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Review: Stretching The Heavens: The Life Of Eugene England And The Crisis Of Modern Mormonism; Eugene England: A Mormon Liberal , Terryl L. Givens, Kristine L. Haglund, Steven C. Walker, Reviewer

BYU Studies Quarterly

Kristine Haglund’s compact biography, Eugene England: A Mormon Liberal, is an illuminating contribution to the new Introduction to Mormon Thought series. Mormon Thought provides “short and accessible introductions” to those who have “shaped” the many manifestations of “Mormonism” (vii). Haglund situates England historically, as a liberal influence on a developing faith. Born 1933—the year of the deaths of old-style expansive theologians B. H. Roberts and James E. Talmage, and the same year J. Reuben Clark introduced more conservative influence in the First Presidency—Gene was caught in the collision between Mormonism’s original enthusiasm for innovative theology and the increasing rigidity of …

We’Ll Sing And We’Ll Shout: The Life And Times Of W. W. Phelps By Bruce A. Van Orden, Donald Q. Cannon

BYU Studies Quarterly

Latter-day Saints who know of William W. Phelps tend to associate him with the hymns that he wrote. In fact, the words in the title of Bruce A. Van Orden’s biography, “We’ll Sing and We’ll Shout,” are taken from one of his most famous hymns, “The Spirit of God.” As influential as his hymns have been to Latter-day Saints then and now, Phelps contributed much more than that in his efforts to build the Church. Van Orden’s book is a detailed biography of this interesting and influential writer and Church leader. The book provides insight into both his ecclesiastical contributions …

The Mormon Jesus: A Biography, Andrew C. Reed

BYU Studies Quarterly

John G. Turner. The Mormon Jesus: A Biography.

Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2016.

Emmeline B. Wells: An Intimate History, Cherry Silver

BYU Studies Quarterly

Coral Cornwall Madsen. Emmeline B. Wells: An Intimate History.

Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2017.

Paco, Luke Howard

BYU Studies Quarterly

Nathan Thatcher. Paco.

New York: Mormon Artists Group, 2016.

The Life Of Orson F. Whitney: Historian, Poet, Apostle, As Recorded In His Daily Journals, Neal W. Kramer

BYU Studies Quarterly

Dennis B. Horne. The Life of Orson F. Whitney: Historian, Poet, Apostle, As Recorded in His Daily Journals.

Springville, Utah: Cedar Fort, 2014.

Defender: The Life Of Daniel H. Wells, Cherry B. Silver

BYU Studies Quarterly

Quentin Thomas Wells. Defender: The Life of Daniel H. Wells.

Logan: Utah State University Press, 2016.

Eighth Witness: The Biography Of John Whitmer, Kyle R. Walker

BYU Studies Quarterly

Ronald E. Romig. Eighth Witness: The Biography of John Whitmer.

Independence, Mo.: John Whitmer Books, 2014.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir: A Biography, George L. Mitton

BYU Studies Quarterly

Michael Hicks. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir: A Biography.

Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2015.

Henry Burkhardt And Lds Realpolitik In Communist East Germany, Raymond Kuehne, James H. Backman

BYU Studies Quarterly

The biography of Henry Burkhardt is an inspiring story tied to a group of Church members caught up in the politics of Germany after World War II. Like a young David asked to face a Goliath of repressive national power that caused a fledgling people to fear the political force around them, Burkhardt led faithful Latter-day Saints for four decades in a manner reminiscent of early pioneers like Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and Wilford Woodruff. Like each of these early faithful servants, Burkhardt became a leader at a young age, when as a missionary he was called in 1952 …

The Man Behind The Discourse: A Biography Of King Follett, Joann F. Mortensen, Emily H. Bates

BYU Studies Quarterly

Joann Mortensen, a third great-granddaughter of King and Louisa Follett, has long been involved in documenting the lives of her ancestors. Her book, The Man Behind the Discourse, is the first published biography of King Follett, the man whose funeral sermon became known as one of the Prophet Joseph Smith's greatest discourses.

