Digital Commons Network^™

The Israelite Roots Of Atonement Terminology, T. Benjamin Spackman

BYU Studies

When Latter-day Saints speak of atonement, they use vocabulary drawn from the scriptures, including common verbs like atone, save, and redeem, and the corresponding nouns atonement, savior, salvation, redeemer, and redemption. There are other, perhaps more vivid, words for salvific acts, such as the Book of Mormon references to being “snatched” (Mosiah 27:28–29; Alma 26:17).1 Such rare terms in scripture have not found place in LDS discourse, which tends to use the most common terms related to atonement interchangeably. While they are indeed at some level synonymous, their distinctive meanings gesture toward …

"This Is Very Historic": The Young Ambassadors 1979 Tour Of China, John Hilton Iii, Brady Liu

BYU Studies

On October 1, 1949, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was established by Mao Zedong and the Communist Party of China. While this commenced a new political organization in China, it marked at least a temporary end of the potential for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to directly proselytize in mainland China. While LDS proselyting took place in Taiwan and Hong Kong over the next several decades, there was no formal LDS Church presence in mainland China. The United States government did not officially recognize the People’s Republic of China as the legitimate government of China, causing …

Full Issue

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Seer Stones, Salamanders, And Early Mormon "Folk Magic" In The Light Of Folklore Studies And Bible Scholarship, Eric A. Eliason

BYU Studies

The 2015 publication of an Ensign article on, and especially photos of, one of Joseph Smith’s seer stones still owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints caused quite a sensation in the blogosphere. Many responses focused on the “weirdness” of the stone and its use, the ostensibly alien nature of this odd relic from the past, so out of place in modern religion, and posited it as a troubling problem in need of explanation. Mormon studies as a discipline has struggled to make sense of seer stones too. These responses are understandable, considering how often communities tend …

Road To Martyrdom: Joseph Smith's Last Legal Cases, Joseph I. Bentley

BYU Studies

In 1842, Joseph Smith looked back on the events of his life and said, “Deep water is what I am wont to swim in” (D&C 127:2). This was especially true of his experiences with the law. Starting with his first exposure to the judicial system in 1819, at age thirteen, he spent much of his next twenty-five years of life entangled with legal concerns. The Joseph Smith Papers Project team now can count about 220 cases involving Joseph as plaintiff, defendant, witness, or judge. Of those, approximately fifty were criminal cases capable of taking away his liberty, his resources, or, …

From The Editor, John W. Welch

BYU Studies

Dear Readers

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 …

Full Issue

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Mortality On The Mormon Trail, 1847–1868, Melvin L. Bashore, Byu Pioneer Mortality Team, H. Dennis Tolley

BYU Studies

Over two decades, staff and volunteers at the Church History Department compiled a database of thousands of pioneer records, now available at http://history.lds.org/overlandtravels(link is external), containing diaries and company reports of known Mormon pioneers from 1847 to 1868 (56,042 of them). Data were then compiled in tabular format in an Excel file, available at http://statistics.byu.edu/news(link is external). Researchers working with BYU actuarial students analyzed these data and report their findings: Slightly more males than females made the journey. Fully 45% of the immigrants were under age twenty. For about 25% of known pioneers, no death date is available, …

"If There Be Faults": Reviewing Earl Wunderli's An Imperfect Book, Matthew Roper, Paul Fields, Larry Bassist

BYU Studies

Earl M. Wunderli rejects the Book of Mormon as a literal history of ancient America. He points to what he thinks are mistakes in the text, pointing to so-called anachronistic words such as steel and silk. Matthew Roper and his colleagues convincingly overturn Wunderli's assertions. The description of Laban's sword of "most precious steel" is now considered accurate since the discovery of a meter-long steel sword at the ancient site of Jericho dating to the time of King Josiah. Likewise, silk has recently been found in eastern Turkey dating to 750 BC.

Wunderli also presents textual evidence using statistics …

David Hale's Store Ledger: New Details About Joseph And Emma Smith, The Hale Family, And The Book Of Mormon, Mark L. Staker, Robin S. Jensen

BYU Studies

In December 1827, Joseph and Emma Smith arrived in Harmony, Pennsylvania, to live while Joseph translated the gold plates. Harmony was the home of Emma's family, and Emma's brother David Hale had a small store that was used for trading goods and work among the neighbors. David kept a ledger that records Joseph's purchases of leatherwork, a shovel, a pocketbook, a pocketknife, and a comb. Joseph sold some pork and traded his own labor, and also hired others to help him with heavy chores. The ledger is now in the collections of Brigham Young University. This document provides a unique …

Izapa Sacred Space: Sculpture Calendar Codes, Allen J. Christenson, V. Garth Norman

