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Little Red And The Very Hungry Lion, Aylea Stephens

Children's Book and Media Review

In an African twist to the classic Little Red Riding Hood tale, Little Red has to travel through the safari to bring her Aunt Rosie spot medicine. She passes by a wide variety of safari animals until she encounters a Very Hungry Lion. When he decides to dress up as Aunt Rosie so he can eat Little Red, the little girl knows exactly what’s going on and decides to teach the lion an important lesson. She makes him fix up his hair, brush his teeth, and wear much better clothes until finally the Lion learns his lesson and decides to …

Penguin's Big Adventure, Sydnee Burr

Children's Book and Media Review

Inspired by the idea of being the first penguin to set foot on the north pole, Penguin decides it's time for an adventure. He meticulously plans and then sets forth on his journey. He leaves behind all his friends who are busy working on their own world records in search of something new and undiscovered. Upon reaching his destination he celebrates...alone. Penguin soon feels very lonely and afraid, but it isn't long before he finds a new friendly face. When Penguin finally arrives home again, he discovers the beauty in the idea that the very best part of an adventure …

Fleeing The Garden: Reading Genesis 2-3, Adam S. Miller

Maxwell Institute Publications

The papers collected in this book are the product of a Mormon Theology Seminar dedicated to generating close, theologically informed readings of the second and third chapters of Genesis. Though participants in the seminar employed a wide variety of methodological approaches, the results clearly show a common core of understanding won through months of close collaborative effort. Essays explore the nature of appetite, the role of community, the necessity of ecology, and the persistence of paradox in one of the Bible’s most human stories.

To Be Learned Is Good: Essays On Faith And Scholarship In Honor Of Richard Lyman Bushman, Spencer Fluhman, Kathleen Flake, Jed Woodworth

Maxwell Institute Publications

What does the future hold for Mormonism in the academy? How does personal faith impact one’s scholarship? How might scholarly women and men speak of faith in secular places and times? This volume contains vibrant exchanges on these and other questions from the memorable scholars’ colloquium held in honor of historian and Latter-day Saint Richard Lyman Bushman.

“I think we all feel some tension between our religious convictions and the secular times in which we live. In one way or another, modernism invades and unsettles our thinking, perhaps our thinking about our fields, perhaps our personal beliefs. What I …

The Title Of Liberty And Ancient Prophecy, Roseann Benson

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

Captain Moroni cites a prophecy regarding Joseph of Egypt and his posterity that is not recorded in the Bible. He accompanies the prophecy with a symbolic action to motivate his warriors to covenant to be faithful to their prophet Helaman and to keep the commandments lest God would not preserve them as he had Joseph.

Experiencing Battle In The Book Of Mormon, Morgan Deane

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

Historical chronicles of military conflict normally focus on the decisions and perspectives of leaders. But new methodologies, pioneered by John Keegan’s Face of Battle, have focused attention on the battle experience of the common soldier. Applying this methodology to a careful reading of details within the Book of Mormon shows an experience in battle that is just as horrific as it is authentic.

“By The Blood Ye Are Sanctified”: The Symbolic, Salvific, Interrelated, Additive, Retrospective, And Anticipatory Nature Of The Ordinances Of Spiritual Rebirth In John 3 And Moses 6, Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, Matthew L. Bowen

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

In chapter 3 of the Gospel of John, Jesus described spiritual rebirth as consisting of two parts: being “born of water and of the spirit.”1 To this requirement of being “born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit,” Moses 6:59–60 adds that one must “be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; … For … by the blood ye are sanctified.”2 In this article, we will discuss the symbolism of water, spirit, and blood in scripture as they are actualized in the process of spiritual rebirth. We will highlight in particular the …

“I Kneeled Down Before My Maker”: Allusions To Esau In The Book Of Enos, Matthew L. Bowen

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

The Book of Enos constitutes a brief literary masterpiece. A close reading of Enos’s autobiography reveals textual dependency not only on 1 Nephi 1:1-2 and Genesis 32–33, but also on earlier parts of the Jacob-Esau cycle in Genesis 25, 27. Enos’s autobiographical allusions to hunting and hungering serve as narrative inversions of Esau’s biography. The narrative of Genesis 27 exploits the name “Esau” in terms of the Hebrew verb ʿśh/ʿśy (“make,” “do”). Enos (“man”) himself incorporates paronomastic allusions to the name “Esau” in terms of ʿśh/ʿśy in surprising and subtle ways in order to illustrate his own transformation through the …

Consecration Brings Forth Zion, Not Just Disaster Relief: An Examination Of Scholarly And Prophetic Statements On The Law Of Consecration, Richard D. Gardner

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

Active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints covenant to obey the law of consecration, and although I have long felt we discuss it too little, more Saints seem to be taking notice. Various historical and doctrinal opinions have been expressed on the law and on the “united order,” including some insightful and some unusual opinions by Kent W. Huff in his book Joseph Smith’s United Order.1 Using this book along with the contributions of several other scholars and Church leaders as a basis for discussion, I explore the history, meaning, and future of the “united order” …

