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International Librarians Visit Byu, Maxwell Institute

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

On June 18, 2007, a group of six librarians from various international institutions visited the Maxwell Institute’s Center for the Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts (CPART) to learn more about the digital preservation of ancient texts at BYU. This visit was sponsored by the U.S. Department of State to further the professional development of these specialists. Visitors included Ioana Damian of the IAŞI (Romania), Billy Leung Tak Hoi of the University of Macau, Larisa Kislova of the Republic Library for Youth and Children (Kyrgyzstan), Tutu Mukherjee of the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (India), D. B. Vuwa Phiri …

Scholars Represent Maxwell Institute In Education Week Lectures

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

During Education Week, noted Maxwell Institute scholars presented a series of well-attended classes titled “The Work of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute at BYU,” focusing on aspects of the Institute’s ongoing work.

New Farms Review Considers Status Of Lds Scholarship

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

The latest issue of the FARMS Review (vol. 19, no. 1) is now available, and within its pages readers will discover a plethora of subjects addressed, including external views of Latter-day Saint scholarship, the historical validity of central LDS truth claims, and much more.

Research In The Arabian Peninsula Continues

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

In July 2007, David Johnson, professor of anthropology, Kent Brown, director of FARMS, and Revell Phillips, emeritus professor of geology, all of BYU, were joined by Sidney Rempel of Arizona State University in an archaeological excavation on the southern coast of the Sultanate of Oman.

Reformatted Text Of Book Of Mormon Enhances Study

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

Just in time for the study of the Book of Mormon in the 2008 churchwide Sunday School courses, the Maxwell Institute recently released an updated and expanded edition of Donald W. Parry’s Poetic Parallelisms in the Book of Mormon: The Complete Text.

Scripture Update: Lehi As A Visionary Man, Matthew Roper

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

One of the complaints leveled against Lehi by his rebellious sons Laman and Lemuel and his wife, Sariah, was that he was a “visionary man” (1 Nephi 2:11; 5:2). Although this term does not appear in the King James translation of the Bible, it accurately reflects the Hebrew word hazon, meaning divine vision.1 Although this Hebrew term appears in connection with true prophets of God, it is also sometimes written with a negative connotation, describing false prophets, especially in the writings of Lehi’s contemporary Jeremiah (Jeremiah 14:14; 23:16).

Book Of Mormon Critical Text Project Continues With New Volume

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

The Maxwell Institute and Brigham Young University are pleased to announce the release of part 4 of volume 4 of the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project, Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon. Part 4 analyzes the text from Alma 21 to Alma 55.

Full Issue

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

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In Memoriam: Frank William (Bill) Gay

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

Frank William (Bill) Gay, in whose name two Maxwell Institute research funds were endowed, passed away May 21, 2007, in Kingwood, Texas. His wife Mary Elizabeth, five children, 17 grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren survive him. The William (Bill) Gay Research chair at the Maxwell Institute was created and endowed in his honor. John Gee is the William (Bill) Gay Associate Research Professor. This endowment supports all of the projects and publications done by Gee and others on the Book of Abraham and related studies.

Maxwell Institute Thanks Senator Bennett

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

On May 8 Andrew Skinner, executive director of the Maxwell Institute, Daniel C. Peterson, editor in chief and director of its Middle Eastern Texts Initiative, and Ed Snow, Development Director, met with U.S. Senator Bob Bennett and leaders of the Library of Congress in Washington DC to thank the senator for helping to secure federal funding for METI and to present him with several volumes of METI publications. Beginning in 2005, Senator Bennett worked to obtain $750,000 from the Library of Congress’s bud-get to go toward METI publications, in addition to requesting $250,000 more for 2008.

Reflections: Cosmic Optimism

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

In a world filled with violence, poverty, suffering, illness, accidental death, disappointment, frustration, and hatred, pessimism is an ever-beckoning possibility. And, for some, pessimism shades eventually into utter despair, hopelessness, and cynicism.

