Digital Commons Network^™

The Ancient Doctrine Of The Two Ways And The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

Scholars have long recognized that a number of ancient cultures shared a traditional doctrine of the Two Ways that could be used to instruct youth and others in the right way to live their lives. While the language of the Two Ways surfaces on occasion in both the Old and New Testaments, the doctrine is not developed or explained in any detail in the Bible. However, noncanonical texts of the Greco-Roman period display a highly developed and stylized form of the doctrine in both Jewish and Christian traditions. The earliest known version of these stylized forms of the doctrine occurs …

“The Intent For Which It Was Given”: How The Book Of Mormon Teaches The Value Of Scripture And Revelation, Nicholas J. Frederick

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

The book of Jarom is a short chapter, consisting of only fifteen verses, that nonetheless manages to summarize the affairs of the Nephites over an approximately forty-year period. In the midst of his outline of the current Nephite status quo, Jarom makes mention of the religious climate of the time: “Wherefore, the prophets, and the priests, and the teachers, did labor diligently, exhorting with all long-suffering the people to diligence; teaching the law of Moses, and the intent for which it was given; persuading them to look forward unto the Messiah, and believe in him to come as though he …

Discussing Difficult Topics: Politics And The Church, Richard Davis, Thomas A. Wayment

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Wayment: I’ll just start out by saying that we’re here with Richard Davis, professor of political science and director of the Office of Civic Engagement. Richard is also the author of The Liberal Soul: Applying the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Politics, published by Greg Kofford Books in 2014, and he is the author of Fathers and Sons: Lessons from the Scriptures. Richard is also a weekly columnist for the Deseret News and was chair for the Utah County Democratic Party from 2007 to 2011.

End Matter

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

The Secular Benefits Of Comparative Religious Education, Wen Jie (Fred) Tan

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

This paper builds on current literature surrounding the need for increased religious freedom. Theories on conflict and threat describe how peace and religious freedom must be preceded by religious understanding. However, it is erroneous and presumptuous to claim that such religious understanding will increase naturally without intentional policies facilitating a climate tolerance and acceptance. Taboos limit governments' interaction with religion. It will be shown how secular benefits that religious freedom brings provide strong justification for cooperation between both institutions. A policy of comparative religious education improves mutual religious understanding and helps bring about increased economic growth and national security. Because …

The Great Plan Of Happiness: A Christ- Centered Visual Approach, Tyler J. Griffin

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

The greatest concept we can study or teach is the plan of redemption—sometimes called the plan of salvation or the plan of happiness. The doctrines of the plan of redemption have more power to bring men to God than any other truth or concept.

Understanding The Abrahamic Covenant Through The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

Interpretation of God's covenant to Abrahamic and its promised fulfillment varies across scholarly and religious writings. The Book of Mormon emphasizes this covenant and the promise that through Abraham all the kindreds of the earth will be blessed. It also features a unique interpretation--that the covenant will be fulfilled as the Book of Mormon itself, a record of the seed of Joseph, is given first to the Gentiles, and then to house of Israel.

New Appointments

Journal of East Asian Libraries

No abstract provided.

Terryl L. Givens And Reid L. Neilson, Eds., The Columbia Sourcebook Of Mormons In The United States, Reviewed By Max Perry Mueller

Mormon Studies Review

No abstract provided.

Royal Skousen And Robin Scott Jensen, Eds., Revelations And Translations, Volume 3, Parts 1 And 2: Printer's Manuscript Of The Book Of Mormon, Reviewed By Paul Gutjahr

Mormon Studies Review

No abstract provided.

Mark A. Scherer, The Journey Of A People: The Era Of Restoration, 1820 To 1844; The Journey Of A People: The Era Of Reorganization, 1844 To 1946; The Journey Of A People: The Era Of Worldwide Community, 1946 To 2015, Reviewed By Chrystal Vanel

Mormon Studies Review

No abstract provided.

Women And The Book Of Mormon: The Creation And Negotiation Of A Latter-Day Saint Tradition, Susanna Morrill

Journal of Book of Mormon Studies

The following article by Susanna Morrill first appeared in Historicizing "Tradition" in the Study of Religion, ed. Steven Engler and Gregory Price Grieve (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2005), 127-44. We believe that it has, unfortunately, not received the attention it deserves for the light it sheds on the ways the Book of Mormon has been received by its readers. Morrill writes from the perspective that the Book of Mormon is a product of the nineteenth-century, but we feel that all stand to learn much from her analysis. We would like to express our gratitude to Professor Morrill, as well as to …

Thomas Carter, Building Zion: The Material World Of Mormon Settlement, Reviewed By Paul G. Monson

Mormon Studies Review

No abstract provided.

