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Front Matter, Religious Educator

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

The Name And Titles Of God In The Old Testament, Dana M. Pike

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

Editor's Note: A New Decade Dawns, Richard Neitzel Holzapfel

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

A Latter-Day Saint Perspective On Biblical Inerrancy, Robert L. Millet

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

The War In Heaven And Satan's Continuing Battle For Power, Kevin M. Bulloch

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

Vol. 11 No. 1 Religious Educator, Religious Educator

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

End Matter, Religious Educator

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

Egyptian Papyri And The Book Of Abraham: Some Questions And Answers, Kerry Muhlestein

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

Mere Mormonism, Thomas B. Griffith

BYU Studies

Devotees of C. S. Lewis will recognize that I have adapted the title of my remarks from Mere Christianity, his classic exposition of the fundamentals of the Christian faith. An hour lecture is not the forum to attempt for Latter-day Saint Christianity what Lewis achieved for traditional Christianity. In any event, I lack the skill to pull that off. What follows is something much more modest. I will speak from my own observation and try to identify what is at the heart of the Mormon experience in an attempt to provide an introduction to the faith. A disclaimer is …

Robert J. Matthews And The Rlds Church's Inspired Version Of The Bible, Thomas E. Sherry

BYU Studies

Matthews' developing reputation as a scholar, along with his persistent interest in and efforts to gain access to the original New Translation manuscripts, occurred during a period in RLDS Church history that included evolving views relative to the publication, assessment, and use of the Inspired Version. Those developments, along with advances in archival preservation of the original manuscripts, resulted in the phone call with RLDS Church Historian Richard Howard, allowing Matthews to study the documents. Ironically, as the RLDS Church's interest in and commitment to Joseph Smith's revelations decreased, they rose to new prominence in the LDS Church.

New Appointments, Jidong Yang, Zhijia Shen

Journal of East Asian Libraries

No abstract provided.

On Elkenah As Canaanite El, Kevin L. Barney

Journal of Book of Mormon Studies

Many easily recognizable Hebrew words and names can be found in the Book of Abraham. One name that hasn’t had a concrete meaning attached to it, however, is Elkenah. In this article, Barney addresses whether Elkenah is a person, place, or name; what its possible linguistic structures are; and what it might mean. Most importantly, Barney links Elkenah with the Canaanite god El and the attending cult—a cult that practiced human sacrifice. This has significant ramifications for the Book of Abraham, which has been criticized for its inclusion of human sacrifice. Assuming a northern location for the city Ur …

A Unique Approach To The Sermon On The Mount, Gaye Strathearn

Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 1989–2011

Review of John W. Welch. The Sermon on the Mount in the Light of the Temple.

On Not Understanding The Book Of Mormon, Robert Boylan

Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 1989–2011

Review of Ross Anderson. Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Quick Christian Guide to the Mormon Holy Book.

Book Notes, Farms Review

Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 1989–2011

No abstract provided.

Losing The Remnant: The New Exclusivist “Movement” And The Book Of Mormon, Matthew Roper

Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 1989–2011

Review of Bruce H. Porter and Rod L. Meldrum. Prophecies and Promises: The Book of Mormon and the United States of America.

The Dead Sea Scrolls And The World Of Jesus, Andrew C. Skinner

Studies in the Bible and Antiquity

The Dead Sea Scrolls constitute a seminal resource for understanding the context of the early Christian community and several New Testament texts. Soon after their discovery, some very sensational claims were made about the Qumran community and its literature (the scrolls) in terms of their connection to Jesus and his followers. While these have largely been dismissed, and serious and persistent scholarship over the years has shown that there were differences between the Qumran community and early Christianity, significant similarities do exist. These similarities line up largely according to the following categories: common scripture and its interpretation, theological ideas, vocabulary …

The Dead Sea Scrolls And Latter-Day Saints: Where Do We Go From Here?, Dana M. Pike

Studies in the Bible and Antiquity

Many Latter-day Saints are interested in and familiar to some extent with the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS), and a few Latter-day Saint scholars have participated in the study and publication of scroll fragments. This essay suggests answers to the question, where can or should Latter-day Saints go from here regarding the Dead Sea Scrolls? Directed to Latter-day Saint readers, the essay assumes there are still impoartant things to learn about and benefit to be gained from further interaction with the DSS. After reviewing the general value of the DSS and Latter-day Saint interest in them, suggestions are provided in five …

Hindsight On A Book Of Mormon Historicity Critique, Kevin Christensen

Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 1989–2011

Review of William D. Russell. “A Further Inquiriy into the Historicity of the Book of Mormon.” Sunstone, September-October 1982, 20-27.

Faith, Philosophy, Scripture, James E. Faulconer

Maxwell Institute Publications

Faith, Philosophy, Scripture is a collection of ten path-breaking essays informed by Professor James E. Faulconer’s work as a philosopher and his abiding faith as a Latter-day Saint.

“The confidence of my faith, a confidence that came by revelation,” Faulconer writes,” has allowed me to hear the questions of philosophy without fear, and philosophy has never asked me to give up my faith, though it has asked questions about it.” Faith is the starting point, scripture offers the data, and philosophy more supplement than competitor. Faith, philosophy, and scripture help make sense of each other.