Mortensen has structured the book to be accessible to a wide audience. For those less familiar with the Church, a short, simple introduction to the beliefs of the Saints stands at the beginning of the book, and a "brief overview of Joseph Smith's life and prophetic mission" (59) …

The Book Of Mormon: A Biography, Paul C. Gutjahr, Tod R. Harris

BYU Studies Quarterly

There is something of a paradox prevalent in academic religious studies: in order to consider a community and its traditions objectively, one should not be a member of that community; yet the only way to understand fully and appreciate and therefore faithfully report about the community is to be a member. Many times this contradiction leads to the unfortunate situation where "outsiders" do not report their findings objectively or accurately and thus disappoint those hoping for fair and informative treatment, and where the work of members attempting serious scholarly analysis of their own community is viewed with suspicion and distrust …

Leonard J. Arrington: A Historian's Life, Thomas G. Alexander, Gary Topping

BYU Studies Quarterly

Gary Topping, a professor at Salt Lake Community College, has previously published a number of books and articles on Utah environmental history and historians who have lived in Utah. In some ways, Topping's article on Robert Dwyer and his book on historians Bernard DeVoto, Juanita Brooks, Wallace Stegner, Dale Morgan, and Fawn Brodie can be considered precursors to this book.

In other ways, this book is also somewhat of a new foray; unlike most of the other historians Topping has treated, Leonard Arrington was neither a non-Mormon nor a lapsed Mormon. He remained an active Latter-day Saint throughout his life. …

Mormon Scientist: The Life And Faith Of Henry Eyring, Ned C. Hill, Henry B. Eyring

BYU Studies Quarterly

Henry Eyring (1901-1981) is undoubtedly the most celebrated scientist produced within the Mormon faith to date. He published over six hundred scientific papers and about a dozen books, and he received almost every prize science has to offer. His theories form the core of modern chemistry. One of his colleagues said, "The contributions of Dr. Henry Eyring touch practically every field of chemical science and technology in a very fundamental manner." Not only was he a brilliant scientist, he was also a man with deep faith in God and in the restoration of the gospel in modern times. This biography …

From Persecutor To Apostle: A Biography Of Paul. By Thomas A. Wayment, Kathryn H. Shirts

BYU Studies Quarterly

Thomas A. Wayment. From Persecutor to Apostle: A Biography of Paul. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2006.

Lengthen Your Stride: The Presidency Of Spencer W. Kimball. By Edward L. Kimball, Gary L. Hatch

BYU Studies Quarterly

Edward L. Kimball. Lengthen Your Stride: The Presidency of Spencer W. Kimball. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2005.

Hyrum Smith: A Life Of Integrity By Jeffrey S. O'Driscoll, C. Gary Bennett

BYU Studies Quarterly

Jeffrey S. O’Driscoll. Hyrum Smith: A Life of Integrity. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2003.

Setting A Standard In Lds Art: Four Illustrators Of The Mid-Twentieth Century, Robert T. Barrett, Susan Easton Black

BYU Studies Quarterly

Prints of paintings of Christ and other people from the scriptures and Church history are displayed in Latter-day Saint meetinghouses, visitors' centers, and temples throughout the world and are used in Church magazines and manuals. Many of these artworks were created in the 1950s and 1960s by American illustrators Arnold Friberg, Harry Anderson, Tom Lovell, and Ken Riley. While the religious works of these illustrators are familiar, less known are the career paths these artists took and the other works of art they created. This article aims to acquaint the reader with the lives of these illustrators and the circumstances …

George H. Brimhall's Legacy Of Service To Brigham Young University, Joseph H. Groberg, Mary Jane Woodger

BYU Studies Quarterly

Franklin S. Harris, president of Brigham Young University from 1921 to 1945, said of his predecessor, George H. Brimhall (fig. 1), "George H. Brimhall, under a tree would make a university any day for where he teaches students will always gather to be taught." Brimhall had two great causes, Harris said: his religion and the cause of education. From his youth to his old age, Brimhall carried these causes forward with unrelenting vigor. In his service as president of Brigham Young University (1904-1921), they merged into one: a university supported by, loyal to, and controlled by The Church of Jesus …

Jedediah And Heber Grant, Ronald W. Walker

BYU Studies Quarterly

On December 1, 1856, Elder Wilford Woodruff and Elder Franklin D. Richards left the Church historian's office for the home of Jedediah Grant, less than a block away. The hour was late, about 10:30 in the evening. It had snowed several inches during the day, and the weather was turning cold.

Rachel R. Grant: The Continuing Legacy Of The Feminine Ideal, Ronald W. Walker

BYU Studies Quarterly

We can imagine ourselves visiting Aunt Rachel Grant, longtime president of the Thirteenth Ward Relief Society and one of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint's "leading ladies," at her home on Salt Lake City's Second East Street. In the year of our visit, 1890, her two-story, plastered adobe home partakes of the prevailing feminine ideal that stresses homemaking and handicraft. The stove is highly burnished, while the arms of each chair are covered with homemade lace crocheting. A corner "whatnot" meticulously displays pictures, small framed mottoes, wax and hair flowers, and other curios. Rachel's person also reflects her …

Growing Up In Early Utah: The Wasatch Literary Association 1874-1878, Ronald W. Walker

