Arts and Humanities Commons^™

A Quaker Theology Of The City: Placing Quaker Testimony, Ecotheology, And “Place” In Conversation, Christy Randazzo

Quaker Religious Thought

Quaker theological and ethical frameworks are underappreciated resources for exploring the space, and (notably) the meaning, of the city, particularly in the ways that Quaker testimony—the holistic expression of the Quaker community’s core theological beliefs and ethical convictions in both individual actions and in an embodied communal “way of life”1—both undergirds Quaker work in environmental justice, and can inform conversations occurring at the intersection of urban planning, sustainability, and movements for social justice. When examined through the lens of historic Quaker approaches to the built environment, certain themes emerge, which—when placed in dialogue with contemporary concerns—frame an outline for a …

A Narrative Account Of Finding A Place Among Quakers As A Maragoli, Ngesa S. Chagala

Quaker Religious Thought

My great grandmother Dorika Bweyenda Mwana wa Gwimbula lived a long and greatly impactful life not only to my family and community, but also to Quaker ministry among the Maragoli and elsewhere. The current Lyavugulu Friends Church sits on land she donated. She played a leading role in spreading the Quaker faith throughout western Kenya by accompanying the Friends pastors to teach women and men about Christ. She provided material and mobilized women and the villagers to provide labor for building the churches including Lyavugulu. She met all the Quaker missionaries who came to Kaimosi beginning 1902 and she was …

Cultivating A Sacred Quaker Space Of Belonging Online And Onsite, Dwight Sterling Dunston

Quaker Religious Thought

During the spring of 2022, I had the opportunity to live, worship, and teach at Pendle Hill during the revamping of the renowned Spring Term. It was during this time of living on campus and attending the daily worship that was broadcasted for any to join around the world (and many did!) that I began to understand how the cultivation of a spiritual space of belonging, whether onsite or online, could take place. I believe there are three qualities that help to make this possible:

1) Attentiveness to a sense of belonging held by oneself and others within the physical …

Review Of Mark Russ, Quaker Shaped Christianity: How The Jesus Story And The Quaker Way Fit Together (Winchester, Uk, And Washington, Dc: Christian Alternative/Quaker Quicks, 2022), Mike Huber

Quaker Religious Thought

Mark Russ longs for a spiritual community where he can be fully present. He could not find that kind of connection in a Christian church. As a gay man, he writes, “I couldn’t praise God in a community where I wasn’t fully embraced” (30). While Mark eventually found a spiritual home with Quakers in Britain, these Friends often seem uncomfortable with his devotion to Jesus; among British Friends, that part of him does not feel entirely welcome.

As someone standing in-between communities, the author hopes to open a couple of doors. First, he wants to make the story of Jesus …

An Understanding Of Quaker Decision-Making Process: A Synopsis Of Its History And Theological Implications, Oscar Lugusa Malande

Quaker Religious Thought

Owning and embracing the Quaker decision-making process as a spiritual practice sustains the Quaker Christian identity as well as the intention of God to transform life for good. Quaker decision-making is critical in running the business meeting, at times referred to as the meeting of Church governance.1 In a further explanation, the Christian Faith and Practice in the Friends Church, Friends United Meeting in East Africa, notes, “In all meetings for church governance Friends hold the meeting in a spirit of prayer and worship. Friends give unhurried consideration to all proposals and opinions. All members have equal rights and privileges …

Book Review: Cherice Bock And Christy Randazzo, Quakers, Ecology, And The Light, Tim Gee

Quaker Religious Thought

A review of Quakers, Ecology, and the Light by Cherice Bock and Christy Randazzo (Brill Academic Publishing, May 2023)

ISBN-13: ‎ 978-9004535916

The Effects Of Relational Poverty: Healing Our Culture, Jenet Erickson

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

One of the most vexing challenges of our day is a profound hunger for connection, evidenced by an epidemic of loneliness, violence, relational poverty, and increasing mental health challenges. We are born to be in deep connection with others. As German analyst Frieda Fromm-Reichman wrote, “The longing for interpersonal intimacy stays with every human being from infancy through life, and there is no human being who is not threatened by its loss.” A radical cultural focus on autonomy with the associated ruptures in family stability, decreased religiosity and community engagement have increased loneliness in spite of the seeming “connectivity” of …

Front Matter

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

A Prophetic Pioneer Reflections On Footnotes And President Russell M. Nelson, Stanley A. Johnson

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

For over forty years, I have diligently studied the general conference editions of the Ensign to help me as a teacher, leader, and professor in Religious Education at BYU. On one of these occasions, I was studying an address given by President Russell M. Nelson titled “Self-Mastery.”[1] This address was given in the October 1985 general conference and printed in the November Ensign of the same year.

