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Donald W. Parry

Donald W. Parry, professor of the Hebrew Bible at Brigham Young University, Abraham O. Smoot Professorship, is married to Camille; they have six children.

Brother Parry has authored or edited more than 40 books on the Bible, Dead Sea Scrolls, and related topics. He writes for both academic and general audiences. His titles include: Angels: Agents of Light, Love, and Power; Dead Sea Scrolls Handbook; The Great Isaiah Scroll; and Exploring the Isaiah Scrolls and Their Textual Variants. He has also published more than 80 articles for a variety of venues.

He has served as a member of the International Team of Translators of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Jerusalem, since 1994. Parry is a member of several other professional organizations, including the International Organization of Qumran Studies, Groningen, The Netherlands; The International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament, Groningen, The Netherlands; the Society for Biblical Literature, Atlanta, Georgia; and the National Association of Professors of Hebrew, Madison, Wisconsin. He also presently serves as a Board Member of the Dead Sea Scrolls Foundation.

January 21, 2022 08:15 AM MST
"His way is ancient and rich with symbolism. We can learn much by pondering the reality for which each symbol stands."
9 Min Read
September 21, 2020 12:00 PM MDT
This excerpt was originally published by LDS Living in August 2018 and is being shared again in honor of the anniversary of the night the angel Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith.
8 Min Read
August 31, 2020 12:00 PM MDT
Editor’s note: The following sections are excerpted from 175 Temple Symbols and Their Meanings by Donald W. Parry and show how women’s involvement of temple work dates back to ancient Israel and how women continue to be more and more involved in temple work as the years go by.
11 Min Read
July 31, 2019 02:41 PM MDT
According to several old Jewish traditions, the earthly temple was a copy, counterpart, or mirror image of the heavenly temple. Victor Aptowitzer summarizes the Jewish point of view by writing that
12 Min Read
August 25, 2018 02:53 PM MDT
From time to time, in the face of wickedness, the Lord dispatches an angel to destroy one or more persons. In fact, both the scriptures and modern prophets use the expression “destroying angel.”
9 Min Read
August 24, 2018 12:51 PM MDT
A story about Joseph Smith and his bodyguard Allen Stout provides yet another example of an encounter with a translated person who concealed his angelic status while fulfilling his mission upon the earth. As Joseph Smith and Allen Stout were walking on a road west of the Mississippi River, “they saw a man walking along a road leading in from the south and coming towards them. The Prophet told Allen to remain where he was while he stepped over to speak with this pedestrian. Allen turned his back towards them and for a time forgot the Prophet and became engaged with his own thoughts, while he stood whipping a low bush with the cane he carried.
3 Min Read
August 21, 2018 05:14 PM MDT
President Harold B. Lee’s experience on an airplane illustrates the truth that angels may participate in healing a mortal who has an illness. President Lee recalled: “I was suffering from an ulcer condition that was becoming worse and worse. We had been touring a mission; my wife, Joan, and I were impressed the next morning that we should get home as quickly as possible, although we had planned to stay for some other meetings.
3 Min Read
June 22, 2018 04:32 PM MDT
President Thomas S. Monson, in addressing the women of the Church in April 2005, gave evidence of his loving nature: “My dear sisters, may God bless you. We love you; we pray for you.” President Monson’s words reiterated a significant teaching: “Remember that you do not walk alone. The Lord has promised you: ‘I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.’”1 In at least three general conference addresses, President Monson has also declared, “How glorious and near to the angels is youth that is clean.”2
6 Min Read
April 30, 2018 05:39 PM MDT
The LDS Bible Dictionary states: “These are messengers of the Lord, and are spoken of in the epistle to the Hebrews as ‘ministering spirits’ (Hebrews 1:14). We learn from latter-day revelation that there are two classes of heavenly beings who minister for the Lord: those who are spirits and those who have bodies of flesh and bone. Spirits are those beings who either have not yet obtained a body of flesh and bone (unembodied), or who have once had a mortal body and have died, and are awaiting the resurrection (disembodied). Ordinarily the word angel means those ministering persons who have a body of flesh and bone, being either resurrected from the dead (reembodied), or else translated, as were Enoch, Elijah, etc. (D&C 129)” (“Angels,” 608).
6 Min Read
April 19, 2018 07:18 PM MDT
In October 1998, President Gordon B. Hinckley stated in general conference, “I think about the power and force of angels that stand among us.”1 Indeed, scriptural texts indicate that the Lord’s angels have extraordinary capabilities and powers, making them formidable beings. Angels may have power over the elements, and the various earthly forces that exist in this telestial world do not bind them. These great powers of angels enable them to fulfill their missions here upon the earth and to assist mortals, who are, in comparison, delicate and frail. As we discuss the extraordinary powers of angels, however, we must remain cautious and open about those powers, because there is so much that we do not know. We must also remember that many scriptural statements, especially those from John the Revelator, contain symbolisms.
13 Min Read