Religion Commons^™

Are Latter-Day Saints Perfectionists? Guest Editor’S Introduction, W. Justin Dyer

BYU Studies

A while back, I was sitting in a university meeting at the beginning of another school year. A therapist was facilitating a helpful discussion on the growing concern of student mental health. When toxic perfectionism came up, the facilitator mentioned in an offhanded way that we have a particular problem with this at Brigham Young University (BYU) because of “the gospel.” This statement was not much of a surprise given the seemingly common attitude that BYU students (and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in general) struggle with perfectionism.

Religion And Perfectionism, Michael A. Goodman

BYU Studies

Perfectionism has been a frequent topic of interest to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In official Church material and in other sources aimed at a Latter-day Saint audience (such as podcasts and blogs), the problems of toxic perfectionism have continued to receive attention in scholarly and clinical literature. The concept has been addressed several times in general conference addresses, including by members of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles.1 The Church has produced official videos and articles for youth,2 young adults,3 and adults.4

Providing Specialized Preparation For Counselors In Catholic Schools, Timothy J. Cook, Jan J. Powers, Jiwon Kim

Journal of Catholic Education

School counselors are needed now more than ever. Providing Catholic school counselors the specialized formation they need to be effective in the Catholic school context is essential. This study addressed two research questions in this regard: (1) What competencies (e.g., understanding, incorporating) and topics do Catholic school principals and school counselors believe are important for school counselors to fully contribute to the educational and faith-based mission of Catholic schools; and (2) How might the research findings inform pre-service education and/or continuing education and formation of school counselors for the Catholic school context? Online surveys were developed using the “Defining Characteristics …

The Interplay Of Principals And Politics In The Context Of Ohio’S Edchoice Scholarship Program, Adam J. Dufault, Melodie Wyttenbach

Journal of Catholic Education

The role of a Catholic school leader is complex, dynamic, and changing, especially in states where parental choice legislation has been enacted. This study utilizes Bolman and Deal’s (2017) organizational framework to examine the political nature of the role of the Catholic school leader. Specifically, this study explores the ways the Catholic school leader navigates the politics of accessing and advocating for government funds. Drawing from interviews with eight Catholic school principals who have utilized the Ohio EdChoice voucher program, this study captures the experiences of these principals through the lens of the political frame. Findings reveal lessons learned on …

End Matter

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Perfectionism Across Adolescence, W. Justin Dyer

BYU Studies

As a sixteen-year- old on my first date, I had such a nervous tightness in my stomach that, at one point, I ran to the bathroom to throw up. I’d always been somewhat nervous, but it had never bothered me much before. Yet from that time on through my teenage years, any time there was something new happening, I would inevitably have to throw up.

A Pillar Of Light, Alex Arner

BYU Studies

I remember the first time I tried to have my first vision. It had been a normal Sunday at my house. Mom made blueberry muffins to get me and my siblings out of bed so we could make it to church on time. When we got to church, I sat down and quickly lodged my feet against the rough carpet on the back of the pew. Instead of listening to the talks, I began my favorite sacrament meeting game: the fastest foot contest. I’d relax my legs and watch my church shoes slide down the pew. The first foot to …

Irresistible Burdens, Marilyn Bushman-Carlton

BYU Studies

The children would be asleep

by the time we pulled away from the jammed parking lot,

Explaining Mormonism: A Believing Skeptic’S Guide To The Latter-Day Saint Worldview By Gregory Steven Dundas, Roger Terry

BYU Studies

BYU Studies author Gregory Dundas has written a book aimed primarily at a non– Latter-day Saint audience to inform them about the beliefs, culture, and practices of the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Dundas is an engaging writer who has a diverse background and whose research is both broad and thorough.

