Arts and Humanities Commons^™

"Better Wayes And Means Amongst The English, For The Attaining Of ... Health And Life": Indian Powers Of Choice In Conversion On Martha's Vineyard, Christina Gentile

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Nothing less than death was expected by herself and husband," English colonist Daniel Gookin wrote of a Wampanoag Indian in the mid-seventeenth century. The woman had been in labor for several days without sign of delivery, and, according to the other Indian residents of Martha's Vineyard, there was only one hope for her survival. "Send for a powow," the couple's relations exclaimed, "and use that help for release." The powwows, religious leaders known for their supernatural curing powers, often performed miracles in perilous circumstances and were thus always consulted in such situations. A powwow would be this woman's last chance, …

Al-Ghazali' S Views On Education Reform, Joshua Wheatley

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghaziili" (1058-1111 CE) is best known for his development of Islamic philosophy and his embrace of Sufism, but he was also an important contributor to the theory of Islamic education. There is no shortage of scholarship on al-Ghazali"'s promotion of Sufism, his contributions to Islamic philosophy and his involvement in court politics. His position on education, however, is less well-known. Avner Giladi, an authority on the history of education in the Islamic world, has observed that in medieval Islam, education was an inseparable part of religion and politics. Therefore, it is only natural that, rather than writing …

Judas Was A Chaplain To Congress: Jacob Duche And The Revolutionary Limits Of Civic Faith, Spencer Wells

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

The Morning of September 6,1774, found a weary John Adams attending to political duties. Arriving in Philadelphia to take part in the First Continental Congress, Adams found himself greeted with rumors concerning the British "bombardment" of Boston at every turn. While aware that the colonial press remained unreliable during even the best of times, Adams remained concerned. Prospects of familial "distress and terror" haunted his mind, and fellow delegates did little to help. As Congress opened, Patrick Henry warned colonists of approaching danger. "Government [was] dissolved," he began, for aggressive British troops had succeeded in throwing once-loyal colonies into a …

"Come And Die": Total Sacrifice In The Theology And Resistance Of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Greer Bates

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

The sun had only just begun to rise when he was taken from his cell, naked and shivering, into the biting cold of an early April morning. Perhaps he watched as the hangman adjusted the noose that swung lifelessly from the scaffolds. Perhaps he spoke to the guards as they led him to the platform on which he would die. Likely, he thought of his young fiancee, his mother, his father. And, almost certainly, he prayed. We have no record of these final moments in the life of the young Lutheran pastor and theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, executed on the 9th …

Elizabeth As Constantine: John Foxe And Holy Women, Courtney Jensen Peacock

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

One of the most frequently discussed issues in Renaissance feminist scholarship is the degree of authority and influence women held in their respective societies. During the sixteenth century, the most obvious indication of female power was the dramatic appearance of powerful female regents and monarchs. This was especially apparent in England, with Jane Gray, Mary Tudor, and Elizabeth Tudor each succeeding to the throne and initiating a succession of female domination for almost fifty years. Whereas women had been traditionally excluded from civil and religious authority, the advent of these female ru lers initiated a new discussion concerning the rights …

Guilty By Association: Race And Religion In George Romney's 1968 Presidential Campaign, Matthew K. Steen Iii

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In 1966, Republican Governor George W. Romney of Michigan was considered by many in his party, and among Democrats, to be a front runner for the 1968 presidential election. By March 1968, however, Romney dropped out of the race due to a lack of popular support. Several factors contributed to his unsuccessful campaign. Foremost was his wavering position on U.S. involvement in Vietnam coupled with his general lack of knowledge of foreign affairs. To a lesser degree, Romney's membership in The Church ofJesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gave him a negative image in the press. Because the Church denied its …

Farms And Byu Participate In The 1999 Aar And Sbl Annual Meetings In Boston

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

Since 1995 FARMS representatives have attended the joint annual meetings of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL). AAR and SBL are longstanding learned societies with members from colleges, universities, seminaries, and other academic institutions in the U.S. and abroad. Each year they jointly hold their annual meetings, which constitute the largest gathering of religion scholars in the world, offering sessions on subjects ranging from the history of Christianity and the study of Islam to biblical texts and their ancient contexts.

A Guide To Secondary Scholarship For Pure Land Buddhism Using Japanese Periodicals, Rebecca A. Stover

Journal of East Asian Libraries

This paper presents the process of locating Japanese language periodicals relating to Pure Land Buddhism and compiles a bibliography of open-access Japanese language sources for students in the process of Japanese Language acquisition. The paper attempts to scaffold the research process for students in the process of language acquisition and function as a guide to finding information.

From Other Publishers

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

Understanding Islam: An LDS Perspective, a new audiotape from Covenant Recordings in which Daniel C. Peterson, a BYU scholar of Islam and Arabic, provides a fascinating look at the history and beliefs of a religion of more than 1.4 billion adherents. See the order form.