Light And Truth, Ulisses Soares

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

My wife, Rosana, and I are thrilled to gather with you in this campus devotional today. We have been looking forward to this occasion with great anticipation for several months. I extend to you the love and blessings of our dear prophet, President Russell M. Nelson. He loves you, and he prays for your well-being.

"One Like The Son Of Man Came With The Clouds Of Heaven" The Context And Influence Of The Son Of Man Prophecy In Daniel 7, Jared W. Ludlow

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

The title Jesus preferred to use for himself more than any other in the New Testament Gospels was “Son of Man.”[1] Although this phrase can be used in scripture as a simple description of anyone, the equivalent of “human” or “man,” it is also occasionally used as a more specialized title similar to how it is used by Jesus in the Gospels. But why would this simple descriptor be chosen as a majestic title of the Lord? The roots for this title as an exceptional figure seem to be found in a prophecy in Daniel 7, where “one like the …

Front Matter

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

Alma’S Cry For Salvation, Matthew L. Bowen

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Arguably the single greatest textual discovery in the Book of Mormon is John W. Welch’s discovery of a chiasm—a literary and rhetorical figure in which words and concepts are presented in a certain order and then presented again in reverse order—spanning the entirety of Alma 36.[1] Although alternative models of this chapter and refinements for Welch’s chiastic model have been proposed,[2] these still see Alma’s remembering and crying out to Jesus Christ as the χ (chi), or structural turning point, of the chiasm: And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed …

Learning From People Of Other Faiths, Joshua M. Sears

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Among all the religions in the world, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is unique in providing Restoration scripture, apostolic leadership, priesthood keys, the covenants and ordinances constituting the new and everlasting covenant, and a distinctive understanding of the plan of salvation.[1] However, when the First Presidency and Council of the Twelve Apostles released the bicentennial proclamation “The Restoration of the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ” in April 2020, their affirmation of the unique gifts of the Restoration opened by declaring that “God loves His children in every nation of the world.”[2] Implicit in this declaration …

The Martyrdoms Of Ignatius, Polycarp, And Perpetua Windows Into Christian Discipleship In Ancient Rome, Nicholas W. Gentile

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

In January 2023 Elder Clark G. Gilbert, Commissioner of the Church Educational System for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, gave a landmark address at the Seminaries and Institutes of Religion Annual Training Broadcast. He invited religious educators to allow five themes from President Russell M. Nelson to guide their teaching of young adults, regardless of the courses they teach. As he explained, “In identifying these themes, we have focused on the prophet’s anchor message, ‘Choices for Eternity.’[1] . . . Each of these themes has been identified through careful review with the CES university presidents, including S&I’s …

The Family Proclamation The Secular And Spiritual Context, Michael A. Goodman, W. Justin Dyer

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Within the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” is arguably one of the most influential documents produced in the last hundred years. Since it was given in 1995, it has been cited more than 250 times in general conference, hangs on the walls of many Latter-day Saint homes, and is presented to leaders throughout the world. Indeed, in the first-ever meeting between a Pope and a President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Russell M. Nelson presented Pope Francis with two items: a Christus statue and a copy of the …

Winepress, Justin Collings

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Night is falling / Comes the hour /Cold fate calling / Dark with power / None to comfort / None to strengthen / Faint friends slumber

Full Issue

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

Seership And World Conferences The Divine Origin And Inception Of The Family Proclamation, Byran B. Korth

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

In recent years, some of the surviving original authors of “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” (namely, President Russell M. Nelson and President Dallin H. Oaks) have felt the need to disclose important details about the line-upon-line revelatory process of the writing and announcement of this historic document.[1] The coming forth of the family proclamation includes the important details regarding not only its writing and announcement [2] but its origin (where it came or originated from) and inception (what initiated the conception and writing). An understanding of this revelatory process is further complemented by an awareness of significant details …

