Digital Commons Network^™

The Case Of The {-Th} Plural In The Earliest Text, Stanford Carmack

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

The earliest text of the Book of Mormon employs the {-th} plural — for example, “Nephi’s brethren rebelleth” — in a way that is substantially similar to what is found in many writings of the Early Modern period. The earliest text neither underuses nor overuses the construction, and it manifests inflectional variation and differential usage rates typical of Early Modern English. The totality of the evidence tells us that the Book of Mormon is most reasonably classified as a 16th- or 17th-century text, not as a 19th-century text full of biblical hypercorrections.

Joseph Smith And The Doctrine Of Sealing, A. Keith Thompson

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

Brian Hales has observed that we cannot understand Joseph Smith’s marriage practices in Nauvoo without understanding the related theology. However, he implies that we are hampered in coming to a complete understanding of that theology because the only primary evidence we have of that theology is the revelation now recorded as Section 132 of the Doctrine and Covenants and a few entries in William Clayton’s journal. This paper argues that we have more primary evidence about Joseph Smith’s sealing theology than we realize. The accounts we have of the First Vision and of Moroni’s first visits in 1823 have references …

Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dream Map: Part 1 Of 2, Jeff Lindsay

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

The Arabian Peninsula has provided a significant body of evidence related to the plausibility of Nephi’s account of the ancient journey made by Lehi’s family across Arabia. Relatively few critics have seriously considered the evidence, generally nitpicking at details and insisting that the evidences are insignificant. Recently more meaningful responses have been offered by well educated writers showing familiarity with the Arabian evidences and the Book of Mormon. They argue that Nephi’s account is not historical and any apparent evidence in its favor can be attributed to weak LDS apologetics coupled with Joseph’s use of modern sources such as a …

The Temple: A Multi-Faceted Center And Its Problems, Joshua Berman

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

One of the primary identities of the Temple is that it is the place of hashra’at ha-shekhinah, the site at which God’s presence is most manifest. It is no surprise then, that the Temple is the focal point of prayer. Yet, as the site at which God’s presence is most intimately manifest, the Temple is also the center of the nation in several major spheres of collective life. This centrality is exhibited in the structure of the Book of Deuteronomy. Chapters 12-26 depict commandments that are to be the social and religious frame of life in the land of Israel. …

The Materiality Of Lived Mormonism, Josh E. Probert

Mormon Studies Review

No abstract provided.

The Time It Takes To Age, Rebecca Smylie

BYU Studies

We moved to Africa for my husband’s job, and those first months in Dakar, Senegal, were hard. We had a newborn and were sleep deprived. The antimalarials gave me bad dreams. We were living out of suitcases, we found dead birds in the back bedroom, and our three-year-old couldn’t seem to stop crying. Increasingly, we heard her fighting with a row of new imaginary friends, who were more often than not consigned to time out in the “bird room.” How would I survive two years?

Joseph Smith And Egyptian Artifacts: A Model For Evaluating The Prophetic Nature Of The Prophet's Ideas About The Ancient World, Kerry Muhlestein

BYU Studies

Joseph Smith’s collection of Egyptian antiquities has been the point of much interest, both in his day and ours. Among those things that piqued great attention during the Prophet’s lifetime, and continue to do so today, are his explanations of the drawings (known as vignettes when referring to ancient Egyptian literature) on the papyri he possessed and the connections he made between the papyri, mummies, and biblical characters. While we have few statements directly from Joseph Smith himself, there are a number of accounts from people who heard either first- or secondhand the Prophet’s ideas about his collection of antiquities …

Augustine's Trinitarian Sacramental Sensibilities, Influence, And Significance For Our Imperiled Planet, Jame Schaefer

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Narasimha, Lord Of Transitions, Transformations, And Theater Festivals: God And Evil In Hindu Cosmology, Myth, And Practice, Lavanya Vemsani

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

This paper focuses on the multi-faceted nature of the divine depicted in Narasimha and the unique perspectives on God and evil offered by the myths of Narasimha, which is also subliminally represented within the religious practice and performance traditions associated with Narasimha.

