Arts and Humanities Commons^™

That Ye Might Feel And See: Touch In The First Day Of Christ's Ministry, Dan L. Belnap

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

“And God Blessed The Seventh Day And Sanctified It”: The Sabbath At Creation, Dedications, And Christ’S Theophany In 3 Nephi, Dan L. Belnap

Faculty Publications

The Creation narrative, found in various places within the canon of scripture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, describes the institution of two different types of time. The first type of time is established in the “fourth day” with the placement of the astronomical bodies, which act as markers “for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years”—that is, common time (Genesis 1:14; Moses 2:14). The second type of time is established in the “seventh day,” when the Lord rests from his labors. Situated as it was at the conclusion of the physical creation and …

The Sticks Of Judah And Joseph: Reflections On Defending The Kingdom, Joseph M. Spencer

Faculty Publications

I wish to pursue two tasks simultaneously in this essay. First, in line with its title, I will address a very old matter of interpretation. I aim to explain as definitively as possible how to make sense of the relationship between Ezekiel 37:15–19, with its talk of the sticks of Judah and Joseph, and the claims of the Restoration, which include somehow connecting the stick of Joseph to the Book of Mormon. Second, in line with the subtitle of this essay, I wish to draw a crucial lesson from the history of how Latter-day Saints have dealt with this issue …

Passages From The Book Of Micah In The Book Of Mormon, Dana M. Pike

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

"There Was One Samuel": Possible Multiple Sources For The Samuel Narrative, Dan Belnap, Daniel L. Belnap

Faculty Publications

During the second day of Christ’s ministry to the New World, a curious event took place. Having taught and commented on a number of biblical texts, Christ then had Nephi3 present his own record for review.1 The inspection uncovered a missing event that Christ brought to the attention of the gathered disciples: “Verily I say unto you, I commanded my servant Samuel, the Lamanite, that he should testify unto this people, that at the day that the Father should glorify his name in me that there were many saints who should arise from the dead, and should appear unto many, …

“Wicked Traditions” And “Cunning Arts”: Wise Men, Sorcery, And Metalwork In Nephite Society, Dan Belnap, Daniel L. Belnap, Daniel Belnap, Dan Belnap

Faculty Publications

In the ninetieth year of the reign of the judges, four years after the ministry of Samuel the Lamanite, the “great signs and wonders” that he had prophesied of concerning the coming of Christ began to appear. Yet even as they convinced some, others expressed doubt as to what the signs meant, believing instead that the coming of Christ was a “wicked tradition, which has been handed down unto us by our fathers, to cause us that we should believe in some great and marvelous thing which should come to pass . . . therefore they can keep us in …

Israelite Inscriptions From The Time Of Jeremiah And Lehi, Dana M. Pike

Faculty Publications

The greater the number of sources the better when investigating the history and culture of people in antiquity. Narrative and prophetic texts in the Bible and 1 Nephi have great value in helping us understand the milieu in which Jeremiah and Lehi received and fulfilled their prophetic missions, but these records are not our only documentary sources. A number of Israelite inscriptions dating to the period of 640–586 b.c., the general time of Jeremiah and Lehi, provide additional glimpses into this pivotal and primarily tragic period in Israelite history.

The Isaiah Map: An Approach To Teaching Isaiah, John Hilton Iii

Faculty Publications

I saiah is an extremely important prophet—his words were endorsed by the Savior himself (see 3 Nephi 23:1). Because Isaiah’s words can be difficult to comprehend, religious educators have a significant responsibility to help their students understand them. Perhaps the best opportunity to teach Isaiah in a Sunday School, seminary, or institute setting is during a course in the Old Testament. The next best opportunity is when teaching the Book of Mormon. “Nineteen of Isaiah’s sixty-six chapters are quoted in their entirety in the Book of Mormon and, except for two verses, two other chapters are completely quoted. Of the …

The Language Of Repentance In The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

Efforts to understand the doctrine of repentance in the Book of Mormon have long been hampered by linguistic considerations—and especially the traditional translation provided in the King James Version of the Bible. Twentieth century studies provide a needed correction to this situation and open a wealth of potential new understandings of Book of Mormon discourse on repentance. Further, the discovery that the Book of Mormon uses the common biblical figure of speech of hendiadys repeatedly to expand and enrich the concept of repentance beyond biblical usage helps readers appreciate the ways in which repentance can be seen as the most …

Covenant Language In Biblical Religions And The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

In this essay I have tried to provide a broad survey of the concept of covenant for Latter-day Saint students of the Bible and the Book of Mormon. I began with a sketch of the history of covenant theology in the Christian tradition showing how the early New Testament idea of a baptismal covenant was soon replaced by the Christian institution of sacraments. Although the covenant idea played little role in the historical developments of Christian theology, it did resurge in the Reformation, but without widespread theological impact.