Latest Occasional Papers Highlights Biblical Scholar

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

A new publication from the Institute highlights the biblical research of a prominent British scholar. Kevin Christensen’s “Paradigms Regained: A Survey of Margaret Barker’s Scholarship and Its Significance for Mormon Studies,” the second issue of the FARMS Occasional Papers, compares the works of Margaret Barker with the writings of many Latter-day Saint researchers, including Hugh W. Nibley, Daniel C. Peterson, and John W. Welch.

The New World Promised Land’S Economic Base

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

A majority of people in the modern world are absorbed in performing their daily work, conceived in terms of jobs, money, food, and other things practical and economic. Would it have been different for the Nephites or Lamanites? Not really. The center of their daily concerns, too, was “making a living.” But what that meant differed greatly from what we mean by the expression.

Forthcoming Publication

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

The FARMS Review (vol. 15, no. 1), edited by Daniel C. Peterson, contains reviews of a FARMS publication titled Uncovering the Original Text of the Book of Mormon: History and Findings of the Critical Text Project, Terryl L. Givens’s study of the Book of Mormon titled By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture That Launched a New World Religion (published by Oxford University Press), three books on the Book of Abraham, and an evangelical critique titled The New Mormon
Challenge, initially treated in the last Review. The FARMS Review (formerly FARMS Review of Books) also includes a study of …

‘Binding Of Isaac’ Focus Of Farms Conference, Lecture

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

Genesis 22 records that God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac upon an altar but intervened at the last moment, providing instead a ram for the actual sacrifice and greatly blessing Abraham for passing what has come to be viewed as the ultimate test of obedience to God’s will. The account, simple enough in outline, is nevertheless seen by different religious traditions as profoundly symbolic and even enigmatic, its moral and religious implications having spawned numerous interpretations.

Forthcoming Publications

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

Astronomy, Papyrus, and Covenant, edited by John Gee and Brian Hauglid, is the third volume in the Book of Abraham Series. It includes papers from a FARMS-sponsored conference on the Book of Abraham and covers such topics as Abraham’s vision of the heavens, commonalities between the Book of Abraham and noncanonical ancient texts, and the significance of the Abrahamic covenant. Available summer 2004.

Latest Occasional Papers Treats Old Testament Themes

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

In “Who Controls the Water? Yahweh vs. Baal,” the lead article in Occasional Papers 4, Fred E. Woods presents a fascinating discussion of the polemical usage of water and storm language in the Deuteronomic History (the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings). As Woods notes, the most active deity at the Canaanite city of Ugarit (located in present-day Syria near the Mediterranean coast) is Baal, the god of water and storm. The strong denunciation of Baal in the Old Testament indicates that the Baal cult had deeply penetrated Israelite culture. And while scholars have long been aware of …

Book Of Mormon Critical Text Project Continues With New Volume

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

The Maxwell Institute and Brigham Young University are pleased to announce the release of part 4 of volume 4 of the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project, Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon. Part 4 analyzes the text from Alma 21 to Alma 55.

Farms Review Takes Up Doctrinal Issues, Restoration Accounts, Science Vs. Religion

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

As editor of the FARMS Review, Daniel C. Peterson is well acquainted with critics’ opinions about it, FARMS in general, and, by extension, the Maxwell Institute. In his introduction to the latest FARMS Review (vol. 18, no. 2, 2006), Peterson responds to the critics by exploring the meaning of the term apologetics (“arguing . . . for or against any position”) and demonstrating at length how the term applies to the Maxwell Institute and its publications. He cautions that the term is relevant only to a portion of the Maxwell Institute’s work. “The garden of faith, like most gardens, requires …

Book Of Mormon Project Continues With New Volume

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

The Maxwell Institute and Brigham Young University are pleased to announce the release of part 5 of volume 4 of the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project, Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon. Part 5 analyzes the text from Alma 56 through 3 Nephi 18.

Givens Featured Speaker At First Biennial Willes Center Lecture

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

The Book of Mormon and its status as an American Bible was the subject of the First Biennial Laura F. Willes Center Book of Mormon Lecture held October 8, 2009, at Brigham Young University. Terryl L. Givens, professor of literature and religion and occupant of the James Bostwick Chair of English at the University of Richmond, focused his remarks on two points: the provenance of the Book of Mormon and major motifs within it.

Ghosts’ Stories: Addictive Behaviors And Complicated Grief In George Saunders’ Lincoln In The Bardo, Jc Leishman

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

When experiencing the natural motions of the grieving process, some individuals encounter an inability to pass this process by a phenomenon known as complicated grief. To deal with the cyclical trauma this causes, the human mind seeks to engage in addictive behaviors (both substantive and behavioral) that work to artificially and momentarily circumvent grief. This process, as it appears in George Saunders' experimental novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, reveals a depth of commentary on human attachments and grieving processes through the lives and narratives of ghosts found in the bardo.

Religion, Mental Health, And The Latter-Day Saints: A Review Of The Literature (1995-2017), Adrienne Rogers, Daniel K. Judd

Journal of Undergraduate Research

There are over 4,000 religions in the world today. One of the core functions of religion is to help individuals find meaning and purpose in life. Several researchers have found that this religious function impacts psychological well-being, often for the better. This relationship between religious belief, practice, affiliation, and mental health has been an ongoing conversation that has generated controversy and debate.