New Documentary To Premier At Education Week

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

Journey of Faith: The New World, a new Maxwell Institute documentary, is set to premier at BYU Campus Education Week in August. The Maxwell Institute has again teamed with award-winning Latter-day Saint filmmaker Peter Johnson to produce a documentary that will explore the Book of Mormon in the New World.

Skinner Concludes Museum Of Art Lecture Series

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

On March 21 Andrew C. Skinner, executive director of the Maxwell Institute and professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University, addressed the topic of “Crucifixion and Resurrection” in the Museum of Art lecture series on the life of Christ. Skinner began by saying that “the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth are the lynchpin of everything we believe and everything we do in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

Center For Book Of Mormon Studies Created

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

Accompanied by Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, President Cecil O. Samuelson recently announced the formation of the Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies, a research center that promises to bring national and international distinction to the study of the Book of Mormon. President Samuelson made the announcement at a luncheon attended by Mark and Laura Willes and their family.

Full Issue

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

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Book Excerpt: Analysis Of Textual Variants Of The Book Of Mormon

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

At the beginning of Alma 43:14, the original manuscript reads desenters, which Oliver Cowdery miscopied into the printer’s manuscript as desendants; in other words, he ended up replacing dissenters with descendants. This mistake (a visual error) was facilitated by the similar spelling Oliver used for both these words. Notice that earlier in this verse Oliver wrote dissented as desented in P (but which the 1830 typesetter respelled in P as dissented). Moreover, at the end of verse 13, Oliver spelled descendants as desendants in both manuscripts. The proximity of this last instance prompted the error at the beginning of verse …

Welch Expounds The Sermon On The Mount At Museum Of Art Lecture

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

On January 31, John W. Welch addressed the topic “The Five Faces of the Savior in the Sermon on the Mount” as part of the Museum of Art lecture series on the life of Christ, which has now concluded. Welch, Robert K. Thomas professor of law at BYU, editor in chief of BYU Studies, and the founder of the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, spoke about five specific layers of instruction within the Sermon text in Matthew 5–7. As Welch related, “the Sermon on the Mount is not a scrapbook” of moral maxims, but more importantly it reveals …

Second Volume Of Maimonides Series Continues To Illuminate Ancient Medicine

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

With the publication of Medical Aphorisms: Treatises 6–9, the second volume of the Medical Works of Moses Maimonides series, the Middle Eastern Texts Initiative (METI) at the Maxwell Institute continues its project of bringing to light original texts and translations from the scientific, philosophical, and theological traditions of the three great religious civilizations that trace their ancestry to Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Now with added funding from the Library of Congress, METI continues to actively edit and prepare for publication works in all three of these branches of faith-oriented learning.

Ephrem And The Patriarchal Wives, Kristian S. Heal

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

Ephrem the Syrian, who died in ad 373 in Edessa, wrote one of earliest extant commentaries on Genesis and Exodus. In this commentary he weaves a new biblical story by selecting from both the narrative background and foreground—not in an arbitrary way, but as a very deliberate process. One of the new themes that Ephrem weaves into his retelling is the unwavering righteousness and spiritual receptiveness of the patriarchal wives.

Contributions Sought For Completion Of The Collected Works Of Hugh Nibley

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

The scholars and staff at the Maxwell Institute have energetically set the goal of finishing the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley within the next three years. March 27, 2010, will be the 100th anniversary of Hugh Nibley’s birthday, and we would like to have the approximately 20-volume set completed by that date. Under the direction of John W. Welch, general editor of the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, various supplemental electronic releases and a series of conferences in 2010 focusing on the lasting legacies of Nibley’s scholar-ship are also planned.

New Book Features Work Of Poet, Theologian, Daniel C. Peterson

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

The Maxwell Institute’s Middle Eastern Texts Initiative has released the newest book in its Eastern Christian Texts series, a bilingual Syriac/English edition of Select Poems of Ephrem the Syrian. From the second to the eighth century ad, when Arabic supplanted it, Syriac was a major literary language across the Middle East; it is essentially a Christian form of Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus, the original apostles, and the first Jewish Christians.

Institute Supports Graduates And Undergraduates

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

The Maxwell Institute continues to encourage and support the work of graduate and undergraduate students through two funds.

