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Global Ethics, Religious Liberty, And Freedom Of Information Access, Paul A. Hartog

The Christian Librarian

Devout Christians work in a spectrum of library settings (including public libraries), networked by globalized information access. By nature of their employment, these librarians assist patrons in accessing and retrieving information that challenges or conflicts with a biblical worldview. How can one defend taking such an active role in this seeming contradiction? This article maintains that Christian commitment may not only co-exist with the freedom of information access but may also support it as a universal human right in our globalized, pluralistic context. To make the case, the essay contrasts two varying accounts of Global Ethics (differing in their view …

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Thieves And Robbers

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

Although there isn't much difference between a thief and a robber in most minds, there was a considerable difference between the two under ancient Near Eastern law. A thief (ganab) was usually a local person who stole from his neighbor. He was dealt with judicially. He was tried and punished civilly, most often by a court composed of his fellow townspeople. A robber, on the other hand, was an outsider, a brigand or highwayman. He was dealt with militarily. These outlaws could be executed summarily.

How Was The Book Of Mormon Used By The Early Saints?

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

When the Book of Mormon was first translated and published, it was brand new to the entire world. Its doctrines, messages, personalities, and details were all in need of rediscovery. Even the Prophet Joseph Smith, the instrument through which God transmitted this record, does not appear to have fully assimilated all its complexities and nuances, for he rarely quoted from the Book of Mormon (as one might expect had he written the book).

Joseph Smith And The Book Of Mormon

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

Increasingly, questions are being asked about how the Book of Mormon came to be. Few of these questions are new, for each generation must confront the challenging presence of the Book of Mormon for itself, the same as have the generations before us. In this light, it may be of interest for us to reread the five-part series from the 1959 Improvement Era written by Hugh Nibley, entitled "Mixed Voices." For the first time, these five articles are now available as a set.

"Salamanders" And "Short-Hand Egyptian"

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

The 1830 letter of Martin Harris to W. W. Phelps, published in the Church News in April, has already attracted national attention. In this letter, Harris describes an early spiritual appearance to Joseph Smith, stating that "the spirit transfigured himself from a white salamander in the bottom of the hole."

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Parallelism In The Book Of Mormon

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

Parallelism is a fundamental feature of biblical Hebrew composition, appearing In many different varieties and contexts. Don Parry has recently completed an Impressive research effort, identifying and classifying many poetic parallel passages in the Book of Mormon.

Spotlight On Janet Twigg

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

The Foundation Is pleased to recognize our devoted employees and volunteers. At this time, congratulations are in order for our office manager, Janet Twigg.

1988 Contributions Now Payable

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

In 1988, as in the past, all who donate $10.00 or more ($5.00 for low-income families and students) will receive the Foundation's quarterly newsletter Insights. If you want to keep your name on the mailing list, now is a good time to make your tax-deductible contribution. To indicate your renewal, complete the attached order form and send it with your contribution to the F.A.R.M.S. office.

Hebrew And Uto-Aztecan Languages Compared

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

Three years ago Brian Stubbs, then a doctoral candidate In linguistics at the University of Utah, received a grant from F.A.R.M.S. to find out if elements of Hebrew could be detected among native tongues of the Uto-Aztecan family of western North America. He has now prepared a technical report summarizing his extensive research.

Chiasmus In Helaman 6:7-13

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

Now available is John W. Welch's recent report on the discovery of a particularly fine example of chiasmus in the Book of Mormon. Welch comments, "This text seems to be among the clearest examples of chiasm in the Book of Mormon." This chiasm, found in Helaman 6:7-13, is the full report for the 64th Year of the Reign of the Judges, a year in which great change occurred among the Nephite and Lamanite peoples. During that yea r, both Nephites and Lamanites enjoyed an extraordinary peace, prosperity, and freedom of travel uncommon at any other time before in Nephite history. …

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Publications Review Board Now Operative

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

The instituting of a formalized system of reviewing articles considered for possible F.A.R.M.S. publication was mentioned in the Fall 1987 Newsletter. The procedure operates under the aegis of the Evaluation Committee, whose members are Wilford Hess (BYU, microbiology), Douglas Phillips (BYU, classics), Harold Miller (BYU psychology), and Jay Todd (The Ensign). Committee chairman John Sorenson, the acting Evaluation Editor, is assisted by members of a new Publications Review Board, including Gerald Bradford (UC-Irvine, religious studies), John Clark (BYU-NWAF, anthropology), James Faulconer (BYU, philosophy), Stanley Kimball (So. Illin., history), Dan Peterson (BYU, Near Eastern languages), John Robertson (BYU, linguistics), Kent Robson …

Two More Audio Tapes Available

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

All year, Russell Peek has been organizing the F.A.R.M.S. Hugh Nibley tape archive. Several hundred recordings of firesides, Sunday School lessons, and talks have been gathered. Many of these recordings have been transferred to archive quality master, thanks especially to Gordon H. Peck in Las Vegas and Michael K. Jensen in Provo. The tapes are now being cataloged.

