Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Religion Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Mormon Studies

Institution
Keyword
Publication Year
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 61 - 90 of 6642

Full-Text Articles in Religion

“Behold, I Went To Hunt Beasts In The Forest”: An Addendum On Enos, Esau, And The Symbolic Geography Of Seir, Matthew L. Bowen Jan 2025

“Behold, I Went To Hunt Beasts In The Forest”: An Addendum On Enos, Esau, And The Symbolic Geography Of Seir, Matthew L. Bowen

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

Enos’s use of the onomastic wordplay in the Jacob and Esau cycle enables him to meaningfully allude to the symbolic geography of those stories and incorporate it into his New World setting (e.g., allusions to the river Jabbok and Peniel/Penuel, the site of Jacob’s “wrestle” with the divine “man”). A third instance of this type of allusion occurs with Enos’s recollection that he “went to hunt beasts in the forest[s]” (Enos 1:3), which appears to subtly allude to Mount Seir, the forested hill country in the land of Edom inhabited by Esau and his descendants.


“Our Hands Have Handled”: Ensuring The Reassuring Doctrine Of The Resurrection In The Lucan And Johannine Writings, Matthew L. Bowen Jan 2025

“Our Hands Have Handled”: Ensuring The Reassuring Doctrine Of The Resurrection In The Lucan And Johannine Writings, Matthew L. Bowen

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

The Lucan and Johannine writings emphasize the literalness and physicality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This emphasis does not represent an emerging Christology from an earlier, inchoate conception of Jesus and the meaning of his life. Rather, it reflects an effort to defend the doctrine of the resurrection—of Christ and humanity—against the increasing cultural and intellectual pressures of middle Platonism. Nephi’s vision of the tree of life, which included seeing a “great and abominable church” and its formation among “the nations of the Gentiles” (1 Nephi 13:4–9) matches well with late first- and second-century apostate movements that “made war” …


Verbal Punctuation In The Book Of Mormon Iii—Behold, John Gee Jan 2025

Verbal Punctuation In The Book Of Mormon Iii—Behold, John Gee

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

As an ancient book, the Book of Mormon employed verbal punctuation rather than typographical punctuation. An example of this verbal punctuation is the word behold, which is used in the Book of Mormon to point things out, to highlight unexpected effects of situations, and to modify a previously expressed proposition. This corresponds to ancient Hebrew usage. Joseph Smith’s usage from the time the Book of Mormon was produced, however, differs in both its frequency and how it was used, even when Joseph Smith was consciously trying to imitate the Book of Mormon.


Perspectives On The Soteriological Problem Of Evil: Nuancing The “Universalist” Theologies Of Henri De Lubac And Joseph Smith, Timothy Gervais Jan 2025

Perspectives On The Soteriological Problem Of Evil: Nuancing The “Universalist” Theologies Of Henri De Lubac And Joseph Smith, Timothy Gervais

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

Since the discovery of the new world by Christian European explorers during the age of discovery, the increasingly global community of the modern age has confronted Christian theologians with difficult soteriological questions. These questions have caused many Christian adherents to abandon conceptions of a uniquely Christian salvation in favor of theological positions of religious pluralism. Other Christian theologians have confronted these issues through creative inclusivist theological constructs that expand the offer of salvation to those who may not have professed Christianity in their mortal life. These inclusivist theologies are uniquely suited to address modern concerns about the salvation of non-believers …


A Closer Look At Transliterations In Divine Translations, Spencer Kraus Jan 2025

A Closer Look At Transliterations In Divine Translations, Spencer Kraus

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

The Book of Mormon contains many words left untranslated by Joseph Smith, such as cureloms, cumoms, senine, and ziff. While some might wonder why these words are left untranslated, a closer examination of the kinds of words that are simply transliterated as well as the frequency at which these phenomena occur provide evidence that Joseph Smith actually had an ancient record that he was translating into English. In this paper, I examine why some words have been transliterated in historical translations of the Bible or other ancient texts and compare these explanations to the Book of …


Looking Again At The Anthon Transcript(S), John S. Thompson Jan 2025

Looking Again At The Anthon Transcript(S), John S. Thompson

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

The official account of Martin Harris’s visit to Charles Anthon, canonized in the Pearl of Great Price, suggests that Anthon may have been shown more than one transcript by Harris. The differing responses of Anthon to each of these transcripts may shed light on the kinds of characters he was shown and provide additional perspectives that can help clarify a little more what is happening in the historical sources.


