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

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Forthcoming Publications

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

FARMS Review of Books (vol. 14, no. 1–2), edited by Daniel C. Peterson, reviews books on Book of Mormon geography limited to the Great Lakes region, a book on the life of Joseph Smith, a book by evangelical scholars who challenge LDS apologetic scholarship, and other books. Available in late November 2002.

Institute News

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

The Institute is pleased to have assisted with a new publication by the American Center for Oriental Research, in Amman, Jordan. Titled The Petra Papyri I, this volume on the carbonized scrolls from ancient Petra features 26 full plates of multispectral images taken by Steven Booras and Gene Ware during their Institute-sponsored work of imaging the Petra papyri. Access to the superior MSI images enabled scholars to transcribe the burned scrolls with greater accuracy than ever before. The Institute looks forward not only to providing additional images to ACOR for the remaining volumes of its Petra series, but also to …

Joseph Smith Right On Target, New Book Shows

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

In his writings over the years, Hugh Nibley has often pointed out “hits” and “bull’s-eyes” in the Book of Mormon—details about the ancient world that were unknown until recent times but that Joseph Smith got right anyway. Serious Book of Mormon research took shape in the early 1900s but has accelerated in recent decades, establishing an entire field of scholarly endeavor and yielding many clues to the book’s ancient origins.

American Military Cemeteries: Temples Of Nationalism And Civic Religion, Kyler James Webb

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Beginning with the dedication of the cemetery at Gettysburg and the address given by Abraham Lincoln, American military cemeteries would have a dual objective to honor nationalism and expand civic religion. Military cemeteries have been on the leading edge of accomplishing ideals such as equality during their construction, implementation, and development. As military cemeteries were created both domestically and on foreign soil between 1860-1960 they became temples to honor nationalism and civic religion.

Developing A Community Chaplaincy Ministry: Through A Need Satisfaction Care Model For A Native Language Church, Shanti Samuel

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Believers in Jesus Christ are mandated to "go" into the world, and caring for people is part of the seeking. God has provided models and processes of His care in the scriptures. A chaplain holds spiritual care functions outside the church's four walls on the field. Unfortunately, many Asian Indian Americans in the booming immigrant population have not received care. Therefore, this action research thesis assumes need-based church training to build a culture-sensitive model of care to provide care. This research project explored the causes and impediments to care through participative sessions with the spiritual care provider volunteers of the …

Homemaking In And With Migrant Churches As Communities Of Care, Ma. Adeinev M. Reyes-Espiritu

Theology Department Faculty Publications

Research on migration and religion reports the significance of religion to migrants, particularly those who self-identify as religious. In particular, migrant churches have served as a sanctuary, a venue for social networking, and a community supportive of migrants’ wellbeing, to name a few things. However, migrant churches are also criticized for the possibility of becoming instruments of control over migrants. Heeding Boccagni and Hondagneu-Sotelo’s invitation to use the “homemaking optic” to inquire into the experience of integration of migrants, this paper analyzes how migrant churches foster migrants’ becoming at home in the receiving societies using Philippine migrant communities as a …

Recovering The Art Of Testimony, As Embodied Within The Historical Black Church, As A Missionally Formative Practice, Christopher Cobbler

DMin Project Theses

This February 2023 Doctor of Ministry project thesis at Lipscomb University aims to consider how the art of testimony, as embodied within the traditional Black church, functions as missionally formative practice. The purpose of this project is to examine the ways testimony service can be utilized to reimagine an alternative eschatological community in a postmodern society. Testimony, in the historical Black Church, was a central component to the life of the congregation; it served as a tool to shape and navigate the theological imagination within a particular community, it cultivated and nurtured centered belonging and was a primary vehicle for …

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

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Scholars Speak At Fair Conference

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

Scholars from BYU spoke at the recent FAIR (Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research) LDS Apologetics Conference held in August at Utah Valley State College, in Orem, Utah. FAIR, which is not affiliated with BYU or the Institute, is an organization dedicated to defending LDS beliefs and practices with sound scholarship. The theme of the conference was "Turning Stumbling Blocks to Stepping Stones: Responding to Challenging Issues in Mormonism."

First Volumes In New Meti Series Published

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

The Institute's Middle Eastern Texts Initiative has published the first two volumes in its Graeco-Arabic Sciences and Philosophy series: Moses Maimonides' On Asthma and Averroes' Middle Commentary on Aristotle's De anima.

Jesus Tribe, Christopher Richardson

Doctor of Ministry

Christians and churches in the early twenty-first century seem to belong to various tribes which leads to confused, disjointed loyalties. This confusion can lead to acrimony within churches. To develop and maintain the unity spoken of by Jesus Christ, these groups would benefit by better understanding and recognizing the prevalence of tribalism. Further, this should lead to the instigation of processes by which they can effectively evaluate and re-align their tribal loyalties toward a more definitive and effective modeling of Jesus and his lordship. Church leadership will benefit from a better understanding of the forces of tribalism at work both …

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Hor Book Of Breathings Analyzed In New Study

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

The Hor Book of Breathings: A Translation and Commentary, by Michael D. Rhodes, was recently published by FARJv1S. This landmark volume is a full publication of the Hor Book of Breathings ( the extant portions of the roll from which Facsimiles 1 and 3 of the Book of Abraham also derive) and includes a transliteration, translation, and philological commentary; a complete glossary of all Egyptian words in the surviving text; and both color and grayscale digital images of the papyri.