Each year at this time we remind graduate students about the Nibley Fellowship Program and its application deadline. Named in honor of the late eminent Latter-day Saint scholar Hugh Nibley, this pro-gram provides financial aid to students enrolled in accredited PhD programs in areas of study directly related to the work and mission of the Maxwell Institute, particularly work done under the auspices of one department of the Institute, the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, such as studies of the …

President Samuelson Remembers Elder Maxwell In Institute Lecture

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

Recalling how his longtime friend and mentor inspired others without preaching or condemning, President Cecil O. Samuelson shared memories of Elder Neal A. Maxwell at a lecture on March 23, 2007. The president of Brigham Young University and a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, President Samuelson spoke at the inaugural annual lecture of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship.

Full Issue

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

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Farms Review Takes Up Doctrinal Issues, Restoration Accounts, Science Vs. Religion

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

As editor of the FARMS Review, Daniel C. Peterson is well acquainted with critics’ opinions about it, FARMS in general, and, by extension, the Maxwell Institute. In his introduction to the latest FARMS Review (vol. 18, no. 2, 2006), Peterson responds to the critics by exploring the meaning of the term apologetics (“arguing . . . for or against any position”) and demonstrating at length how the term applies to the Maxwell Institute and its publications. He cautions that the term is relevant only to a portion of the Maxwell Institute’s work. “The garden of faith, like most gardens, requires …

Mary And Elisabeth Topic Of Museum Of Art Lecture

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

As part of the ongoing Museum of Art lecture series on the life of Christ, S. Kent Brown, director of FARMS, addressed the topic “The Birth of the Savior” on January 17. Drawing from Luke 1 and 2 and studies on life among ancient Jews, he focused on Mary and Elisabeth, whose lives are only faintly sketched in the scriptures.

Maya Origin Story Now On Searchable Cd-Rom

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

The Popol Vuh, an epic poem that tells the creation story of the Maya, will soon be avail-able in a searchable database published on CD-ROM by the Maxwell Institute’s Center for the Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts (CPART). Prepared by Allen J. Christenson, the database incorporates his recently published edition and translation of the Popol Vuh. The database offers the first-ever publication of a complete set of images of the earliest manuscript of the Popol Vuh, kindly provided by the New-berry Library in Chicago.

Repetitive Resumption In The Book Of Mormon, David E. Bokovoy

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

One of the most important contributions of biblical scholarship since the time of Joseph Smith has been the recognition and analysis of editorial activity in the Old Testament. Like the Hebrew Bible, the Book of Mormon is a compilation of several literary sources produced under the auspices of ancient editors or redactors. Significantly, one of the primary signs of editorial activity in the Old Testament, a technique known as repetitive resumption, is also attested in the Book of Mormon.

Byu Unveils Exhibition Of Two Ancient Roman Bronze Plates

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

Now showing at BYU’s Harold B. Lee Library is an exhibit titled “Two Ancient Roman Plates: Bronze Military Diplomas and Other Sealed Documents.” The set of well-preserved artifacts was given to BYU by donors assembled by John W. Welch,editor in chief of BYU Studies, who has served, along with BYU classics professor John F. Hall, as curator of the exhibit.

The Importance Of Teaching Popular Proverbs To Non-Arabic Speakers And Their Role In Integrating Them Into The Culture Of Society And Developing Their Communication Skill (University Of Jordan Students As A Model), Ali Yahya Badr Al-Hadeed, Fatima Mohammed Olalimat, Nawal Abd Rahman Al-Shawabkeh

Journal of the Association of Arab Universities for Research in Higher Education مجلة اتحاد الجامعات العربية للبحوث في التعليم العالي

This study aims at exploring the importance of teaching Arabic idioms for speakers of other languages and its role in immersing the students in the culture of the society and developing their communication skill (University of Jordan students as a model. The study used the descriptive methodology and case study. The sample of the study consists of students of other languages at the University of Jordan, trying to discover to what extent they need these idioms and to discover their role in immersing these students in the Arab society. The study concluded that students need to learn idioms to enable …