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Joseph B. Keeler, Print Culture, And The Modernization Of Mormonism, 1885-1918, David J. Whittaker

BYU Studies

The years flanking the start of the twentieth century represented a time of transition for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Seventy years old in 1900, the Church and the larger Mormon society in which it resided still displayed much of their traditional character. Although some members congregated in urban densities that edged out along the Wasatch Front from Salt Lake City (Utah’s capital and the Church’s headquarters), most still lived in small, relatively self-contained agricultural communities in the Great Basin’s interior. Wherever they lived, however, they expected charismatic leaders to continue organizing the Church, directing devotional life, …

Mormons And Midrash: On The Composition Of Expansive Interpretation In Genesis Rabbah And The Book Of Moses, Avram R. Shannon

BYU Studies

One of the intriguing things about religious texts is how long of a life and how long of an afterlife they have. Once a text becomes a part of a “canon,” once it becomes in a way fixed, it becomes open to further discussion and elaboration. Different groups and religious traditions create different genres of interpretation to work with and understand their scriptures according to the needs of their traditions. One form of interpretation involves reopening the Bible and expanding on the narrative of the already canonized text, such as is found in the rabbinic genre of midrash and in …

Santa Biblia: The Latter-Day Saint Bible In Spanish, Joshua M. Sears

BYU Studies

After the release of the first Latter-day Saint edition of the Bible in 1979 and a new edition of the Triple Combination containing the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price in 1981, Elder Boyd K. Packer declared:

With the passing of years, these scriptures will produce successive generations of faithful Christians who know the Lord Jesus Christ and are disposed to obey His will. . . . The revelations will be opened to them as to no other in the history of the world. . . . They will develop a gospel scholarship beyond that …

For Zion: A Mormon Theology Of Hope, Lauren Mccombs

BYU Studies

For Zion: A Mormon Theology of Hope, by Joseph M. Spencer (Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2014)

Nauvoo & Hancock County, Illinois: A Guide To Family History And Historical Sources, Gerrit Van Dyk

BYU Studies

Nauvoo & Hancock County, Illinois: A Guide to Family History and Historical Sources, by Kip Sperry. Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, 2014.

Sexual Encounters And Manhood Acts: Evangelicals, Latter-Day Saints, And Religious Masculinities, Kelsy Burke, Amy Moff Hudec

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The experiences of men in traditional religions are complex, at times inconsistent, and not necessarily the direct result of religious teachings. This article draws from two qualitative case studies to examine the ways in which evangelical and Latter-Day Saint men understand masculinity and their spiritual beliefs in the context of sexual activity. The authors present two masculine practices—acceptance of sexual rejection and sexual indifference— that allow religious men in this study to simultaneously challenge and uphold the system of hegemonic masculinity that their traditions promote. These findings point to the moments when creative, interpretative work helps religious men to reconcile …

20141001.2: Religious Studies And Biological Sciences Departments, 1957-1975, College Of Liberal Arts, College Of Science

Guides to University Archives

These items include materials from the Religious Studies Department and the Biological Sciences Department at Marshall University from 1957-1975. Items were received in 2014 and include information about the "Bible & Religion" major that was changed to Religious Studies, and misc information about the biological sciences department.

Revelation, Reason, And Faith: Essays In Honor Of Truman G. Madsen, Donald W. Parry, Daniel C. Peterson, Stephen D. Ricks

Maxwell Institute Publications

The distinguished career of Truman G. Madsen has earned him wide respect in and outside of LDS circles as an outstanding teacher, scholar, researcher, speaker, university administrator, church leader, and religious ambassador. With the publication of Revelation, Reason, and Faith: Essays in Honor of Truman G. Madsen, the Institute pays tribute to this remarkable man whose many accomplishments include helping to advance Book of Mormon scholarship and related interests of the Institute.

