Digital Commons Network^™

Service To Farms Appreciated, Noel B. Reynolds

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

September 1991 brought Stephen D. Ricks's three-year term as President of F.A.R.M.S. to a close. Without compensation, Professor Ricks has given hundreds of hours to the direction of the organization. Under his vigorous leadership and with increased levels of volunteer support, F.A.R.M.S. has grown and greatly increased its output over those three years.

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Violent End To Maya Civilization?

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

A May 26 article in the Washington Post reports on the archaeological research of Vanderbilt U. Prof. Arthur Demarest that shows that the Maya civilization may have collapsed much more violently and much more rapidly than previously thought. "The whole region was gripped by endemic warfare far more destructive than anything we had ever imagined," says Demarest. He believes that this collapse was related to overpopulation and poor soils.

Correction Or Clarification

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

In the May 1991 issue of Insights, reference was made to Joseph Smith's New York Reputation Re-examined as "expressly anti-Mormon." Whereas affidavits reprinted and analyzed in this book may be considered "anti-Mormon," F.A.R.M.S. expresses no position about the book.

Antenantiosis In The Book Of Mormon

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

Gail Call, one of our enthusiastic F.A.R.M.S. readers, has pointed out the presence in the Book of Mormon of an interesting figure of speech called antenantiosis. In this figure of speech, an expression is stated in terms of its negated opposite. The result is to express the positive in a very high degree, or as the biblical scholar E.W. Bullinger puts it, "We thus emphasize that which we seem to lessen" (Figures of Speech Used in the Bible [Baker Book House: Grand Rapids, 1989], pp. 159-64).

New Testament Word Studies

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

To enrich your study of the New Testament, F.A.R.M.S. offers a ground-breaking collection of twelve LDS word studies from the Greek New Testament. The eighth Article of Faith states, "We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly." Many nuances and connotations of Greek words in the writings of John, Paul, Peter, and others are of great interest to Latter-day Saints.

Symbolic Action As Prophetic Curse, Donald W. Parry

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

At one point in his ministry, Isaiah was instructed by the Lord to remove his garment and shoes and walk "naked [like a slave, without an upper garment] and barefoot" among the people. Isaiah's action was to be a sign, for as Isaiah walked like a slave, even so would the Egyptians become slaves to the Assyrians (Isaiah 20:2-4). This prophetic symbolic action by Isaiah represented a prophetic curse that destruction and ruin would come upon the Egyptians.

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

1991 Review Examines 17 New Books On The Book Of Mormon

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

The third volume of the annual F.A.R.M.S. Review of Books on the Book of Mormon is now available for purchase.

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Fourth Annual Book Of Mormon Lecture Slated

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

The fourth annual F.A.R.M.S. Book of Mormon lecture will be presented by Dr. Allen J. Christenson on February 27. The title of his lecture is "The Mayan Festival of Resurrection and the Book of Mormon." This presentation will be based on years of research into contemporary and ancient Highland Mayan religious festivals. Dr. Christenson will trace these festivals through time, examine their symbolic treatments of the tree of life and of the conflict between death and the underworld, and note Book of Mormon parallels. He will illustrate his presentation with numerous slides.

Sorenson Retires From Farms Board

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

After ten years of leadership and service, John L. Sorenson has retired from the board of directors of F.A.R.M.S. to devote more time to his own research and writing, such as his project on Book of Mormon geography featured in this issue. We thank him for the incalculable help he has given to the Foundation and to the cause of scholarly research on the Book of Mormon.

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.

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.

American Midnight: The Great War, A Violent Peace, And Democracy's Forgotten Crisis, Adam Hochschild

Rondel V. Davidson Endowed Lecture Series

Book Talk

In American Midnight, award-winning historian Adam Hochschild reassesses the overlooked but startlingly resonant period between World War I and the Roaring Twenties, when the foundations of American democracy were threatened by war, pandemic, and violence fueled by battles over race, immigration, and the rights of labor. American Midnight brings alive the horrifying yet inspiring four years following the U.S. entry into the First World War, spotlighting forgotten repression while celebrating an unforgettable set of Americans who strove to fix their fractured country showing how their struggles still guide us today.

Death In Supernatural: Critical Essays, Edited By Amanda Taylor And Susan Nylander, Martina G. Wise

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

A review of the collection of critical essays, Death in Supernatural: Critical Essays

How To Misunderstand Tolkien: The Critics And The Fantasy Master By Bruno Bacelli, Nancy Martsch

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.

Mythos To Myth To Mythopoeia: A Cyclical Process, Ashna Mary Jacob, Nirmala Menon

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

The paper predicates the prospects of mythopoeia in the mythical tradition. An authorial construction of mythopoeia, when internalized into the collective consciousness can evolve into mythos. This mythopoeia turned mythos in the course of time and space may regress into myth. The fragments of the myth may then result in the making of another mythopoeia. Mythopoeia to mythos to myth is a cyclical process in mythical tradition. The paper establishes this argument with J. R. R. Tolkien’s conception of mythopoeia. It explores similarities between mythopoeia and conlang. It contends that just as conlang can evolve as language, mythopoeia can also …

