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Steadfast In Defense Of Faith, Shirley S. Ricks, Stephen D. Ricks, Louis C. Midgley

Interpreter Foundation Books

The title of this volume of essays in honor of Daniel C. Peterson, Steadfast in Defense of Faith, was not idly chosen. It reflects his most widely known public role as an apologist. Over the years, Dan has had not only to defend the faith but also frequently has been required to define and justify the legitimacy of apologetics as a scholarly endeavor. On one such occasion he wrote: The Greek word from which our English term apologetics derives means “defense.” The notion of saying that one is “sorry” is a much later linguistic development. (In Plato’s Apology, his hero …

Reclaiming The “Primary Question”: A New Beginning For Joseph Smith’S First Vision, William G. Perez

BYU Studies

In October 2019, Russell M. Nelson, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, reminded Church members that “in the springtime of the year 2020, it will be exactly 200 years since Joseph Smith experienced the theophany that we now know as the First Vision. God the Father and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph, a 14-year- old youth. That event marked the onset of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fulness, precisely as foretold in the Holy Bible.” President Nelson then designated 2020 as a bicentennial year and invited listeners to …

What To Do When "I Don't Know" Is The Only Answer, Brent D. Fillmore, Joan W. Fillmore

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

About seven months into our service as mission leaders, we attended a district conference on one of the islands in our mission. We flew in on Friday and intended to spend some time with the missionaries after the conference ended. At about ten thirty on Monday morning, one of our assistants called from the mainland. He was very emotional. He told us that while four elders had been playing soccer at the church, suddenly and for no apparent reason, one of them had collapsed. We got a few more details, and we asked him to call an ambulance, get over …

"I Say Unto You, My Brethren" Helping Female Students See Themselves In The Book Of Mormon, Cassidy Nichole Pyper

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

In 1 Nephi 14, an angel prophesied to Nephi that if the Gentiles heeded the words of the Savior, he would “manifest himself unto them in word, and also in power, and in very deed, unto the taking away of their stumbling blocks” (verse 1). The Book of Mormon uses the expression “stumbling blocks” multiple times throughout its text to describe obstacles that could cause someone to “stumble” or “err”[1] on their path to Christ and salvation. Like all of us, the youth and young adults of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints encounter stumbling blocks on their …

"That Evil May Be Done Away" Wickedness And Christ's Power To Save, Eric Wing

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

The Book of Mormon has a clearly stated purpose: “to the convincing of Jew and Gentile that JESUS IS THE CHRIST.”[1] Yet among its rich, Christ-centered content in the form of sermons, stories, themes, and illustrations, the book also frequently focuses on sin and its devastating results.[2] In fact, the text of the Book of Mormon contains over a thousand statements—almost two per page—that directly link some form of wickedness to a stated consequence. The book’s abundant use of this textual patterning—linking sin to its results— provides a wealth of data to further understand the valuable message of the Book …

Commonalities In The Savior's Postmortal Visits To The Spirit World, The Holy Land, And The New World, Garrett Mcguire

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Repetition is a vehicle through which the Holy Ghost can enlighten our minds, influence our hearts, and enlarge our understanding." - Elder David A. Bednar. Christ in the Land Bountiful, Simon Dewey. Courtesy of Intellectual Reserve, Inc.“Repetition is a vehicle through which the Holy Ghost can enlighten our minds, influence our hearts, and enlarge our understanding,” explained Elder David A. Bednar.[1] Jesus Christ demonstrated significant repetitions in his teaching and other actions throughout his ministry in the Holy Land. Consider the repetitious themes in his parables of the lost sheep, lost coin, and prodigal son (Luke 15); the similar actions …

End Matter

Mormon Studies Review

No abstract provided.

Let’S Talk About Series, Matthew B. Christensen

BYU Studies

A couple of years ago, Deseret Book began publishing the Let’s Talk About series, books designed to help readers learn about interesting—and potentially difficult—topics. The books are relatively short, ranging from 130 to 168 pages. Each book measures 4¼ × 7 inches, making them the perfect size to fit into a pocket or purse. The tone of each book is conversational and engaging. The authors are as varied as the subjects, recognized authorities in their respective fields and believing Latter-day Saints. The series began in 2021, and nine volumes have been published as of summer 2023.

