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Hugh Nibley On "The Meaning Of The Atonement" Now Available
Hugh Nibley On "The Meaning Of The Atonement" Now Available
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
In a recent address, Hugh Nibley discussed the significance of the atonement. "The atonement," according to Brother Nibley, "is nothing less than the answer to the Terrible Question : 'Is this all there is?"'
When Did Jesus Appear In Bountiful
When Did Jesus Appear In Bountiful
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
It is generally believed that Jesus appeared in Bountiful shortly after his resurrection, even before the dust had settled on the destructions that had occurred at the time of his death. The text of the Book of Mormon, however, is not so clear.
New Evidence For Date Of Christ's Birth
New Evidence For Date Of Christ's Birth
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
Between the birth of Christ and the death of Herod there was a lunar eclipse. Attempts to date Christ's birth have involved trying to establish the date of this eclipse. For many years it has been believed that the eclipse occurred on March 13, 4 B.C., which would place Christ's birth in either 5 or 6 B.C.
The Decline Of The God Quetzalcoatl At Teotihuacan, John L. Sorenson
The Decline Of The God Quetzalcoatl At Teotihuacan, John L. Sorenson
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
Some Latter-day Saints have long been struck with the similarity between certain characteristics of the god Quetzalcoatl, as known from native traditions in Mexico and Guatemala, and Jesus Christ, whose visit to Lehi's descendants is described in Third Nephi. In the book, An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon (1985), the dramatic decline of the god Quetzalcoatl in the period around A.D. 200 at the giant city of Teotihuacan near Mexico City was discussed in comparison with Fourth Nephi. The book relied on a study by Mexican scholar Enrique Fiorescano ("Quetzalcoatl: espiritualismo del Mexico antiguo," Cuadernos Americanos 105/4 …
The "Lamb Of God" In Pre-Christian Texts, John W. Welch
The "Lamb Of God" In Pre-Christian Texts, John W. Welch
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
One of Nephi's favorite titles for Jesus Christ was "the Lamb of God." Forty-four references to "the Lamb" appear in Nephi's vision in 1 Nephi 11-14 alone. Aside from the Latter-day Saint understanding of a similar reference in Moses 7:47 and perhaps Isaiah 53:7, what evidence supports the Old World origins of this terminology?
Apocryphal Evidence For The 40-Day Mission Of Christ
Apocryphal Evidence For The 40-Day Mission Of Christ
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
In his book Mormonism and Early Christianity, Hugh W. Nibley discusses how the early apocryphal texts contain an impressive body of evidence that has direct bearing on questions concerning the his- · toricity of the 40-day ministry of Jesus Christ (see Acts 1:3).
Chart On New Testament Gospels Available
Chart On New Testament Gospels Available
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
How many distinct events, episodes, parables, or sayings of Jesus are reported in the four New Testament Gospels? Where in the scriptures are they found? Which are unique to one of the Gospels, and which are not?
The Sermon On The Mount: Restoration Of The Higher Law, John A. Tvedtnes
The Sermon On The Mount: Restoration Of The Higher Law, John A. Tvedtnes
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus introduced a higher law that had not been in force since the days of Moses. In order to fully understand the sermon, we must begin by examining the law of Moses.
