New DVD from Religious Studies Center and Maxwell Institute

[_Daniel Peterson]

I think it is pretty disappointing to see the JST treated as second class scripture.

I wouldn't put it that way.

But I would say that, in any given passage, I don't necessarily know whether Joseph Smith was inserting revealed new material, restoring lost ancient material, or giving inspired commentary.

[_Simon Belmont]

Rockslider, what you fail to realize is that Scratch is currently using a Commodore PET... he may not even realize that they've invented newer computers.

[_Kishkumen]

I wouldn't put it that way.

But I would say that, in any given passage, I don't necessarily know whether Joseph Smith was inserting revealed new material, restoring lost ancient material, or giving inspired commentary.

I don't know what to do with the JST. Maybe I'm not alone. In any case, I probably need to study up on why the Church deals with it in the way it does. I remember how excited I was to learn about it, once upon a time. I was puzzled about the RLDS being the publishers of it, since they demoted the Book of Abraham. In other words, I wasn't all that well informed about it. I was excited when portions of it were added to the notes of the Standard Works.

But much of it exists in a kind of vague category, in my mind, because it isn't quite treated as scripture, and yet it is well enough respected to be a supplement to scripture. It seems almost like the LDS understanding of the apocrypha. So, maybe one could call it LDS apocrypha. And here I am speaking about the revelation to Joseph Smith on the apocrypha, where God tells the prophet essentially that there are nuggets in the apocrypha, but not everything in it is "true." It's sort of a mixed bag.

[_Daniel Peterson]

I think that there was a suspicion of the JST on the part of Utah Mormons, because it was published by the RLDS. Had they modified it? Corrupted it? Could they be trusted?

I think I caught the last real whiffs of that attitude when I was young in the Church.

But it took a long time to dispel it, and most of the credit for that goes to Robert J. Matthews. (Elder McConkie deserves some, as well.)

It will take a while longer for the Utah membership to sort out its attitudes toward the JST. But there has certainly been movement, and it's powerfully in the direction of full acceptance.

[_Everybody Wang Chung]

I wouldn't put it that way.

But I would say that, in any given passage, I don't necessarily know whether Joseph Smith was inserting revealed new material, restoring lost ancient material, or giving inspired commentary.

Daniel,

Those are concerns that I also share. Do see this being cleared up anytime soon or have these concerns already been addressed elsewhere?

[_Daniel Peterson]

Those are concerns that I also share. Do see this being cleared up anytime soon or have these concerns already been addressed elsewhere?

I'm not aware of any systematic or comprehensive treatment. Much work remains to be done.