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Farms And Byu Participate In The 1999 Aar And Sbl Annual Meetings In Boston

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

Since 1995 FARMS representatives have attended the joint annual meetings of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL). AAR and SBL are longstanding learned societies with members from colleges, universities, seminaries, and other academic institutions in the U.S. and abroad. Each year they jointly hold their annual meetings, which constitute the largest gathering of religion scholars in the world, offering sessions on subjects ranging from the history of Christianity and the study of Islam to biblical texts and their ancient contexts.

New Book On Book Of Mormon Geography Provides Maps, Helpful Explanations

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

As Mormon edited the Book of Mormon, he must have had a map in his mind of the places and physical features that were the setting for the events described in that book. In Mormon's Map, a new book from FARMS, John L. Sorenson attempts to reconstruct that mental map" Mormon's Map"-using information in the Book of Mormon text.

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Treatise On Ethics Launches Eastern Christian Texts Series

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

The Institute is pleased to announce the publication of the first volume in the Eastern Christian Texts series, part of the Middle Eastern Texts Initiative. The Reformation of Morals was written by Yahyå ibn ‘Ad• (893–974 C.E.), one of the most important Christian authors to have written in Arabic. Although devoutly Syrian Orthodox, Yahyå ibn ‘Ad• studied in Baghdad under the Muslim philosopher al-Fåråb• and counted Muslims and Christians of all sects among his own disciples. He was a leading figure in the 10th-century translation movement in Baghdad and the author of numerous works of philosophy and theology.

New Review A Double Issue

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

The latest FARMS Review of Books is actually two issues in one. It reviews 15 books in the usual categories of Book of Mormon, Mormon studies, and biblical studies but also devotes more than 100 pages to a multipronged response to an evangelical book titled The New Mormon Challenge: Responding to the Latest Defenses of a Fast-Growing Movement.

A Comparative Analysis Of Black American Student Experiences And International Student Experiences During The Initial Months Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Leah P. Hollis Edd

Comparative Civilizations Review

The Covid-19 pandemic created an indelible mark on K-12 education — specifically, high school students transitioning to college and career. The global scope of this pandemic presented an opportunity to compare how high school cultures across the world adapted to the emergency. Further, news reports highlighted how communities of color were more susceptible to the pandemic.

To better understand how the Black student experience in middle America compared to that of other students from the global community in responding to pandemic-related educational disruption, I used Krippendorff’s content analysis procedures (2018) and a phenomenological interview process to gather and analyze data …

Designing Interfaith Leadership And Ethics Course, Michael Hubbard Mackay

Instructional Psychology and Technology Graduate Student Projects

This course will enable Religious Education to embrace the mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Brigham Young University more fully. This course serves as a foundational introduction for students to discover the nature of interfaith work. Students who fully embrace Brigham Young University’s expansive motto “Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve” are vocationally responsible to bring good into reach for themselves, their families, their communities, their Church, and above all and undergirding all, the world. In this endeavor, students must and will engage with individuals who hold deep convictions of religious faith and affiliation, …

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Nibley Fellowship Application Deadline, Guidelines

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

Each year at about this time we remind graduate students about the Nibley Fellowship Program. Those interested in applying for the first time or who wish to renew their fellowships for the 2002/ 2003 academic year must do so by 30 June 2002.

Nephi’S Later Reflections On The Tree Of Life Vision, Michael B. Parker

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

An interesting phenomenon concerning 1 and 2 Nephi is that parts of the latter book draw on the tree of life vision that Nephi and his father shared, as recorded in 1 Nephi 8, 11–15. In an earlier FARMS Update, John A. Tvedtnes demonstrated that Nephi drew on this vision when composing the psalm in 2 Nephi 4. Further study suggests the likelihood that Nephi’s exhortation in 2 Nephi 31 was similarly informed by that sublime vision.

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Twenty Years After “Paradigms Regained,” Part 1: The Ongoing, Plain, And Precious Significance Of Margaret Barker’S Scholarship For Latter-Day Saint Studies, Kevin Christensen

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

Twenty years ago, the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies published “Paradigms Regained: A Survey of Margaret Barker’s Scholarship and Its Significance for Mormon Studies” as its second FARMS Occasional Paper. The first part of this essay provides an overview of Doctor Barker’s scholarship and its wider reception through early 2022, and then includes a broad survey of Latter-day Saint interaction with her work to the present. Part 2 of this essay (forthcoming) will address specific criticisms and appreciations of Barker’s work.

