Religion Commons^™

Biblical And Non-Biblical Quotes In The Sermons And Epistles Of Paul, John A. Tvedtnes

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

In 2010, BYU’s Neal A. Maxwell Institute published an article in which I demonstrated that the charge of plagiarism, frequently leveled against Joseph Smith by critics, is untrue.1 I noted, among other things, that the authors of books of the Bible sometimes quoted their predecessors. One of those authors was the apostle Paul, who drew upon a wide range of earlier texts in his epistles. This article discusses and demonstrates his sources.

The Spectacles, The Stone, The Hat, And The Book: A Twenty-First Century Believer’S View Of The Book Of Mormon Translation, Roger Nicholson

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

This essay seeks to examine the Book of Mormon translation method from the perspective of a regular, nonscholarly, believing member in the twenty-first century, by taking into account both what is learned in Church and what can be learned from historical records that are now easily available. What do we know? What should we know? How can a believing Latter-day Saint reconcile apparently conflicting accounts of the translation process? An examination of the historical sources is used to provide us with a fuller and more complete understanding of the complexity that exists in the early events of the Restoration. These …

Front Matter

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

No abstract provided.

Adam Miller’S New Hermeneutic?, Robert E. Smith

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

Whatever else spirit may be, we experience spirit as an interpenetrating weave of thoughts, ideas, judgments, feelings, passions, desires, and aversions. Though rooted in the body, this weave of spirit involves a dimension of looped awareness and reflexivity that is finer and harder to discern than those that belong to the body itself. (p. 42)

Passing Up The Heavenly Gift (Part One Of Two), Gregory L. Smith

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

The Basic Thesis …the Latter-day Saint church was predicted to fail, and in all likelihood has failed to secure the fullness of the priesthood (Denver Snuffer1). Denver C. Snuffer, Jr. claims to have had a vision of the resurrected Jesus Christ.2 A convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he is the author of eight books (509). The thesis of the most recent—Passing the Heavenly Gift—is summarized by his book’s cover photo: a snuffed out candle, smoke curling upward, with a dim ember persisting at the tip of the wick.

Finding Still Waters And Green Pastures: Understanding And Reducing Stress In Urban Church Planting, David R. Dunaetz

Selected Faculty Publications

The work of urban church planters is often hindered by high levels of stress. Stress may be viewed as a process that involves stressors and an individual’s perceptions of both the level of threat and his or her ability to deal with the threat. The long term and the short term consequences of stress can be attenuated through appropriate coping strategies such as problem solving, prayer, and seeking social support. Recent empirical evidence indicates that exposure to nature is also very effective, a strategy that might be especially beneficial to urban church planters and their ministries. Several practical applications are …

Goals And Accountability For Ministry Effectiveness: Insights From Psychological Science, David R. Dunaetz

Selected Faculty Publications

In this overview of what psychological science has discovered about goal setting, we will see that goal setting tends to make people more productive. This essay examines the conditions under which goal setting is most effective, as well as the situations where goal setting can be dangerous. Studies of goal-setting theory have found that job performance increases when people have challenging but specific performance goals. The mechanisms that cause goal setting to lead to greater effectiveness are just as present in Christian ministry as in any other kind of work. Also the dangers associated with goal setting are especially relevant …

Reconnecting With The Mystics: Kathryn Kuhlman And The Reshaping Of Early Pentecostalism, Margaret English De Alminana

Selected Faculty Publications

Kathryn Kuhlman helped to shape a generation of Pentecostal/Charismatic theology and praxis by reintroducing a depth of spirituality which harkened back to the teachings of the mystics. She introduced the concept of spiritual silence to a generation of Sawdust Trail Pentecostals known for their exuberant and lively worship services, and she popularized the experience of being ‘slain in the Spirit.’ But her most notable innovation resulted from discarding healing lines and cards together with a healing theology based upon the faith of the adherents. Instead, she invited pilgrims into a transcendent experience of the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit, …

The “Violence” Of The Canon: Revisiting Contemporary Notions Of The Canonical, Colby Dickinson

Theology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The historical conditions surrounding the processes of forming a canon (its canonicity) are rarely examined directly, yet it is these processes which govern over the realm of (religious) representations and identity constructions. In light of several recent publications which have directly criticized the explicitly monotheistic scriptures, it has become imperative to address theologically the role which the canon plays within religious tradition. By focusing on the role of the canonical form in the works of Jan Assmann and René Girard, for example, this essay will demonstrate the cultural necessity of canonical forms despite their ‘monotheistic tendency’ to subdivide the world …

Motherhood And Love: Beyond The Gendered Stereotypes Of Theology, Sandra Sullivan-Dunbar

Theology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

This article reviews the book Motherhood and Love: Beyond the Gendered Stereotypes of Theology, by Cristina Grenholm.