Front Matter

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

“Life And Death, Blessing And Cursing” New Context For “Skin Of Blackness”: In The Book Of Mormon, T. J. Uriona

BYU Studies

For many readers of the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 5 can prove rather challenging. Not only does this chapter contain the actualization of a curse and the apparent genesis of an outgroup, but it also states that “the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon” this group because of their iniquity (2 Ne. 5:21). Given the prevalence of racial thought in society today, this passage has been interpreted as a hurtful reference to a phenotypic change in skin color brought on by a divine curse, leading many researchers to propose alternatives to a purely racialized …

Learning Eternal Truths In Joseph And Emma Smith’S Restored Kirtland Home, Aaron L. West

BYU Studies

At the beginning of 2023, the historic sites of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints featured twenty-five toured historic homes.1 That’s a lot of old houses. And the number recently increased by one. On August 29, 2023, the restored home of Joseph and Emma Smith in Kirtland, Ohio, opened for guided tours (fig. 1).

So the Church now has another historic home, restored after more than a decade of meticulous work, including historical research, architectural studies, and archaeological excavations. What makes this home worth so much time and so many resources?

The Resurrection And Recovering From Disillusionment, Jan J. Martin

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

An anonymous tract, printed in London in the 1800s begins, Good Friday—How comes it that this one day in all the year should be called ‘good?’ We are not apt to mark the anniversaries of the deaths of our friends in this way—yet this day would not be observed at all, except it were in memory of the death of one Who was more than a friend to every one of us. . . . Without all doubt the death of Jesus Christ was the very best thing that ever happened for us. . . . The resurrection could not …

The Canonization Of The New Testament, Daniel Becerra

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

By the end of the first century AD, all of the twenty-seven documents that now constitute the New Testament were written and had begun to circulate among early Christians. However, it was not until centuries later that these texts were collectively named as part of the authoritative body of Christian scripture. The process by which this occurred is called “canonization.” The term canon comes from the Greek word kanōn, meaning “measuring rod” or “measuring stick,” and was frequently applied in the ancient church to the collection of texts that informed the beliefs and practices of the Christians who read them.[1] …

War A Good Warfare Understanding Agency In The Plan Of Salvation, Grant Arnold

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

John Calvin (1509–1564) is credited with expanding the concept of predestination. In the third book of his Institutio Christianae Religionis (Institutes of the Christian religion), he claimed that “all are not created on equal terms, but some are preordained to eternal life, others to eternal damnation; and, accordingly, as each has been created for one or other of these ends, we say that he has been predestinated to life or to death.”[1] Although Calvin was opining on salvation, his words, of necessity, affected free will. Specifically, if salvation is ordained, then our choices are meaningless because God has already predetermined …

"One Like The Son Of Man Came With The Clouds Of Heaven" The Context And Influence Of The Son Of Man Prophecy In Daniel 7, Jared W. Ludlow

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

The title Jesus preferred to use for himself more than any other in the New Testament Gospels was “Son of Man.”[1] Although this phrase can be used in scripture as a simple description of anyone, the equivalent of “human” or “man,” it is also occasionally used as a more specialized title similar to how it is used by Jesus in the Gospels. But why would this simple descriptor be chosen as a majestic title of the Lord? The roots for this title as an exceptional figure seem to be found in a prophecy in Daniel 7, where “one like the …

Training Teachers And Learning To Lead Church Higher Education And The Establishment Of The Church College Of Hawaii, 1957 1961, J. Gordon Daines Iii

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

In early 1921 Elder David O. McKay, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, embarked on a world tour of the foreign missions of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints to ascertain the educational needs of the Church. One of his stops in early February was in Hawaii, where he asked local Church leaders what they thought the greatest need of the Hawaiian Mission was. These leaders replied that a Church school was the biggest need. Samuel H. Hurst, a missionary, recorded in his diary that Elder McKay indicated to these leaders that “he would …

Alma’S Cry For Salvation, Matthew L. Bowen

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Arguably the single greatest textual discovery in the Book of Mormon is John W. Welch’s discovery of a chiasm—a literary and rhetorical figure in which words and concepts are presented in a certain order and then presented again in reverse order—spanning the entirety of Alma 36.[1] Although alternative models of this chapter and refinements for Welch’s chiastic model have been proposed,[2] these still see Alma’s remembering and crying out to Jesus Christ as the χ (chi), or structural turning point, of the chiasm: And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed …

Learning From People Of Other Faiths, Joshua M. Sears

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Among all the religions in the world, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is unique in providing Restoration scripture, apostolic leadership, priesthood keys, the covenants and ordinances constituting the new and everlasting covenant, and a distinctive understanding of the plan of salvation.[1] However, when the First Presidency and Council of the Twelve Apostles released the bicentennial proclamation “The Restoration of the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ” in April 2020, their affirmation of the unique gifts of the Restoration opened by declaring that “God loves His children in every nation of the world.”[2] Implicit in this declaration …

The Family Proclamation The Secular And Spiritual Context, Michael A. Goodman, W. Justin Dyer