In contrast, over the last century, the role of the covenant idea …

Faith And Faithfulness In The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

The concept of covenantal faithfulness toward Yahweh that Old Testament scholars have recognized and defined over the last century turns out to be a far better account of the Book of Mormon understanding of faith in the Lord, in Jesus Christ, than are any of the competing concepts of faith that have grown out of the Christian tradition over the last two millennia. For the Nephite prophets, faith was an active concept, better understood as faithfulness—as diligent obedience to the commandments the Lord has given to those who have accepted the gospel covenant through repentance and baptism. The divine …

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.

Beyond Justice: Reading Alma 42 In The Context Of Atonement Theories, Mark D. Ellison

Faculty Publications

In Alma 42, Alma teaches his son Corianton about the atonement in a statement laden with legal vocabulary. Terms such as law, judged, just, justice, injustice, punishment, probationary, and penitent dominate the message, in company with such concepts as the execution of the law, the infliction of punishment, and punishment being affixed to violation of law. By all appearances, Alma sets forth what theologians call a juridical view of atonement (one concerned with the administration of justice). The problem as Alma states it is that “all mankind were fallen” and because of disobedience were “in the grasp of justice” and …

The Language Of The Spirit In The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

This study provides students of the Book of Mormon with the first comprehensive analysis of the many ways in which the word spirit is used in that volume of scripture. It demonstrates how the titles Holy Ghost, Spirit of God, Spirit of the Lord, Holy Spirit, and the Spirit are used interchangeably to refer to the third member of the God. It also shows that the Holy Ghost was understood to be a separate being. The analysis is thoroughly integrated with scholarly studies of references to the spirit ( rûah ) in the Hebrew Bible. The functions of the Holy …

“And He Was Anti-Christ”: The Significance Of The Eighteenth Year Of The Reign Of The Judges, Part 2, Daniel Belnap, Daniel L. Belnap, Daniel Belnap, Dan Belnap

Faculty Publications

For the Nephites, the sixteenth year of the reign of the judges was tremendously difficult. The arrival of the people of Ammon, in itself an incredible disruption of Nephite society, precipitated a battle, which Mormon describes as a “tremendous battle; yea, even such an one as never had been known among all the people in the land from the time Lehi left Jerusalem” (Alma 28:2). The dead, we are told, were not counted due to their enormous number. These events compounded the pre-existing struggles that resulted from the sociopolitical fallout from the reforms of Mosiah2 . 1 Though Alma 30:5 …

"Come Unto Me" As A Technical Gospel Term, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

In this paper I have reconciled the well established six-element gospel of salvation taught by Christ and his prophets throughout the Book of Mormon with the recurring invitation to come unto Christ and be saved. Once we can understand that most statements of the gospel in the Book of Mormon are formulated meristically—that where only a few or even just two of the gospel elements are mentioned explicitly, the full set of six is implied—the door is opened for a more precise account for the invitation to come unto him. In this detailed survey, I have shown that in almost …

Abinadi's Legacy: Tracing His Influence Through The Book Of Mormon, John L. Hilton Iii

Faculty Publications

Eminent author Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "All minds quote. Old and new make the warp and woof of every moment. There is no thread that is not a twist of these two strands. By necessity, by proclivity, and by delight, we all quote." Identifying these instances of textual weavings is one aspect of a literary field known as intertextuality, an area that holds great promos for Book of Mormon research. Grant Hardy has suggested that it would be fruitful for our understanding of the Book of Mormon "to track various phrases throughout the Book of Mormon to determine which Nephite …

Questions In The Book Of Mormon, Holt Zaugg

Faculty Publications

This article examines how questions are used in the Book of Mormon to teach concepts and principles.

The Abinadi Narrative, Redemption, And The Struggle For Nephite Identity, Dan Belnap, Daniel L. Belnap

Faculty Publications

Though there is no question that the Book of Mormon’s primary purpose is to impart an understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ, this message is generally embedded by its editors and authors in very distinct historical and political settings. This is particularly true of Mormon, who often crafted his narratives so that a given prophetic ministry intersected and interacted with the sociopolitical concerns of the contemporary Nephite population. One such concern emerging again and again in Nephite history was their identity or relationship as Israel. This question lay at the heart of a number of social and religious movements …

The Abinadi Narrative, Redemption, And The Struggle For Nephite Identity, Daniel L. Belnap, Dan Belnap

Faculty Publications

Though there is no question that the Book of Mormon’s primary purpose is to impart an understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ, this message is generally embedded by its editors and authors in very distinct historical and political settings. This is particularly true of Mormon, who often crafted his narratives so that a given prophetic ministry intersected and interacted with the sociopolitical concerns of the contemporary Nephite population. One such concern emerging again and again in Nephite history was their identity or relationship as Israel.