“Or Break It”: The Cost Of Silmarils And Sworn Oaths, Alexander M. Bruce

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

As much as J. R. R. Tolkien valued the heroism expressed in “The Battle of Maldon,” with its record of warriors who died to maintain their oath, he challenged the notion of utter adherence to a sworn oath in The Silmarillion. The over-arching narrative of The Silmarillion tells of Fëanor and his seven sons who swear an oath to reclaim the three Silmarils from any “Vala, Demon, Elf or Man as yet unborn, or any creature, great or small, good or evil, that time should bring forth unto the end of days, whoso should hold or take or keep …

Inside The Treehouse: Ethnographic Musings On An Architectural Research In Korowai, Southern Papua, Irfan Nugraha

Antropologi Indonesia

This paper explores the role of narratives in (re)shaping human-environment relations as well as development agenda. This work is inspired by my research in 2017 on the traditions and daily life of the Korowai communities residing in neglected development areas in Southern Papua, Indonesia. My reflection during an architectural research tells that the Indonesian government efforts of on cultural conservation there overlap with tales of hopes and betrayals brought by development. In response to their historical disappointment, Korowai people developed a different narratives on the government, the settlement construction, tourism, and other “modern” interventions imposed on them. I argue the …

The Hen That Laid The Eggs: Tolkien And The Officers Training Corps [Expanded], Janet Brennan Croft

Journal of Tolkien Research

J.R.R. Tolkien, sharing an experience with many young men of his class and education, participated in the Officers Training Corps while at King Edward’s School. Because of this program, Tolkien and many of his fellow junior officers in the Great War were already familiar with the procedures of drill and camp and with basic tactics of war games in all kinds of weather. The atmosphere of the training camps of World War I would not have taken them entirely by surprise, but would have been somewhat reminiscent of the great summer encampments of OTC units from around the country—though of …

Environments Of War: The Pacific Northwest And The Waging Of World War Ii, Katherine L. Macica

Dissertations

The Pacific Northwest served an essential role in America’s “Arsenal of Democracy.” Weapons and material produced in the Northwest proved essential to the Allied victory in World War II. These weapons served as agents of destruction abroad, but became agents of transformation for the places in which they were produced. This dissertation examines four of the most important resources and industries in Oregon and Washington to emerge or expand as a result of the war: hydroelectric power, forest products, shipbuilding, and aircraft manufacture. The wartime development of these industries profoundly reshaped the physical and economic landscape of the Pacific Northwest, …

A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study Of American And British Military Bandmasters’ Experiences And The Influence On The Development Of The American Public School Band Movement, Michael L. Burrage

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study investigates the history of British and American Military Bandmasters’ lived experiences through a Phenomenological Hermeneutic Analysis construct to the development of the Public-School Band movement. This thesis aims to provide insight through transcribed interviews, historical documentation, and pre-recorded transcriptions of the thoughts and practical influences of developing the effectiveness of band teacher preparation in American public school band programs. A better understanding of these advances warrants a comprehensive overview of military band history and a sense of how the curriculum process, formation, and growth in British and American Military Bands influenced approaches and philosophical thought through experiences of …

World War Two Glider Borne Forces: The Role Of British Doctrine In Effective Military Change, John W. Stegall

Masters Theses

The United States’ National Defense Strategy has shifted from fighting an asymmetrical, fourth generation adversary utilizing counterinsurgency and unconventional warfare to preparing for a peer/near peer conventional conflict focused on the Pacific and Central Europe. Modern maneuver commanders and operational planners can apply the economy of force, criticality of speed plus precision in kinetic engagements, value of highly trained, task organized small units, and technological incorporation knowledge gathered from analyzing the World War II glider operations executed by Germany, Great Britain, and the United States. Gliders were sailplanes that had a higher ratio of lift to drag than a motorized …

Compelling Libya: Operation El Dorado Canyon As Coercive Diplomacy And Counterterrorism, Ronald Tracy Boyd

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

On Tuesday morning, 11 September 2001, the United States was attacked by a small terrorist cell from a group called al-Qaeda. On that day, the United States was at war with terror. However, this was not the first time the United States dealt with terrorism. Thomas Jefferson sent a fleet of warships from the fledgling US Navy and a contingent of US Marines to deal with the Barbary Pirates operating on the "shores of Tripoli," the terrorists of the day. It is interesting that another president, Ronald Reagan, also sent a contingent of US Air Force and US Navy aircraft …

Archaeology And Hauntology: An Ongoing, Stalled Conversation, Colby Dickinson

Theology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

It is certainly possible that we might learn to better acknowledge the spirits of our ancestors who came before us, as well as to recognize them in such ways that we also learn to embrace the ‘woven density’ of our own lives, our histories and our communities. By doing so, we might begin to discover that the spirits we had thought were removed from our modern, secularized world never fully left us, just as the irrationality of our humanity cannot be fully tamed via a reductive, rational and scientific outlook on life. There are, as Bruno Latour had frequently argued, …

Westernization Or Localization? The (Mis)Reading Of “The Tragic” In Modern Chinese Literary Discourse, Tian Gu

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

This paper examines the features and causal factors in constructing an idea of the tragic in modern Chinese literary discourse. It attempts at revisiting and reproducing the realities of misreading and variation upon modern Chinese introduction of the term “tragedy” (beiju) at different socio-historical periods, and has observed the interplay between two trends, namely, Westernization and localization, through the negotiation of “the tragic” into modern Chinese literary practice. These two trends have been integrated by a political and pragmatic perspective, which dominates the formation of a modern Chinese literary discourse on “the tragic”. This perspective offers both possibility …