The Effects Of Relational Poverty: Healing Our Culture, Jenet Erickson
The Effects Of Relational Poverty: Healing Our Culture, Jenet Erickson
Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy
One of the most vexing challenges of our day is a profound hunger for connection, evidenced by an epidemic of loneliness, violence, relational poverty, and increasing mental health challenges. We are born to be in deep connection with others. As German analyst Frieda Fromm-Reichman wrote, “The longing for interpersonal intimacy stays with every human being from infancy through life, and there is no human being who is not threatened by its loss.” A radical cultural focus on autonomy with the associated ruptures in family stability, decreased religiosity and community engagement have increased loneliness in spite of the seeming “connectivity” of …
The Baptism Of Little Children In Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, Matthew P. Roper
The Baptism Of Little Children In Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, Matthew P. Roper
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
In a letter to his son Moroni, Mormon warns against the practice of baptizing little children. He identifies two false assumptions of his day used to justify infant baptism: little children are born with sin (see Moroni 8:8) and will suffer divine punishment in hell if they die without having been baptized (see Moroni 8:13). While the exact nature of this aberrant practice is unknown, it was apparently common enough among the Nephites of Mormon’s day to warrant swift and unequivocal prophetic censure. Mormon describes the rite as particularly wicked and erroneous in light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Institute Contributes To Exhibit
Institute Contributes To Exhibit
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
“Beholding Salvation: Images of Christ,” a new exhibit at the BYU Museum of Art, displays 170 works depicting the ministry of Jesus Christ. The paintings, sculptures, icons, and illuminated manuscripts represent half a millennium of religious art. Not part of the exhibit but prepared especially for it is a book authored by FARMS director S. Kent Brown in collaboration with Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Dawn C. Pheysey.
Research At The Shrine Of The Book Continues
Research At The Shrine Of The Book Continues
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
Irene Lewitt, assistant director of the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem, visited Brigham Young University on June 20, 2007. Donald W. Parry, professor of Hebrew Bible studies, and Steven Booras from the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, hosted Ms. Lewitt during her visit. A portion of her tour included a demonstration of multispectral imaging. A luncheon sponsored by the Maxwell Institute was also held in her honor. The Shrine of the Book is a museum that houses many of the Dead Sea Scrolls, including the Great Isaiah Scroll and the Temple Scroll, and other significant archaeological findings. …
Third Nephi: An Incomparable Scripture— Proceedings Of A Willes Center Symposium
Third Nephi: An Incomparable Scripture— Proceedings Of A Willes Center Symposium
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
The personal appearance of Jesus Christ as recorded in the book of 3 Nephi constitutes the narrative and spiritual climax of the Book of Mormon. Although the sacred account repeats and reinforces many of the Savior’s Old World teachings, many aspects of his New World ministry have no parallel elsewhere in scripture. In this light, Third Nephi: An Incomparable Scripture is a fitting title for a new book published by the Maxwell Institute and Deseret Book.
The Son Of Man, Stephen O. Smoot, John Gee, Kerry Muhlestein, John S. Thompson
The Son Of Man, Stephen O. Smoot, John Gee, Kerry Muhlestein, John S. Thompson
BYU Studies Quarterly
In the Book of Abraham’s divine-council scene, God proposes to send a redemptive emissary to ensure that those premortal intelligences or spirits who entered their second estate and faithfully did “all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them” would have “glory added upon their heads for ever and ever” (Abr. 3:25–26). When the Lord asked whom he should send to be this emissary, “one answered like unto the Son of Man: Here am I, send me. And another answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the first” (v. 27). This …
Inequality And Narrative In The Book Of Mormon, Robert F. Schwartz
Inequality And Narrative In The Book Of Mormon, Robert F. Schwartz
BYU Studies Quarterly
speak unto you as if ye were present,” writes Moroni, “and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing” (Morm. 8:35). Eyewitnesses to the end of their civilization, Moroni and his father, Mormon, address us, their modern readers, from the perspective of exiled visionaries. Like twentieth-century exiles Hannah Arendt or Czesław Miłosz, these editors and part-authors of the Book of Mormon write as refugees from a society in utter, violent collapse, left to piece together a narrative of how things came to such a bitter end and what the future …
"Last At The Cross", John Hilton Iii, Jesse Vincent, Rachel Harper
"Last At The Cross", John Hilton Iii, Jesse Vincent, Rachel Harper
BYU Studies Quarterly
An article in the 1921 issue of the Relief Society Magazine states, “Sisters of the Relief Society, . . . answer to your hearts one question: Have I secured to myself the Pearl of Great Price, the great gift of God to man, which is eternal life, and which can be secured only through first obtaining a testimony of the mission and crucifixion of the Savior, with the added testimony that Joseph Smith was a prophet of the living God, and that he revealed anew the gospel of Jesus Christ in this the last dispensation to the children of men?” …
“Things Which Are Abroad” Latter-Day Saints And Foreign Affairs, Patrick Moran
“Things Which Are Abroad” Latter-Day Saints And Foreign Affairs, Patrick Moran
BYU Studies Quarterly
When the Lord instructed Joseph Smith in May 1833 to “obtain a knowledge of . . . countries, and of kingdoms, of laws of God and man” (D&C 93:53), that counsel may have seemed incongruous to the young prophet. After all, the entirety of the revelation that preceded it dealt with lofty theological concepts of light, truth, progression, and grace, in addition to exhortations to make family and home life more in keeping with God’s will. The sudden commandment to learn about countries, kingdoms, and earthly law might have struck the twenty- seven-year-old Joseph as out of place, even though …
Jesus Makes Everything Better, Sam Brown
Jesus Makes Everything Better, Sam Brown
BYU Studies Quarterly
I’ve been writing this eulogy in my head for some years now. Several times it has seemed clear that Kate would be leaving us soon. But then she has stayed. And now she is gone.