“Upon Thy Belly Shalt Thou Go”: The Garden Of Eden Serpent Symbology Based On The Concept Of Seraphim, Noel Hudson Jan 2025

“Upon Thy Belly Shalt Thou Go”: The Garden Of Eden Serpent Symbology Based On The Concept Of Seraphim, Noel Hudson

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

The concept of the serpentine seraphim from biblical iconography is discussed in the context of biblical serpent symbology. The association of the seraphim with Ancient Near Eastern kings, deities, and temples is noted. The concept of the seraphim as members of the Council of God is explored, and the possibility of the seraph as a symbol of Christ is discussed. These concepts are applied to the story of the snake in the Garden of Eden, and the additional explanatory power of the seraph symbol in connection with the snake is explored. Specific serpentine attributes are discussed in the context of …


Small Hinges, Great Doorways: How Some Descendants Of An Enslaved Youth Unexpectedly Became Prominent Utah Citizens, Jeffrey M. Bradshaw Jan 2025

Small Hinges, Great Doorways: How Some Descendants Of An Enslaved Youth Unexpectedly Became Prominent Utah Citizens, Jeffrey M. Bradshaw

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

A vivid illustration of how “the doorways of history turn on small hinges” is found in the Howell family tradition about Wilford Woodruff’s short stay at the home of slaveholders in the South, where it appears he may have taught a 14-year-old enslaved boy named Jackson Howell. Decades later, Jackson’s son Paul C. Howell would migrate to Utah and become a prominent citizen of Salt Lake City. Later, Paul’s son, Abner, would serve a unique mission and would continue to speak and serve in the Church. Several Church leaders played a key role in the story of the Howell family …


“When Ye Shall Rend That Veil Of Unbelief”: A Typological Reading Of Ether 3 And 4, Matthew Scott Stenson Jan 2025

“When Ye Shall Rend That Veil Of Unbelief”: A Typological Reading Of Ether 3 And 4, Matthew Scott Stenson

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

In the book of Ether, the prophet Moroni “Christianizes” the Jaredite story, inserting extensive Christian elements into an original text that predates the house of Israel, the Nephite nation, and the Christian era. In this paper, a typological and intertextual method is used to show how Moroni uses the words of Christ in Ether 3 and 4 to exhort his Gentile readers to embrace the Nephite record when it is manifest to them that they might receive even greater things (divine truths). Specifically, Moroni uses the brief account of the brother of Jared atop Mount Shelem to illustrate how Gentiles …


Full Issue Jan 2025

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.


Front Matter Jan 2025

Front Matter

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.


The Seven Seals, The Age Of The Earth, And Ongoing Revelation, Nicholas J. Frederick Jan 2025

The Seven Seals, The Age Of The Earth, And Ongoing Revelation, Nicholas J. Frederick

BYU Studies

One of the more intriguing elements of the book of Revelation is its mention of a book sealed with seven seals (Rev. 5:1). As John’s vision progresses over the next two chapters, each of the seven seals is broken. These have been interpreted by scholars in a variety of ways. One interpretation, typically known as the “historicist” view, saw the seals as representing periods of time in the earth’s history, whether the entirety of the earth’s history from Adam on or just parts, such as early Christian history.1


Practical Faith For The Real World Reading As If, Believing As If, Kylie Turley Jan 2025

Practical Faith For The Real World Reading As If, Believing As If, Kylie Turley

BYU Studies

A few years ago, I was talking with some friends about the Book of Mormon. Actually, if you know me much at all, then you know that those last five words are unnecessary. Of course I was talking about the Book of Mormon. My children have been known to complain that the Book of Mormon is all I talk about. But let’s continue the story: One of my friends indicated that we “cannot read the Book of Mormon down to the word level.” She insisted that it was just not possible to read it “as if individual words are meaningful.”