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Within the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” is arguably one of the most influential documents produced in the last hundred years. Since it was given in 1995, it has been cited more than 250 times in general conference, hangs on the walls of many Latter-day Saint homes, and is presented to leaders throughout the world. Indeed, in the first-ever meeting between a Pope and a President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Russell M. Nelson presented Pope Francis with two items: a Christus statue and a copy of the …

Seership And World Conferences The Divine Origin And Inception Of The Family Proclamation, Byran B. Korth

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

In recent years, some of the surviving original authors of “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” (namely, President Russell M. Nelson and President Dallin H. Oaks) have felt the need to disclose important details about the line-upon-line revelatory process of the writing and announcement of this historic document.[1] The coming forth of the family proclamation includes the important details regarding not only its writing and announcement [2] but its origin (where it came or originated from) and inception (what initiated the conception and writing). An understanding of this revelatory process is further complemented by an awareness of significant details …

The Promise Of Prosperity Its Meaning And Relevance, Devon Cook

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

As religious educators, we have a responsibility to teach the doctrine “not so plainly that [students] can just understand, but [we] must teach the doctrines of the Church so plainly that no one can misunderstand.”[1] The concept of prosperity in the Book of Mormon is one of those doctrines that must be taught to youth and young adults in a way they don’t misunderstand what it means. Religious educators can help expand students’ understanding of prosperity lest they inadvertently reduce prosperity to mere financial success. If students always equate prosperity in the Book of Mormon with financial blessings, it could …

Full Issue

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Names And Titles Of Heavenly Father And Jesus Christ In The Book Of Mormon, Dru Brown

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

“Good morning, brothers and sisters. We welcome you to sacrament meeting. I am Bishop Evans and will conduct this meeting. We would like to recognize President Iverson from the stake presidency, who is presiding. We will open this meeting with hymn 100; Sister Clyde will conduct the music with Brother Langford on the organ.” An introduction of this kind is a familiar, nearly weekly ritual for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, someone new to the Church might be confused by the series of labels they just heard. What is a bishop? President of what …

Front Matter

Mormon Studies Review

No abstract provided.

Review: Michael Harold Paulos And Konden Smith Hansen, Eds. The Reed Smoot Hearings: The Investigation Of A Mormon Senator And The Transformation Of An American Religion. Logan: Utah State University Press, 2021., Carter Charles

Mormon Studies Review

Before the clean-shaven and impeccably dressed David Oman McKay, it was Reed Owen Smoot who embodied Latter-day Saints as modern, mainstream, and American. The Reed Smoot Hearings remind us of this pivotal role that Smoot and others, like Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints president Joseph F. Smith, senators Fred E. Dubois and Albert J. Beveridge, and US president Theodore Roosevelt played in both Latter-day Saint and US religious history. The book is a welcome addition to works by Milton Merrill, Harvard Heath, and Kathleen Flake. Michael Harold Paulos and Konden Hansen Smith, editors as well as authors, are …

Reivew: Mark S. Diamond And Andrew C. Reed, Eds. Understanding Covenants And Communities: Jews And Latter-Day Saints In Dialogue. Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, In Cooperation With The Central Conference Of American Rabbis, New York, 2020., Yaakov Ariel

Mormon Studies Review

Scholars, students, and religious leaders who take interest in interfaith dialogues, and especially in the interactions between Latter- day Saints and Jews, will welcome Understanding Covenants and Communities: Jews and Latter-day Saints in Dialogue. The compilation demonstrates both a continuation of and a breakthrough in the long history of the exchanges between the two communities of faith.

Full Issue

Mormon Studies Review

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

"He Is God; And He Is With Them", Matthew L. Bowen

BYU Studies

The prophet Isaiah foretold to Ahaz and the house of David: “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isa. 7:14). Latter-day Saints often interpret and teach the “Immanuel” prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 as a simple, straightforward messianic prophecy with a single fulfillment in the birth of Jesus Christ. Most pay little attention to the historical circumstances in which Isaiah gave the prophecy—namely, the Syro-Ephraimite crisis prior to the Assyrian invasion in the eighth century BCE. The idea of a more immediate, contemporary fulfillment …

Coming And Going To Zion: An Analysis Of Push And Pull Factors Motivating British Latter-Day Saint Emigration, 1840–60, Samuel Benson

BYU Studies

In 1863, acclaimed British writer Charles Dickens boarded a New York–bound emigrant ship docked at Liverpool. He was not a passenger but an observer; the subjects of his study were more than eight hundred Latter-day Saint emigrants aboard the ship Amazon. Dickens’s stated purpose, as he later wrote in The Uncommercial Traveller, was “to bear testimony against them if they deserved it,” but to his surprise, he instead found “the pick and flower of England.” Dickens lauded the Latter-day Saints’ politeness and their “aptitude for organisation,” and he praised their leader, Apostle George Q. Cannon. By the end …