Flirting With Conversion: Negotiating Researcher Non-Belief With Missionaries, Hillary K. Crane

Faculty Publications

This article discusses Crane’s research in a Taiwanese Buddhist monastery. Crane came to the field as a former Catholic, which provided a particular lens through which to perceive the phenomena she researched. Beyond the difficulties of having one's research interests misinterpreted by the community one is researching and the ambiguities that result from remaining open to conversion when studying religious communities, Crane examines the further difficulty confronted when researching religious personnel who have an interest in representing their religious ideals both to and through the researcher. The article examines Crane’s time in the Buddhist monastery and explores her personal ambivalence …

Fasting With The Lord's Prayer, Elmer L. Towns

Books

No abstract provided.

Social Engagement: The Challenge Of The Social In Missiological Education; The 2013 Proceedings Of The Association Of Professors Of Missions, Association Of Professors Of Missions

Academic Books

No abstract provided.

Psalms For Families: Devotions For All Ages, Laura Keeley, Robert J. Keeley

Publications

Psalms for Families is a devotional e-book for the entire family designed to help parents explore the riches of the book of Psalms with their children and teens. These devotionals will help parents learn more about the psalms as they teach their children about praise, prayer, and lament.

This edition contains four devotionals on each of our selected psalms as well as notes for adults that provide additional information and background.

Psalms included are 1, 23, 63, 136, 13, 145, 51, 103, 22, 133, and 139.

Visual Language And The Religious Aesthetic In The 21st Century, Angela Mccarthy

Theology Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

Record Of A Journey: Mother Benedicta Riepp And Companions Travel To North America: Part Ii, Helen Herbstritt, Ephrem Hollermann Osb

Saint Benedict’s Monastery Publications

A series of excerpts is presented from the 19th century diary of the missionary Reverend Maximilian Gärtner, which explores the Reverend's journey from Europe to the U.S., from June 24, 1852 through July 12, 1852.

Reflecting On Gospel Scholarship With Abū Al-Walīd And Abū Ḥāmid, Daniel C. Peterson

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

The theologian, jurist, philosopher, and mystic Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad b. Muḥammad al-Ghazālī (d. AD 1111 in his Persian hometown of Tūs, after spending much of his career in Baghdad) has sometimes been characterized as the single most influential Muslim besides the Prophet Muḥammad himself. The Andalusian philosopher and jurist Abū al-Walīd Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. Rushd (d. AD 1198 in Marrakesh, modern-day Morocco, but ultimately buried in his family tomb in Córdoba, Spain) is generally considered to be the greatest medieval commentator—whether Jewish, Christian, or Muslim—on the works of Aristotle. Often known as Averroës, a corruption of his Arabic name, …

Introduction, Daniel C. Peterson

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

In the spring or early summer of 1820, “some few days” after his epochal vision of the Father and the Son, the young Joseph Smith gave an account of the experience to a Methodist minister with whom he “happened to be in company.” The minister had been active in the “excitement” about religion that inspired Joseph’s fateful decision to go alone into the woods near his house to pray. Naïvely, the boy expected his story of a Bible-like divine manifestation to be well received. It was not.

Protestant Ecclesiastical Anarchy And Dogmatic Diversity, Louis C. Midgley

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

Mark Noll’s Protestantism is a brief, interesting, and useful account of a religious movement that began with the remonstrance of a contentious German monk who, much like others in the Latin Catholic Church before and after him, called for reform. On 31 October 1517 in the small town of Wittenberg in Saxony, Martin Luther (1483–1546) certainly did not plan on founding a new church. His was merely a “local protest” (p. 10). Among other things, Luther complained about the sale of indulgences, which were believed to ease the pain of those presumably undergoing a necessary postmortem purging. This tiny event …

Understanding The Vocation Of Health Professionals, Laura Hey, Kate Nowakowski

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

This project seeks to determine if and how physicians and dentists understand their work as a vocation or calling. In order to accomplish this, we interviewed dentists and physicians who were at different points in their careers and analyzed the data in comparison with theological sources on vocation. Dentists defined their vocation in broad terms, saying that it was more than their work. Physicians, on the other hand, see their vocation to mean the work that they do as a physician. Both groups found the most fulfillment in their careers when they feel a sense of joy and excitement, when …

The Date Of Easter And Shakespeare’S ‘Progress Of The Stars’: Creed And Chronometry In The Sixteenth Century, Martin Connell

Theology Faculty Publications

William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" opens with the question "Is this a holiday?" followed by another, "What, know you not?" The queries seem benign and, perhaps, humorless four centuries after the drama about the assassination of the ancient Roman emperor premiered at the Globe Theater in 1599, but – within a century of King Henry VIII's start of the Church of England (1534) – chronometry was a grave matter of church and state. Shakespeare's first Roman play coincided with the worst span of controversy between the Vatican and Canterbury, and Flavius's questions reveal social rubs between churches and calendars in late …

