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Full-Text Articles in Religion
Lds Hispanic Americans And Lamanite Identity, Tyler Balli
Lds Hispanic Americans And Lamanite Identity, Tyler Balli
Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel
In September 1972, the Ensign published a piece called “What Is a Lamanite?” Using an “imaginary conversation” between different individuals of Latin American descent and a Church leader, this article got to the heart of the complexity of Lamanite identification within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When this piece was published in the 1970s—and even long before—some Church leaders strongly encouraged Hispanics to identify as Lamanites, a name referring to a people found in the Church’s founding scripture—the Book of Mormon. Even with the Church’s encouragement, however, not all Hispanics jumped to identify as Lamanites. The “What …
The Book Of Mormon And Patriarchal Blessings: Reflections By An Ordained Patriarch, Richard Dilworth Rust
The Book Of Mormon And Patriarchal Blessings: Reflections By An Ordained Patriarch, Richard Dilworth Rust
Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel
In my service as a stake patriarch before going on several missions with my wife and subsequently in giving patriarchal blessings to several of my grandchildren, I have learned how the Book of Mormon as a whole and in its parts can be likened in many ways to a patriarchal blessing. Likewise, a patriarchal blessing given by an ordained patriarch can be likened to the Book of Mormon. An increased understanding of the one can help us better understand and value the other. In looking at the Book of Mormon and patriarchal blessings together, one can see even more clearly …
"Come Unto Me" As A Technical Gospel Term, Noel B. Reynolds
"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 …
The Book Of Mormon In American Missions At The Turn Of The Twentieth Century, John C. Thomas
The Book Of Mormon In American Missions At The Turn Of The Twentieth Century, John C. Thomas
Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel
Historians describe the opening decades of the twentieth century as a challenging time of transition for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Manifesto on plural marriage in 1890 and the successful bid for Utah’s statehood in 1896 pointed toward rapprochement with American culture. But in an era of potential assimilation, tensions lingered as Mormons labored to “translate the things America demanded of them into the language and imperatives of their own faith.” Thomas G. Alexander observed that ongoing controversy in the era prompted Church leaders to search for “a new paradigm that would save essential characteristics of …
Questions In The Book Of Mormon, Holt Zaugg
Questions In The Book Of Mormon, Holt Zaugg
Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel
Questions are the catalyst that drives learning, providing a focus on what an individual wants or needs to know. They are the drivers that move knowledge acquisition to realms of greater understanding and wisdom. Karen Brown, a professor at Dominican University, describes questions as the heart of learning and the impetus for building knowledge. Teachers and students use questions to vet information and allow them to develop the ability to see when change is coming and to manage changes when they occur. Questions help people to zone in on important details that help to sharpen and refine their thinking.
An Egyptian Linguistic Component In Book Of Mormon Names, Eve Koller
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 …
Abinadi: He Came Among Them In Disguise, Neal Rappleye
Abinadi: He Came Among Them In Disguise, Neal Rappleye
BYU Studies Quarterly
Abinadi: He Came among Them in Disguise, edited by Shon D. Hopkin (Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2018)
Approaching Completion: The Book Of Mormon Critical Text Project: A Review Of Royal Skousen's Analysis Of Textual Variants Of The Book Of Mormon And The History Of The Text Of The Book Of Mormon: Grammatical Variation, Grant Hardy
BYU Studies Quarterly
Analysis of Textual Variants
Review Of The Bible, Mormon Scripture, And The Rhetoric Of Allusivity, By Nicholas J. Frederick, Cory Crawford
Review Of The Bible, Mormon Scripture, And The Rhetoric Of Allusivity, By Nicholas J. Frederick, Cory Crawford
Mormon Studies Review
In this monograph Nicholas Frederick tackles the directional literary relationship between canonical Mormon scripture and the King James Bible with a methodology more secure and transparent than has been applied in the past. He advances substantively the study of Latter-day Saint sacred texts by trying to get an analytical handle on what attentive readers detect easily, namely, that the rhetorical space created and occupied by Joseph Smith’s canonized writings, produced in English, is inseparable from the English of the King James Bible in ways that complicate the question of historicity and translation. For Frederick, detecting and decoding allusion in LDS …
Dating The Departure Of Lehi From Jerusalem, Jeffrey R. Chadwick
Dating The Departure Of Lehi From Jerusalem, Jeffrey R. Chadwick
BYU Studies Quarterly
Most Latter-day Saints would agree that the prophet Lehi and his family left their home in Jerusalem and departed into the wilderness in the year 600 BC. This is largely due to the presence of an asterisk in 1 Nephi 2:4, present in every official edition of the Book of Mormon from 1920 to 2012, which alerts readers to a “600 BC” chronological notation at the bottom of the page. However, a number of studies over the last forty years have suggested that 600 BC cannot have been the correct date of Lehi’s departure, preferring later dates anywhere from 597 …
Understanding The Abrahamic Covenant Through The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds
Understanding The Abrahamic Covenant Through The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds
BYU Studies Quarterly
Latter-day Saint discourse concerning Abraham and the blessings and covenants given to him by the Lord is distinguished by its reliance on the restoration of ancient scriptures and other revelations given to Joseph Smith. The revival of scholarly interest in Abraham in recent decades provides a timely opportunity to explore the contemporary findings of biblical scholars from a Latter-day Saint perspective—which, in turn, invites an in-depth exploration of how the Lord’s covenants with Abraham were understood by the Nephite prophets in the Book of Mormon, how their perspectives compare with contemporary biblical scholarship, and how the Nephite perspective may modify …
Timing The Translation Of The Book Of Mormon: "Days [And Hours] Never To Be Forgotten", John W. Welch
Timing The Translation Of The Book Of Mormon: "Days [And Hours] Never To Be Forgotten", John W. Welch
BYU Studies Quarterly
This paper aims to stimulate specific thinking about the intense and complex events during which the Book of Mormon was translated in 1829. Encouraged initially by Elder Neal A. Maxwell, and building on my chapter in the second edition of Opening the Heavens, this article strives to be as precise as possible about the timing of the events and progress of the Book of Mormon translation during the months and days it took place. In 1834, Oliver Cowdery wrote, “These were days never to be forgotten—to sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven, …
Elvis Has Left The Library: Identifying Forged Annotations In A Book Of Mormon, Keith A. Erekson
Elvis Has Left The Library: Identifying Forged Annotations In A Book Of Mormon, Keith A. Erekson
BYU Studies Quarterly
For nearly three decades, the ghost of Elvis Presley has hung over the historical collections of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 1989, a copy of the Book of Mormon was donated that contained marginal annotations purportedly by the “King of Rock and Roll.” Word of the acquisition spread quickly by fireside speakers, classroom teachers, and newspaper columnists. Requests to see and touch the book came repeatedly, so much so that by 2002 the book’s binding had cracked and a digital copy was made for visitors who came each week for a peek. In 2007, an independent …
Abinadi's Legacy: Tracing His Influence Through The Book Of Mormon, John L. Hilton Iii
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
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, Daniel L. Belnap, Dan Belnap
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.
The Abinadi Narrative, Redemption, And The Struggle For Nephite Identity, Dan Belnap, Daniel L. Belnap
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 …