The Next Big Thing In Lds Apologetics: Strong Semitic And Egyptian Elements In Uto-Aztecan Languages, Jeff Lindsay

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

Following several articles and presentations over the past two decades on tantalizing finds linking Uto-Aztecan languages with Near Eastern languages, LDS linguist Brian Stubbs has recently published two significant works offering extensive details and documentation. The more comprehensive volume intended for scholars and serious students of language is Exploring the Explanatory Power of Semitic and Egyptian in Uto-Aztecan, a highly technical work providing 1,528 sets of cognates with intricate details linking Uto-Aztecan languages with two versions of Semitic and with Egyptian. This is followed by an analysis of puzzles in Uto-Aztecan explained by Egyptian and Semitic ties as well as …

Future Mormon: Essays In Mormon Theology, James E. Faulconer

BYU Studies

Adam S. Miller. Future Mormon: Essays in Mormon Theology.

Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2016.

The Latter-Day Saint Reimagining Of "The Breath Of Life" (Genesis 2:7), Dana M. Pike

BYU Studies

The creation and flood accounts in Genesis in the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament) contain variations on a phrase commonly translated “the breath of life.” This phrase additionally occurs in some uniquely Latter-day Saint materials relating to creation. After overviewing and analyzing this phrase and its meaning in the Bible, this paper then examines the occurrences of the phrase “the breath of life” in important early Latter-day Saint texts. The purpose of this study is to illustrate and explain how and why many Latter-day Saints have come to often employ the phrase “the breath of life,” transforming its traditional …

Pieces Of April: From The Life And Journal Of Lance Larsen, Lance Larsen, Casualene Meyer

BYU Studies

Lance Larsen, BYU professor of English, completed in May 2017 a five-year appointment as Utah’s poet laureate. BYU Studies is pleased to present a series of journal entries from Professor Larsen, preceded by a conversation between Larsen and BYU Studies poetry editor, Casualene Meyer.

Front Matter

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Animals In The Book Of Mormon: Challenges And Perspectives, Wade E. Miller, Matthew Roper

BYU Studies

When the Book of Mormon first appeared, skeptics said that references to horses, asses, elephants, and other animals (such as swine and cows) were out of place. During the first century after its publication, Book of Mormon critics argued that such animals never existed anywhere in the Americas before the arrival of Columbus and western Europeans in the late fifteenth century. In time, however, scientific discoveries showed that species of horses, asses, elephants, and other animals had once been present in North America, although dating to an earlier period than that covered in the Book of Mormon. Encouraged by such …

From The Editor, John W. Welch

BYU Studies

A nephew recently asked me, “Why do we care about the Old Testament? Is it even relevant today?” After catching my breath, I got wondering, how many others might share this feeling as the Church Sunday School curriculum returns in 2018 to the study of the Old Testament? And for those who feel that way, might some of the intriguing articles published in BYU Studies over the years on Old Testament topics pique their interest? I would definitely hope so.

Full Issue

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Aviophobia, Kim Webb Reid

BYU Studies

The January day SkyWest Flight 1834 smashed into a private two-seater plane midair over my elementary school, I was at recess. Some of us snatched at clothes drifting down from the sky because we thought they should be handed over to the school’s lost and found. We didn’t know yet of all the lost things that could never be returned: a jagged wing blocking my friend’s front door; a pilot’s black leather seat perched on my neighbor’s roof; the lives of ten passengers, captains, and crew. Grown-ups spoke in whispers about the carnage found in backyards and closed roads and …

Reading Competency In The Book Of Mormon: Abish And Other Model Readers, Michael J. Call

BYU Studies

In chapter 19 of the book of Alma, we are introduced to Abish, described in the narrative as one of the “Lamanitish women” serving in King Lamoni’s court (Alma 19:16). Mormon’s account of her experience on the day of the king’s conversion is compelling for many reasons, but I would like to explore here how Abish and other important figures in the text function as model readers, exhibiting the traits and competencies that the Book of Mormon authors expected the future reader of their text to bring to the reading act. In fact, a careful analysis of important reading acts …

Apocalypse Then, Apocalypse Now: Rethinking Joan Of Arc In The Twenty-First Century, Timothy M. Thibodeau

Quidditas

Joan of Arc has stood alone among legendary figures of the Middle Ages in her capacity to be appropriated and employed for a host of modern noble causes. However, a fresh examination of Joan’s words and deeds reveals that her aims and objectives were not the universal “greater goods” of modern activists who have used her story to craft their own narratives. I propose that Joan’s continued attractiveness as a cultural icon now faces two major obstacles. First, in the wake of the rapid secularization of modern western society and the evolution of social mores related to gender identity and …

The Lord Is One, Margaret Barker

BYU Studies

This is a lightly edited transcript of a lecture delivered by Old Testament scholar Margaret Barker at Brigham Young University on November 9, 2016. Following the lecture, responses were given by Andrew C. Skinner, David J. Larsen, and Daniel C. Peterson. Edited transcripts of the responses follow in this issue of BYU Studies Quarterly.

