Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Can The 1834 Affidavits Attacking The Smith Family Be Trusted?, Daniel C. Peterson

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

The character and claims of Joseph Smith are fundamental to the claims of the Church he founded. Knowing this, critics of the Prophet have contended for more than a century and a half that he and his family were the kind of people from whom nobody would want to buy a used car, much less receive a plan of salvation.

Elder L. Tom Perry Examines The Personalities Involved In The Translation Of The Book Of Mormon And In The Restoration Of The Church

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

In his address to the friends and supporters of FARMS at the Foundation's 1995 annual banquet, Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve expressed his interest in the human chemistry found in organizations and examined the early history of the Church from this perspective. He spoke of the challenges that Joseph Smith faced as a young husband with a skeptical father-in-law who thought Joseph should be doing something more productive than sitting around the house translating golden plates. He reflected on the challenges that Martin Harris faced in helping to finance the work on the Book of …

Honorary Volume Focuses On Church History And Doctrine

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

Richard Lloyd Anderson - known as a devoted teacher, careful writer, and perfect gentleman - has had a great impact on the study of LDS Church history. In The Disciple as Witness: Essays on Latter-day Saint History and Doctrine in Honor of Richard Lloyd Anderson, one of two Festschrift volumes published in recognition of his work, friends and colleagues have written 18 scholarly studies in his honor. Several of these papers were presented on 8 March 1997 at a conference titled "Pioneers of the Restoration."

"Show Them Unto No Man", Barry R. Bickmore

BYU Studies Quarterly

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) who attempt to educate themselves about the history of their religion can sometimes be confronted with a bewildering array of interpretations made by historians who range in perspective from traditional believers to atheists and include numerous variations in between. When asked about the origins of such discrepancies, the historians will naturally refer to biases exhibited by the others and perhaps even to their own possible sources of bias.

A Chat With The New Editors Of The Maxwell Institute Journals

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

Accompanying this issue of Insights is volume 17 (combining numbers one and two) of the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies; however, readers will note that the Journal now carries a new name, the Journal of the Book of Mormon and Restoration Scripture. In connection with this change, the Institute asked Andrew H. Hedges, an associate professor of Church History and Doctrine at BYU, to become the new editor, replacing Professor S. Kent Brown, who served as editor and associate editor for many years, and who recently retired from the university. The new associate editors are Grant Hardy, professor of …

A New Witness To The World, By Robert A. Rees (Salt Lake City: By Common Consent Press, 2020), Lane Welch

BYU Studies Quarterly

This book provides a series of essays that analyze and contextualize the text of the Book of Mormon while providing Professor Rees’s faithful perspective on the text. Though each essay stands on its own as a separate work, the later essays, handling the context of Joseph Smith’s work as a nineteenth-century American writer, do reference and build off one another. These later essays handle the backgrounds and processes of various American writers contemporary to Joseph Smith, providing an effective survey of the literary milieu into which the Book of Mormon first entered; the earlier essays are more focused on the …

Sally In Three Worlds: An Indian Captive In The House Of Brigham Young, By Virginia Kerns (Salt Lake City: University Of Utah Press, 2021), Julia Harrison

BYU Studies Quarterly

In Sally in Three Worlds: An Indian Captive in the House of Brigham Young, Virginia Kerns relates the story of the settlement of Utah through the life of Sally, a Pahvant Ute woman who lived in Brigham Young’s household. On its surface, the book is a narrative of the life of one woman, but Kerns argues that “a single life can illuminate an entire cultural and social world, or reveal an unremarked but vital part of the human story.”

"None That Doeth Good", Walker Wright, Don Bradley

BYU Studies Quarterly

The First Vision has been a center of both faith and controversy. While millions of Latter-day Saints affirm it as the beginning of the Restoration, others see it as an ever-growing fish tale. The multiple accounts of the First Vision vary in detail, with Joseph Smith’s earliest written account (1832) lacking some of the elements found in his later accounts. However, some of these elements—particularly the appearance of God the Father as part of the First Vision experience—are laced throughout Joseph Smith’s translation of the Bible. These historical threads ultimately culminate in his translation of Psalm 14, which weaves together …

An Experiential Pathway To Conversion, Robert K. Christensen, Matthew D. Wride, Neil R. Lundberg

BYU Studies Quarterly

Joseph Smith’s formal education did not extend beyond the third grade. His life did not extend beyond the final years of his thirties. The person he became and his work in restoring the gospel of Jesus Christ, however, extend into eternity. John Taylor observed that “Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it.”