All Kindreds Shall Be Blessed: Nephite, Jewish, And Christian Interpretations Of The Abrahamic Covenant, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

A review of current and traditional scholarship regarding the covenant God made with Abraham combined with a thorough review of Book of Mormon references shows that the Nephite understanding varies in important ways from traditional Christian and Jewish interpretations. However, some of the insights of contemporary scholarship are more compatible with the Book of Mormon perspective.

The Ancient Doctrine Of The Two Ways And The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

Scholars have long recognized that a number of ancient cultures shared a traditional doctrine of the Two Ways that could be used to instruct youth and others in the right way to live their lives. While the language of the Two Ways surfaces on occasion in both the Old and New Testaments, the doctrine is not developed or explained in any detail in the Bible. However, noncanonical texts of the Greco-Roman period display a highly developed and stylized form of the doctrine in both Jewish and Christian traditions. The earliest known version of these stylized forms of the doctrine occurs …

On Doubting Nephi's Break Between 1 And 2 Nephi: A Critique Of Joseph Spencer's "An Other Testament: On Typology", Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

This essay rejects the proposal by Joseph Spencer to recognize the true break in Nephi's two books as occurring after the fifth chapter of the second book. The essay invokes standard interpretive practices arguing that while Spencer does present reasoning to make sense of this novel proposal, he does not acknowledge the much greater weight of standard interpretation or provide explanations for ignoring it.

How "Come Unto Me" Fits In The Nephite Gospel", Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

Book of Mormon readers can easily be left wondering in numerous passages where the repeated term "come unto me/him/Christ" refers to unspecified elements of the gospel understood as "the way" by which men and women can come to him. This paper identifies six passages that are presented as quotations from Jesus himself and that have identical rhetorical structures---in which this phrase appears to refer each time to that stage of the gospel described as "enduring to the end." This discovery may offer useful interpretive guidance for the numerous other passages that invoke the same phrase. This paper was updated June …

The Ancient Doctrine Of The Two Ways In The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

Consistent with their preexilic Hebrew Bible predecessors, the Book of Mormon prophets taught a version of the Two Ways doctrine that featured (1) invitations to repentance defined as turning or returning to God’s way, (2) the context of the Abrahamic covenant, (3) the blessings and cursings that would come from obedience or disobedience, and (4) the contrast of the path of righteousness that leads to life with the path of evil that leads to death. But this analysis has also produced a number of expansions or refinements of the Two Ways doctrine that are not reflected in biblical treatments of …

Biblical Merismus In Book Of Mormon Gospel References, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

This study is an extension of previously published work that identifies three inclusios in the Book of Mormon, each of which presents the same six-element definition of the doctrine or gospel of Jesus Christ. However, the six elements are not presented as a straightforward list, but rather in a series of smaller combinations intended to gradually deepen and extend the reader’s understanding of each one and of its role in the larger gospel process. This mode of presentation makes something else clear: Whenever some pair or selection from these six elements is mentioned, the entire set is implicitly invoked. Each …

Chiastic Structuring Of Large Texts: Second Nephi As A Case Study, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

The experiment conducted in this paper has been the application of the principles of Hebrew rhetoric—as that has come to be understood by biblical scholars over the last half century—to the Book of Second Nephi, self-described as personally written by Nephi, who was educated in Jerusalem at the end of the 7th century BCE, a time and place where these principles are now thought by scholars to have been de rigeur. The experiment did not refute the hypothesis, but instead did produce a plausible division of the book into 13 sub-units that readily organize themselves chiastically as a whole. The …

Book Of Mormon Costume Resource Guide, Rory R. Scanlon

Faculty Publications

This report offers visual costume research support for artists working on Book of Mormon projects, with an historical overview of Mesoamerica and how to understand its historical clothing pieces, an annotated listing of the best research sources, a list of garment and fabric terms for the 2000 BC to 600 AD period, and sample sketches from historical artifacts to suggest how to interpret the original research images the artist will encounter.

The Gospel According To Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

Although scholarly investigation of the Book of Mormon has increased significantly over the last three decades, only a tiny portion of that effort has been focused on the theological or doctrinal content of this central volume of Latter-day Saints (LDS) scripture. This article identifies three inclusios which promise definitions of the doctrine or gospel of Jesus Christ and proposes a cumulative methodology to explain how these definitions work. This approach reveals a consistently presented, six-part formula defining ‘the way’ by which mankind can qualify for eternal life. In this way the article provides a starting point for scholarly examinations of …

Gospel Merisms In The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

This study extends previous work that identifies three inclusios in the Book of Mormon, each of which presents the same definition of the doctrine or gospel of Jesus Christ. But none of the three definitions is presented in the way modern readers might expect. Rather, each offers a series of statements focusing on different actions or events that are related to each other as parts of the way that leads to eternal life. On first reading, they could easily seem disconnected or even contradictory. But as these earlier studies demonstrate, when all these statements and their repeated elements are examined …