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Getting Cain And Gain, Matthew L. Bowen

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

The biblical etiology (story of origin) for the name “Cain” associates his name with the Hebrew verb qny/qnh, “to get,” “gain,” “acquire,” “create,” or “procreate” in a positive sense. A fuller form of this etiology, known to us indirectly through the Book of Mormon text and directly through the restored text of the Joseph Smith Translation, creates additional wordplay on “Cain” that associates his name with murder to “get gain.” This fuller narrative is thus also an etiology for organized evil—secret combinations “built up to get power and gain” (Ether 8:22–23; 11:15). The original etiology exerted a tremendous influence on …

A Mormon Theodicy: Jacob And The Problem Of Evil, Val Larsen

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

Lehi’s son Jacob was troubled by a great theological mystery of his and our day — the problem of evil. If God is both all good and all-powerful, how is it possible for the world to be so full of human and natural evils? Jacob was able to elicit from the Lord responses to the question of why He permits evil to flourish in this world. The Lord elucidates the perennial problem of evil for Jacob and us in three distinct genres and at three different levels of abstraction: at a metaphysical level in a philosophical patriarchal blessing, at a …

References

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

No abstract provided.

Psalm 82 In Contemporary Latter-Day Saint Tradition, Daniel O. Mcclellan

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

The nature and function of Psalm 82 has long been a subject of debate within biblical scholarship.1 The text is rather brief and has no real significant textual instabilities,2 but it stands out within the Hebrew Bible as a text particularly steeped in mythological imagery. Precritical exegetes understood the gods of the narrative to be human judges, but subsequent textual discoveries and concomitant lexicographical advances, combined with more critical methodologies, have largely undermined that reading.3 A divine assembly setting has become widely accepted since the middle of the twentieth century,4 and more contemporary scholarship focuses on the psalm’s possible distinction …

“I Don’T Understand What You’Re Saying!”: Lessons From Three Esl Writing Tutorials, Eun-Young Julia Kim

Journal of Response to Writing

This article presents three case studies that closely examine various types of interactions taking place in writing center tutorials involving newly arrived pre-matriculated ESL writers. By learning what strategies tutors commonly use and how successfully the ESL writers negotiate their goals for the visit and the form and meaning of their text through this sample, this study aims to help identify what characterizes successful tutorials and what unique challenges English language learners might face when interacting with tutors. Results from these case studies show that it is not how many corrections tutors make or suggest for the students’ papers, but …

John Milton, Joseph Smith, And The Book Of Mormon, Robert A. Rees

BYU Studies

In my Introduction to Mormonism class at Graduate Theological Union in 2013, among other topics we discussed the Book of Mormon and its possible provenances. The assignments for the class included my article “Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and the American Renaissance,” in which I compare Joseph Smith with his illustrious contemporaries Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Walt Whitman in terms of their respective literary imagination, talent, authorial maturity, education, cultural milieu, knowledge base, and intellectual sophistication. In that article, I attempted to demonstrate that each of these authors enjoyed a much greater …

Full Issue

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Temporality And Fulfillment In 3 Nephi 1, Kimberly M. Berkey

Journal of Book of Mormon Studies

No abstract provided.

Full Issue, Issues In Religion And Psychotherapy

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

No abstract provided.

Learning About Other Religions: False Obstacles And Rich Opprotunities, Mauro Properzi

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

"Wherefore, Ye Are Free": How The Plan Of Salvation Ensures Perfect Agency And Accountability, Thomas E. Sherry

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

Place Of Crushing: The Literary Function Of Heshlon In Ether 13:25-31, Matthew L. Bowen, Pedro Olavarria

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

The name Heshlon, attested once (in Ether 13:28), as a toponym in the Book of Mormon most plausibly denotes “place of crushing.” The meaning of Heshlon thus becomes very significant in the context of Ether 13:25–31, which describes the crushing or enfeebling of Coriantumr’s armies and royal power. This meaning is also significant in the wider context of Moroni’s narrative of the Jaredites’ destruction. Fittingly, the name Heshlon itself serves as a literary turning point in a chiastic structure which describes the fateful reversal of Coriantumr’s individual fortunes and the worsening of the Jaredites’ collective fortunes. Perhaps Moroni, who witnessed …

Evolving Faith: Wanderings Of A Mormon Biologist, Steven L. Peck

Maxwell Institute Publications

Believers and scientists have long wrestled over the relationship between science and faith. Steven L. Peck, an acclaimed Latter-day Saint author and scientist, demonstrates in this new book that both science and faith are indispensable tools we can use to navigate God’s strange and beautiful creation. Evolving Faith is a collection of technical, personal, sometimes whimsical essays about Mormon theology, evolution, human consciousness, the environment, sacred spaces, and more.