BYU Studies Quarterly

One day in early February 1874, Jim Ferguson, sensing the forlorn hope of advancing his courtship with Minnie Horne, suggested to Ort (Orson F.) Whitney and another of the boys that they organize a reading society. Ferguson "had heard, no doubt, of fond couples 'reading life's meaning in each others eyes,'" Whitney later mused, "and that was the kind of reading that most interested him." Since the seventeen-year-old Whitney found himself "in the same box with Ferguson on the girl question," the suggestion found a ready response. Whitney immediately invited those who "would make desirable members" to meet at the …

Crisis In Zion: Heber J. Grant And The Panic Of 1893, Ronald W. Walker

BYU Studies Quarterly

In late June 1893, Heber J. Grant, a pencil-thin, bewhiskered young man, waited nervously in the downtown office of New York businessman John Claflin. Thirty-six years old and conservatively dressed, Grant was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and president or director of at least a dozen Salt Lake City-based businesses. A financial panic had struck the nation and the Mormon businessman was urgently seeking a loan to save himself and his church from bankruptcy. Although similar dramas were being enacted in business and banking houses across the …

Heber J. Grant And The Utah Loan And Trust Company, Ronald W. Walker

BYU Studies Quarterly

Before 6:00 A.M. on May 29, 1897, the portly and veteran Apostle Brigham Young Jr., himself ailing due to an attack of dropsy, called at the Heber J. Grant household to pray a blessing upon his associate. He found that "Bro Grant... had a poor night but he was going to the hospital with firm faith that all would be well." The day before, Grant awoke with sever lumbar and abdominal pain. The doctors diagnosed a ruptured appendix and advanced peritonitis and advised immediate surgery. As the hour-and-a-half operation progressed, the nine attending surgeons found "extraordinary suppuration and commenced mortification." …

Grant's Watershed: Succession In The Presidency, 1887-1889, Ronald W. Walker

BYU Studies Quarterly

Events during 1887-89, during Elder Wilford Woodruff's succession to the Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, remains an important but largely untold story—a time when differing views divided the Church's General Authorities and when the policies and procedures for installing a new president of the Church were tested and confirmed. These years are also important for the insights they offer in understanding the life of Heber J. Grant, who himself regarded that time as a personal watershed. While it is clear that he acted with candor, energy, and idealism throughout the episode, with hindsight he believed …

Strangers In A Strange Land: Heber J. Grant And The Opening Of The Japan Mission, Ronald W. Walker

BYU Studies Quarterly

When Heber J. Grant returned from a two-week vacation in Pacific Grove, California, in February 1901, the news he heard at first seemed favorable. One of his associates in the Quorum of the Twelve, Francis M. Lyman, had been asked to preside over the Church's European Mission. Elder Grant congratulated himself that "missionary lightning had once more escaped me," "heaved a sigh of relief," and embraced Lyman in mock celebration.

Qualities That Count: Heber J. Grant As Businessman, Missionary, And Apostle, Ronald W. Walker

BYU Studies Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Young Heber J. Grant: Entrepreneur Extraordinary, Ronald W. Walker

BYU Studies Quarterly

When lecturing at the Harvard Law School, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes told students they could do anything they wanted to in life, if only they wanted to hard enough. Later in a private aside he added, "But what I did not tell them was that they had to be born wanting to."

A Mormon “Widow” In Colorado: The Exile Of Emily Wells Grant, Ronald W. Walker

BYU Studies Quarterly

As the southbound Denver & Rio Grande train pulled out of the depot at Salt Lake City in November 1889, Emily Wells Grant breathed a sigh of relief, and relaxed. As a plural wife of Elder Heber J. Grant, she was used to dodging United States marshals. Her recent crisis, she admitted, was of her own making. Why had she insisted on attending her father's seventy-fifth birthday celebration in the Twelfth Ward after five years of secrecy? She had been spotted there, the grand jury had reopened her husband's cohabitation case, and she had been forced to flee again. The …

Young Heber J. Grant's Years Of Passage, Ronald W. Walker

BYU Studies Quarterly

As Heber J. Grant came of age, Mormonism was as much a part of the Utah landscape as the territory's dusty valleys and vaulting mountain walls. Young Heber met religion everywhere—in his Salt Lake City home and neighborhood, at the Tabernacle on Temple Square, in the offices of Church and civic leaders where he sometimes ventured, and certainly in his native Thirteenth Ward, one of the most innovative and organizationally developed Latter-day Saint congregations of the time. Slowly young Heber internalized his religious culture, but not before encountering the usual perils of adolescence and coming of age. The process tells …