Audio Tapes Of Nibley Book Of Mormon Class Available, Russell Peek

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

Those interested in an additional resource for study of the Book of Mormon in 1988 will be rewarded by the audio tapes of Dr. Hugh Nibley's upper division Book of Mormon class at BYU. Russell Peek and a team of recording technicians have captured on cassette tape more than 50 hours of lectures from fall semester 1987 and winter semester 1988, one hour of lecture per cassette.

The Book Of Mormon As Literature

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

Three interpretive essays on the Book of Mormon from a literary point of view are now available.

Massive Bibliography On Pre-Columbian Transoceanic Contacts Now Available

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

A working edition of John Sorenson and Martin Raish's 900-page bibliography, Transoceanic Culture Contacts Between the Old and New Worlds in Pre-Columbian Times: A Comprehensive Annotated Bibliography, is now available. Funded by a F.A.R.M.S. grant, the work ultimately will include accurate bibliographical information on all serious published works on transoceanic cultural transmissions before 1492, each with an abstract of relevant contents.

Oral Roberts University’S Judaic-Christian Studies Program: A Reflection On Its History And Significance, Pamela L. Idriss

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

Oral Roberts University’s (ORU) Graduate School of Theology and Missions offered the Judaic-Christian Studies Concentration (JCSC) of Master of Theology in Biblical Literature between the fall of 2007 and the spring of 2020. Under the supervision of Brad H. Young, the program flourished with academic excellence and distinct practical applications. Students learned to comprehend the teachings of Jesus in their Second-Temple Jewish context and to recognize the Jewish roots of Christianity. The program employed the comparative/associative methodology for exegetical work and utilized the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and primary Jewish sources, such as the Rabbinic literature and the Dead …

The First Oru Seminary: An Experiment Of Unity Without Uniformity, Daniel D. Isgrigg

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

This article explores the history of Oral Roberts University’s first Graduate School of Theology (1965–1969), the first seminary in the Pentecostal tradition. It will explore the story of the founding faculty that pioneered the first seminary and their contributions to scholarship and the shaping of ORU. It highlights the conflicts and challenges they went through that resulted in the closing of the seminary in 1969. It concludes with a recognition of the contributions of this group of faculty that continue to bear fruit today.

A Critical Edition Of The Prefacing Dedicatory Letters In An Abridgement Of The Institution Of Christian Religion... (1586), Gwendolyn Fulkerson

University Honors Papers

HNRS 280 project

French text written by William Lawne

Text translated to English by Christopher Fetherstone

Critical edition and binding by Gwendolyn Fulkerson

Goostly Coumforte In God: The Rhetoric Of Mysticism In The Cloud Of Unknowing, Clinton M. Sensat

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In this paper I analyze the rhetoric of the Cloud of Unknowing by an anonymous fourteenth-century English Catholic mystic. First, I situate the Cloud in its tradition, both spiritual and rhetorical. Then, after analyzing the linguistic arts employed, I engage in a sustained examination of the Cloud’s rhetorical technique. Ultimately, I conclude that the author of the Cloud succeeds in his rhetorical goals, even if some of his strategies are less successful than he perhaps believes, and that he does so through the use of concrete language and an appeal to the ethos of Christian monastic friendship.

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Wednesday Book Of Mormon Seminars

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

The Wednesday Seminar is a faculty research seminar organized by Noel Reynolds (Political Science, BYU). It has met bi-weekly this year to hear discussions on current research related to the Book of Mormon.

Review Of Books On The Book Of Mormon

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

Since publication of the last Newsletter, the first issue of the F.A.R.M.S. Review of Books on the Book of Mormon has been printed. It contains seventeen reviews of fourteen different books, most of which appeared during the years 1987-88. Some of the reviews are actually "review essays," since they represent important contributions to Book of Mormon studies in their own right.

Johannessen Visit

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

Professor Carl Johannessen, professor of geography at the University of Oregon, lectured in March at BYU on his research on evidence for pre-Columbian maize in India and nearby areas. F.A.R.M.S. has provided support for his work. He presented BYU botanists and others with an impressive array of actual specimens, pictures of sculptured representations of cobs of corn on Indian temples, and linguistic and historical data.

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Metonymy In The Book Of Mormon

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

A suggestion by Gordon Thomasson led to a May 3 seminar where 11 F.A.R.M.S. collaborators examined another subtle stylistic feature in the Book of Mormon. Metonymy is the practice of giving a person or place a name whose meaning reflects an event or trait associated with that person or place. A closely related practice sees a person's name become symbolic of some phenomenon. An example of metonymy is in I Sam. 25 where a man is said to have been named Nabal, "fool," because he refused to aid David and his supporters. The second pattern is shown in the statement …

Is Mulek Mentioned In The Bible?

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

Helaman 6:10 records that Zedekiah, King of Judah in Lehi's day, had a son named Mulek who escaped execution by the Babylonians, despite the statement in 2 Kings 25:4-7 that the king's sons were slain. While the name Mulek is not mentioned directly in the Bible, scholars have recently drawn some interesting conclusions about a person named Malchiah, mentioned in Jer. 38:6. Could he have been Mulek?

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.