Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Front Matter, Mormon Studies Review

Mormon Studies Review

No abstract provided.

Introduction, Matthew J. Grey, Cory Crawford

Studies in the Bible and Antiquity

In the summer of 2016, the editors of Studies in the Bible and Antiquity (Brian Hauglid, Matthew Grey, and Cory Crawford) organized a one-day workshop sponsored by the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship to consider the relationship between modern biblical studies and various faith communities who view the Bible as sacred scripture. This workshop, which was held on the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, included essays presented by six outstanding scholars who approached the topic from Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, and Latter-day Saint perspectives, and we are pleased to publish the revised versions of these essays …

“Beloved, . . . It Doth Not Yet Appear What We Shall Be”: The Fractured Reality Of Lds Biblical Studies, D. Jill Kirby

Studies in the Bible and Antiquity

According to the non-Mormon historian Jan Shipps, “the mystery of Mormonism cannot be solved until we solve the mystery of Joseph Smith.”1 Stated more casually, this is called the “prophet puzzle,” and it is sometimes suggested that Latter-day Saints will understand themselves only to the degree that they understand Joseph Smith. The classic definition of the role played by Joseph Smith was contributed by LDS leader B. H. Roberts in the late nineteenth century: “What was Joseph Smith’s mission? It was the mission of Joseph Smith, under God’s direction, to establish the Church of Christ and the Kingdom of God …

The Irreconcilability Of Judaism And Modern Biblical Scholarship, James L. Kugel

Studies in the Bible and Antiquity

Thanks to the work of scholars of the Hebrew Bible over the last two centuries or so, we now know a great deal about how and when various biblical texts were composed and assembled; in fact, this has been the focus of much of modern biblical scholarship. One thing has become clear as a result. Our biblical texts are actually the product of multiple acts of rewriting. All our canonical books have been found to be, in some degree, the result of editorial expansion, rearrangement, and redaction introduced by various anonymous ancient scholars.

The Term Of President And Sister Melvin B. & Carol R. Butler Tonga Nuku'alofa Mission--July 1983 To June 1986

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

How does one begin to describe in a few paragraphs the joys, blessings, challenges, miracles, hardships and successes of the Tonga Nuku'alofa Mission during the period of July, 1983 to the end of June 1986, at which time the mission was presided over by myself, Melvin B. Butler from Salt Lake City, UT. Together with my precious wife Carol and seven beautiful children, Holly, Melony, Paul, Jill, David, Mark, and Russell, we willingly left our home, families and cherished friends to start a new life for three years in the islands of Tonga.

Mphs 2016 Call For Proposals

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

No abstract provided.

Mphs 2016 Registration

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

No abstract provided.

The Vital Apostolic Visits Of Elder David O. Mckay And Elder George Albert Smith For Tonga, Mary Jane Woodger

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

Early on in the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Savior was adamant that the Quorum of the Twelve would travel and traveling became a distinctive feature of those who became modern day Apostles. As early as 1832, the Savior made traveling a commandment. He revealed, “It is expedient that I give unto you this commandment that ye become even as my friends in days when I was with them, traveling to preach the gospel in my power.” (D&C 84:77). In this revelation the Lord acquainted traveling with power. Later in 1834, the Savior identified that the Traveling …

Lds Church History Sites In The Kingdom Of Tonga, Riley Moffat

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

The Kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific is known as the country with the highest percentage of Latter-day Saints in the world. Out of a population of about 100,000 people in the Kingdom about 60,000 are baptized members of the Church according to Leitoni Tupou, recently released president of the Tongan mission. Of that number he says about 30,000 are active, 30,000 are less active and the other 40,000 haven’t been baptized yet. Tongan government statistics give lower figures but the fact that there are 166 congregations meeting in 106 chapels organized into 19 stakes (soon to be 21) …

President Emile Craner Dunn And The Tongan Mission: 1936-1950, Mark D. Ogletree, Ph.D.

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

Several years ago, Elder James E. Faust related the following experience. He and Elder Spencer J. Condie were in the Salt Lake City Airport and as they were walking down the terminal, they met a devoted and faithful couple that they both had known for many years. “This couple had spent a lifetime of service, meekly, faithfully, and effectively trying to build up the Church in many places in the world. Elder Condie noted, ‘Isn’t it remarkable what people with five loaves and two fishes do to build up the kingdom of God.’”1 Elder Faust then stated, “This kind of …

Nuku’Alofa Tonga Mission 1989-92

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

No abstract provided.

