Interpreter published pieces from a mixture of writers from younger generations and from the Old Guard. It will be interesting to see how the Foundation leadership changes in coming years. Who will take over the Foundation after the Proprietor steps down? Will there be a succession crisis? Will there be breakoff Mopologetic organizations due to an internal struggle for control? Could an outsider, such as Rod Meldrum, claim that the Proprietor anointed him as the next leader of the Interpreter Foundation and draw away some of the Proprietor’s acolytes? Will there be a day in which the succession candidates deliver speeches stating their claims to the throne? Will some acolytes claim that that they saw a transfiguration in the appearance and voice of one of the candidates such that he resembled and sounded just like the Proprietor? These things could easily come to pass unless the Proprietor has placed his wishes for succession in writing.Doctor Scratch wrote: ↑Sun Aug 04, 2024 3:09 amSuperb analysis and commentary, as always, Tom. I wonder: how many of the published (or “posted”?) pieces were authored by people that might be described as “Next Gen” or “Up-and-Comers”? Several here have noted in the past that, if the Mopologists cannot recruit people from the younger generations, then Mopologetics will wither and die. Based on these statistics, it seems that the “journal” is largely an “in-house,” effort, and something of a “good old boys” club at that.
I am not certain how church leaders view Brother Skousen and his 30-plus years of work. Were they supportive of his publication of The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text? Are they behind his Early Modern English theory? Did the Brethren endorse the idea of a Ghost Committee?Speaking of which, did you catch this stunning remark from the Afore?:
In other words, he hopes that the Brethren will adopt changes to the faith’s most sacred and foundational text that were *paid for* by Interpreter! A very famous and disquieting quote comes to mind: “You can buy anything in this world with money.”I suspect that Church leaders are reluctant to make editorial changes to official scriptural texts not least because members would then feel obliged to buy the revised editions and translation committees to retranslate them. And, as I've pointed out, none of Skousen's findings changes either the doctrine or the narrative in any substantial way.
Still, I think that they'll be incorporated someday. I hope so.
Rather than buying a new edition of the Book of Mormon, I suspect that many members would simply use the electronic version. The church sells physical copies of the Book of Mormon at a low price, so cost shouldn’t be a large consideration.