'Our Opinion Is In Accordance With The Eucharist': Irenaeus And The Sitz Im Leben Of Mark's Gospel, Charles A. Bobertz

School of Theology and Seminary Faculty Publications

This article explores Irenaeus of Lyon’s 2nd century understanding of Eucharist in relation to a historical and theological reading of Mark’s Gospel, specifically the feeding narrative cycles (Mark 6:30-52; 8:1-21). Irenaeus contends, most particularly in books IV and V of Adversus haereses, that the union of divine spirit and flesh in the humanity of Jesus and its replication in the Eucharistic bread serves as primary refutation of docetic heretics. Jesus was, and his Eucharistic body is, fully a part of creation in contrast to only a spiritual entity. Similarly Mark’s understanding of Eucharist linked to the …

Exhortation To Persevere And Grow In Holiness, Love, And Integrity (1 Thess 4:1-12) (Chapter In 1 & 2 Thessalonians), Nijay K. Gupta

Faculty Publications - Portland Seminary

Excerpt: "In the first three chapters of 1 Thessalonians, Paul's primary concern involved extending compassion and comfort to a suffering and troubled church. There is a gracious, warm, generous tone. He reminds them of how special they are, and how attentive God is to their plight. He reminds them of how God has worked among them in power in the past, he is at work in the present, and he will act again on their behalf through Messiah Jesus at his return. He confesses to them his longing to have close fellowship with them-they are loved and missed.

But Paul's …

One Day To A Cubit, Hollis R. Johnson

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

An investigation of ancient astronomy shows that a cubit was used not only as the metric of length (elbow to fingertip) but also as a metric of angle in the sky. That suggested a new interpretation that fits naturally: the brightest celestial object— the sun—moves eastward around the sky, relative to the stars, during the course of a year, by one cubit per day!

Nephite Insights Into Israelite Worship Practices Before The Babylonian Captivity, A. Keith Thompson

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

General historical consensus holds that synagogues originated before the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70, and therefore probably originated during the Babylonian captivity. The suggestion in Philo and Josephus that synagogues may have originated during the exodus was discredited by some historians in the 17th century, yet the Book of Mormon speaks of synagogues, sanctuaries, and places of worship in a manner which suggests that Lehi and his party brought some form of synagogal worship with them when they left Jerusalem around 600 BC. This essay revisits the most up to date scholarship regarding the origin of the …

Front Matter

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

No abstract provided.

Finding Parallels: Some Cautions And Criticisms Part Two, Benjamin A. Mcguire

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

Discovering parallels is inherently an act of comparison. Through comparison, parallels have been introduced frequently as proof (or evidence) of different issues within Mormon studies. Despite this frequency, very few investigations provide a theoretical or methodological framework by which the parallels themselves can be evaluated. This problem is not new to the field of Mormon studies but has in the past plagued literary studies more generally. In Part One, this review essay discusses present and past approaches dealing with the ways in which parallels have been used and valued in acts of literary comparison, uncovering the various difficulties associated with …

Book Review, Kevin Christensen

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

Margaret Barker is a biblical scholar whose books have been attracting increasing Latter-day Saint attention for over a decade. She has also been making inroads in the wider circles of scholarship, as evidenced by her Temple Theology: An Introduction being shortlisted for the Michael Ramsey Prize for theological writing, the first woman so honored. And she was awarded a Doctor of Divinity by the Archbishop of Canterbury for Temple Themes in Christian Worship. She is a prolific writer and a busy speaker.

“In The Mount Of The Lord It Shall Be Seen” And “Provided”: Theophany And Sacrifice As The Etiological Foundation Of The Temple In Israelite And Latter-Day Saint Tradition, Matthew L. Bowen

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

For ancient Israelites, the temple was a place where sacrifice and theophany (i.e., seeing God or other heavenly beings) converged. The account of Abraham’s “arrested” sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22) and the account of the arrested slaughter of Jerusalem following David’s unauthorized census of Israel (2 Samuel 24; 1 Chronicles 21) served as etiological narratives— explanations of “cause” or “origin”—for the location of the Jerusalem temple and its sacrifices. Wordplay on the verb rāʾâ (to “see”) in these narratives creates an etiological link between the place-names “Jehovah-jireh,” “Moriah” and the threshing floor of Araunah/Ornan, pointing to the future location of …

Introduction, Volume 6 The Modest But Important End Of Apologetics, Daniel C. Peterson

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

I first became involved in apologetics because I wanted to defend the truth of beliefs that are important to me and to defend the character of leaders for whom I have great respect, even veneration, against attack. I’m offended by falsehoods, prejudice, and injustice. I wanted to help faltering members who were sometimes besieged by intellectual challenges for which they had no adequate response. I also desired to assist interested observers to see sufficient plausibility in the Gospel’s claims that they would be able to make its truth a matter of sincere and receptive prayer. My hope was to clear …