"I Was Not Ready To Die Yet": William Stowell's Utah War Ordeal, R. Devan Jensen, Kenneth L. Alford

BYU Studies

In the fall of 1857, twenty-one-year-old Cynthia Jane Stowell bade farewell to her husband, William R. R. Stowell, a lieutenant in the Utah militia working to hinder the US Army from entering Utah Territory. Cynthia, who was pregnant, was tending nine children—six of whom were orphans she and William had adopted. Sophronia Stowell, a plural wife of William, also had children to tend. That winter they received news that William had been captured and was being held as a prisoner of war at Camp Scott, near Fort Bridger, in present-day Wyoming. The two women must have worried that they might …

"The Clamor Of The People": Popular Support For The Persecution Of Jews In Switzerland And Germany At The Approach Of The Black Death, 1348-1350, Albert Winkler

Faculty Publications

Scholars have recently questioned the role of the lower classes in the persecution of Jews at the advance of the Black Death in Germany 1348-50. However, a careful examination of the many primary sources relating to the persecution of Jews clearly reveals that the lower classes were heavily involved in these pogroms.

Forum Prompt: What Can Poe Do For You?, Scott Peeples

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

No abstract provided.

The American Hero In A Hawaiian Myth: Convergence Of Cultures In London’S “Koolau The Leper”, Morgan Daniels

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

Jack London’s “Koolau the Leper” (1912) tells the story of a leprous Hawaiian who refuses to be reallocated to Molokai by the American government. During Koolau’s last stand, he keeps the American army at bay despite their superior weaponry. The story ends with Koolau dying from leprosy a free man on Kauai, his island home. Critics have long debated what this story reveals about London’s viewpoint on American imperialism and colonialism. I would like to augment this understanding by suggesting that London’s critique of American imperialism is in itself an act of imperialism. I propose that Jack London’s “Koolau the …

Dante’S Divine Comedy: A Pastoral Subversion, Katie Francom

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

This paper attempts to widen the scholarly understanding of Dante’s use of pastoral modes within The Divine Comedy. By examining typical pastoral themes, Dante’s use of Virgil as a guide, and the presence of pastoral themes within the Comedy, this paper will ultimately assert that Dante completely reshapes the pastoral genre, taking it from its typically pagan history and giving it new, Christian meaning. By so doing he makes his beautifully artistic story into an enlightening spiritual journey for the reader.

Does Aggregated Returns Disclosure Increase Portfolio Risk Taking?, John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian

Faculty Publications

Many experiments have found that participants take more investment risk if they see less frequent returns, portfolio-level returns (rather than each individual asset’s returns), or longhorizon (rather than one-year) historical return distributions. In contrast, we find that such information aggregation treatments do not affect total equity investment when we make the investment environment more realistic than in prior experiments. Previously documented aggregation effects are not robust to changes in the risky asset’s return distribution or to the introduction of a multiday delay between portfolio choice and return realizations.

Conceptualizing The Neurobiology Of Non-Suicidal Self-Injury From The Perspective Of The Research Domain Criteria Project, Scott R. Braithwaite, Melinda Westlund Schreiner, Bonnie Klimes-Dougan, Erin D. Begnel, Kathryn R. Cullen

Faculty Publications

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) commonly starts in adolescence and is associated with an array of negative outcomes. Neurobiological research investigating NSSI is in its early stages and most studies have examined this behavior within the context of specific diagnoses. However, the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative encourages researchers to examine brain-behavior relationships across diagnoses. This review on the neurobiology associated with NSSI is organized using the domains proposed by RDoC: Negative Valence, Positive Valence, Cognitive, Social Processes, and Arousal/Regulatory Systems. Evidence of neurobiological anomalies is found in each of these domains. We also propose future research directions, especially in regard to …

Metempsychosis In The Wizarding World, Hannah E. Degn

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

In studying Poe and what he can do for the modern reader, one comes to see literature in a new light. His influence reaches far beyond the continental United States and the time period he contributed to. One such connection is how his ideas have permeated contemporary literature. This article looks at the connection between J.K. Rowling and Edgar Allan Poe, focusing on his interpretation of metempsychosis and how it comes into play in the Harry Potter series.

The Frontier In Paris: Artists From The American West In The French Capital, 1890–1900, James R. Swensen

Faculty Publications

From 1890 to 1900 several artists traveled from the American West to Paris to advance their studies. Coming from the “wild West,” the French capital represented for them the most sophisticated city on earth. Interestingly, they found Paris to be a place of danger and adventure, a frontier of its own right. They also discovered that their European peers longed for images of a frontier West that included Native Americans, cowboys, and wild animals. Through their experiences in this new and exotic land, artists from Robert Henri to Cyrus Dallin learned that the frontier was more of a state of …