The Dance Of Reader And Text: Salomé, The Daughter Of Jared, And The Regal Dance Of Death, Alan Goff

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

Modern readers too often and easily misread modern assumptions into ancient texts. One such notion is that when the reader encounters repeated stories in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, Herodotus, or numerous other texts, the obvious explanation that requires no supporting argument is that one text is plagiarizing or copying from the other. Ancient readers and writers viewed such repetitions differently. In this article, I examine the narratives of a young woman or girl dancing for a king with the promise from the ruler that whatever the dancer wants, she can request and receive; the request often entails a …

“They Shall Be Scattered Again”: Some Notes On Jst Genesis 50:24–25, 33–35, Matthew L. Bowen

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

This article examines the extension of the etiological wordplay on the name Joseph (in terms of the Hebrew verbs ʾāsap and yāsap), recurrent in the canonical text of Genesis, into the JST Genesis 50 text, where Joseph learns about and prophesies of a future “Joseph” who would help gather Israel after they had been “scattered again” by the Lord. This article also analyzes the pairing of the prophetic and seeric roles of Moses and the latter-day “Joseph” at the beginning and ending of JST Genesis and explores the significance of this framing. The importance of Moses and Joseph Smith writing …

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Twenty Years After “Paradigms Regained,” Part 2: Responding To Margaret Barker’S Critics And Why Her Work Should Matter To Latter-Day Saints, Kevin Christensen

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

Here I address specific criticisms of Margaret Barker’s work. First, I set the stage by discussing Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions as a map and compass for navigating this kind of controversy. I show how his observations cast light on debates about Jesus in the Gospel of John, which in turn resemble present debates. In this context, I then consider some notable criticisms of Barker’s work as “not mainstream” and consider an instructive appreciation of Barker by Father John McDade in his “Life of Jesus Research.” I then respond in detail to a recent BYU Studies essay that …

“Behold, He Was A Man Like Unto Ammon”: Mormon’S Use Of ʾMn-Related Terminology In Praise Of Moroni In Alma 48, Matthew L. Bowen

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

This article examines Mormon’s comparison of Moroni, the Nephite military leader, to Ammon, the son of Mosiah, in Alma 48:18 and how Mormon’s use and repetition of ʾmn-related terminology (“faithful,” “firm,” “faith,” “verily [surely]”) in Alma 48:7–17 lays a foundation for this comparison. Ammon’s name, phonologically and perhaps etymologically, suggests the meaning “faithful.” Mormon goes to extraordinary lengths in the Lamanite conversion narratives to show that Ammon is not only worthy of this name, but that his faithfulness is the catalyst for the transition of many Lamanites from unbelief to covenant faithfulness. Thus, in comparing Moroni directly to Ammon, Mormon …

“Upon The Wings Of His Spirit”: A Note On Hebrew Rûaḥ And 2 Nephi 4:25, Matthew L. Bowen

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

Nephi, in composing his psalm (2 Nephi 4:15–35), incorporates a poetic idiom from Psalm 18:10 (2 Samuel 22:11) and Psalm 104:3 to describe his participation in a form of divine travel. This experience constituted a part of the vision in which he saw “the things which [his] father saw” in the latter’s dream of the tree of life (see 1 Nephi 11:1–3; 14:29– 30). Nephi’s use of this idiom becomes readily apparent when the range of meaning for the Hebrew word rûaḥ is considered. Nephi’s experience helps our understanding of other scriptural scenes where similar divine travel is described.

Nephi Wanted To Be A Prophet Like Moses, Not A King Like David, Taylor Halverson

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

While David is frequently held up as the standard for great kings in the Old Testament, examination of Nephi’s writings shows that he sought to imitate Moses the prophet rather than David the king. In fact, he never even mentions David. Relative to two major theological movements in Jerusalem in his day, “Zion theology,” in which David was the great hero, and “Deuteronomistic theology,” in which Moses was the hero, we see that Nephi was more aligned with Deuteronomistic theology, which was also more consistent with views in the Northern Kingdom, where Nephi’s ancestry originated.

