Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Mormon Studies Center Created In Great Britain

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

Nottingham University has established a Centre for Mormon Studies, which is a good sign of the Church's increased visibility-and to some extent acceptability-in Great Britain. The Church Educational System has provided them a basic library of Church-related materials, with the logistical support of the local CES coordinator, Brother David Cook.

Electronic Bulletin Board Formed

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

F.A.R.M.S. has received notice of the formation of MORMON-L, an electronic bulletin board on Mormon studies. The organizers indicate that it is open to all persons, Mormons and non-Mormons alike, who wish to engage in substantial discussion of topics relating to Mormonism. The following guidelines will regulate the bulletin board.

Encyclopedia Of Mormonism Is Available Again

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

Macmillan has reprinted the 4-volume set of the Encyclopedia of Mormonism. F.A.R.M.S. will again be able to provide this significant resource at a discount. See the order form.

Lectures Highlight Connections Between Scrolls And Mormonism

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

Selections from the March conference entitled "LDS Perspectives on the Dead Sea Scrolls" are now available for purchase on video and audiotape. The presentations teach about the ancient scrolls and how they contribute to LDS understanding of gospel teachings, the Bible, and other aspects of biblical life.

Emma And The Joseph Smith Translation, Scott H. Faulring

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

Recently, researcher examining the original "New Translation" or Joseph Smith Translation (JST) manuscripts discovered evidence of a scribe whose work on the manuscripts had previously only been supposed. Emma Smith, the Prophet's wife, recorded more than two pages of the JST document on a certain day during the first months of the translation. Although only a small percentage of the overall content, Emma's scribal contribution tangibly displays the realization of an earlier revelatory assignment given her by the Lord.

Scholars Testify Of Connections Between Faith And Scholarship

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

Twenty-four LDS scholars express their thoughts and deepest feelings on faith and scholarship in a new book scheduled for release next month. Expressions of Faith: Testimonies from LDS Scholars, edited by Susan Easton Black, professor of Ancient Scripture at BYU, is being copublished by FARMS and Deseret Book.

Several Significant Historical And Anthropological Essays Of John Sorenson Gathered In Two New Volumes

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

Nearly two dozen essays by John L. Sorenson, professor emeritus of anthropology at Brigham Young University, have been conveniently gathered into two paperback volumes by a Salt Lake publisher, New Sage Books. Some of these essays will be familiar to FARMS readers, but many will be new. Both collections can be obtained at a discount from FARMS using the enclosed order form.

New Book Of Visual Aids Facilitates Book Of Mormon Study, Teaching

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

Students and teachers of the Book of Mormon will find a new FARMS book by John W. and J. Gregory Welch to be a valuable resource. Charting the Book of Mormon: Visual Aids for Personal Study and Teaching is a collection of more than 175 visual aids that promote deeper understanding and appreciation of the Book of Mormon. Designed for multiple use as study guides, handouts, and masters for creating projectable images, the charts convey a wealth of information that will enrich personal study and teaching.

Why Nephi Wrote The Small Plates: The Political Dimension, John W. Welch

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

To conclude our reflections on when, where, and why Nephi wrote his final small plates account, we can now turn attention to three political dimensions of those plates. Once again, the real-life situations of Nephi and his people supply important contexts that bring interesting things to light.

Why Nephi Wrote The Small Plates: Serving Practical Needs, John W. Welch

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

Nephi wrote his small plates soon after important events such as Lehi's death, Nephi's separation from his rebellious brothers, and the establishment of the reign of kings (see last month's research update). Recognizing when he wrote, we can better appreciate not only Nephi's stated reasons for writing the small plates but also subtle underlying motivations behind his inspired selection and treatment of this material.

When Did Nephi Write The Small Plates?, John W. Welch

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

In reading 1 Nephi, few people stop to think when Nephi actually wrote this account of his family's flight from Jerusalem and journey across the sea to a land of promise. Knowing when Nephi began to write the small plates (beginning with the account we now have in 1 Nephi) clarifies the purposes that stand behind that record and influenced its final form and content.

Study Guides On New Testament Themes Available

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

Richard Lloyd Anderson, professor emeritus of church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University, has made available two outstanding course supplements on the New Testament. His expansive knowledge of the New Testament and early Christianity is readily apparent in Guide to the Life of Christ and Guide to Acts and the Apostles' Letters.

Tents In The Book Of Mormon, John L. Sorenson

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

Rerences to New World tents in the Book of Mormon raise legitimate questions about whether tents are known from scholarly sources on Mesoamerica. The earliest evidence comes from historical documents written around the time of the Spanish conquest in 1521, or more than one thousand years after the demise of the Nephite civilization. These records indicate that different kinds of tents and tent-like structures were in regular use by Aztec armies and that, when the Spaniards saw them, they immediately labeled them tiendas, "tents."