Circumcising The Mouth Of Moses: The Idolatrous Status Of Yahweh's Mediator Among The Idols Of Ancient Mesopotamia, Amy L. Balogh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The thesis of this dissertation is that in the defining moment in which he is transformed from "uncircumcised of lips" to "god to Pharaoh" (Ex 6:28-7:1), Moses is best understood as Yahweh's idol, undergoing a status change akin to the induction ritual for ancient Mesopotamian idols, the Mīs Pȋ ("Washing/Purifying of the Mouth"). To make this point, I argue that Moses and idols be compared with respect to their status as mediator between divine and human realms. With their respective status changes, not only are idols and Moses transformed on an ontological level, but so are their relationships to their …

Genesis 3 As A Model For Understanding The Nature Of Sin And Salvation, Jiri Moskala Thd, Phd

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

"In order to perceive the nature of sin clearly, it is necessary to freshly investigate what is sin and its consequences according to God’s revelation. This biblical-theological study is principally limited to Genesis chap. 3."

Psalm 73–Its Structure And Theology: I Delight In God’S Goodness In Spite Of Devastating Problems, Jiri Moskala Thd, Phd

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

"Martin Buber explains why he is so attracted to this Psalm: “What is it that so draws me to this poem that is pieced together out of description, report and confession, and draws me ever more strongly the older I become? I think it is this, that here a person reports how he attained to the true sense of his life experience and that this sense touches directly on the eternal.”10 I am always touched by the deep wisdom of Psalm 73; it is no wonder that it is usually characterized as a wisdom Psalm even though it is not …

Adventist Theological-Missiology: Contextualization In Mission And Ministry, Wagner Kuhn

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

"...the purpose of theology and mission is to demonstrate in word and deed, in theory and in practice, the everlasting gospel (Rev. 14). It is to aim at the cross of Calvary, declaring and presenting with power and effectiveness the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn.1:29). Paul demonstrates this theology and this mission by getting as close as possible to people in order to save them for Christ. He says: “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some” (1 Cor. 9:22). This is the …

Making Hermeneutics Do Its Job: Impact Of Interdisciplinary Factors On Interpreting The Bible, Petr Činčala

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

No abstract provided.

Justice, Cult, And Salvation In Isaiah 56-59: A Literary-Theological Study, Hudyard Y. Muskita

Dissertations

The main focus of this dissertation is the interconnection among the themes of justice, cult, and salvation in Isaiah 56-59. The investigation will analyze and explore the theological importance of these themes, which include questions such as, What are the descriptions of these themes in these chapters? How are they related to each other? As divine salvation is portrayed as moving back and forth from immanence to distance several times throughout this particular section of the book of Isaiah, what factors are responsible for this dynamic? What is the role of cult and social justice in this salvation? In what …

The Life Of Rev. C. F. Swartz, The American Tract Society

Books

No abstract provided.

A Narrative Of The Establishment And Progress Of The Mission To Ceylon And India, W. M. Harvard

Books

No abstract provided.

Human Capacities And The Problem Of Universally Equal Dignity: Two Philosophical Test Cases And A Theistic Response, Matthew R. Petrusek

Theological Studies Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

The Background And Meaning Of The Image Of The Beast In Rev. 13:14, 15, Rebekah Yi Liu

Dissertations

Problem

This dissertation investigates the first century Greco-Roman cultural backgrounds and the literary context of the motif of the image of the beast in Rev 13:14, 15, in order to answer the problem of the author’s intended meaning of the image of the beast to his first century Greco-Roman readers.

Method

There are six steps necessary to accomplish the task of this dissertation. These steps are taken in the form of the exegetical studies which are done in six chapters, respectively. Following the introductory chapter, the second chapter is a brief history of the historical interpretations of the image of …

(Dis)Owning Constantinian Christianity, Peter Iver Kaufman

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

From 1970 until he took leave of the terrestrial city over forty years later, Robert Markus informed and enlivened our discussions of Constantinian Christianity. His impressive erudition still does. He was especially and insightfully concerned with the period “during which Christian Romans came slowly to identify themselves with traditional Roman values, culture, practices, and established institutions.” And he identified the world in which that assimilation “slowly” occurred as “the secular.” His readers were used to that assimilation in their time--our time--having heard references to civil religion, so Markus could well have been considered to be politically correct, and a number …

Raising Ebenezer, Shannon Lee Bianco

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Raising Ebenezer is an antropoesia collection representing the adoption story of a Christian family and their children from Uganda, Africa. Through poetry, essay, short story, flash fiction, and non-traditional genres, Raising Ebenezer investigates the culture of international adoption, love, fear, faith, loss, corruption and redemption. It is a work of creative non-fiction.

