Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Father Brigham In His Western Canaan, John K. Carmack

BYU Studies

If you were to paint a word picture of Brigham Young by comparing him to an earlier spiritual leader, to whom would you compare him? Maybe the most dramatic comparison comes from that pivotal moment when he spoke to nearly five thousand Saints gathered in Nauvoo to select those who would take the reins of leadership in the restored Church. To many, including my own forbears, as he delivered his address he looked and sounded like Joseph Smith. Or perhaps, as Leonard Arrington did, you would compare him to Moses leading the children of Israel on a long and perilous …

The Lion And The Lioness: Brigham Young And Eliza R. Snow, Jill Mulvay Derr

BYU Studies

He was born in 1801, she in 1804. He was a man known for his humor and gruffness, she a woman known for her sobriety and refinement. He preached unforgettable sermons, though he never learned to spell. She wrote reams of poetry and songs. He provided her a home as one of his wives for thirty years, but she never took his name. Both he and she were passionately devoted to the Prophet Joseph Smith and his expansive vision of eternity. President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and presidentess of its Relief Society, Brigham Young and …

“Cows To Milk Instead Of Novels To Read”: Brigham Young, Novel Reading, And Kingdom Building, Richard H. Cracroft

BYU Studies

To read true books in a true spirit, is a noble exercise.

—Henry David Thoreau

Read the true and the wise. The perusal of the rest is worse than time wasted, it is time abused.

—Brigham Young

Mormon Healer And Folk Poet: Mary Susannah Fowler's Life Of “Unselfish Usefulness.” Margaret K. Brady, Kristi A. Bell

BYU Studies

Margaret K. Brady. Mormon Healer and Folk Poet: Mary Susannah Fowler's Life of "Unselfish Usefulness." Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press, 2000. xi; 222 pp. Photos, sketches, maps, notes, bibliography, index. $44.95.

“A Man That You Could Not Help Likeing”: Joseph Smith And Nauvoo Portrayed In A Letter By Susannah And George W. Taggart, Ronald O. Barney

BYU Studies

The Prophet Joseph Smith's call for members of The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints to gather to Nauvoo, Illinois, had a wide effect once the settlement acquired the trappings of civilization. What had been the obscure riverside village of Commerce soon evidenced expansion and progress: new inhabitants and bustling construction. Among those who gathered to Nauvoo were Washington and Susannah Taggart, who converted to Mormonism in 1841 or 1842 in Peterborough, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. Taught the gospel by Elder Eli P. Maginn, the Taggarts soon planned their departure for the Mormon capital. Their eldest son, George Washington Taggart …

Late Gardens, Dixie Partridge

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Vernal Equinox, Brett Walker

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

“A Man Of God And A Good Kind Father”: Brigham Young At Home, Dean C. Jessee

BYU Studies

On January 31, 1857, Brigham Young (fig. 1) walked into the Church Historian's Office in Salt Lake City and gave instructions that he wanted very little about his family included in the history of the Church. His reticence no doubt stemmed form people's curiosity about the Mormon leader's polygamous lifestyle, which subjected his family to an inordinate amount of scrutiny and ridicule in the public press. Consequently, during his lifetime, the story of Brigham Young's family remained largely untold. Even now, the literature about Brigham Young focuses disproportionately on his public life, his accomplishments as Church President, colonizer, governor of …

Santa Anas, R. A. Christmas

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

In The Loge, Marilyn Bushman-Carlton

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

The Environmental Ethics Of Mormon Belief, George B. Handley

BYU Studies

The time has come to find common ground between environmentalism and Mormon belief. The perceived divide between the two has all but shut down the possibility of dialogue. Some Mormons dismiss the political causes of environmentalists as being the fears of faithless hedonists, just as otherwise responsible environmental scholars and activists sometimes perpetuate myths and inaccuracies about what they perceive to be the anti-ecological stance of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But Mormon belief has more than enough in common with environmentalism to promote genuine and productive change in our environmental behavior. Not only is Mormon doctrine …

Of Men And Mantles: Kierkegaard On The Difference Between A Genius And An Apostle, John S. Tanner

BYU Studies

I was once asked to introduce Elder Neal A. Maxwell to a group of BYU English majors. This assignment caused me some concern. I feared that my audience might be inclined to revere Elder Maxwell for the wrong reasons, or at least for secondary reasons—namely, for his considerable gifts as a writer rather than for his apostolic authority. So rather than rehearse Elder Maxwell's résumé, I decided to frame my introduction with insights borrowed from a remarkable essay by Søren Kierkeaard entitled "The Difference between a Genius and an Apostle." In it, Kierkegaard emphasizes that human genius does not confer …

Brief Notice, Eric A. Eliason

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Destination, Mark Bennion

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Joseph Smith's Cooperstown Bible: The Historical Context Of The Bible Used In The Joseph Smith Translation, Kent P. Jackson

BYU Studies

In 1828, the H. and E. Phinney Company in Cooperstown, New York, published a quarto-size edition of the King James Bible. This is the version that Joseph Smith, founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, used in his work when he created a new translation of the Bible. Here the author examines Joseph Smith's marked-up copy of the Phinney Bible as an artifact important to Mormonism. Some of Smith's corrections and additions appear in footnotes of the Bible that Mormons use today. The author notes that the Phinney Bible's updated language is more modern than the version …

