Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Using The Joseph Smith Papers Website: An Introduction, Nathan N. Waite

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

There is something special about original historical documents. I have seen it again and again in my own life and in sharing my work on The Joseph Smith Papers with others: people are drawn to the tangible connection to the past provided by these seemingly ordinary, often faded pages. As the Library of Congress puts it, “Primary sources help students relate in a personal way to events of the past and promote a deeper understanding of history as a series of human events.” They inspire people to find out more, to think critically about what they read, and to take …

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

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

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.

“Line Upon Line”: Joseph Smith’S Growing Understanding Of The Eternal Family, R. Devan Jensen, Micheal A. Goodman, Barbara Morgan Gardner

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

“The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.” So begins L . P. Hartley’s novel The Go-Between. This statement reminds religious educators to study history as it unfolded and to avoid presentism, or “an attitude toward the past dominated by present-day attitudes and experiences.” Latter-day Saint doctrines did not spring up fully formed, as we have them today. The historical record shows that Joseph Smith did not begin with a full understanding of the doctrines of eternal families and sealing ordinances as we teach them today. In fact, the Prophet Joseph Smith dictated a revelation on …

Getting To Know Saints: The Story Of The Church Of Jesus Christ In The Latter Days, Steven C. Harper, Scott Hales, Casey Paul Griffiths

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Griffiths: The purpose of this meeting is to explain a little bit about what Saints is and how teachers can use it. Scott, can I start with you? Can you tell us a little bit about Saints and what it is intended to do?

Hales: Saints is a new four-volume narrative history of the Church. It covers Church history from 1815 to the present. Each volume culminates in the completion of a temple and shows Latter-day Saints making and keeping sacred covenants. The first volume covers the organization of the Church and the early years of the Restoration. It begins …

Using Women’S Voices In Teaching History And Doctrine, Jennifer Reeder

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

In early July 1830, shortly following her baptism, Emma Smith received a revelation through her husband, Joseph Smith, about her position and responsibilities in the new Church of Christ. In the revelation (now known as section 25 of the Doctrine and Covenants), the Lord described Emma as an “elect lady” and charged her to “expound scriptures and exhort the church according as it shall be given thee by my spirit.” The responsibilities were weighty: the 1828 American Webster dictionary defines exhort as “to encourage, to embolden, to cheer, to advise, to excite or to give strength, spirit, or courage.” Likewise, …

Review Of Mormons In The Piazza: History Of The Latter-Day Saints In Italy, Richard N. Holzapfel

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Mormons in the Piazza: History of the Latter-day Saints in Italy is a tour de force and has immediately become a model for future histories written about Latter-day Saints living, working, serving, and struggling to find a place in nations outside the United States.

“How Long, Oh Lord, How Long?” James E. Talmage And The Great War, Richard E. Bennett

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

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