Mormon Studies Commons^™

Was Samuel The Lamanite A Poet?

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

S. Kent Brown, professor of ancient scripture at BYU, has recently completed a study of "The Prophetic Laments of Samuel the Lamanite," available as a F.A.R.M.S. paper. His comparison of Helaman 13 with the poetic form of biblical laments offers a number of intriguing insights into both the form and meaning of Samuel's message for the Nephites and for us.

Farms-Sponsored "Chicken Project" Will Be Published Soon

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

A 1989 F.A.R.M.S. research grant to Dr. George F. Carter of Texas A&M University has yielded a book manuscript entitled Sacrificial Birds of the American Southwest: Chicken, Eagle, Turkey, Macaw, which is being considered for publication by a university press. Some of the ideas discussed by the eight (non-LDS) contributors are significant in relation to the Book of Mormon's report of voyages across the oceans from the Old to the New World.

Farms Brown Bag Seminar Presents On-Going Research

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

Approximately twice each month during the Fall and Winter Semesters at BYU, the Foundation sponsors informal brown bag lectures in which BYU faculty and others discuss their research on topics related to the Book of Mormon. All members of the BYU community and other interested persons are invited to attend, free of charge.

New Light On The Shining Stones Of The Jaredites, Nicholas Read, Jae R. Ballif, John W. Welch, Bill Evenson, Kathleen Reynolds, Matt Roper

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

The preparation of light sources for the Jaredite barges has long been an enigma to Book of Mormon readers. The Lord indicated the impracticality of using normal sources of light, saying, "Ye cannot have windows, for they will be dashed in pieces; neither shall ye take fire with you, for ye shall not go by the light of fire. . . . Therefore what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light?" (Ether 2:23, 25).

Byu Today Publishes Article On Critical Text Project

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

The May 1992 issue of BYU Today carried a very good summary of the project that Royal Skousen, professor of English at BYU, is conducting to produce a critical text of the Book of Mormon. The main purposes of this project are to establish the original English language text of the Book of Mormon, to the extent that it can be discovered, and to determine the history of the text-in particular, the changes that the text has undergone, both editorial and accidental.

Review Does It Again--Offers Careful Analyses, And Pulls No Punches

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

F.A.RMS. has published the fourth volume of its annual Review of Books on the Book of Mormon, edited by Daniel C. Peterson.

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

A Reader Notes An Expression That Is Unique To Nephi

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

Richard Rust, professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, whose research has been published by F.A.R.M.S. in the past, has noticed phraseology that is unique to individual Book of Mormon prophets. He writes to F.A.R.M.S. that the phrase "my soul delighteth" appears to be unique to Nephi. It is a beautiful expression, which Nephi uses ten times: for example, "my soul delighteth in the scriptures" (2 Nephi 4:15); "my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord" (2 Nephi 4:16); "my soul delighteth in proving unto my people the truth of the coming of Christ" …

Welch Takes Leave Of Absence

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

A leave of absence from the F.A.R.M.S. board of directors for John W. Welch has been approved during the time that he serves as the editor of BYU Studies. Welch was the founding president of F.A.R.M.S. and has served on its board of directors throughout the life of the foundation. His contributions to the success of the foundation's efforts have been considerable and essential.

Books Focus On Ancient Mesoamerican Civilizations

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

New editions of two books, available at a discount from F.A.R.M.S., provide a scholarly yet readable introduction to civilization in the area where most of the events of the Book of Mormon probably took place. Both books were written by Michael D. Coe, Professor of Anthropology at Yale University. Although not written from an LDS perspective, these books provide the serious student of the Book of Mormon some very valuable background information. Both books also contain a large number of excellent photographs, maps, and line drawings, which make them not only informative to read but a pleasure to browse.

Challenging Conventional Views Of Metal Use In Mesoamerica, John L. Sorenson

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

Orthodox archaeologists have for many years supposed that metals were not used in Mesoamerica, the probable area where Book of Mormon events took place, until nearly 500 years after the scripture says the Nephites were destroyed. Of course the Book of Mormon briefly mentions the use of metal among the Nephites (although by the time of its last mention, in Mosiah 11:8, it was "precious"). Previous attempts to refute the prevailing view have had little effect. Renewed research by John Sorenson has revealed a substantial body of data on the subject that was previously ignored.

Former Farms Worker Honored

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

On March 7, DeeAnn Hofer was crowned Ms. Wheelchair Utah. Because of her fine contributions to the foundation, F.A.R.M.S. was pleased to be one of her sponsors in this competition.

Chiasmus Study Cited

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

The 1992 reprint of a classic work on chiasmus, Nils W. Lund's Chiasmus in the New Testament, contains a new preface that refers frequently to Chiasmus in Antiquity, a work published in 1981 by John W. Welch.

F.A.R.M.S. Conference On "The Olive And Jacob 5" A Success

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

More than 300 people attended the F.A.R.M.S. conference on ''The Olive and Jacob 5," held on Saturday, March 21. The nineteen presenters approached Jacob 5 from a variety of perspectives----cultural, economic, literary, historical, and theological. Comments from the audience indicated that they found this fifth annual F.A.R.M.S. Book of Mormon Lecture extremely helpful in understanding the background and meaning of the allegory of the olive tree.

Belonging In Unashamed Authenticity, Nathan R. Kitchen

Together We RISE (Making Excellence Inclusive)

In 2020, the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute reported that 47% of LGBTQ adults were moderately or highly religious. This equates to 5.3 million religious LGBTQ adults in America. We cannot ignore this population.

When making the transition into young adulthood, many religious LGBTQ youth feel they must make a choice between their spiritual well-being or their queerness. As a university community interested in the success of the rising generation, we can provide support for religious queer young adults through understanding:

1. What is happening in this transition and why,

2. The well-being needs of religious queer young adults …

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Dead Sea Scrolls Photos Acquired

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

A significant addition to the F.A.R.M.S. research library is the recently published two-volume set of photographs of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Patient and skillful work will be required before any conclusions can be drawn about their contents.

Book Of Mormon Text Reformatted

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

Donald W. Parry has reformatted the text of the Book of Mormon so that the reader can easily see the hundreds of examples of parallel and repetitive patterns in the Book of Mormon. For instance, 1 Nephi 22:26 has been formatted with indented lines labeled with English letters, and certain words have been underlined to reveal the passage's chiastic structure.

The Olive Tree And Jacob 5

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

On Saturday, March 21, F.A.R.M.S. will hold a symposium at which numerous studies will be presented about the masterful allegory of the olive tree in Jacob 5. Over a dozen speakers will report their findings from 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. in room 205 JRCB (Law School) at Brigham Young University.

Map Of Book Of Mormon Places Based Wholly On The Text, John L. Sorenson

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

No abstract provided.