Mormon Intruders In Tonga: The Passport Act Of 1922, R. Lanier Britsch

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

On 29 June 1922 the Legislative Assembly in the island kingdom of Tonga enacted a law that prohibited all members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from entering that country. 1 This event occurred after considerable discussion and debate among governmental officials in Tonga, Fiji, Great Britain, and the United States. This study reviews the Latter-day Saint exclusion issue as it relates to the historical development of Christianity in Tonga, including sectarian relationships and government involvement in ecclesiastical affairs, the official attitude of the U.S. government regarding the Latter-day Saints and polygamy, and the United Kingdom's official …

Front Matter

Studies in the Bible and Antiquity

No abstract provided.

Eva Mroczek. The Literary Imagination In Jewish Antiquity. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016., Carli Anderson

Studies in the Bible and Antiquity

Over the last several decades, scholarly discussion on the textual world of the Second Temple has been shifting. Ideas about texts and the development of the biblical canon began to be reshaped by the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which altered previously established ideas about the configuration of a prebiblical canon. Investigation of those and other texts made it apparent that the structure of the biblical canon was still fluid at a much later date than was originally thought. These new scholarly analyses are redefining the timelines and ideas about the early shape of the biblical text and its …

Brandon S. Plewe, S. Kent Brown, Donald Q. Cannon, And Richard H. Jackson, Eds., Mapping Mormonism: An Atlas Of Latter-Day Saint History, Reviewed By Philip Barlow

Mormon Studies Review

No abstract provided.

Michael Hicks, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir: A Biography, Reviewed By Stephen A. Marini

Mormon Studies Review

No abstract provided.

Peter Brown. The Ransom Of The Soul: Afterlife And Wealth In Early Western Christianity. Cambridge, Ma: Harvard University Press, 2015., Daniel Becerra

Studies in the Bible and Antiquity

In The Ransom of the Soul, Peter Brown explores how early Christians conceptualized the relationship between wealth and the afterlife. He limits his study primarily to the writings of Christian authors living in the Latin West between 250 and 650 ce and traces the evolution of the idea that “heaven and earth could be joined by money” in such a way as to affect the fate of souls after death (p. ix). Brown situates these developing discourses within their socioeconomic context and asks, How, when, and why did variations occur? How long did they take? And to what extent do …

Testimony In The Muscles, In The Body: Proxy Performance At The Mesa Easter Pageant, Megan Sanborn Jones

Mormon Studies Review

No abstract provided.

Toward A Greener Faith: A Review Of Recent Mormon Environmental Scholarship, George B. Handley

Mormon Studies Review

No abstract provided.

Craig Harline, Way Below The Angels: The Pretty Clearly Troubled But Not Even Close To Tragic Confessions Of A Real Live Mormon Missionary, Reviewed By Anne Blue Wills

Mormon Studies Review

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Peer Review On Writing Development In French As A Foreign Language, Magda Tigchelaar

Journal of Response to Writing

The present study investigates learners’ participation in the activities of providing self and peer review in the context of a foreign language classroom to determine which feedback type contributes to greater gains in writing development. The study also investigates whether there are target areas of improvement that are more accessible to self-assessment compared with aspects that are better identified from an outsider’s perspective. Three intact classes of intermediate-level French learners (n = 44) were assigned to one of three conditions: peer review, self-review, and a no-review comparison group. Each group produced four texts over the course of the semester in …

Bilal, Bilal, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Bilal was 23 years old when he drowned in Greece. He was cheerful, intelligent, and full of energy.

He was a journalist in Afghanistan who received a death threat from the Taliban. His family decided that he should flee the country alone for survival since they couldn’t afford for the whole family to go.