Edited by Donald W. Parry, Daniel C. Peterson, and Stephen D. Ricks (each of whom also author a chapter), the 800-plus-page volume contains contributions by 31 scholars, …

Seeking A Comprehensive Worldview: The Religious Seeker In The Modern World, Michael Gregory

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Anecdotally, the casual observer of anthropological phenomenon may be led to believe that every human is basically the same. Indeed, many may assume that groups of people possess identical beliefs, religions, and expressions that hardly vary across different cultures and generations. Throughout the plethora of different cultures and the countless varieties of religious expression and experience it may seem that all of humanity is merely following the same lifestyles and worldviews as their parents and ancestors with very little change save for the gradual evolution in society. A religious studies scholar, or any scholar of the humanities, however, may notice …

Talking With Mormons: An Invitation To Evangelicals, David Dominguez, Richard J. Mouw

BYU Studies

As an Evangelical who has resided in Utah County since 1989 and as a law professor at BYU for the past twenty-four years, I read with great interest Richard J. Mouw's latest book, Talking with Mormons: An Invitation to Evangelicals. I was pleased that the author, president of Fuller Theological Seminary, helped me sort out my thoughts on countless conversations with LDS colleagues, students, and neighbors concerning differences in our religious traditions and, even more importantly, provided a structure for more fruitful dialogue. I encourage anyone who cares about building bridges between and among Evangelicals and Mormons to take time …

Full Issue, Byu Studies

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Design And Construction Of The Great Tabernacle Arches, Elwin C. Robison, W Randall Dixon

BYU Studies

Brigham Young desired to build a place where thousands of Saints could meet and a speaker could be heard. The Great Tabernacle in Salt Lake City was built using trussed arches. The genesis of this type of construction was the lattice truss, patented in 1820. The design was brought to Utah by Henry Grow. Brigham Young hired Grow to design and build a road bridge made of straight wooden lattice trusses over the Jordan River in 1860. Trusses could also be built as arches, and the Tabernacle was built as a long barrel vault with half-arch ends. This design allowed …

Joseph F. Smith And The Reshaping Of Church Education, Scott C. Esplin

BYU Studies

This article examines the educational background, philosophy, and legacy of Joseph F. Smith and his impact on Church education. It traces the role President Smith played in expanding the Church academies and later facilitating the formation of the current seminary system. It places these changes within the context of the dramatic growth in U.S. public education and the financial challenges faced by the Church and its academies, demonstrating how Smith was shaped by his time and the part he played during a transformative era in Church education.

The Textual Development Of D&C 130:22 And The Embodiment Of The Holy Ghost, Ronald E. Bartholomew

BYU Studies

The unique LDS doctrine of the embodiment of the Holy Ghost has a fascinating history. Ron Bartholomew looks at the text of Doctrine and Covenants 130:

"The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us."

The text went through several stages of development before arriving at its current wording and punctuation. This article details, step by step, the various modifications that were made …

The Mormon People: The Making Of An American Faith, Matthew Bowman, Armand L. Mauss

BYU Studies

Matthew Bowman is an up-and-coming young scholar of the generation now rising with the relatively new field of Mormon studies. Having completed his doctorate in American religious history at Georgetown University in 2011, he has nevertheless already been very visible for some time at academic conferences and in periodical literature of both Mormon and American religious histories. He has appeared on various public media sites, electronic and otherwise, as a commentator about Mormons and Mormonism, including discussions of his new book.

This book provides eight solid chapters, a brief introduction, and an even briefer conclusion, followed by four appendices, a …

Latter-Day Saint Missionaries Encounter The London Missionary Society In The South Pacific, 1844–1852, Fred E. Woods

BYU Studies

In fall 1843, four Latter-day Saints were called as the first missionaries to the South Pacific. One, Knowlton Hanks, died on the voyage. In May 1844, Addison Pratt began proselytizing on the island of Tubuai, 350 miles south of Tahiti. Benjamin Grouard and Noah Rogers went on to Tahiti, but after a few months they were forced to leave by the French colonizers and went to other islands. Rogers returned to the US in 1845, but Pratt and Grouard remained. On these various islands they encountered missionaries of the London Missionary Society, who had already been preaching in the South …