New Book A Milestone In Mormon Studies, Louis C. Midgley

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

Latter-day Saint scholar Terryl L. Givens has recently made two extraordinary contributions to Mormon studies. The first, Viper on the Hearth: Mormons,Myths, and the Construction of Heresy, was published by the prestigious Oxford University Press in 1997 and received virtually uniformly glowing reviews. If one wishes to understand the complex of interests and motivations—pecuniary, personal, and ideological—that fuel both sectarian and secular anti-Mormonism, Viper is the book to consult. The editors at Oxford appreciated the merits of this well-written, informative book and invited Givens to publish again with them. The result is By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture …

Summer Seminar Mentors Rising Scholars

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

Ten graduate and advanced undergraduate students selected from more than half a dozen institutions participated in the Mormon Scholars Foundation summer seminar held this past May and June under the auspices of the Maxwell Institute.

Mormon Studies: A Critical History By Ronald Helfrich Jr., Roger Terry

BYU Studies Quarterly

This short but dense critical history of Mormon studies is unique in several ways. First, author Ronald Helfrich Jr. is a self-described “Gentile” scholar who spent “probably far too many years,” including a year as a visiting professor in the Department of Sociology at Brigham Young University, researching and writing this history. Second, the book is surprisingly thorough. I have been the editorial director at BYU Studies for the past sixteen years and thought I had a fairly decent grasp of Mormon studies, past and present, but Helfrich repeatedly describes the work of historians and other scholars with whom I …

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.

Race And Making Of The Mormon People, Matthew L. Harris

BYU Studies Quarterly

Max Perry Mueller. Race and the Making of the Mormon People.

Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2017.

Mormonism And The Emotions: An Analysis Of Lds Scriptural Texts, Richard N. Williams

BYU Studies Quarterly

Mauro Properzi. Mormonism and the Emotions: An Analysis of LDS Scriptural Texts.

Vancouver, B.C.: Farleigh Dickenson University Press, 2015.

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.

From The Outside Looking In: Essays On Mormon History, Theology, And Culture, Emily Cook

BYU Studies Quarterly

Reid L. Neilson and Matthew J. Grow, eds., From the Outside Looking In: Essays on Mormon History, Theology, and Culture (New York: Oxford University Press, 2016)

Front Matter

BYU Studies Quarterly

No abstract provided.

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 …

An Egyptian Linguistic Component In Book Of Mormon Names, Eve Koller

BYU Studies Quarterly

In February 2012, while studying the Book of Mormon, I searched in the index of the Triple Combination to clarify the identity of an individual. I came across names starting with “Z” and noticed a pattern—Zenephi, Zenos, Zenock. They looked as though they were composed of scriptural names (Nephi, Enos, Enoch, and so forth) with different forms of a z- prefix that might mean “son of ” or “descendant of.” Later, I noticed the name Cezoram and wondered if it was part of the same pattern, with a variation of the …

Fine, Thanks, Darlene Young

BYU Studies Quarterly

This doctor, yet another one I hoped would be able to help when others couldn’t, calls me “Sweetheart.” Is there anything more patronizing? He pats my shoulder. He thinks I’m crying because I feel lousy and he can’t figure out why. I’m crying out of fury that he, and everyone in his office, treats me like a child, like I don’t have a brain and a life and better things to do. And fury that I’m crying in front of him. And, yes, a little bit because I feel lousy.

Finding Jane, Melissa Leilani Larson

BYU Studies Quarterly

The first time I tried to find Jane Manning James’s grave was in November 2016. It was a brisk autumn afternoon, and traffic was horrible. My apartment at the time was pretty far east in Salt Lake City, not too far off Foothill Drive, and I had been downtown for a play reading. I couldn’t get home because of University of Utah football traffic, so I took a detour and stopped by the city cemetery to pass the time. When I had the idea to look for Jane, the sun was already low in the sky. I parked the car …

Back, Mark D. Bennion

BYU Studies Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Feeding The Flock: The Foundations Of Mormon Thought: Church And Praxis, Mark A. Wrathall

BYU Studies Quarterly

Feeding the Flock: The Foundations of Mormon Thought: Church and Praxis By Terryl L. Givens

New York: Oxford University Press, 2017

Mountain Meadows Massacre: Collected Legal Papers, Iantha Haight

BYU Studies Quarterly

Mountain Meadows Massacre: Collected Legal Papers Edited by Richard E. Turley Jr., Janiece L. Johnson, and LaJean Purcell Carruth

Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2017

Voice Of The Saints In Taiwan, Richard B. Stamps

BYU Studies Quarterly

Voice of the Saints in Taiwan By Po Nien (Felipe) Chou and Mei Wah Sin (Petra) Chou

Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2017