Religion Commons^™

Our Silent News, July-August-September 2020

Our Silent News

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Fort Worth, TX

Our Silent News Finding Aid

Humanism In The Americas, Carol W. White

Faculty Contributions to Books

This chapter provides an overview of select trends, ideas, themes, and figures associated with humanism in the Americas, which comprises a diversified set of peoples, cultural traditions, religious orientations, and socio-economic groups. In acknowledging this rich tapestry of human life, the chapter emphasizes the impressive variety of developments in philosophy, the natural sciences, literature, religion, art, social science, and political thought that have contributed to the development of humanism in the Americas. The chapter also features modern usages of humanism that originated in the English-speaking world in the nineteenth century. In this context, humanism is best viewed as a contested …

Nora’S Ironic Longing For Christlike Love Self‐ Sacrifice, Self‐Love, And The “Religion Of Torvald” In Ibsen’S A Doll House, David V. Urban

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

This essay argues that in Ibsen’s A Doll House, both Nora and her husband, Torvald Helmer, exhibit a “religion of Torvald” characterized by their respective devotion to Torvald himself. However, while Torvald’s devotion to himself is characterized by self‐love and self-centeredness, Nora’s “religion of Torvald” is based on her expectation that Torvald will exhibit the Christlike office of bearing Nora’s sins by proclaiming himself guilty of her crime of forgery, thus rendering her blameless. After Torvald shatters Nora’s expectations by reacting with abuse and cowardice to the news of Nora’s forgery and Krogstad’s consequent blackmail, Nora loses her previous faith …

A Mixed-Method Study: Executive Pastors And The Performance Of Fast-Growing Churches, Donald Wouter Bosch

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Based on available literature, little systematic investigation has explicitly considered the extent to which investing in church management, including hiring executive pastors, affects church performance. The purpose of this exploratory sequential mixed-methods study is to assess phenomenological and correlational data from one hundred of the fastest-growing churches in the United States, as ranked by LifeWay Research (2018) for calendar years 2017-2018 and draw available conclusions on church executive leadership capacity versus performance. Phenomenological data was used to qualitatively examine the executive management functions at these churches and analyze how each determined its need for such expertise based on leadership team …

A Field Theory Guided Quantitative Study Into Environmental Forces Impacting Christian Leadership And Instrument Development, Leonard Scott Momeny

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this descriptive quantitative study was to determine and then evaluate perceptions of Christian seminary students with recent ministry related leadership experience on the environmental factors and forces, both internal and external, that either enable or constrain the efforts of the modern Christian leader. Christian leadership study, much like general leadership study tends to focus directly upon the leader, thus ignoring the potential impact of environmental variables upon resultant leadership. For this knowledge gap to be properly investigated a new instrument, based upon work by Dr. David Dockery, was developed, refined, and utilized to investigate the perception of …

Resolving The Issue Of The Exodus Of The Second Generation Of Haitian Americans In Naples Haitian Church Of God, Frantz Elijah Machoule

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The thesis project was an examination of how the Haitian evangelical churches in Southwest Florida, specifically, Naples Haitian Church of God (NHCG), which have been operated for decades under the first generation, where the second generation of Haitian American has yet to experience change. The project addressed the components of that cultural gap that kept the church in a state of redundancy and, therefore, constituted an impediment to its growth. This examination conducted for Naples Haitian Church of God, located in Southwest Florida, gave a true biblical interpretation of what God has called the church to be in this generation. …

Deep Doctrine And Passionate Proclamation: How Understanding The Relationship Between God's Sovereignty And Evangelism Increases Evangelistic Zeal, Christopher Lee Verser

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The gospel must be accurately communicated to a lost man for that individual to have the opportunity to be saved. It is the responsibility of Christians to be ambassadors of Christ and proclaim this gospel to all men. All Christians can grow in their zeal for evangelism. Many Christians have very little zeal for evangelism due to several reasons. This lack of evangelistic zeal can be increased by a robust understanding of the doctrine of God’s sovereignty and the relationship between God’s sovereignty and evangelism. In the Scripture, Christians are taught that doctrine directly affects behavior and action. The more …

God Sees And God Rescues: The Motif Of Affliction In Genesis, Emily Christine Page

Masters Theses

The book of Genesis mainly centers on the fulfillment of God’s patriarchal promises. However, the book presents characters who first experience hardship before they receive blessings from God. Many of the hardships are described in Genesis as “afflictions” (√ענה), the same word used to describe Israel’s suffering in Egypt (Exod 3:7). Although the motif of affliction receives attention for its appearance in Exodus, few scholars note the significance of this motif in Genesis. The purpose of this thesis is to trace the motif of affliction in Genesis and to determine the pattern of its appearance. The motif serves the larger …

The Effects Of Racialization On Sikhs In America: An Intersectional Approach, Harsirjan K. Roopra