The Lot Smith Cavalry Company: Utah Goes To War, Joseph R. Stuart, Kenneth L. Alford Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

In this chapter from "Civil War Saints" (2012, published by the Brigham Young University Religious Studies Center and the Deseret Book Company), Joseph R. Stuart and Kenneth L. Alford take a close look at the cavalry unit that was called to military service on April 28, 1862, at President Lincoln’s request. Their ninety-day period of service was the only unit-level active duty military contribution Utah Territory made during the Civil War. An earlier version of this paper, written by a student for the Library Research Grant Program, can be found here.

Believing Adoption, Samuel M. Brown

BYU Studies

Adoption theology is concerned with salvation and entry into the family of God. Early Latter-day Saint (Mormon) adoption theology taught by Joseph Smith came to include priesthood, baptism for the dead, temple rites, and more. The author concludes that this doctrine informs important questions, including: Are spirits born? What is the nature of salvation? What is the shape of the heaven family (the interlocking network of familial connections that will exist in the afterlife)? Adoption theology offers an alternative to the popular doctrine of spirit birth, one that is consistent with what Joseph Smith taught about the nature of God …

Full Issue, Byu Studies

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Which Is The Wisest Course?: The Transformation In Mormon Temple Consciousness, 1870–1898, Richard E. Bennett

BYU Studies

From the 1870s to 1890, the first Latter-day Saint temples in Utah were completed and temple work was fully underway, and at the same time the Church was being legally compelled to abandon polygamy. In 1890, Wilford Woodruff faced disenfranchisement of the Church and the loss of the temples. He was prepared to defend polygamy, but upon revelation from God changed his course and issued the manifesto ending plural marriage. Richard E. Bennett argues that a growing temple consciousness among Church leaders was a more significant cause of the manifesto than political ends, including the Saints' desire for statehood. The …

Joseph Smith, Jesus, And Satanic Opposition: Atonement, Evil, And The Mormon Vision, Steven L. Olsen, Douglas J. Davies

BYU Studies

Douglas J. Davies is one of the most insightful and prolific scholars of Mormonism working today. He is a professor in the Department of Theology and Religion at the University of Durham, UK. Two of his earlier studies--The Mormon Culture of Salvation (2000) and An Introduction to Mormonism (2003)--analyze foundational aspects of Mormonism from an engaging academic synthesis of history, religious studies, cultural studies, literary studies, theology, and philosophy. The breadth and depth of his scholarly background enable him to address new and crucial questions, yielding remarkable insights. For example, The Mormon Culture of Salvation proposes that the plan …

A Firm Foundation: Church Organization And Administration, R. Mark Melville, David J. Whittaker, Arnold K. Garr

BYU Studies

While A Firm Foundation as a whole will appeal mainly to Church scholars and those interested in organizational theory, each of its individual articles offers an important synthesis of information for those who are interested in a particular topic. For example, a musician researching the history of the hymnbook would be interested in Michael Hicks's article "How to Make (and Unmake) a Mormon Hymnbook," and a newly called Young Women president might be intrigued by Janet Peterson's article "Young Women of Zion: An Organizational History." The book is broad enough that there is something of interest for everyone, from a …

A Mormon Approach To Politics, Thomas B. Griffith

BYU Studies

This address was delivered November 13, 2012, in Washington, D.C., at the tenth anniversary of Brigham Young University’s Milton A. Barlow Center. Thomas B. Griffith is a circuit judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The Book Of Mormon: A Biography, Paul C. Gutjahr, Tod R. Harris

BYU Studies

There is something of a paradox prevalent in academic religious studies: in order to consider a community and its traditions objectively, one should not be a member of that community; yet the only way to understand fully and appreciate and therefore faithfully report about the community is to be a member. Many times this contradiction leads to the unfortunate situation where "outsiders" do not report their findings objectively or accurately and thus disappoint those hoping for fair and informative treatment, and where the work of members attempting serious scholarly analysis of their own community is viewed with suspicion and distrust …

