Mormon Studies Commons^™

Front Matter

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

From The Editor, John W. Welch

BYU Studies

This issue of BYU Studies Quarterly proudly leads off with the 2015 Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Faculty Lecture by political science professor David Magleby. I am confident that all current readers will enjoy and benefit from the timely insights that this speech offers regarding the persistent pressures on political parties to justify their existence and to seek opportunities for mutually beneficial accommodations and compromises.

Grace In The Book Of Mormon, Brent J. Schmidt

BYU Studies

This chapter is excerpted from Relational Grace: The Reciprocal and Binding Covenant of Charis, by Brent J. Schmidt (BYU Studies, 2015).

Santa Biblia: The Latter-Day Saint Bible In Spanish, Joshua M. Sears

BYU Studies

After the release of the first Latter-day Saint edition of the Bible in 1979 and a new edition of the Triple Combination containing the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price in 1981, Elder Boyd K. Packer declared:

With the passing of years, these scriptures will produce successive generations of faithful Christians who know the Lord Jesus Christ and are disposed to obey His will. . . . The revelations will be opened to them as to no other in the history of the world. . . . They will develop a gospel scholarship beyond that …

For Zion: A Mormon Theology Of Hope, Lauren Mccombs

BYU Studies

For Zion: A Mormon Theology of Hope, by Joseph M. Spencer (Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2014)

Nauvoo & Hancock County, Illinois: A Guide To Family History And Historical Sources, Gerrit Van Dyk

BYU Studies

Nauvoo & Hancock County, Illinois: A Guide to Family History and Historical Sources, by Kip Sperry. Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, 2014.

Kirtland Temple: The Biography Of A Shared Mormon Sacred Space, Elwin C. Robinson

BYU Studies

David J. Howlett, a professor and member of the Community of Christ, opens up a view of the Kirtland Temple that is not often considered by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Howlett chronicles the various ways that the Kirtland Temple has been a point of conflict and confluence, influencing the interaction between faith traditions stemming from Joseph Smith’s religious experiences.

Jeremy Grimshaw, Draw A Straight Line And Follow It: The Music And Mysticism Of La Monte Young, Reviewed By Peter Mcmurray

Mormon Studies Review

No abstract provided.

Music Of Christmas, Vanja Y. Watkins, Marvin K. Gardner, Ronald Staheli, Myrna Layton

Books

No abstract provided.

Sexual Encounters And Manhood Acts: Evangelicals, Latter-Day Saints, And Religious Masculinities, Kelsy Burke, Amy Moff Hudec

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The experiences of men in traditional religions are complex, at times inconsistent, and not necessarily the direct result of religious teachings. This article draws from two qualitative case studies to examine the ways in which evangelical and Latter-Day Saint men understand masculinity and their spiritual beliefs in the context of sexual activity. The authors present two masculine practices—acceptance of sexual rejection and sexual indifference— that allow religious men in this study to simultaneously challenge and uphold the system of hegemonic masculinity that their traditions promote. These findings point to the moments when creative, interpretative work helps religious men to reconcile …

Melville's Mardi And The Book Of Mormon, Giordano Lahaderne

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

While Melville’s Mardi has long remained a puzzle to both readers and critics, scholars agree that his third novel marked a significant turning point in his writing career. It is with Mardi that Meville realized the novel as a form suited to grapple the various philosophical and religious questions he would famously explore in his following book, Moby Dick. Although scholars have already pinpointed many various sources for Mardi, this thesis examines the heretofore overlooked connections between Melville’s third book and the esoteric volume of American scripture, the Book of Mormon.

