s Large Plates for the next one hundred years.

“Interpreting Interpreter: Structuring Alma’s Zoramite Mission,” by Kyler Rasmussen

This post is a summary of the article “Abridging the Records of the Zoramite Mission: Mormon as Historian” by Steven L. Olsen in Volume 52 of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship.

An introduction to the Interpreting Interpreter series is available at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreting-interpreter-on-abstracting-thought/.

The Takeaway: Olsen points to several patterns in Alma 31 that appear to provide a framework for how Mormon understood Alma’s mission to the Zoramites, one that presages the eventual decline of Nephite society.

You might find these links of interest:

“In Rome, President Oaks continues Latter-day Saint effort to champion religious liberty worldwide: Speech at international Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit is the latest by Latter-day Saint apostles to bring a multifaith solution to defending freedoms.”

“At a Catholic Conference in Rome, President Oaks Offers Four Ways to Strengthen Religious Freedom: ‘I call for a global effort to defend and advance the religious freedom of all the children of God in every nation of the world’”

“President Oaks and Vatican II: A Latter-day Saint apostle praises a late pope and a Catholic document”

And here is another account of that same meeting in Rome:

“Religious freedom is under fire across the globe, experts warn”

Finally, though, here’s a ghastly horror from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File© that will surely cause decent people everywhere to wonder whether so-called “religious freedom” ought to be abolished altogether, and as soon as possible:

“The Perks of Faith: How religious belief and behavior help students thrive in school”

It kinda sends a shiver right down yer spine, don’t it?

And that, folks, is about all the time and patience I can muster for the Web right now.  It’s been too exasperating today.

Posted from Depoe Bay, Oregon