Shakers, Mormons, And Religious Worlds: Conflicting Visions, Contested Boundaries, Matthew J. Grow, Stephen C. Taysom

BYU Studies

In Shakers, Mormons, and Religious Worlds, Stephen Taysom, an assistant professor of religious studies at Cleveland State University, has written an intriguing and theoretically rich monograph that compares Shaker and Mormon approaches to religious identity formation and boundary maintenance. Although Shakerism dwindled as a religious movement in the twentieth century, Shakers and Latter-day Saints in the nineteenth century stood out as examples of successful new movements on the American religious scene. Taysom's comparison of Latter-day Saints and Shakers places him within a select group of scholars, most notably Mario DePillis, Lawrence Foster, and Spencer Fluhman, who have studied Shakers and …

Brigham Young, Pioneer Prophet, John G. Turner, Thomas G. Alexander

BYU Studies

John G. Turner, an assistant professor of religious studies at George Mason University, used a novelist's convention by beginning his scholarly biography of Brigham Young near the end of the story. The opening paragraphs take the reader to St. George in 1877 and the dedication of Utah's first temple with the author summarizing Young's sermon.

From the St. George Temple dedication, the author essays on the founding of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The summary includes Joseph Smith's discovery of the gold plates, their translation, and the controversy generated by his ministry.

I recommend this book for …

The Tree Of Life: From Eden To Eternity, Liza Olsen, John W. Welch, Donald W. Parry

BYU Studies

One of humankind's most sacred and abiding symbols is the tree of life. From earliest recorded religious belief, that singular image encompassed the sense of our humanity, rooted deeply in this earthly life with branches stretching outward, heavenward, in hope of the divine. From the Garden of Eden to Lehi's dream, tree of life imagery is particularly evocative within Mormonism, and many contributors to this book are Latter-day Saints writing from scholarly and religious points of view. The tree likewise takes a central place in the development of various human belief systems. Scholars whose works appear in this collection explore …

No Weapon Shall Prosper: New Light On Sensitive Issues, R. Mark Melville, Robert L. Millet

BYU Studies

No Weapon Shall Prosper is a valuable resource for those who are curious about, or even troubled by, some of the less discussed or more controversial aspects of Mormonism. The Internet has allowed anti-Mormon arguments to gain greater ground, and this book respectfully but unapologetically responds to such arguments. In a concluding chapter at the end of the book, Millet notes that despite all of the evidence--or lack thereof--that might exist for a certain viewpoint, it is ultimately the words of the prophets and apostles, as confirmed to us by the Holy Ghost, that enable us to know spiritual truths.

When Pages Collide: Dissecting The Words Of Mormon, Jack M. Lyon, Kent R. Minson

BYU Studies

Careful readers of the Book of Mormon have probably found verses 12-18 of the Words of Mormon to be a bit of a puzzle. For stylistic and other reasons, they do not really fit with verses 1-11, so commentators have tried to explain their presence as a sort of "bridge" or "transition" that Mormon wrote to connect the record of the small plates with his abridgment from the large plates. This paper proposes a different explanation: Rather than being a bridge into the book of Mosiah, these verses were originally part of the book of Mosiah and should be included …

The Lds Church In Italy: The 1966 Rededication By Elder Ezra Taft Benson, James A. Toronto, Richard N. Holzapfel

BYU Studies

Since the early years of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Italy has attracted the attention of Church leaders as a proselyting field. It is the practice of Church leaders to dedicate a land to the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and this article briefly describes the 1850 dedication of Italy by Apostle Lorenzo Snow, followed by a report of a second dedication in 1966 by another Apostle, Ezra Taft Benson. Elder Benson, as president of the European Mission, was warmly welcomed in Italy because of his prior work as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, when he …