He escaped from the camp in Moria by finding a hole in the fence. He outran the police, found a ship in port, and jumped on it as it was leaving. He later had 10 unsuccessful attempts to leave Greece for Germany. He was caught by …

Zurvan, Zurvan, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Zurvan and his family had a good life in Afghanistan. He worked as a clerk in a spice shop. After doing business with a foreign company, the Taliban threatened him with death. To escape this threat, he and his family escaped to Iran and hired a smuggler to get them to Turkey. From there, they traveled to Greece in an overloaded boat. They have been living in a camp in Greece, stuck in limbo, ever since. Zurvan feels hopeless, like everyone in the camp is being treated in an inhumane manner. He also feels guilty for bringing his children into …

Aarash, Aarash, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

As an anti-corruption journalist in Afghanistan, Aarash’s family’s life was threatened by warlords. His car was shot at, their guesthouse was bombed, and later when they were threatened at gunpoint, they tried to make a new life in India. But in India, they discovered difficulties in obtaining permanent visas so they had return to Kabul where they hid at a friend’s house for 20 days while obtaining documentation to flee to Turkey. Once in Turkey, they learned that Afghan registries had been closed since 2010. They determined that they needed to either apply for asylum in Turkey or leave for …

Idiris, Idiris, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Idiris is an 18-year-old Somalian refugee now living inUtah. He describes his life, mentioning that he only lived in Somalia for six years then moved to Ethiopia, where he stayed for seven and a half years.His life inEthiopia was peaceful and happy in comparison to Somalia, where Idiris and his family witnessed continuous violence. Idiris’s father eventually learned of the opportunities and education available in America and decided to move his family there for a better life, leaving behind family and friends. Coming to America, Idiris and his family did not know what their new home would be like. They …

“Arise From The Dust”: Insights From Dust-Related Themes In The Book Of Mormon Part 1: Tracks From The Book Of Moses, Jeff Lindsay

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

In light of Noel Reynolds’ hypothesis that some material in the Book of Moses may have been present on the brass plates that Nephi used, one may wonder if Nephi or other authors might also have drawn upon the use of chains in the Book of Moses, particularly Satan’s “great chain [that] veiled … the earth with darkness” (Moses 7:26) and the “chains of darkness” (Moses 7:57). Though the phrase “chains of darkness” is not used in the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 1:23, quoting Lehi, combines chains and obscurity, where obscurity can have the meaning of darkness. In fact, …

Apocalypse: Reading Revelation 21-22, Julie M. Smith

Maxwell Institute Publications

The Book of Revelation has perplexed and fascinated readers for centuries. In particular, its final two chapters—which contain the only extended description of heaven in the canon—beg for close examination and careful consideration. In this collection of essays, six scholars theologically examine Revelation 21–22. With approaches ranging from textual criticism to intertextual readings to conceptual analysis, this book sheds new light on a most enigmatic text.

Reading Nephi Reading Isaiah: 2 Nephi 26-27, Joseph M. Spencer, Jenny Webb

Maxwell Institute Publications

Nephi’s adoration of the words of Isaiah has puzzled many readers of the Book of Mormon. What does Nephi’s reading and repurposing of the biblical prophet suggest about the nature of prophecy and scripture study? Six scholars of the Mormon Theology Seminar address these and other questions in Reading Nephi Reading Isaiah. By shedding new light on this particular scriptural text, these essays provide exemplary models for improved scripture study.

Let Your Hearts And Minds Expand: Reflections On Faith, Reason, Charity, And Beauty, Thomas F. Rogers

Maxwell Institute Publications

“Tom Rogers has lived his faith all over the world. The experiences he relates from far-flung places—mingled with thirty-one years as a BYU professor of Russian—give remarkable insight into the hard work always involved when we practice charity, “the pure love of Christ.” In these essays Rogers is a defender of the faith, but his words move us well beyond typical apologetics. His Mormonism serves as the bedrock for discussions on the life of the mind, the value of literature, and the challenges of religious orthodoxy.”

An Other Testament: On Typology, Joseph M. Spencer

Maxwell Institute Publications

How should we read the Book of Mormon? And does the Book of Mormon itself have anything to say about it? Joseph Spencer follows the lead of Nephite prophets who interpreted Isaiah and other prophets typologically—according to “types” and “shadows”—in order to preach salvation through Jesus Christ. By focusing on history, memory, time, repentance, and conversion, An Other Testament explores what it means to believe God provided the Book of Mormon to change a person like you and a world like ours.