Kant, The Natural Law, And The Question Of Normativity In Catholic Ethics, John Robert Crowley-Buck

Dissertations

This dissertation explores the question of normativity in 21st century Catholic ethical reflection. While, today, the natural law tradition frames and founds the normative question in Catholic ethics in terms of the imago Dei, this project explores the moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant and the challenge it presents to the natural law's claim to normativity. Specifically, this dissertation argues that in Kant's ethics, the normative question is answered in terms of the dignity of humanity, rather than the imago Dei, and that the dignity of humanity is a more relevant, shareable, and normative grounding for ethical reflection. To this end, …

"Homicide," Iv. Christianity, Hille Haker

Theology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

The Problematical, The Cave, And The Maya: A Theoretical Discussion And Ethnoarchaeological Investigation, Haley N. Austin

Senior Independent Study Theses

This project concerns itself with the theoretical framework and application of ethnoarchaeological research methods in the Maya region. Following an in-depth discussion of ethnoarchaeology and its theoretical locus within archaeology as well as the transformations it has seen in recent year, the current work focuses on the following source- and subject-side cultural groups and phenomena: cave use at La Ventana and La Ventana Campana by Maya peoples from the Suchitepéquez and Sololá Department of Guatemala in comparison with Problematical Deposit 21 at Tikal, Petén, Guatemala. The purpose of this work is not only to investigate the case study mentioned above …

Divine Revelation And Context: An Interplay Of Influences, Boubakar Sanou

Journal of Adventist Mission Studies

No abstract provided.

La Teología De La Creación Según Martín Lutero En Sus Lecciones Sobre El Génesis, Denis Kaiser

Faculty Publications

"In Luther’s lectures on the biblical creation account as found in Genesis 1:1 through 2:4, it was not so much the concept of “creation out of nothing,” but the idea of ultimate creation, preservation, and governance by God’s spoken word that formed the main emphasis. Thus, many of the themes touched on in these lectures center in Luther’s picture of God’s nature and character."

The “Spirit” That Returns To God In Ecclesiastes 12:7, Dana M. Pike

Faculty Publications

Influenced by the Restoration doctrine of premortality, some Latter-day Saints have employed the KJV translation “the spirit” in Ecclesiastes 12:7 to support the doctrine that spirit personages leave their mortal bodies at death. Furthermore, Latter-day Saints have sometimes asserted, again citing Ecclesiastes 12:7, that a premortal spirit being can only “return” to God because it previously came from him. This verse has thus become one of several in the Old Testament that some Latter-day Saints have employed as support for premortal existence, a doctrine that is so important in the broader plan of salvation.

Integrating International Students Through The Library Experience, Jeannie Ferriss

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

Comparative Study Of Ethics In Librarianship And The Bible, Japheth Abdulazeez Yaya

The Christian Librarian

This paper is a comparative study that discusses ethical issues in librarianship and the Bible. Such issues include: Laws in librarianship vs. laws in the Bible; censorship in librarianship vs. censorship in the Bible; Bible teachings on access to information and access to information in librarianship; purification (i.e., book binding), conservation and preservation practices in the library and in the Bible; weeding of library collections and weeding practices in the Bible; privacy and confidentiality in the library and in the Bible; orderliness of the library collections and the Bible; consortium building of library collections and in the Bible; and consequences …

Bautch And Knoppers' "Covenant In The Persian Period: From Genesis To Chronicles" (Book Review), Lisa Cutforth-Anderson

The Christian Librarian

A review of Bautch, R.J., & Knoppers, G.N. (Eds.). (2015). Covenant in the Persian period: From Genesis to Chronicles. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. 452 pp. $58.05. ISBN 9781575063560