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The "Lamb Of God" In Pre-Christian Texts, John W. Welch

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

One of Nephi's favorite titles for Jesus Christ was "the Lamb of God." Forty-four references to "the Lamb" appear in Nephi's vision in 1 Nephi 11-14 alone. Aside from the Latter-day Saint understanding of a similar reference in Moses 7:47 and perhaps Isaiah 53:7, what evidence supports the Old World origins of this terminology?

A Scientific Look At The Cataclysm In 3 Nephi

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

As a sign of the Savior's crucifixion, a three-hour cataclysm in the Americas erased entire cities, enshrouded the land in three days of darkness, and transformed "the face of the whole earth" (3 Nephi 8:17). Thanks to an illuminating study by a BYU geologist, certain anomalous aspects of that massive destruction now are understood better than ever before.

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Farms Review Of Books Examines Works That Misrepresent The Church

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

The new issue of the FARMS Review of Books (volume 10, number 1) reviews several recent publications that are critical of the LDS Church. The Review also examines a Book of Mormon study aid and two novels related to the Book of Mormon.

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

No abstract provided.

Images Of Ancient America Connects Mesoamerican Peoples And Lands To The Book Of Mormon

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

Images of Ancient America: Visualizing Book of Mormon Life, by John L. Sorenson, richly portrays the daily lives of the ancient peoples of Mesoamerica and their likely connections to the record known as the Book of Mormon. This fullcolor, large-format volume, the newest release from FARMS, contains careful research and over five hundred high-quality illustrations and photographs that shape vague ghosts from the past into fleshand- blood people.

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

No abstract provided.

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

No abstract provided.

2 Insights, November 1999 Farms Through The Years, Part 1: A Conversation With John Welch And John Sorenson

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

FARMS's 20th anniversary this month gives reason to reflect on the Foundation's past progress and future promise. The following article begins a three-part series, each installment featuring comments from two people who figure prominently in the history and ongoing work of FARMS. John W. (Jack) Welch and John L. Sorenson were involved with FARMS since its inception, Stephen D. Ricks and Noel B. Reynolds were administrative officers during the organization's middle years, and Daniel C. Peterson and Daniel Oswald are current administrative officers at FARMS. This first segment presents responses from separate interviews conducted by Don Brugger, managing editor of …

Book On Romans 1 Launches New Series

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

Romans 1: Notes and Reflections, by James E. Faulconer, is the inaugural volume in FARMS's new Ancient Texts and Mormon Studies series. The · aim of this series is to explain the historical origins and purposes of ancient religious texts and to show their main points of value to modern religious readers. Like forthcoming volumes in the series, Romans 1 includes the ancient text, a readable English translation, and general commentary.

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

No abstract provided.

Is Costco Worth Incentivizing? An Analysis From The City’S Perspective., Mccord Lethco

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Costco stores have significant economic implications for smaller cities, often becoming pivotal points in their development. These cities eagerly invite Costco to establish stores within their borders, offering substantial financial incentives to facilitate this growth. The effects of a new Costco store can be diverse, impacting local municipalities in both positive and negative ways. This study focuses on two key aspects: changes in sales tax revenue and property values, keeping in mind the agglomeration[1] effects that Costcos bring about.

I examine three Utah cities to estimate the impact on taxable sales and analyzes Costco's influence on residential property values …

Civilizational Security: Why The Russian Invasion Of Ukraine Shows That ‘National Security’ Is Not Enough To Understand Geopolitics, Greg (Grzegorz) Lewicki

Comparative Civilizations Review

This paper argues that the idea of “national security” is sometimes overwritten by “civilizational security” in security-related considerations. Civilizational security, as understood in this paper, refers to a country's security stemming from its belonging to a cultural zone or a civilization. The author clarifies the terms “a civilization,” “civilizational identity,” and “civilizational security.” Citing the examples of Poland, Ukraine, and Russia when considering the parameter of civilizational security allows us to better analyze and predict some processes, including geopolitical dilemmas and civilizational trends. It is argued that prior to the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russia misunderstood its own civilizational security …

Here, There, And In-Between: On The Civilizing Process And Civilizational Analysis, Michael Palencia-Roth

Comparative Civilizations Review

This essay presents a cautionary tale about certain problems with systematization and abstraction in comparative civilizational studies. It advocates instead for the analysis of single works, limited events, or particular figures, within larger issues pertaining to what is understood as a “civilization” or “culture”. It prioritizes certain aspects of the civilizing process: the here, or the civilizing and interpretive gaze; the there, or the Other that is the object of that gaze; and the in-between. It further suggests that insights and methods from Mikhail Bakhtin, Hans-Georg Gadamer and others from the humanities, social sciences, and philosophy can …

The Applicability Of Lessons From American Society For The European Union: Tolerance, Demographic Change, And Social Structure, Joseph Drew

Comparative Civilizations Review

While Americans have long tended to see our society and civilization as exceptional, in fact the civilization is primarily based on European precedent. We see ourselves, in the words of one of our most significant poets, Emma Lazarus, as the new colossus, “Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp cries she... I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” We claim to be an exception; that means that we are unique, different, what many, alluding to the New Testament as viewed by the Pilgrim founding fathers, have called “a shining city upon a hill.”2 And as “a beacon of hope.”