End Matter

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Liberty Jail: Seedbed For Eternal Temple Blessings, Steven L. Olsen

BYU Studies

The difficult Missouri winter of 1838–39 exacerbated an emerging existential crisis for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its founding prophet, Joseph Smith. Latter-day Saints were being driven from their homes and killed by armed militias who justified their aggression with the “extermination order” of Governor Lilburn W. Boggs. This forced evacuation also dispossessed the Latter-day Saints of their “land of promise” and “center place of Zion”—the capital of their millennial utopia that was named for the primordial patriarch Enoch’s “City of Holiness,” whose inhabitants’ righteousness was sufficient, according to Joseph’s visions, to effect its translation into …

Student Achievement Growth Before And During Covid-19: Comparing In-Person And Remote Learning In Catholic And Public Schools, Stephen Ponisciak, Julie W. Dallavis

Journal of Catholic Education

In response to COVID-19, U.S. students learned remotely from mid-March to June 2020. At the start of academic year 2020-21, many schools remained remote but others—primarily Catholic and other private schools—reopened. We consider Catholic schooling as a proxy for in-person instruction and use national data from Renaissance Star and MAP Growth assessments to compare the achievement of similar students pre-pandemic, during the height of mitigation strategies, and after most schools reopened. In a departure from pre-pandemic growth patterns, students in Catholic schools showed more growth than those in public schools during the height of mitigation strategies, suggesting the importance of …

Front Matter

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Rediscovering Zoram: The Chief NaʿAr Of The Commander Of The Fortress, Kelly N. Schaeffer-Bullock

BYU Studies

There are several prominent figures in the opening chapters of the Book of Mormon whose roles, responsibilities, and titles may have eluded the modern reader. As more is learned about ancient Israelite laws, customs, and culture through archaeological successes and academic research, previous biblical scholarship is reworked, refined, or totally redesigned. So too with academic scholarship on the Book of Mormon. The way readers understand the central figures in the opening chapters of the Book of Mormon must be regularly reassessed as additional information is obtained. There is still a great deal more to discover about the people who played …

Can God Truly Forget My Sins?: Christian Temporality And The Possibility Of Repentance, James E. Faulconer

BYU Studies

When we think about repentance, we face a conundrum. On one hand, we are promised new life. As Paul says, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). On the other hand, the repentant person remains the same person that he or she was. In the younger Alma’s case, he is the person who “had murdered many of [God’s] children, or rather led them away unto destruction” (Alma 36:14). How can Alma be both a new person and the person who led many …

Decoding The Self-Tracking Symbols Of Wilford Woodruff’S Journals, Joshua M. Matson

BYU Studies

Wilford Woodruff’s journals have been celebrated as one of the greatest textual records of the Restoration. A prominent, yet almost entirely unexplored, component of Woodruff’s journals is his creating, implementing, and consistently drawing symbols and pictures alongside his near-daily autobiographical record. Within his fifteen-volume journal spanning more than a sixty-year period, Woodruff drew approximately nine thousand images. The first of these symbols appears in an entry dated March 23, 1837, and the final image is drawn on March 19, 1897. These images can be divided into two groups. The first are unique illustrations that appear erratically throughout the journals and …

End Matter

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

“They’Re Just Rehearsing”: Gospel Methodology And The Humanities, Rex P. Nielson

BYU Studies

As BYU approaches the fiftieth anniversary of President Spencer W. Kimball’s landmark speech “The Second Century of Brigham Young University,” Church and university leaders continue to revisit this prophetic talk while reflecting upon the educational mission and potential of Brigham Young University. One notable phrase from President Kimball’s discourse that has gained currency at the university points to a potential difference between the educational efforts of BYU and the work of other universities: “Gospel methodology, concepts, and insights can help us to do what the world cannot do in its own frame of reference.”