The first chapter of this thesis examines …

Utah’S Role In Protecting The Mormon Trail During The Civil War, Kenneth L. Alford Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

This chapter (from the 2015 book “Far Away in the West: Reflections on the Mormon Pioneer Trail” published by the Brigham Young University Religious Studies Center) sets the stage for Utah Territory’s role protecting the Mormon Trail during the Civil War by outlining the Utah War (1857-1858). This essay begins by comparing and contracting Washington, DC’s wartime interest in the trail with that of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Utah Territory. The essay then outlines the changing parties who were responsible for the trail between 1861 and 1865 – the U.S. Army (spring-summer 1861), no one …

Science As Storytelling, David A. Grandy, Barry R. Bickmore

BYU Studies

Much if our modern world revolves around something called "science." But what is science? Interestingly, this turns out to be a very difficult question to answer because every definition seems to include something we don't consider science or seems to exclude something we do consider science. In this essay, the authors present their own definition: Science is the modern art of creating stories that explain observations of the natural world and that could be useful for predicting, and possibly even controlling, nature. They then refine this definition by offering seven rules that scientific storytelling must follow to distinguish it …

Mortality On The Mormon Trail, 1847–1868, Melvin L. Bashore, Byu Pioneer Mortality Team, H. Dennis Tolley

BYU Studies

Over two decades, staff and volunteers at the Church History Department compiled a database of thousands of pioneer records, now available at http://history.lds.org/overlandtravels(link is external), containing diaries and company reports of known Mormon pioneers from 1847 to 1868 (56,042 of them). Data were then compiled in tabular format in an Excel file, available at http://statistics.byu.edu/news(link is external). Researchers working with BYU actuarial students analyzed these data and report their findings: Slightly more males than females made the journey. Fully 45% of the immigrants were under age twenty. For about 25% of known pioneers, no death date is available, …

Jade Cabbage, Daniel Marriott

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Life Revised, Martha A. Parker

BYU Studies

The author of this personal essay describes how, at age nineteen, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Four years later, the unthinkable happened. After losing her ability to walk, she was informed by her doctor that she was one of only 350 out of 110,000 people currently taking Tysabri worldwide who had developed a condition called Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML), a brain infection. Her cerebellum was slowly being eaten alive. Of those 350 people, only 15 percent had survived. In other words, her chances were slim. This essay is the story of her battle with PML and the impressive lessons …

Psalm Of The Expectant Mother, Maria Davis

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

"The Redemption Of Zion Must Needs Come By Power": Insights Into The Camp Of Israel Expedition, 1834, Matthew C. Godfrey

BYU Studies

The story of the Camp of Israel, better known as Zion's Camp, has been told many times. The tale of Joseph Smith leading a group of over two hundred individuals to Missouri to reclaim Mormon lands lost after Jackson County mobs forced the Saints from the county has assumed almost mythical status. Yet details about some aspects of the camp are still somewhat murky, especially in terms of its membership, its funding, its provisioning, and its intentions. Those of us working on the Joseph Smith Papers have discovered many new insights as we have examined documents pertaining to the camp. …

The Tiptoe, Robbie Taggart

BYU Studies

"My theology stresses the reality of continued, continuing revelation," writes the author of this essay. "God speaks, not spake. . . . But it is sometimes a real wrestle to know when he is speaking and what he wants. It takes attentiveness, and patience. Sometimes weeks pass without a whisper." He illustrates this idea with a story about stalking squirrels with his four-year-old son. After almost seeing one, the author, who has asked God to grant his son this simple wish, prays in silent resignation, "Well, thanks for trying." But then the wish is granted in a spectacular manner.

"A Peculiar People": Anti-Mormonism And The Making Of Religion In Nineteenth-Century America, J. Spencer Fluhman, George L. Mitton

BYU Studies

Latter-day Saints were often surprised or astonished at the amount of anti-Mormon rhetoric and sentiment that seemed to come out of the woodwork during the Romney candidacies. While to a varying degree there has always been an obvious anti-Mormon backdrop, it is an awakening to realize the strong, latent undercurrent that surfaces at times. J. Spencer Fluhman's book on anti-Mormonism in the nineteenth century is a helpful contribution to an understanding of the origins, sources, trends, and implications of such religious aversion. Fluhman is a professor of history at Brigham Young University and editor of the Mormon Studies Review. The …