Joseph Smith For President: The Prophet, The Assassins, And The Fight For American Religious Freedom By Spender Mcbride, Jordan T. Watkins

BYU Studies Quarterly

In Joseph Smith for President, Spencer McBride provides an illuminating and reader-friendly account of Joseph Smith’s presidential campaign. McBride, who is a scholar of American religious and political history and an associate managing historian of the Joseph Smith Papers Project, firmly situates the early history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints within antebellum contexts. In doing so, he contributes to a body of scholarship that examines the early Saints’ experiences in ways that shed light on and correct assumptions about American historical developments. In one recent example, which addresses some of the same themes, Benjamin E. …

The Not-So-Great Apostasy?: A Response To The Mormon Argument Of The Great Apostasy, Rylie Slone

Honors Theses

The research question to be presented is this: did the Great Apostasy claimed by the Latter-Day Saint church really happen? The hypothesis, to be tested by research using church history, church doctrine, and textual criticism, is that the Great Apostasy never happened. The hypothesis is that the loving, omniscient God of the universe would not allow his truth to be clouded and flawed by men and would instead preserve it. Jesus told Peter in Matthew 16:18, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not …

Finding Documents On The Joseph Smith Papers Website, Kenneth L. Alford Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

The Joseph Smith Papers website (josephsmithpapers.org) is a wonderful resource. With thousands of documents and hundreds of resource pages, though, it can sometimes feel like you’re searching for a needle in a haystack. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how you might use the website to learn more about quotations and documents associated with the Prophet Joseph Smith. This article helps readers learn to use the Joseph Smith Papers website to find specific documents. It also teaches readers how to benefit from the numerous other resources available on the Joseph Smith Papers website.

Conversions, Arrests, And Friendships: A Story Of Two Icelandic Police Officers, Fred E. Woods, Kari Bjarnason

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

In 1881 in Reykjavík, Iceland, two Icelandic police officers, Þorsteinn (Thorsteinn) Jónsson and Jón Borgfirðingur, were sent to arrest Latter-day Saint missionaries. These missionaries had baptized the first three converts to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Reykjavík a year earlier, and one of those converts, Sigríður Jónsdóttir, happened to be the wife of one of the arresting officers. But a remarkable friendship, one that thrived irrespective of time, distance, and religious differences, developed due to the arrests and the events surrounding them. Although the story and historical context of the missionaries’ experience in Reykjavík have been …

Saints At Devil's Gate: Landscapes Along The Mormon Trail, Herman Du Toit

BYU Studies Quarterly

Laura Allred Hurtado and Bryon C. Andreasen. Saints at Devil's Gate: Landscapes along the Mormon Trail.

Salt Lake City: Church Historian's Press, 2016.

Saints, Slaves, And Blacks: The Changing Place Of Black People Within Mormonism, Alison Palmer

BYU Studies Quarterly

Saints, Slaves, and Blacks: The Changing Place of Black People within Mormonism, by Newell G. Bringhurst, 2d ed. (Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2018)

Leonard Arrington And The Writing Of Mormon History, James B. Allen

BYU Studies Quarterly

Gregory A. Prince. Leonard Arrington and the Writing of Mormon History.

Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2016.

Out Of Obscurity: Mormonism Since 1945, Roger Terry

BYU Studies Quarterly

Patrick Q. Mason and John G. Turner, eds., Out of Obscurity: Mormonism since 1945 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2016)

Joseph Smith's Iowa Quest For Legal Assistance: His Letters To Edward Johnstone And Others On Sunday, June 23, 1844, John W. Welch

BYU Studies Quarterly

When Joseph and Hyrum Smith were threatened with arrest on June 22, 1844, they left Nauvoo, Illinois, and went across the Mississippi River in the very early morning hours of Sunday, June 23. As evidenced by the letters and records of that crucial day, Joseph and Hyrum were considering several options that pointed in divergent directions. Recently found sources give new information about a little-known and underestimated purpose for their midnight rowing across the Mississippi River to Montrose, Iowa—namely, to seek and retain the legal assistance of experienced lawyers necessary before submitting to a warrant requiring them to go to …

Martin Harris Comes To Utah, 1870, Susan Easton Black, Larry C. Porter

BYU Studies Quarterly

[The following is an excerpt from chapter 14 of the new biography Martin Harris: Uncompromising Witness of the Book of Mormon by Susan Easton Black and Larry C. Porter. This biography, published by BYU Studies, will be available in October 2018. For further information, see the advertisement on page 208 of this issue.]

Seminary And Institute Recognition Pins, Dennis A. Wright, Alan L. Morrell

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

The history of the Church is recorded not only in the words and events o f the past but also in the artifacts left behind by previous generations. Artifacts serve as tangible reminders of our memories and add a sense of reality to our history. The Church History Museum seeks to collect, preserve, and interpret the artifacts that illustrate the history of the Church. As windows to our past, artifacts enhance personal insight and understanding that in turn enlighten our appreciation of our history. The purpose of this discussion is to examine the historical context of recognition jewelry in the …

Praying A Mission Into Existence: Frantiska “Mamousek” Vesela Brodilova, Mary Jane Woodger, Tyler Smith, Kiersten Robertson

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

After hearing about the death of Frantiska “Mamousek” Brodilova, President John A. Widtsoe of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, “Sister Brodil was a really marvelous woman. Her story must be preserved in Church history.” This paper preserves the memory of a woman whose faith and devotion to the truth and whose love for the Lord opened the door for an entire nation to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ. She was “a woman who prayed a mission into existence.”