BYU Studies

This book is the culmination of fifty years of research by one of the foremost scholars in the field of Pre-Classic Mesoamerican studies, particularly focusing on the important site of Izapa, located on the southern Pacific coast of Mexico near the border of Guatemala. Archaeologist V. Garth Norman began his work at Izapa in 1962 and continued to work at the site for two decades on behalf of the New World Archaeological Foundation, resulting in the publication of his Izapa Sculpture: Album in 1973, Izapa Sculpture: Text in 1976, and Astronomical Orientations of Izapa Sculptures in 1980, a pioneering contribution …

Exploring The First Vision, Alonzo Dodge, James T. Summerhays, Steven C. Harper

BYU Studies

This book sets out to do exactly what the title says it does--explore the First Vision. For most readers, that exploration will take them places they have not yet seen. Writings by many well-known Church scholars are brought together to give a broader and deeper meaning to the genesis event of the Restoration. Contributors include scholars such as Steven C. Harper, John W. Welch, Milton V. Backman Jr., Richard Lloyd Anderson, and Larry C. Porter. Their qualifications, research, and insights are impressive, and they have strived, in an evenhanded and rigorous way, to achieve the "coupling [of] historical study with …

Design And Construction Of The Great Tabernacle Arches, Elwin C. Robison, W Randall Dixon

BYU Studies

Brigham Young desired to build a place where thousands of Saints could meet and a speaker could be heard. The Great Tabernacle in Salt Lake City was built using trussed arches. The genesis of this type of construction was the lattice truss, patented in 1820. The design was brought to Utah by Henry Grow. Brigham Young hired Grow to design and build a road bridge made of straight wooden lattice trusses over the Jordan River in 1860. Trusses could also be built as arches, and the Tabernacle was built as a long barrel vault with half-arch ends. This design allowed …

Gathering To La'ie, Riley M. Moffat, Jeffrey N. Walker, Fred E. Woods, Steven C. Walker

BYU Studies

I stayed in La'ie last winter, a stone's throw from the temple, which is within easy walking distance of Brigham Young University-Hawaii, which is next door to the Polynesian Cultural Center--all the major landmarks of the town within an easy ten-minute circuit. It is surprising to see how compact a place has earned so expansive a reputation. This book surprised me in the same way. There's a lot going on in this history of the little town--Gathering to La'ie traces how the sleepy village wrought dramatic influence on Hawaii, managed the miracle of melding diverse factions into a united …

Joseph F. Smith And The Reshaping Of Church Education, Scott C. Esplin

BYU Studies

This article examines the educational background, philosophy, and legacy of Joseph F. Smith and his impact on Church education. It traces the role President Smith played in expanding the Church academies and later facilitating the formation of the current seminary system. It places these changes within the context of the dramatic growth in U.S. public education and the financial challenges faced by the Church and its academies, demonstrating how Smith was shaped by his time and the part he played during a transformative era in Church education.

Latter-Day Saint Missionaries Encounter The London Missionary Society In The South Pacific, 1844–1852, Fred E. Woods

BYU Studies

In fall 1843, four Latter-day Saints were called as the first missionaries to the South Pacific. One, Knowlton Hanks, died on the voyage. In May 1844, Addison Pratt began proselytizing on the island of Tubuai, 350 miles south of Tahiti. Benjamin Grouard and Noah Rogers went on to Tahiti, but after a few months they were forced to leave by the French colonizers and went to other islands. Rogers returned to the US in 1845, but Pratt and Grouard remained. On these various islands they encountered missionaries of the London Missionary Society, who had already been preaching in the South …

Full Issue, Byu Studies

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Which Is The Wisest Course?: The Transformation In Mormon Temple Consciousness, 1870–1898, Richard E. Bennett

BYU Studies

From the 1870s to 1890, the first Latter-day Saint temples in Utah were completed and temple work was fully underway, and at the same time the Church was being legally compelled to abandon polygamy. In 1890, Wilford Woodruff faced disenfranchisement of the Church and the loss of the temples. He was prepared to defend polygamy, but upon revelation from God changed his course and issued the manifesto ending plural marriage. Richard E. Bennett argues that a growing temple consciousness among Church leaders was a more significant cause of the manifesto than political ends, including the Saints' desire for statehood. The …

Joseph Smith, Jesus, And Satanic Opposition: Atonement, Evil, And The Mormon Vision, Steven L. Olsen, Douglas J. Davies

BYU Studies

Douglas J. Davies is one of the most insightful and prolific scholars of Mormonism working today. He is a professor in the Department of Theology and Religion at the University of Durham, UK. Two of his earlier studies--The Mormon Culture of Salvation (2000) and An Introduction to Mormonism (2003)--analyze foundational aspects of Mormonism from an engaging academic synthesis of history, religious studies, cultural studies, literary studies, theology, and philosophy. The breadth and depth of his scholarly background enable him to address new and crucial questions, yielding remarkable insights. For example, The Mormon Culture of Salvation proposes that the plan …