With the mind of a scientist, the soul of a believer, and the heart of a wanderer, Peck provides welcome companionship for women and men engaged in the unceasing quest for …

Postponing Heaven: The Three Nephites, The Bodhisattva, And The Mahdi, Jad Hatem

Maxwell Institute Publications

Christianity, like other world religions, surprisingly acknowledges the existence of a plurality of human messiahs. In this comparative work, philosopher Jad Hatem examines Mormonism’s Three Nephites, Buddhism’s Bodhisattva, and Islam’s Mahdi—distinctive messianic figures who postpone Heaven, sacrificially prolonging their lives for the benefit of humankind.

Originally published in French, this translation includes two additional papers written by Jad Hatem dealing with aspects of Latter-day Saint belief and a new interview between Hatem and Latter-day Saint philosopher James E. Faulconer.

Solving Russian Velars: Palatalization, The Lexicon And Gradient Contrast Utilization, Jeffery R. Parker

Faculty Publications

Палатализованные («мягкие») задненебные согласные в русском языке имеют особый статус, поскольку их появление можно предсказать лишь частично. Эти согласные являются примером часто встречающихся фонологических отношений, в которых звуки могут быть словоразличительными, но используются лишь в некоторых контекстах и/или словоформах. Такие «промежуточные фонологические отношения» (ОоШзткЬ 1995) представляют собой проблему для традиционных фонологических теорий, в которых звуки делятся на предсказуемые (аллофоны; содержатся в грамматике) и непредсказуемые (фонемы; содержатся в лексиконе). Таким образом, для научно-теоретической классификации вышеуказанных промежуточных фонологических отношений необходимо будет пересмотреть существующие предположения о природе и количестве информации, содержащейся в лексиконе. В данной статье я показываю, что и мягкие, и твердые …

"Taking A Different View Of The Translation": The Illumination Of Alternate Meanings In The Translation Of Bible Passages By Joseph Smith And Meister Eckhart, Tod R. Harris

BYU Studies

The opening act of Goethe’s epochal drama Faust is well known—the eponymous main character laments the effort he has spent seeking to uncover universal truth through science, philosophy, and even occult methods and their apparent failure. Less well known is a follow-up scene where Faust, declaring his “longing for revelation,” turns to another source for the transcendent knowledge he seeks, which, he declares, “nowhere . . . brighter burns than in the New Testament.” He also makes it clear that simply reading the book will not provide him the satisfaction he seeks, but instead he will exercise that most mystical …

Affinities And Infinities: Joseph Smith And John Milton, Rosalynde Welch

BYU Studies

This article is a lightly revised version of a talk prepared for a 2011 symposium organized in honor of Richard Bushman. Titled “Mormonism in Cultural Context: A Symposium in Honor of Richard Lyman Bushman on the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday,” the conference was jointly sponsored by the Church History Department, Mormon Historic Sites Foundation, Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, and the Religious Studies Center. Presenters were invited to examine Joseph Smith and the Restoration in relation to large cultural currents and to significant intellectual movements, with the aim of exploring Mormonism in its most expansive religious context.

The Kirtland Safety Society And The Fraud Of Grandison Newell: A Legal Examination, Jeffrey N. Walker

BYU Studies

The Kirtland Safety Society has long been the source of research and debate within the historical community. Most commentators agree that the Safety Society was an imprudent venture. Some have even argued that its failure marked an almost fatal blow to Joseph Smith’s leadership. Charges of personal gain and illegality are sometimes included in their critique. In addition to the good work done by many scholars, there is more to be said about the legal history of the Kirtland Safety Society. This article seeks to provide a more thorough analysis of the legal establishment of the Society and the challenges …

Saints Observed: Studies Of Mormon Village Life 1850-2005; Four Classic Mormon Village Studies, Todd L. Goodsell

BYU Studies

Howard M. Bahr. Saints Observed: Studies of Mormon Village Life, 1850-2005.

Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2014.

Howard M. Bahr, ed. Four Classic Mormon Village Studies.

Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2014.

Full Issue

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

The Necessity Of Political Parties And The Importance Of Compromise, David B. Magleby

BYU Studies

BYU Studies has a long history of publishing the annual lecture given by the recipient of the Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Faculty Lecturer Award, BYU’s highest faculty honor. It is with great pleasure that BYU Studies Quarterly publishes this year’s lecture by Dr. David B. Magleby, a professor of political science. His speech was delivered as a forum address on May 19, 2015, at Brigham Young University.

American Crucifixion: The Murder Of Joseph Smith And The Fate Of The Mormon Church, Alexander L. Baugh

BYU Studies

Alex Beam. American Crucifixion: The Murder of Joseph Smith and the Fate of the Mormon Church.

New York: Public Affairs, 2014.

