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President's Message, John W. Welch

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

In 1832, Section 84 of the Doctrine and Covenants was revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith. In this great section, the Lord explained one of the reasons why the people of the Church languished in spiritual darkness: "And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received..." Members of the Church were told that they would remain under condemnation until "they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments" which had been given to them (D&C 84:53, 57).

Lds Scholars Discuss The Role Of Ancient Scriptures In The Restoration Of The Gospel

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

More than 350 FARMS supporters gathered on 7 June to learn more about "Ancient Scriptures and the Restoration." The attendees of this conference were enlightened on a variety of topics, from the prophetic language of the Doctrine and Covenants to the history of the Latter-day Saint use of the Book of Mormon in instruction.

The Doctrine And Covenants Is Reformatted Into A Helpful Reader's Edition

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

The second edition of The Doctrine and Covenants by Themes is an excellent aid to scripture study that may enliven your reading of the Doctrine and Covenants in support of the 1997 Sunday School curriculum. John W. and Jeannie Welch have formatted a reader's edition that is both informative and easy to read-ideal for families and young readers.

Every Needful Thing: Essays On The Life Of The Mind And The Heart, Edited By Melissa Wei-Tsing Inouye And Kate Holbrook, Susan Elizabeth Howe

BYU Studies Quarterly

This important collection of essays is the result of the inspiration and insight of two generous and faithful scholars, Melissa Wei-Tsing Inouye and Kate Holbrook. Melissa has an appointment as a senior lecturer at the University of Auckland and is a historian for the Church History Department. Kate, who passed away in 2022, was also a historian, who worked on such important books as The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in Latter-day Saint Women’s History and At the Pulpit: 185 Years of Discourses by Latter-day Saint Women. Together, Melissa and Kate have sought out essays “on …

Joseph Smith’S Plea As Communal Lament, Dan Belnap

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

To complement the premiere issue of Studies in the Bible and Antiquity, which will be sent to our subscribers, we asked Dan Belnap, whose article appears in the first issue, to briefly expand part of his topic for Insights.

Textual Studies Of The Doctrine And Covenants: The Plural Marriage Revelation, Brian C. Hales

BYU Studies Quarterly

Textual Studies of the Doctrine and Covenants: The Plural Marriage Revelation By William Victor Smith

Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2018.

From The Editor, John W. Welch

BYU Studies Quarterly

The year 2017 promises to be a very exciting year for readers of BYU Studies Quarterly. With many challenges as well as positive developments happening around the world, we expect that our readers are on the constant lookout for solid information and commendable perspectives. The carefully written and rigorously peer-reviewed pages of this journal continue to offer new insights into old problems and to bring old wisdom to bear on new issues. With this in mind, my thoughts returned to the frequently cited section 88 of the Doctrine and Covenants.

The Bible, Mormon Scripture, And The Rhetoric Of Allusivity, Jeffrey D. Tucker

BYU Studies Quarterly

Nicholas J. Frederick. The Bible, Mormon Scripture, and the Rhetoric of Allusivity.

Madison, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2016.

The Textual Development Of D&C 130:22 And The Embodiment Of The Holy Ghost, Ronald E. Bartholomew

BYU Studies Quarterly

The unique LDS doctrine of the embodiment of the Holy Ghost has a fascinating history. Ron Bartholomew looks at the text of Doctrine and Covenants 130:

"The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us."

The text went through several stages of development before arriving at its current wording and punctuation. This article details, step by step, the various modifications that were made …

Historical Context Of The Doctrine And Covenants And Other Modern Scriptures, Volume 1, Kurt Elieson, J. B. Haws

BYU Studies Quarterly

Kurt Elieson's Historical Context of the Doctrine and Covenants and Other Modern Scriptures is a nice self-published surprise. Elieson, a Texas attorney, saw a hole in the corpus of Doctrine and Covenants commentaries and study guides, and he aimed to fill it. He has succeeded on several fronts.

...Elieson has woven together in one helpful book an up-to-date and remarkably thorough collection of diary accounts and documentary evidence to give depth and context to the story of the receipt (and, importantly, the early circulation) of Joseph Smith's revelations. Because of that, Elieson's book should earn a place on many desks …

Mormonism In The Methodist Marketplace: James Covel And The Historical Background Of Doctrine And Covenants 39–40, Christopher C. Jones

BYU Studies Quarterly

Joseph Smith received two revelations in January 1831 (Doctrine and Covenants 39 and 40) directed to one "James Covill." Joseph and his scribes noted that Covill "had been a Baptist minister for about forty years." Historians discovered nothing about a Baptist minister named James Covill, but documents unearthed by the Joseph Smith Papers Project revealed that he was actually a Methodist minister. This sliver of information opened the door to information about a very well-known Methodist minister in upstate New York by the name of James Covel.

Christopher Jones mines this Methodist vein productively and pieces together a short biography …

"Entered At Stationers' Hall": The British Copyright Registrations For The Book Of Mormon In 1841 And The Doctrine And Covenants In 1845, Edward L. Carter

BYU Studies Quarterly

On April 16, 1840, eight members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints met in Preston, England. One of the topics they discussed was the need to secure copyright protection for the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants in England. The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles recognized the key to gaining copyright protection for Latter-day Saint scriptures in Great Britain would be registration at Stationers' Hall in London in accordance with the requirements of the Statute of Anne, Britain's copyright law since 1710. This article explains the legal process …

The Rich Man, Lazarus, And Doctrine & Covenants 104:18, Steven C. Harper

BYU Studies Quarterly

Doctrine and Covenants (a scripture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) 104:13-18 explains the law of consecration by alluding to the New Testament story of Lazarus the beggar. The connection between the latter-day revelation and the New Testament parable is made more obvious by the use of the Latin word "dives" in the Kirtland Revelation Book. When the revelation was published, "dives" was changed to "the wicked." Dives is the Latin word for "rich" that appears in the Latin Vulgate Bible, but during the Middle Ages, the word became a proper name for the rich man in …

An Examination Of The 1829 “Articles Of The Church Of Christ” In Relation To Section 20 Of The Doctrine And Covenants, Scott H. Faulring

BYU Studies Quarterly

The 1829 "Articles of the Church of Christ" is a little-known antecedent to section 20 of the Doctrine and Covenants. This article explores Joseph Smith's and Oliver Cowdery's involvement in bringing forth these two documents that were important in laying the foundation for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

More Than An Index: The First Reference Guide To The Doctrine And Covenants As A Window Into Early Mormonism, Grant Underwood

BYU Studies Quarterly

When the Doctrine and Covenants came off the press in Kirtland, Ohio, in September 1835, readers found two reference tools in the back of the book. The first, a three-page section titled "Index," is really more of a table of contents. It lists sequentially the seven lectures "of faith" and the 102 sections of "Part Second" found in that original edition, citing the page number where each begins. Then follows "Contents," also somewhat mislabeled. As seen in the appendix below, "Contents" looks like an index in that it is organized alphabetically. However, entries within each letter grouping are not alphabetized; …

Without (The) Law, Paul Y. Hoskisson

BYU Studies Quarterly

Doctrine and Covenants 76:72 and 137:7 become clearer with an understanding of two New Testament Greek expressions that differentiate between "not having the covenant law" and "lawless."

The Newly Found Manuscript Of Doctrine And Covenants Section 65, John W. Welch, Trevor Packer

BYU Studies Quarterly

No abstract provided.

The Message Of The Doctrine And Covenants John A. Widstoe, Roy W. Doxey

BYU Studies Quarterly

No abstract provided.