The Heyday Of The Mia Latter-Day Saint Youth Programs In The Postwar Era, Lisa Olsen Tait, Amber C. Taylor Jan 2025

The Heyday Of The Mia Latter-Day Saint Youth Programs In The Postwar Era, Lisa Olsen Tait, Amber C. Taylor

BYU Studies

On Saturday, June 16, 1956, a crowd of twenty thousand spectators filled the University of Utah football stadium, nestled against the foothills to the east of Salt Lake City, to witness the Mutual Improvement Association (MIA) Dance-Drama Festival of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Hopes were high that the weather would hold, since Friday night’s performance had been canceled because of rain. The weather did cooperate, and for over two hours, a massive procession of brightly costumed young women and men, representing almost every stake in the Church, presented a spectacular program of intricately choreographed dances and …


Using A Reconciliation Approach To Teach Evolution May Help Religious Students Remain Faithful, Danny Ferguson, Ethan Tolman, Spencer Shumway, Cassidy Shively Jan 2025

Using A Reconciliation Approach To Teach Evolution May Help Religious Students Remain Faithful, Danny Ferguson, Ethan Tolman, Spencer Shumway, Cassidy Shively

BYU Studies

Many religious people struggle to accept the theory of evolution, and about 40 percent of Americans reject the theory outright, preferring a literalist, creationist account that confirms a young earth.1 As Latter-day Saints ourselves, we understand the trepidation surrounding the idea that perhaps evolution contradicts our belief of an earth created by a loving Father and Savior. People may feel that the scientific theory of evolution implies that there is no need for a God or that our existence is simply an accident. As college-age youth, we are familiar with the struggles that students face as they confront evolution in …


Getting To 100, Vauna Davis Jan 2025

Getting To 100, Vauna Davis

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.


Review: Latter-Day Saint Art: A Critical Reader Edited By Amanda K. Beardsley And Mason Kamana Allred Oxford University Press, 2024, Maddie Blonquist Jan 2025

Review: Latter-Day Saint Art: A Critical Reader Edited By Amanda K. Beardsley And Mason Kamana Allred Oxford University Press, 2024, Maddie Blonquist

BYU Studies

The Center for Latter-day Saint Arts’ impressive new volume, Latter-day Saint Art: A Critical Reader (Oxford University Press, 2024), makes an ambitious and long-awaited contribution to the fields of religious studies, art history, visual and material culture, and cultural theory. This edited collection is both intellectually and physically substantial, with over 600 pages, nearly 250 reproductions, and twenty-two authors from a myriad of disciplines. Scholars of history, art, film, and media studies share space with artists, museum directors, filmmakers, curators, theologians, and journalists who span the spectrum in their relationship to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The …


End Matter Jan 2025

End Matter

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.


A Prophetic Priority A Vital Voice, Shauna Seamons Jan 2025

A Prophetic Priority A Vital Voice, Shauna Seamons

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Prophets today are inviting women to use their voices and are prioritizing the importance and inclusion of women’s voices and their contributions in the kingdom of God—both those from scripture and history as well as those in our religious education classes. As religious educators we must be aware of this priority, and we have a responsibility to create environments that generate greater gender equality in religious education classrooms. This article will address three obstacles to embracing women’s voices and provide suggested solutions to that end.


Front Matter Jan 2025

Front Matter

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.


Religious Reenactment As A Framework For The Camp Of Israel, Thomas Kendall Buchmiller Jan 2025

Religious Reenactment As A Framework For The Camp Of Israel, Thomas Kendall Buchmiller

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

During the early days of the Restoration, many Saints saw themselves in the stories of the Old Testament. They felt a kinship with God’s ancient people and believed God would deliver them just as he did his ancient saints. As a result, they used those Old Testament stories as models for how to conduct themselves and how to react to their circumstances. We see this principle of narrative reenactment specifically in the events of the Camp of Israel. Though from the outside the Saints were seen as antagonistic and fanatical, they saw themselves as replicating the events of Joshua and …


Come, Follow Me And Life Preparation, Denise Mccubbins Jan 2025

Come, Follow Me And Life Preparation, Denise Mccubbins

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

This paper explores foundational principles for effective gospel teaching in seminary: being Christ-centered, learner-focused, and scripture-based. It highlights the integration of Come, Follow Me and Life Preparation lessons to address students’ spiritual and practical needs. Teachers are encouraged to balance exegesis (understanding scripture’s original intent) and eisegesis (personal application) for meaningful, doctrinally accurate lessons. Through creative and purposeful scripture study, educators can align lesson objectives with students’ lives, fostering deeper conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ.


Five Loaves And Two Fishes, Dallas Jenkins Jan 2025

Five Loaves And Two Fishes, Dallas Jenkins

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

When we face trials in life and encounter seeming failure, the Lord can lift and inspire us in surprising, even miraculous, ways. We learn from the Gospel accounts of the feeding of the five thousand with only five loaves and two fish that all the Lord asks is that we do what we can so he can then multiply our effort, doing what only he can do—the miracle part.