Asymmetry In Chiasms, With A Note About Deuteronomy 8 And Alma 36, Stephen Kent Ehat

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

Some students of the Book of Mormon have claimed that chapter 36 of the book of Alma is structured as a chiasm. Some of the proposals depart from perfect symmetry, presenting elements of the suggested chiasm seemingly out of sequence. This has often been pointed to as a weakness in the proposed chiasm or as a problem arising from translation or editorial work, or even as evidence that no real chiasm exists over the text of the chapter. Perhaps, however, asymmetry may be a deliberate feature of ancient chiasmus. Understanding the presence and role of occasional asymmetry or skews, as …

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Steadfast In Defense Of Faith, Shirley S. Ricks, Stephen D. Ricks, Louis C. Midgley

Interpreter Foundation Books

The title of this volume of essays in honor of Daniel C. Peterson, Steadfast in Defense of Faith, was not idly chosen. It reflects his most widely known public role as an apologist. Over the years, Dan has had not only to defend the faith but also frequently has been required to define and justify the legitimacy of apologetics as a scholarly endeavor. On one such occasion he wrote: The Greek word from which our English term apologetics derives means “defense.” The notion of saying that one is “sorry” is a much later linguistic development. (In Plato’s Apology, his hero …

Joseph Smith’S Education And Intellect As Described In Documentary Sources, Brian C. Hales

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

Although Joseph Smith has been credited with “approximately seven full school years” of district schooling, further research supports that his education consisted of basic instruction in “reading, writing and the ground rules of arithmetic” comprising “less than two years of formal schooling.” The actual number of terms he experienced in common schools in upstate New York is probably less critical since the curricula in district schools did not then teach creative writing, composition, or extemporaneous speaking. If Joseph Smith learned how to compose and dictate a book, extracurricular activities would likely have been the training source. Six of those can …

Vengeance Is Mine: The Mountain Meadows Massacre And Its Aftermath By Richard E. Turley Jr. And Barbara Jones Brown, Kent P. Jackson

BYU Studies

September 11, 1857.

Thirteen years earlier, the Prophet Joseph Smith was murdered while in state custody. The Latter-day Saints had been driven from their homes in Missouri and Illinois, with no protection from those states or from the United States. The U.S. Army was on its way to the Utah Territory to put down a rebellion that didn’t exist, and Utahns thought they might be driven from their homes once again. Because of the anticipated military invasion, leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had recently told settlers in Utah not to sell food, including grain, to …

The Canonization Of The New Testament, Daniel Becerra

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

By the end of the first century AD, all of the twenty-seven documents that now constitute the New Testament were written and had begun to circulate among early Christians. However, it was not until centuries later that these texts were collectively named as part of the authoritative body of Christian scripture. The process by which this occurred is called “canonization.” The term canon comes from the Greek word kanōn, meaning “measuring rod” or “measuring stick,” and was frequently applied in the ancient church to the collection of texts that informed the beliefs and practices of the Christians who read them.[1] …

Learning From People Of Other Faiths, Joshua M. Sears

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Among all the religions in the world, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is unique in providing Restoration scripture, apostolic leadership, priesthood keys, the covenants and ordinances constituting the new and everlasting covenant, and a distinctive understanding of the plan of salvation.[1] However, when the First Presidency and Council of the Twelve Apostles released the bicentennial proclamation “The Restoration of the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ” in April 2020, their affirmation of the unique gifts of the Restoration opened by declaring that “God loves His children in every nation of the world.”[2] Implicit in this declaration …

Capitalism And Distributive Justice: Musings Of A Mormon Economist, Shinji Takagi

Mormon Studies Review

In this forum essay, I discuss capitalism and distributive justice from the standpoint of a neoclassical economist. I am motivated by the conflict between the purported virtues of a free-market system (and the income inequality such a system is known to generate) and the egalitarian principles espoused by Latter-day Saint scripture. This is a complex subject upon which no easy closure can be expected. Part of the difficulty comes from the fact that capitalism itself is an ill-defined concept. I use capitalism and free-market system almost interchangeably, consistent with the way they are generally understood in everyday discourse. It bears …

The Sabbath In The Old Testament, Dana M. Pike

Faculty Publications

The scriptures consistently depict the significance of sacred space and sacred time in the lives of the Lord’s covenant people. Sacred time is still experienced today, as in the past, through commemorations and celebrations on specific days that are dedicated to God and thus regarded as holy. These days punctuate the passing of ordinary or common time and are intended to help bring focus and clarity to relationships with the divine.

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

The Baptism Of Little Children In Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, Matthew P. Roper

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

In a letter to his son Moroni, Mormon warns against the practice of baptizing little children. He identifies two false assumptions of his day used to justify infant baptism: little children are born with sin (see Moroni 8:8) and will suffer divine punishment in hell if they die without having been baptized (see Moroni 8:13). While the exact nature of this aberrant practice is unknown, it was apparently common enough among the Nephites of Mormon’s day to warrant swift and unequivocal prophetic censure. Mormon describes the rite as particularly wicked and erroneous in light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.