Gethsemane, Darlene Young
Gethsemane, Darlene Young
BYU Studies Quarterly
I want to tell the story. But— there is no approaching this, strange crux of everything.
Was Jesus Married?, Christopher James Blythe
Was Jesus Married?, Christopher James Blythe
BYU Studies Quarterly
While the belief that Jesus was married during his lifetime has been popular among Church leaders and lay members since the nineteenth century, it has never been an essential of Latter-day Saint theology. Rather, belief in a married Christ prospered in the early decades of the Church with little controversy among members, until leaders in the early twentieth century discouraged its public discussion while never disparaging the concept. A century later, as FAIR, an independent apologetic think tank, states on its website, “Some [Latter-day Saints] believe that He was married; others believe He wasn’t. Most members are open to believe …
Defend Your Families And Love Your Enemies: A New Look At The Book Of Mormon’S Patterns Of Protection, J. David Pulsipher
Defend Your Families And Love Your Enemies: A New Look At The Book Of Mormon’S Patterns Of Protection, J. David Pulsipher
BYU Studies Quarterly
A primary purpose of the Book of Mormon, as described on its title page, is to show “what great things the Lord hath done.”1 The whole narrative serves that goal, being saturated with frequent examples of divine goodness and guidance. Then, in the book’s stunning climax, God’s presence is made most explicit through the personal appearance of the resurrected Lord, Jesus Christ, during which he displays the physical emblems of his compassion and redemption, heals broken bodies and souls, and invites everyone to become “even as I am” (3 Ne. 27:27). The power of divine love is clearly a central …
His Body Breaks, James Goldberg
His Body Breaks, James Goldberg
BYU Studies Quarterly
His body breaks long before he hangs on the cross.
Jesus And The Roman Centurion (Matthew 8:5–13), H. Douglas Buckwalter
Jesus And The Roman Centurion (Matthew 8:5–13), H. Douglas Buckwalter
BYU Studies Quarterly
At the time I was doing my post-graduate work in New Testament studies at Kings College at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, my wife gave birth to our second child, a son. Under the National Healthcare System that was provided, we were periodically visited at home by a district nurse. As our son grew a little older, she began to bring colored toy blocks for him to play with. At first, she would randomly pick out any colored block, say a blue block, and see if he could associate color and pick out the same colored block. In time …
Rethinking The Structure Of The “Farewell Discourse” (John 13–17) Through A Chiastic Lens, Wayne Brouwer
Rethinking The Structure Of The “Farewell Discourse” (John 13–17) Through A Chiastic Lens, Wayne Brouwer
BYU Studies Quarterly
Briefly stated, my thesis is this: although it is very difficult to read the mind of the Evangelist, or the redactor who brought elements of previously written material into the shape of the gospel as we have it today, it appears that the repetitive and reflexive elements of the Johannine farewell discourse fit together into a large chiasm1 bounded by expressions of spiritual intimacy with God on either end (the foot washing episode of ch. 13 and the prayer of ch. 17) and channeled toward the challenge to “abide” in Jesus at the center (15:1–17). In outline, it could be …
The Teachings Of Church Leaders Regarding The Crucifixion Of Jesus Christ: 1852–2018, John Hilton Iii, Emily K. Hyde, Mckenna Grace Trussel
The Teachings Of Church Leaders Regarding The Crucifixion Of Jesus Christ: 1852–2018, John Hilton Iii, Emily K. Hyde, Mckenna Grace Trussel
BYU Studies Quarterly