Individual, Family, Peer, And Religious Community Predictors Of Adolescent Religious Deidentification, Sam A. Hardy, Russ Amelang, Michael Goodman Jan 2025

Individual, Family, Peer, And Religious Community Predictors Of Adolescent Religious Deidentification, Sam A. Hardy, Russ Amelang, Michael Goodman

Faculty Publications

This study examined individual, family, and peer religiosity, and religious community supportiveness as predictors of adolescent religious deidentification. The longitudinal study involved two waves of data, two years apart, from U.S. families (1,021 families; religious adolescents from 11–17 years of age), with measures of dimensions of religiosity at Time 1 and changes in religious identification from Time 1 to Time 2. Within each domain, at least one dimension of religiosity at Time 1 predicted religious deidentification at Time 2. Specifically, youth higher in individual, family, and peer religiosity, and religious community supportiveness, were less likely to leave religion. These relations …


Responding To A Non-Responsive Response, Brant A. Gardner Jan 2025

Responding To A Non-Responsive Response, Brant A. Gardner

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

James Lucas had the opportunity to respond to the review of the book that he and Jonathan Neville wrote, By Means of the Urim & Thummim. He elected not to really respond to the issues I brought up but rather summarized his essential points. That doesn’t leave much to respond to. However, there is a continuing misunderstanding of how historians work that I feel must be underscored.


Joseph Smith Jr. As A Translator: The Book Of Abraham As A Case Study, Stephen O. Smoot Jan 2025

Joseph Smith Jr. As A Translator: The Book Of Abraham As A Case Study, Stephen O. Smoot

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

This paper examines Joseph Smith’s approach to translation, using the Book of Abraham as a case study to explore the interplay between divine revelation and human participation in scriptural production. While the Book of Abraham incorporates both ancient and modern elements, its unique synthesis resists simple categorization as either an unblemished Abrahamic autograph or a purely nineteenth-century pseudepigraphon. Drawing on historical evidence and textual analysis, this paper aims to illuminate Joseph Smith’s role as both translator and revelator, offering insights into how Latter-day Saints might understand the complex process of producing sacred texts.


Full Issue Jan 2025

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.


Finding Peace Amidst Uncertainty, J. Anette Dennis Jan 2025

Finding Peace Amidst Uncertainty, J. Anette Dennis

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

This BYU devotional emphasizes the power of faith and trust in Jesus Christ to bring us peace during chaotic times. Through personal anecdotes and testimonies, Sister Dennis illustrates how spiritual preparation and covenant relationships with God can provide protection, strength, and profound peace, even amidst life’s uncertainties and challenges. The address encourages individuals to build a firm spiritual foundation on our Savior, Jesus Christ, and trust in divine guidance to navigate life’s trials with confidence and resilience.


Key Direction In Seminary That Shaped Life Preparation Lessons, Jonathan E. Thomas Jan 2025

Key Direction In Seminary That Shaped Life Preparation Lessons, Jonathan E. Thomas

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

This article identifies the key direction given by S&I administration and other Church leaders during the years2015–24 to facilitate the teaching of topical lessons. It also examines how this key direction is reflected in the Life Preparation lessons in seminary curriculum. The strategic directions during these years pertain to the fundamentals of gospel teaching and learning, doctrinal mastery, deep learning, Christ-centeredness, the alignment between the seminary schedule and Come, Follow Me, the S&I strategic story, the Teaching in the Savior’s Way manual, and the revision of the objective of S&I. All of these combined directions and efforts led to the …


Interview With Byu–Hawaii President John Kauwe Iii, Fred E. Woods Jan 2025

Interview With Byu–Hawaii President John Kauwe Iii, Fred E. Woods

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

This interview with President Kauwe traces Kauwe’s path from his time as a student at BYU to his appointment as the eleventh president of BYU–Hawaii. Kauwe shares insights into his Hawaiian heritage, academic and professional accomplishments, and his aspirations for the university. He underscores the vital role of faculty inbuilding students’ confidence, the distinct intercultural setting of BYU–Hawaii, and the centrality of the gospel in education. Reflecting on the rapid progression of his career, Kauwe also speaks about the importance of following divine guidance in our lives. The interview captures his dedication to promoting intercultural harmony and his deep testimony …