Jill Mulvay Derr, Carol Cornwall Madsen, Kate Holbrook, And Matthew J. Grow, Eds., The First Fifty Years Of Relief Society: Key Documents In Latter-Day Saint Women's History, Reviewed By Dave Hall, Susanna Morrill, Catherine A. Brekus

Mormon Studies Review

No abstract provided.

Mormon Studies Review Volume 4, Mormon Studies Review

Mormon Studies Review

No abstract provided.

The Structure Of The Book Of Alma, Joseph M. Spencer

Journal of Book of Mormon Studies

Since John Welch discovered Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon fifty years ago, students of the volume have paid attention to textual structures. Unfortunately, little attention has yet been paid to book-length structures, structures organizing larger stretches of the Book of Mormon. Analysis of whole books within the Book of Mormon has largely remained in a preliminary phase.3 In this note, however, I lay out what appears to be the intentional organizational structure of the book of Alma.

More Than Meets The Eye: How Nephite Prophets Managed The Jaredite Legacy, Frederick W. Axelgard

Journal of Book of Mormon Studies

This paper looks closely and critically at how the Nephite prophets dealt with the records of the Jaredites as the text of the Book of Mormon itself presents these dealings. 1 It questions unspoken assumptions that often pervade discussions of these records and of how record keepers from King Mosiah2 to Moroni managed them. It asks, for example, whether Mormon could realistically have taken on the task of preparing the abridgment of Jaredite history found in the book of Ether. It also challenges the idea that Moroni wrote the book of Ether only because Mormon did not have time to …

Ignacio M. Garcia, Chicano While Mormon: Activism, War, And Keeping The Faith, Reviewed By Rudy V. Busto

Mormon Studies Review

No abstract provided.

Kate Holbrook And Matthew Bowman, Eds., Women And Mormonism: Historical And Contemporary Perspectives, Reviewed By Amy Hoyt

Mormon Studies Review

No abstract provided.

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 …

Front Matter, Mormon Studies Review

Mormon Studies Review

No abstract provided.

John G. Turner, The Mormon Jesus: A Biography, Reviewed By Paul Harvey

Mormon Studies Review

No abstract provided.

Joanna Brooks, Rachel Hunt Steenblick, And Hannah Wheelwright, Eds., Mormon Feminism: Essential Writings, Reviewed By Anthea Butler, Martha Bradley-Evans, Taylor C. Petrey

Mormon Studies Review

No abstract provided.

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.

Improvisation And Extemporaneous Change In The Book Of Mormon Part 1: Evidence Of An Imperfect, Authentic, Ancient Work Of Scripture, Gerald E. Smith

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

Joseph Smith made various refining changes to the Book of Mormon text, most of them minor and grammatical in nature. However, one type of textual change has been virtually unstudied in Book of Mormon scholarship: extemporaneous change that was present the moment Smith dictated the original text to his scribes. This type of change appears to have been improvisational, a fix or repair made in the middle of a thought or expression. I study these improvisations in depth — where they might appear historically, their purpose, and their authorship — in two articles. The evidence points to ancient authors and …

Looking Back, Almost Five Years On, Daniel C. Peterson

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

As the axiom states, hindsight is 20/20. As Volume 24 of Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture nears the press, it seems relevant to look back to a tumultuous time nearly five years ago when the Interpreter Foundation was visualized and launched. If history has any value at all (particularly recent history), it provides a context for understanding the course on which we find ourselves. For the Interpreter Foundation, that course continues to be full of surprises and promise.

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Looking Deeper Into Joseph Smith’S First Vision: Imagery, Cognitive Neuroscience, And The Construction Of Memory, Robert A. Rees

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

Critics of Joseph Smith assert that he invented or imagined the First Vision and then deliberately altered the details in his subsequent f irst-person accounts of the event (also reflected in accounts recorded or related by others) to mislead his followers. That the details of the narrative changed so dramatically between the first version (1832) and the last authorized version (1842) is considered prima facie evidence that Joseph was deliberately inventing and embellishing his narrative to make it more credible. The only thing, say critics, that could possibly explain such divergent, and in some cases, radically different versions of the …

The Book Of Mormon Versus The Consensus Of Scholars: Surprises From The Disputed Longer Ending Of Mark, Part 2, Jeff Lindsay

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

Following the account of the ministry of Christ among the Nephites as recorded in the Book of Mormon, Christ gave a charge to His New World disciples (Mormon 9:22–25). These words are nearly like the commission of Christ to His apostles at the end of the Gospel of Mark (Mark 16:9–20). According to the general consensus of modern Bible scholars, Christ did not speak those words; they are a later addition. If so, this is a problem for the Book of Mormon. Fortunately, recent modern scholarship offers compelling reasons for overturning the old consensus against the longer ending of Mark. …

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.