The Lds Church In Italy: The 1966 Rededication By Elder Ezra Taft Benson, James A. Toronto, Richard N. Holzapfel

BYU Studies

Since the early years of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Italy has attracted the attention of Church leaders as a proselyting field. It is the practice of Church leaders to dedicate a land to the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and this article briefly describes the 1850 dedication of Italy by Apostle Lorenzo Snow, followed by a report of a second dedication in 1966 by another Apostle, Ezra Taft Benson. Elder Benson, as president of the European Mission, was warmly welcomed in Italy because of his prior work as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, when he …

Nauvoo Neighbor: The Latter-Day Saint Experience At The Mississippi River, 1843–1845, Susan E. Black

BYU Studies

This excerpt from Susan Easton Black's new book introduces the Mormon newspaper the Nauvoo Neighbor and the significant role it played in Nauvoo between 1843 and 1845.

The Record Of The Twelve, 1835: The Quorum Of The Twelve Apostles' Call And 1835 Mission, Ronal K. Esplin, Sharon E. Nielsen

BYU Studies

In 2011, the Joseph Smith Papers Project of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints made public a document created in 1835 by Orson Hyde and William E. McLellin. That document is presented in its entirety here with an introduction and editorial notes. Ronald Esplin and Sharon Nielsen, members of the editorial team of the Joseph Smith Papers, give historical context of the document: in 1835, twelve men were called as the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Joseph Smith instructed the quorum to keep a record of their meetings and actions; the document presented in this article is that …

Full Issue, Byu Studies

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

"That They May Secure It And Hold It Forever": Bluff's Revival, 1885–1886, David S. Carpenter

BYU Studies

This article is an extract of David S. Carpenter's Jens Nielson: Bishop of Bluff (BYU Studies, 2011). Home to only a couple of hundred people in 2011, Bluff is located in southeast Utah. The experiences of the hardy pioneers in this hostile and forbidding region have become legendary among Latter-day Saints. This extract tells the story of Mormon settlers in Bluff in 1884: their struggles over joint ventures, water, cattle grazing, and whether to maintain the settlement at all.

The Frontier Guardian: Exploring The Latter-Day Saint Experience At The Missouri, 1849–1851, Susan E. Black

BYU Studies

As the largest Mormon primary source from 1849 to 1851, the Frontier Guardian is crucial to understanding the Latter-day Saint experience at the Missouri River. Until now, historians have extracted only small sections of the paper, such as marriage announcements, obituaries, and advertisements, because of the Guardian's size. Although it is only four volumes, the newspaper contains eighty-one issues, each spanning four pages in length and divided into six columns. This translates into roughly four thousand single-spaced pages on 8.5" x 11" paper. Fortunately, the recent publication The Best of the Frontier Guardian along with its searchable dvd-rom of …

He Is Our Friend: Thomas L. Kane And The Mormons In Exodus, 1846–1850, Richard E. Bennett

BYU Studies

This article, originally a lecture given at Brigham Young University in 2009, was published as part of a special issue of BYU Studies featuring Thomas L. Kane. Although Kane was not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he was an advocate for the Mormon cause and a trusted friend of Mormon leaders for almost forty years. Bennett shows how documents from the Kane collection at Brigham Young University enhance, correct, or confirm our knowledge of the following: first, the attitudes of President James K. Polk and his cabinet and others close to him toward the …

The Boggs Shooting And Attempted Extradition: Joseph Smith’S Most Famous Case, Morris A. Thurston

BYU Studies

When Missouri governor Lilburn Boggs accused Joseph Smith (founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) of being the mastermind behind his attempted assassination in 1842, Joseph Smith's enemies tried to extradite him to Missouri for trial three times. Each time, Joseph successfully appealed to the laws of the land and exerted self-preserving political influence through the Nauvoo City Council to avoid extradition. This article examines closely the second of the three cases, illuminating how Joseph Smith emerged temporarily victorious but ultimately turned public opinion against himself. The public viewed the Prophet as taking advantage of legal loopholes …

Full Issue, Byu Studies

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

In The Footsteps Of Orson Hyde: Subsequent Dedications Of The Holy Land, Blair G. Van-Dyke, Lamar C. Berrett

BYU Studies

In October 1841, Orson Hyde traveled to Jerusalem and dedicated the Holy Land for the gathering of Judah. Hyde's dedication was the first of eleven formal dedications performed in the Holy Land in this dispensation, and while each one was given for the purpose of preparing the land for the return of Israel, each dedication also contained unique content. The authors discuss each dedication and the historical and political contexts affecting each prayer. They assert that repetition indicates importance, and no other place has been repeatedly dedicated like the Holy Land.