Bear Lake, Edward L. Hart

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

End Matter, Byu Studies

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Joseph Smith, Mark Bennion

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Russia's Other "Mormons": Their Origins And Relationship To The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, Eric A. Eliason, Gary Browning

BYU Studies

When Mormon missionaries entered Russia in 1990, they were astonished to hear about "Mormon" settlements already existing in the Samara region. Other evidence of Mormonism appeared: for example, locals used the term "Mormon crosses" to describe a unique style of crucifixes in cemeteries. In this article, the authors delve into the questions of whether or not sects with ties to mainstream Mormonism existed in pre-perestroika Russia or if unrelated groups earned the nickname "Mormon" for living in unusual family arrangements, similar to polygamy. Using data gathered from Latter-day Saint missionaries who served in Russia in the late 1990s as a …

Young “Tony” Ivins: Dixie Frontiersman, Ronald W. Walker

BYU Studies

My experience on the frontier... may be of some historical value, as well as romantic interest.

—Anthony W. Ivins

Printing In Deseret: Mormons, Economy, Politics, And Utah's Incunabula, 1849-1851: A History And Descriptive Bibliography Richard L. Saunders, Craig L. Foster

BYU Studies

Richard L. Saunders. Printing in Deseret: Mormons, Economy, Politics, and Utah's Incunabula, 1849-1851: A History and Descriptive Bibliography. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2000. xv; 213 pp. Illustrations. $35.00.

Edward L. Hart: A Conversation About Poetry, Casualene Meyer

BYU Studies

Poet Edward L. Hart wrote the lyrics to one of Mormonism's favorite hymns, "Our Savior's Love." As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Hart gives his thoughts on the relationship between praise and poetry and how even secular poems can capture a sense of worship. He also discusses the inspiration behind subjects he's addressed in poetry, including nature and war; the background of some of his compositions; and his influences. He describes the power of poetic language this way: "The feel for human truths goes hand in hand with the language and all that the …

Voice Lessons, Melissa Helquist

BYU Studies

In this contest-winning personal essay, the author describes the challenge of undergoing treatment for thyroid cancer and coping with lasting scars, including an extra "smile" on her throat where an incision was made and a voice that functions only some of the time. She writes, "I smell the rainwater as it moves around the tires, the earthiness of smashed worms, and everything cold and soulful. The day says something to me, and I wish I could say something back." Using compelling imagery, she conveys what it's like to express herself through the calculated means of writing and playing the viola …

Our Savior's Love, Edward L. Hart

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Riding Backwards, R. A. Christmas

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

The Lynching Of An American Prophet, Warren A. Jennings

BYU Studies

In 1839, Mormon refugees made their way from Missouri to Montrose, Iowa, across the Mississippi River from Nauvoo, Illinois, where they would eventually settle. The man who laid out the city of Montrose, David Wells Kilbourne, disliked Mormons because of a land dispute, and he shared his anti-Mormon opinions in the paper. One of his sympathizers, Thomas Dent, was an Anglican parson in England who'd seen members of his community join the strange new sect. Seeking information about the Mormons, Dent corresponded with Kilbourne. Here the author shares three of Kilbourne's letters to Dent. While the letters include both fact …

“Sweeping Everything Before It”: Early Mormonism In The Pine Barrens Of New Jersey, Stephen J. Fleming

BYU Studies

In the summer of 1838, Elder Benjamin Winchester (fig. 1) ventured into Monmouth County, New Jersey, to preach to gospel. Winchester was the first Mormon missionary to make it into the Pine Barrens, an area so named because of its sandy, unproductive land. Soon "the news went abroad, that a Mormon preacher had made his appearance in the land." Winchester wrote, "As to [Mormon] principles, and rules of faith, the people knew nothing, except by reports... [and] the people flocked out, in crowds to hear, yet at this time, more out of curiosity than any thing else." Once Winchester began …

Alma O. Taylor's Fact-Finding Mission To China, Reid L. Neilson

BYU Studies

In 1909, after serving as a mission president in Japan for eight years, native Utah Mormon Alma O. Taylor visited China as directed by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to determine if Mormon missionaries should be sent there. Taylor did not speak Chinese, so he drew his conclusions by speaking to native English speakers living in China, often Protestant missionaries. Excerpts of Taylor's original report are published here, revealing some of the prejudices and perspectives Westerners had regarding China in the early 1900s. The author also supplies historical information about Mormon missionary work in Japan …

Mormons In The Press: Reactions To The 1901 Opening Of The Japan Mission, Shinji Takagi

BYU Studies

During the first month when a Mormon Apostle and three missionaries arrived to begin proselytizing work in Japan, the local and national press published at least 160 articles on Mormonism, many of the articles appearing on the front page. The media attention was unprecedented for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in that country. Here the author explores the reaction from the Japanese press toward Mormons, the social and historical context that led to such interest, and some of the media controversies that arose. The author concludes that one of the biggest reasons Mormons received such attention when …

Full Issue, Byu Studies

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.