Histories, Volume 1: Joseph Smith Histories, 1832-1844; Histories, Volume 2: Assigned Histories, 1831-1847, James B. Allen

BYU Studies

I am always delighted to pick up a new volume of the Joseph Smith Papers and find that it continues the same book quality that has characterized the series from the beginning. Every volume is elegantly designed and solidly bound, and the editorial work is outstanding. Most of all, every volume includes documents that are invaluable in understanding and writing about early Mormon history.

The Mormon Image In The American Mind: Fifty Years Of Public Perception, Sherry Pack Baker

BYU Studies

J. B. Haws received his PhD from the University of Utah and is an assistant professor in the Department of Church History at Brigham Young University. His research interests include twentieth-century history of Latter-day Saints and the general public perception of the group. This book (based on his 2010 PhD dissertation) is the winner of the 2014 Mormon History Association Best Book Award.

New Perspectives On 2 Enoch: No Longer Slavonic Only, David J. Larsen

BYU Studies

This book contains the proceedings of the Fifth Enoch Seminar, held in Naples, Italy, on June 14–18, 2009. The theme of the conference was “Adam, Enoch, Melchizedek: Mediatorial Figures in 2 Enoch and Second Temple Judaism,” covering topics of intrinsic interest for biblical scholars generally, as well as for Latter-day Saints. The book’s subtitle, No Longer Slavonic Only, refers to an important discovery announced at the seminar. The book of 2 Enoch is also commonly referred to as “Slavonic Enoch” because the text has been known only in its Slavonic translation; now Coptic fragments of the text have been …

The Competency Pivot: Introducing A Revised Approach To The Business Communication Curriculum, Jacob D. Rawlins, Kristen Lucas

Faculty Publications

In this article, we outline a competency-based approach to teaching business communication. At the heart of this approach, classroom instruction, assignments, and evaluation center on a goals-oriented and receiver-centric understanding of communication in which students are taught strategies for meeting five core competencies of business communication: professional, clear, concise, evidence driven, and persuasive. This is not a reinvention of the curriculum but instead a pivot that positions existing disciplinary knowledge and best practices into a clear, memorable, and professionally oriented framework to help students build critical communication skills that can be applied strategically across a range of business situations.

Frontier: A Framework For Extracting And Organizing Biographical Facts In Historical Documents, Joseph Park

Theses and Dissertations

The tasks of entity recognition through ontological commitment, fact extraction and organization with respect to a target schema, and entity deduplication have all been examined in recent years, and systems exist that can perform each individual task. A framework combining all these tasks, however, is still needed to accomplish the goal of automatically extracting and organizing biographical facts about persons found in historical documents into disambiguated entity records. We introduce FROntIER (Fact Recognizer for Ontologies with Inference and Entity Resolution) as the framework to recognize and extract facts using an ontology and organize facts of interest through inferring implicit facts …

Consumer Behavior Change At The Base Of The Pyramid: Bridging The Gap Between For-Profit And Social Responsibility Strategies, Lisa Jones Christensen, Enno Siemsen, Sridhar Balasubramanian

Faculty Publications

This longitudinal field experiment compares two different for-profit market entry strategies with a philanthropic strategy in terms of how each influences consumer behavior in base-of-the-pyramid communities. We analyze reactions to a water purification product offered at three price points (moderate discount, deep discount, and free) in rural Malawi. We find that those who paid the deeply discounted price remain more likely to re-obtain and use the product than do those who paid the moderate price or who took it for free.

Lost (But Not Missing) At Work: Organizational Lostness As An Employee Response To Change, Lisa Jones Christensen, Scott C. Hammond

Faculty Publications

This article draws from the psychology of lost person behavior, established from wilderness search and rescue missions, to suggest that employees experience the condition of being lost within organizations. Data from wilderness searches, survivors, and organizational actors suggests that lessons from lost person behaviors apply in organizations. Reactions to being lost in an organization follow predictable patterns and include five specific stages: separation, isolation, deviation, deprivation, and realization. In defining the construct of organizational lostness and differentiating it from stress, coping, and resistance, we suggest an organizing framework to understand employee behaviors that would previously seem idiosyncratic. This article offers …

Identity Communication In Virtual Teams: Insights From Interviews With Working Professionals, David W. Wilson, Susan A. Brown, Sherry M. B. Thatcher, Sarah D. Harris

Faculty Publications

Organizations are increasingly using virtual teams to gain competitive advantages in the marketplace, but managers face a tradeoff between the benefits that such virtual teams provide and their inherent weaknesses. This paper examines identity communication in virtual environments, arguing that identity communication can counteract some of the negative aspects of virtual teamwork. Using coded transcriptions from 35 semi-structured interviews with working professionals who participate in virtual teams, we explore the process of identity communication in virtual teams and the role of technology in influencing and enabling these processes. Using established identity and media theories as a guide, we formulate, and …