The Mormon Church And Blacks: A Documentary History, Stephanie Fudge

BYU Studies Quarterly

The Mormon Church and Blacks: A Documentary History, edited by Matthew L. Harris and Newell G. Bringhurst (Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 2015)

Prophets Rendering Christlike Service: Looking To Peter As An Example, Kenneth L. Alford Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

This chapter (from the 2014 book “An Eye of Faith,” a festschrift for Dr. Richard O. Cowan, published by the Brigham Young University Religious Studies Center) shares examples of prophetic service from Peter the Apostle to each of the prophets of the Restoration—from Joseph Smith, Jr. to Thomas S. Monson. Many of the stories included about modern prophets are not widely known.

Using "The Joseph Smith Papers" In The Classroom, Kenneth L. Alford Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

This article discusses how several discoveries made by the research team at the Joseph Smith Papers (josephsmithpapers.org) can be shared in LDS teaching situations, such as seminary, institute, family home evening, and sunday school. Specific examples are shared from D&C 1, 4, 20, 21, 23, 29, 30, 39, 40, 41, 74, 94, 97, 104 and 107. Summary tables also compare section heading information from the 1981 D&C, the 2013 D&C, and the various early Church revelatory books.

Making Friends In Missouri: Telling The Steamboat Saluda Story And Its Aftermath, Fred E. Woods

Faculty Publications

The infamous "Extermination Order" issued October 27, 1838, by Missouri Governor Lilburn W. Boggs caused thousands of Latter-day Saints to flee the state and seek refuge in Illinois. Throughout the harsh winter of 1838-39, many Latter-day Saint families traveled to Missouri's eastern border (some 150 miles) in carts and wagons and on foot. While most crossed the Mississippi River by ferry at Quincy, some voyaged by riverboats from Richmond, Missouri, to the Quincy region in Illinois.

We Know No North, No South, No East, No West: Mormon Interpretations Of The Civil War, 1861-1865, Richard Bennett

Faculty Publications

While peace reigns in Utah, civil war, with all its horrors, prevails among those who earnestly desired to see the soil of these valleys crimsoned with the blood of the Saints, and, if we are mistaken in the signs of the times, before the conflict between the North and South shall have ended, all they unitedly desired to see meted out to the Mormons, will be poured out without measure upon those who have initiated the war of extermination, and are now carrying it on with all the energy they severally possess. So read the lead editorial in the Salt …

Problems With Mountain Meadows Massacre Sources, Richard E. Turley Jr.

BYU Studies Quarterly

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints houses a large collection of information regarding the Mountain Meadows Massacre in its Church History Department. However, none of the sources are wholly reliable and must be analyzed carefully in order to piece together the complicated events of the massacre. Turley explains what possible errors exist in Major James Henry Carleton's report, the John D. Lee trial transcripts, and John D. Lee's autobiography, Mormonism Unveiled. Against most evidence, Carleton recorded that the wagon train massacred was the Perkins train, a fact that has been repeated without much scrutiny in other works …

Charles Good's Act Of Kindness And The Handcart Children, Fred E. Woods, William G. Hartley

Faculty Publications

On a hot July afternoon in 1856, businessman Charles Good paid an unannounced visit to a crowded campground west of Fort Des Moines. There he found nearly 500 tired travelers--Mormon emigrants who had pulled their handcarts earlier that day through the small business district of Fort Dex Moines where Good lived. This was the fourth handcart company to pull through the city in two months. Good's visit would be noted in the company's official journal, but subsequent histories have overlooked his charitable gesture--a simple act of kindness--while at the camp.

Iowa City Bound: Mormon Migration By Sail And Rail, 1856-1857, Fred E. Woods

Faculty Publications

In the spring of 1855, an article in the Mormons' British periodical, The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, instructed church members to leave "Babylon" just as ancient Israel had left Egypt under Moses' leadership. For European converts, the Atlantic was their Red Sea and Brigham Young their American Moses. During his nearly 30 years (1847-1877) as president and prophet of the Latter-day Saints (LDS), Young directed the organized migration of more than 70,000 people to Utah, most of them from Europe. He approved yearly migration plans, appointed officers to manage the various companies, and arranged for church agents to assist at …

A Mormon And Still A Jew: The Life Of Alexander Neibaur, Fred E. Woods

Faculty Publications

Alexander Neibaur was a man of many talents. An educated man and gifted poet, he was fluent in seven languages. One account describes Neibaur as "a small, thin man, with a round ruddy face, with sharp eyes." He was also unusual inasmuch as he was Utah's first dentist and matchmaker, and the first known male Jewish convert to Mormonism; and he left the only known contemporary diary account of Joseph Smith's first vision experience. Neibaur was also a good family man, honest and loyal, and a kind friend and trusted neighbor, not only to fellow Church members but also to …