Our research focuses specifically on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and how this religion affects the mental health of its members. Several studies have shown positive outcomes regarding Latter-day Saint membership and mental health. Also, …

“The Evolution We Believe In … Is Not Darwin’S”: Evolution, Science, And Latter-Day Saint Education, 1875-1911, Ian Mclaughlin, Dr. Rachel Cope

Journal of Undergraduate Research

My project was designed to answer one question and ended up answering several others. The original question was: Why has so little been written on Latter-day Saint responses to evolution prior to 1909? Darwin’s Origin of Species was published way back in 1859, a full fifty years prior. Surely somebody had said something important during that time, but if so, the secondary literature passed over it in almost total silence. Although my project has undergone several shifts in emphasis since I began it, resulting in two distinct papers, both already presented, one slated for publication in the near future, this …

Gender And Religion In A Shifting Social Landscape: Anglo-Saxon Mortuary Practices, Ad 600-700, Caroline Palmer

Undergraduate Honors Theses

My thesis examines seventh-century East Anglian mortuary practices and cross-correlates grave goods and human remains to determine whether there was an expression of the sexual division of labor during this period of social and religious change. I argue that gender roles changed as a result of adopting kingdoms and Christianity. Prior to this time period, Anglo-Saxons were primarily pagan and were buried with extensive burial goods. In addition to changes in religious and burial practices, during the Final Phase (600-700 AD) there appears to have been a division of labor that was not as dichotomous in the Migration Phase (450-600 …

The Believing Scientist: Essays On Science And Religion, Hyrum Lewis

BYU Studies Quarterly

Stephen M. Barr. The Believing Scientist: Essays on Science and Religion.

Grand Rapids, Mich: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2016.

Cecil B. Demille And David O. Mckay–An Unexpected Friendship, Fred E. Woods

BYU Studies Quarterly

Early in the twentieth century, what should have been a most unlikely friendship curiously evolved into a lifelong amiable relationship between world-renowned filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille and David O. McKay, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In some ways, the two men were polar opposites. DeMille was an icon in the twentieth-century film industry who directed seventy motion pictures in an illustrious career that spanned over four decades. Dwelling in the midst of “Babylon” (Los Angeles), he was referred to as “Mr. Hollywood.” McKay presided from the heart of Latter-day Saint conservatism, Salt Lake City, dedicated …

Review Of Why Liberals Win (Even Win They Lose Elections): How America’S Raucous, Nasty, And Mean ‘Culture Wars’ Make For A More Inclusive Nation, By Stephen Prothero, Neil J. Young

Mormon Studies Review

Depending on how one feels about the 2016 election, reading a book titled Why Liberals Win (Even When They Lose Elections) might seem like either a deluded endeavor or much-needed balm. In his latest work, Stephen Prothero argues that liberals stand on the victorious side of history, if not always the ballot box, because they have won every culture war battle since the nation’s founding. Liberals win, Prothero contends, because conservatives launch culture wars to preserve a way of life that has already begun to change, an ill-fated effort that cannot turn back the progressive forces of history that churn …

Review Of Natural Born Seer: Joseph Smith, American Prophet, 1805–1830, By Richard S. Van Wagoner, Mark Ashurst-Mcgee, Mark L. Staker

Mormon Studies Review

Around the turn of the century, Signature Books planned a series of three volumes that would cover Joseph Smith’s life in detail. Richard S. Van Wagoner was commissioned to write the first volume of the trilogy, treating the period from Smith’s birth to his move to Ohio. Van Wagoner’s Natural Born Seer: Joseph Smith, American Prophet, 1805– 1830 engages Smith’s family and cultural background, his childhood and formative years, his visionary claims, his translation of the Book of Mormon, and the organization of the Mormon church. Much of the work of Mormon history is done by amateur scholars who contribute …

Review Of When Race, Religion, And Sport Collide: Black Athletes At Byu And Beyond, By Darron T. Smith, Richard Kimball

Mormon Studies Review

On the cusp of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament in March 2011, Brigham Young University announced the suspension of star center Brandon Davies for violating the school’s honor code. Until that point in the season, the African American Davies had helped the Cougars to a number-three ranking in the national polls and had established himself as an outstanding sophomore center. The suspension became fodder for commentators on every side and spent a short time in the national spotlight. Davies’s reinstatement for the following season prompted

much less discussion and seemed to forestall further dialogue about the handling of the suspension …

Religion And Families: An Introduction, Alison Palmer

BYU Studies Quarterly

Loren D. Marks and David C. Dollahite, Religion and Families: An Introduction, Textbooks in Family Studies Series (New York: Routledge, 2017)

Katja, Ketevahi 'Katje', Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Ketevahi “Katja” is from Georgia. She’s in her late 40’s. She grew up on a farm in the country and became the financial support for her family after her mother died and her father became “emaciated.” When Putin came to power, diplomatic ties deteriorated between Georgia and Russia, which eventually led to war. She fled her country using forged documents and first worked in Turkey but has now lived in Naples for nine years and regularly sends money home to her brother, who cares for their father.

Katja expresses her feelings about war, government, liberty, and what it means to …