A Forensic And Historical Look At John Taylor’S Watch: Evidence Of Divine Mercy, Brian A. Warburton

BYU Studies

In June 2023, the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced the public availability of forensic and historical research recently completed on the pocket watch of John Taylor. Taylor, an Apostle of the Church at the time, was present when Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were killed by a mob in the Hancock County Jail in Carthage, Illinois, on June 27, 1844. During the attack, Taylor was shot four times, and his watch was damaged. This artifact has long held a special place in the hearts of many members of the Church as …

It’S Not The End Of The World; It’S Just The Apocalypse: The Book Of Revelation In The Book Of Mormon, Nicholas J. Frederick, Joseph M. Spencer

BYU Studies

Among the Book of Mormon’s most remarkable characteristics is its consistent interaction with the Bible. The Bible haunts this book, showing up in subtle allusions and type scenes as well as direct quotations both short and long. Further, the Book of Mormon explicitly reflects on the Bible’s historical origins, canonical shape, and scriptural destiny. As has long been recognized, the Book of Mormon’s most sustained interest is in the book of Isaiah. But at least one other biblical focus deserves detailed notice because it has a place of some privilege in the Book of Mormon: the book of Revelation. Indeed, …

Jesus And The Torah In Matthew Beyond Replacement Theology, Jordan Lavender

BYU Studies

The book of Matthew is a first-century Jewish text that reflects the debates and concerns of Second Temple Judaism, a period of Jewish religious practice lasting from the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple in the sixth century BC to its destruction by Roman forces in AD 70. The Gospel of Matthew’s position on the observance of the Torah, or Jewish law, has been the subject of scholarly debate, with some claiming that Matthew advocates for the observance of Jewish law and others arguing that the Gospel proposes abandoning the observance of Jewish law. This paper follows the scholars in the …

Lines For The Forgotten Familiar Living With Loss: My Spouse To Alzheimer’S, Dixie L. Partridge

BYU Studies

Tight as a bulb, I wait in the dark,

wanting only the dark. But I’ve dreamed

the scent of sage, the smell of plowed soil,

a movement of wildflowers coming and going.

Fall Semester, Large Midwestern University, Kevin Klein

BYU Studies

Across acres of parking lots we walk

in thick silence, the first snow

this year, the first ever to stick

Lehi Tries To Explain, John Alba Cutler

BYU Studies

How the liquid branches of that burning tree

whipped upward as if trying to shake

themselves free of the nothing

they consumed, as if they remembered

or anticipated spirits shucking

off bodies, finding a lighter form

Front Matter

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Anti-Nephi-Lehi Mothers: What They Taught Their Stripling Sons, Julie A.P. Frederick

BYU Studies

When I first saw this shirt (see fig. 1), I was immediately taken with the contrast of the shirtless warriors in bodybuilder-type poses and the claim that these men with six-packs and bulging muscles were “momma’s boys.”1 I have always loved a clever juxtaposition, and this one was so delightful that I remember it from years ago. I was a student walking down the main hallway of Orem High School, and I actually stopped in the middle of the hallway to stare at it, then continued down the hall laughing to myself. What made the shirt even more wonderful was …

Sariah’S Sons, Rachel Terry

BYU Studies

And they did murmur because they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them. 1 Nephi 2:12

This poem was a finalist in the 2024 BYU Studies Poetry Contest.

Conclusion Latter-Day Saints And Perfectionism, W. Justin Dyer

BYU Studies

This special issue on members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and toxic perfectionism seems long overdue. Although there has been some research in the past, many misleading narratives about Latter-day Saints and perfectionism—narratives promoted by professionals and nonprofessionals alike—were pulled into that research vacuum. Prior to the research presented in this issue, there were no studies that revealed how Latter-day Saints compare in perfectionism to those of other religions and those of no religion, and there was no longitudinal research that provided evidence for the sources and consequences of perfectionism over time for Latter-day Saints. Without …

Restoration Quarterly: Vol. 66, No. 1

Restoration Quarterly

PDF of the cover of Restoration Quarterly: Vol. 66, No. 1.

This repository hosts selected Restoration Quarterly articles in downloadable PDF format. For the benefit of users who would like to browse the contents of RQ, we have included all issue covers even when full-text articles from that issue are unavailable. All Restoration Quarterly articles are available in full text in the ATLA Religion Database, available through most university and theological libraries or through your local library’s inter-library loan service.