The Economic Regions Of Chinese Civilization: A Gis-Based Analysis Of Grain Markets In China, 1736-1842, Karl Ryavec, Mark Henderson, Rocco Bowman

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Michael Farmer. An Atlas Of The Tibetan Plateau. Volume 50 In Brill’S Tibetan Studies Library Series, Constance Wilkinson

Comparative Civilizations Review

An Atlas of the Tibetan Plateau is a masterful melding of science and art created by British architect and cartographer Michael Farmer. Based on extensive contemporary data painstakingly woven from satellite imagery, the intrepid and apparently indefatigable Mr. Farmer has, over decades, produced a unique and indispensable reference work

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Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

A Possession For All Time: Athenian Democracy And Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, J. Hollis Pueblo

Theses and Dissertations

Video game adaptations of the classical world are becoming increasingly intricate, and the study of video games as artifacts of classical reception and adaptation is likewise becoming increasingly important for the field of historiography. Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, set during the Peloponnesian War, recreates, among other aspects of the Greek world of the period, the political setting of Periklean Athens. This thesis examines instances of Athenian political representation within the game which depart from the typical image of Athens' politics as informed by primary source accounts, knowledge of sociocultural practices, and archaeological finds. It argues that the game depicts the Athenian …

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

No abstract provided.

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

No abstract provided.

New Journal Studies Ancient Transoceanic Travel

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

The inaugural issue of a new scholarly journal of interest to students of the Book of Mormon has recently become available. Volume 1 of Pre-Columbiana: A Journal of Long-Distance Contacts is a double issue (June and December 1998) of 160 pages. The journal is the product of two distinct streams of interest in the topic of ancient transoceanic travel. On one hand, the key contributors are senior academic scholars who have a long record of research and publication on this subject. Believing there is substantial evidence for such early voyages, these people have long contradicted the orthodox view that no …

Farms Publishes Abridged Book On King Benjamin's Speech

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

King Benjamin's speech in the first six chapters of Mosiah is one of the masterpieces of Christian literature. In 1996 FARMS sponsored a symposium on this classic text. The papers that were presented (published as King Benjamin's Speech: "That Ye May Learn Wisdom") constituted the most substantial collection of studies on this powerful and fascinating speech.

Research Updates Gathered In New Farms Book

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

The past two decades have seen an explosion of research on the Book of Mormon by faithful LDS scholars. For many years a regular feature of the FARMS newsletter has been a Research Update reporting on some aspect of this research. Pressing Forward with the Book of Mormon, edited by John W. Welch and Melvin J. Thorne, presents the FARMS Research Updates of the 1990s, plus some similar short notes from the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, in a handy new collection (see the enclosed order form).

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

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Journal Looks At Enigmatic Tree Of Life Stone

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

In the early 1950s archaeologist M. Wells Jakeman claimed that a carved stone monument unearthed in Izapa, Mexico, in 1941 depicted Lehi's vision of the tree of life as reported in the Book of Mormon. As is true for any archaeological find, the accuracy of that initial assessment of the stone dubbed Izapa Stela 5 will either stand or begin to fall in light of further evidence and study, though a definitive determination regarding the stela may simply not be possible.

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

No abstract provided.

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

No abstract provided.

Nibley Address Climaxes Lecture Series On Abraham

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

On 6 April 1999 revered scholar Dr. Hugh W. Nibley concluded the Book of Abraham Lecture Series by addressing the topic "Abraham's Creation Drama." Speaking to a capacity crowd in Brigham Young University's Joseph Smith Building auditorium and to hundreds of other people gathered in overflow rooms, Nibley highlighted intriguing connections between truths revealed in the Book of Abraham and worship practices in temples both ancient and modern.

New Farms Book Offers Scripture Study Tips

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

A profound love for the scriptures has led James E. Faulconer, dean of General Education and Honors and professor of philosophy at Brigham Young University, to assemble the scripture study plan set forth in his book Scripture Study: Tools and Suggestions, recently published by FARMS. In this book Faulconer shares the study techniques he has refined through personal study and developed during his many years of teaching the scriptures to students at BYU.