From the beginnings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (herein referred to as “the Church”), the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ has been at the heart of its theology. In numerous revelations received by Joseph Smith, the Savior is identified as having been “crucified for the sins of the world” (D&C 53:2; see also 21:9, 35:2, 46:13, 54:1, 76:41). President Brigham Young taught that salvation was only “through the name and ministry of Jesus Christ, and the atonement he made on Mount Calvary.”1 President John Taylor said that Christ “was crucified and put to death to atone …
“We Talk Of Christ, We Rejoice In Christ”, Chad H. Webb
“We Talk Of Christ, We Rejoice In Christ”, Chad H. Webb
Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel
Thank you, that was wonderful. We’re so blessed. It’s such a privilege to be together with all of you today. Thank you for all you’re doing. We love you and love serving with you.
Teaching The Scriptural Emphasis On The Crucifixion Of Jesus Christ, John Hilton Iii
Teaching The Scriptural Emphasis On The Crucifixion Of Jesus Christ, John Hilton Iii
Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel
A colleague recently shared with me how, when teaching missionary preparation classes, he would role-play with students. When students pretending to be missionaries would ask him (acting as an investigator) if he knew about Christ’s Atonement, he would say, “Yes, I saw that Mel Gibson movie about Christ dying for our sins on the cross.” At least half of his students would correct him, stating that Christ atoned for our sins in Gethsemane, but not on the cross. This not only indicates a lack of the interpersonal skill of building on common beliefs but is also doctrinally incomplete. It also …
A Savior With A Sword: The Power Of A Fuller Scriptural Picture Of Christ, Kerry Muhlestein
A Savior With A Sword: The Power Of A Fuller Scriptural Picture Of Christ, Kerry Muhlestein
Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel
We have been counseled to draw the power of Christ into our lives and to “begin by learning about him.”1 The Savior himself commands us, “Learn of me” (Doctrine and Covenants 19:23; Matthew 11:29). In fact, coming to know both God and Christ is a necessary part of receiving eternal life ( John 17:3). Many of our students will naturally conclude that to learn about Jesus Christ they should study the Gospels. While this is necessary, it is not sufficient if we are to come to know who our Savior and Redeemer truly is and thus draw on his …
“A Teacher Come From God”, Marlin K. Jensen
“A Teacher Come From God”, Marlin K. Jensen
Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel
One of the desires of the heart that I’ve had since being called at age eighteen to teach a youth Sunday School class is the desire to become a good teacher. Chapter 3 of John’s Gospel is best known for the exchange between the Savior and Nicodemus about the need to be born again. For me, however, the most moving part of that dialogue has always been the way Nicodemus greeted the Savior. He began with the salutation, “Rabbi,” which, as you scholars know, is the Jewish title for “master” or “teacher.” He continued, “We know that thou art a …
Peter As A Learner And Teacher, John Hilton Iii
Peter As A Learner And Teacher, John Hilton Iii
Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel
Over a century ago, biblical scholar Phillip Shaff wrote, “Generally speaking, the character of Peter is described with essential harmony in all the Gospels. He appears as an admirable type of the Galilean: well-meaning, confiding, freedom-loving, and courageous, yet changeable, capricious, and eager for novelty.” Indeed, as Markus Bockmuehl points out, “Peter is, after Jesus, the most frequently mentioned individual both in the Gospels and in the New Testament as a whole.” Peter’s enthusiasm and forward nature can be seen throughout the four Gospels in the manner in which he speaks for the disciples and at times acts impetuously (for …