New Book Enriches Nt Study

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

A new book from FARMS offers a world of information about the New Testament and its background. Charting the New Testament contains scores of charts, tables, and graphs, each with helpful explanatory and reference materials in a reader-friendly format. Covering a wide array of topics-from the ancient Jewish setting of the New Testament and the world of the Greeks and Romans in which the activities of Jesus and his apostles took place to detailed analysis of the scriptural text itself-the book offers an extensive overview of matters doctrinal, literary, and historical. A companion volume to Charting the Book of Mormon, …

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Special Book Offer

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

For a limited time, FARMS subscribers can obtain at special discount the first two volumes of the Book of Mormon critical text: The Original Manuscript of the Book of Mormon: Typographical Facsimile of the Extant Text and The Printer’s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon: Typographical Facsimile of the Entire Text in Two Parts, published by FARMS in 2001 (see the order form). For a full report on these essential resources for serious study of the Book of Mormon text, see the lead article in INSIGHTS 21/5 (2002).

Doctrine Of Exaltation Squares With Early Christian Belief, Daniel C. Peterson

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

In 1998 Jordan Vajda wrote a remarkable master’s thesis at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, California, entitled “‘Partakers of the Divine Nature’: A Comparative Analysis of Patristic and Mormon Doctrines of Divinization.” The thesis is remarkable both for what it has to say and, perhaps even more strikingly, for who is saying it: Jordan Vajda is a Dominican Catholic priest. At the present time, he serves in the Catholic campus ministry at the Newman Center adjacent to the University of Washington in Seattle.

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Forthcoming Publication

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

The Hor Book of Breathings: A Translation and Commentary, by Michael D. Rhodes, treats the fragments of the Joseph Smith Papyri associated with Facsimiles 1 and 3 of the Book of Abraham. The book features hieroglyphs that were custom designed for this project. Available in June 2002.

New Book A Milestone In Mormon Studies, Louis C. Midgley

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

Latter-day Saint scholar Terryl L. Givens has recently made two extraordinary contributions to Mormon studies. The first, Viper on the Hearth: Mormons,Myths, and the Construction of Heresy, was published by the prestigious Oxford University Press in 1997 and received virtually uniformly glowing reviews. If one wishes to understand the complex of interests and motivations—pecuniary, personal, and ideological—that fuel both sectarian and secular anti-Mormonism, Viper is the book to consult. The editors at Oxford appreciated the merits of this well-written, informative book and invited Givens to publish again with them. The result is By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture …

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Forthcoming Publication

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

The Hor Book of Breathings: A Translation and Commentary, by Michael D. Rhodes, treats the fragments of the Joseph Smith Papyri associated with Facsimiles 1 and 3 of the Book of Abraham.

From Other Publishers

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

Understanding Islam: An LDS Perspective, a new audiotape from Covenant Recordings in which Daniel C. Peterson, a BYU scholar of Islam and Arabic, provides a fascinating look at the history and beliefs of a religion of more than 1.4 billion adherents. See the order form.

Brown Bag Report

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

Each semester the Institute sponsors a series of brown bag presentations. These lectures give researchers the opportunity to present their latest findings to their peers in related fields and to receive constructive comment. Reports of four recent lectures follow.

The Submergence Of The City Of Jerusalem In The Land Of Nephi, John L. Sorenson

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

In touring southern Guatemala, many FARMS patrons traveled west of the capital city to visit Lake Atitlán, one of the most photogenic spots in Central America. Tour guides have told thousands that the beautiful “waters of Mormon” beloved by Alma and his people (see Mosiah 18:30) might well be Lake Atitlán. The Nephite record also tells us that a city called Jerusalem, which was constructed by Lamanites led by Nephite dissenters, was located “away joining the borders of Mormon” (Alma 21:1–2).

World Of Abraham Topic Of Farms Conference

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

Continuing a series of conferences on the Book of Abraham, the Institute sponsored “The World of Abraham,” a free public event at Brigham Young University on 23 March featuring new research that further illuminates the geographical and cultural horizons of the Book of Abraham. Institute executive director Daniel Oswald greeted a crowd of 350 people in the Tanner Building auditorium and dozens more in an overflow room. Many others viewed the event via delayed Web transmission a few hours later.

Topics Christians Should Discuss: Mass Incarceration (Part 1), Joya Schreurs

Student Work

"Our actions both can and should be direct refusals of injustice and infused with compassion for all impacted parties."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­the prison crisis from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

https://inallthings.org/topics-christians-should-discuss-mass-incarceration-part-1/

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Latest Occasional Papers Highlights Biblical Scholar

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

A new publication from the Institute highlights the biblical research of a prominent British scholar. Kevin Christensen’s “Paradigms Regained: A Survey of Margaret Barker’s Scholarship and Its Significance for Mormon Studies,” the second issue of the FARMS Occasional Papers, compares the works of Margaret Barker with the writings of many Latter-day Saint researchers, including Hugh W. Nibley, Daniel C. Peterson, and John W. Welch.