The Promise Of Prosperity Its Meaning And Relevance, Devon Cook

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

As religious educators, we have a responsibility to teach the doctrine “not so plainly that [students] can just understand, but [we] must teach the doctrines of the Church so plainly that no one can misunderstand.”[1] The concept of prosperity in the Book of Mormon is one of those doctrines that must be taught to youth and young adults in a way they don’t misunderstand what it means. Religious educators can help expand students’ understanding of prosperity lest they inadvertently reduce prosperity to mere financial success. If students always equate prosperity in the Book of Mormon with financial blessings, it could …

Increasing Our Capacity To Receive Revelation, Jeremiah Duersch

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

From my personal experiences as a religious educator, I have found that many students desire to increase their capacity to receive communication from their Father in Heaven, or, in other words, receive revelation.[1] The expediency of having the ability to help students achieve their desire seems to have heightened after President Russell M. Nelson warned, “In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost. . . . I plead with you to increase your spiritual capacity to receive revelation.”[2]

Helping Young Adults Work Through Complex Issues Of Faith, Daniel R. Winder

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

A few years ago, Chad Webb shared a story in which a medical examiner was able to determine that an unidentified person had lived their entire life in Los Angeles by examining the pollution found in his lungs. Webb said, “It has made me wonder if it were possible to do a spiritual autopsy, if someone could say, ‘I can tell from your attitudes about certain ideas and issues, that you must have lived on earth in 2019.’”[1] The spiritual “air quality,” so to speak, has changed over time, and as a result, so have the attitudes, beliefs, and moral …

Full Issue

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

The Holy Ghost In The Book Of Moroni: Possessed Of Charity, Newell D. Wright, Val Larsen

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

The role played by the Holy Ghost is an especially important connecting thread that runs through the Book of Moroni. The book illuminates the various ways in which the Holy Ghost transforms fallen human beings into redeemed members of the kingdom of God. Three phrases — “cleave unto charity,” “possessed of it,” and “that ye may be filled with this love” — are particularly revelatory of the role the Holy Ghost plays in our exaltation. But the positive process illuminated by these phrases has an obverse. Those who reject the Holy Ghost cleave to and are possessed of Satan. They …

Full Issue

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

“Dumb” Puns In Alma 30: A Mesoamerican Twist On Korihor’S Talionic Punishment, Mark Alan Wright, Neal Rappleye

BYU Studies

Evidence for the use of both puns and talionic (or reciprocal) punishment by peoples of the Book of Mormon is well attested. To complement previous research in these areas, which focused primarily on data from the ancient Near East, we argue that Mesoamerican wordplay and legal systems may also be evident in the account of Korihor recorded in Alma 30. Recognizing these connections to the text’s plausible cultural and linguistic context illuminates why Korihor receives the punishment he is given: it was no arbitrary consequence, but one tailored to his accusations in an irony-laden narrative that would have been easily …

Moving Beyond The Historicity Question, Or A Manifesto For Future Book Of Mormon Research, Newell D. Wright

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

Book of Mormon Studies: An Introduction and Guide by four Brigham Young University religion professors reviews the field of Book of Mormon studies from the late nineteenth century to the current day. After the historical review of the field, the authors lay out a research agenda for the twenty-first century that, by and large, moves on from the Book of Mormon historicity question that so engaged twentieth-century scholars. T his review examines the authors’ claims and demonstrates that the scope of the book is not as broad as it could or should be. Absent perspectives, blind spots, incomplete twenty-first–century research …

Assyria And The “Great Church” Of Nephi’S Vision, Todd Uriona

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

The Book of Mormon begins at a pivotal point in Israelite history and in the history of the ancient Near East more broadly. With the fall of Assyria and the power vacuum that grew out of Assyria’s demise, questions of sovereignty were of paramount concern. It was at that time that Lehi led his family into the wilderness after witnessing the impending destruction of Jerusalem in vision. Nephi, “desir[ing] to know the things that his father had seen” (1 Nephi 11:1), describes his own vision, where he saw the coming of the “Son of God” (1 Nephi 11:7), the destruction …

Names And Titles Of Heavenly Father And Jesus Christ In The Book Of Mormon, Dru Brown

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

“Good morning, brothers and sisters. We welcome you to sacrament meeting. I am Bishop Evans and will conduct this meeting. We would like to recognize President Iverson from the stake presidency, who is presiding. We will open this meeting with hymn 100; Sister Clyde will conduct the music with Brother Langford on the organ.” An introduction of this kind is a familiar, nearly weekly ritual for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, someone new to the Church might be confused by the series of labels they just heard. What is a bishop? President of what …