These essays ask what it …

A Textual History Of The Book Of Abraham: Manuscripts And Editions, Brian M. Hauglid

Maxwell Institute Publications

In July 1835 at Kirtland Ohio, a traveling antiquities dealer brought to Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet, four Egyptian mummies and several rolls of papyri. Upon inspection Smith determined that one of the rolls contained a lost record of the patriarch Abraham. After purchasing these artifacts for $2400 Smith generated through translation five chapters that appeared during March 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois in the Times and Seasons, a Mormon periodical, under the title “The Book of Abraham”. This book has since become a canonized text of scripture for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

A Textual …

The Sermon At The Temple And The Sermon On The Mount: A Latter-Day Saint Approach, John W. Welch

Maxwell Institute Publications

The Sermon on the Mount has had greater influence on the history and character of Christianity than any other text in the Bible. Yet as biblical scholar Hans Dieter Betz has recently lamented, “New Testament scholarship up to the present has offered no satisfactory explanation of this vitally important text.”

The Sermon at the Temple and the Sermon on the Mount, by John W. Welch, offers, for the first time, a thorough Latter-day Saint interpretation of Jesus’ famous sermon. The author relies especially on crucial information and details that only the Book of Mormon can supply.

In New Testament Palestine, …

The Lot Smith Company: Utah Goes To War, Joseph Stuart, Kenneth Alford

Library Research Grants

The authors 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. This paper was later published as a book chapter from "Civil War Saints" (2012, published by the Brigham Young University Religious Studies Center and the Deseret Book Company) and can be accessed here.

Twisted Thoughts And Elastic Molecules: Recent Developments In Neuroplasticity, James T. Summerhays

BYU Studies

During the twentieth century, many in the emerging fields of brain science operated under the assumption of absolute biological mate- rialism—the idea that all reality in life can be reduced to our natural, physical dimension. For example, some neuroscientists sought to explain the deep mysteries of human consciousness not as any cosmic intercon- nection of spirit and matter but merely as a series of chemical reactions in the brain. Such assumptions in reductive materialism and pure determin- ism may sometimes be necessary within the realm of controlled scientific inquiry; but when adopted as a way of life, determinism has profound …

Proclamation To The People: Nineteenth-Century Mormonism And The Pacific Basin Frontier, Kimberly W. Reid, Reid L. Neilson, Laurie F. Maffly-Kipp

BYU Studies

Laurie F. Maffly-Kipp (Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and author of Religion and Society in Frontier California) and Reid L. Neilson (Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Brigham Young University and author and editor of several books, including Taking the Gospel to the Japanese) combine their expertise in this latest volume, Proclamation to the People: Nineteenth-Century Mormonism and the Pacific Basin Frontier. The Pacific Basin extends "from the west coast of the United States and South America, across the Pacific Islands from Hawaii to Tahiti, down to New Zealand and …

A Different God? Mitt Romney, The Religious Right, And The Mormon Question, Roger Terry, Craig L. Foster

BYU Studies

As can be expected from a book published by Greg Kofford, Craig L. Foster's A Different God? is well researched and engaging. This book begins by examining the rise of the religious right and the power it exerts on the current political landscape. Foster presents a good deal of information that most Latter-day Saints will not be well acquainted with, such as the difference between evangelical and fundamentalist Christians, the emergence of the charismatic movement, the rise and fall of the Moral Majority, and the subsequent establishment of the Christian Coalition. This background is particularly pertinent to the majority of …

In God's Image And Likeness: Ancient And Modern Perspectives On The Book Of Moses, Michael D. Olsen, Jeffrey M. Bradshaw

BYU Studies

Author Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, PhD in cognitive science and a senior research scientist at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC), has written professionally on various topics in human and machine intelligence, has presented at meetings of the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR), and has published articles on Mormon themes appearing in 2009 and 2010. The central focus of this book is an exegesis of the "book of Moses, a revelatory expansion of the first chapters of Genesis" and "Joseph Smith's translation of the early narratives of Genesis."

At 1,102 pages, this tome is not for …

The Ezekiel Mural At Dura Europos: A Witness Of Ancient Jewish Mysteries?, Jeffrey M. Bradshaw

BYU Studies

One of the most stunning archaeological finds of the last century was the accidental discovery in 1920 of the ruins of Dura Europos, "a frontier town of very mixed population and traditions" located on a cliff ninety meters above the Euphrates River in what is now Syria. This Helenistic city had been abandoned following a Sassanian siege in AD 256–57 and was eventually buried by the shifting sands. Among the structures uncovered by excavation was a small Jewish synagogue with elaborately painted walls, preserved only because the building had been filled with earth as a fortification during the siege.

Full Issue, Byu Studies

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Understanding The Book Of Mormon? He “Doth Protest Too Much, Methinks”, Ben Mcguire

Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 1989–2011

Review of Ross Anderson. Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Quick Christian Guide to the Mormon Holy Book.