Senior Theses

Sikhs have been largely ignored in the literature surrounding social justice and religious tolerance. The many pressures Sikhs face, and the social assumptions that lead to them, must be brought into the broader conversation on these issues so that educators and politicians might help support the well-being of the Sikh community. Sikh identity has been misinterpreted and redefined in modern day American society. The lack of cultural and religious literacy of many Americans, coupled with Sikhs’ distinct visible identity, has led to xenophobic violence against Sikhs since their arrival in the U.S. more than a century ago. The root of …

Of Contrasts, Apologies, And Authenticity, David F. Holland

BYU Studies

In the antebellum United States, a young American Christian was confused by the conflicting religious messages that swirled through the surrounding culture. The teenaged seeker sought the Lord in prayer, pleading for a message of light and love to break through the darkness. This plea was answered with a mighty vision, a revelation that brought both immediate peace and the promise of further guidance. The experience not only marked the visionary awakening of an earnest adolescent supplicant; it also eventually helped anchor the messaging of a global religious movement that would come to boast millions of members around the world. …

New Age, Old Revelation, George M. Marsden

BYU Studies

First let me say something about my point of view—which I can do with a personal story. I first met Richard Bushman in 1974 when I was spending a semester in the Boston area, and in order to get area library privileges, I had a nominal affiliation with Boston University. Someone arranged a meeting for Richard and me at his impressive office. I knew him only as the author of an excellent book on Colonial America. So when we met, we did what historians do and exchanged accounts of what we were working on. I said I was working on …

“Though We Or An Angel From Heaven”, Richard J. Mouw

BYU Studies

At a small luncheon gathering of evangelical and Mormon scholars during an annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion shortly after the turn of the century, Richard Bushman issued a challenge to the Evangelicals in the form of a question posed directly to me: “Is Joseph Smith possible for you?” In an essay that I published in 2009, I organized my remarks on Joseph Smith as a response to Bushman’s question.¹

Visualizing The Vision, Anthony Sweat

BYU Studies

When a teenage Joseph Smith entered the woods on his family farm to pray over his soul and inquire which church he should join, the vision that burst forth from heaven changed his life and laid a pathway for the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The First Vision is among the scenes of the Restoration most often depicted by artists. Portrayals of the First Vision were published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Ensign magazine 167 times between 1971 and 2019, nearly double the representations of any Restoration theme other than depictions of …

Utah’S 19th Century Stone Quarries, Marny K. Parkin

BYU Studies

Temples and other structures built in Utah in the nineteenth century required massive amounts of large blocks of limestone, granite, and other stone. Utah’s 19th Century Stone Quarries documents where that stone came from and the lives of many of the stone masons and quarrymen who worked it. The author is a geologist and professor at the University of Utah and is the great-grandson of one of the major figures in the book, Edward L. Parry.

In Memoriam, Armand L. Mauss (1928–2020), Steven C. Harper

BYU Studies

I was saddened but not surprised by the recent passing of Armand L. Mauss, an esteemed scholar, BYU Studies editorial board member, and a kind mentor to me. When I saw him last, he neither expected nor particularly wanted to live much longer. He had long since tempered his expectations for this life. His sights were set on the next one, especially after Ruth’s passing in 2018.

A Harmony Of Voices, Rebekah Ryan Clark

BYU Studies

On a snowy April morning in 1895, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gathered within the walls of the Salt Lake Temple and unanimously declared themselves committed to women’s suffrage.1 That same day, a large group of Relief Society women gathered nearby in the Salt Lake Assembly Hall and unanimously stood in favor of including women’s suffrage in Utah’s newly designed state constitution.2 In that defining moment, such unified support for the most pressing women’s rights issue of the day by both the governing body and the official women’s organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was …

The “New Woman” And The Woman’S Exponent, Carol Cornwall Madsen

BYU Studies

Economically, politically, socially, and theologically, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were known for being insular and cohesive at a time when the United States was stretching its boundaries and developing unifying communication and transportation networks across the continent. The concept of Manifest Destiny was imbibed by the young republic, and rugged individualism became a symbol of the adventurous entrepreneurs who saw a bounteous future in the great American West, especially with the addition of Mexican territory in 1848 and the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869. The Church was clearly out of sync with …

Belva Lockwood, Melinda Evans

BYU Studies

In August 1889, a number of newspapers ran an article that began with this sentence: “Belva Lockwood has long been considered the nerviest woman in the United States.”¹ At the time, Belva Lockwood had been a household name in the U.S. for many years. By 1889, she had also established herself as an outspoken advocate who unabashedly defended the legal rights of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

First Vision Controversies, Ann Taves

BYU Studies

When I accepted this invitation to speak, I expected that I would focus on the methods that Steven Harper and I used to compare and discuss the different accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision. We were both quite pleased with the process because we found that careful juxtaposition of the accounts allowed us to agree on the historical data and present a case for our different interpretations. If you look at the published version of our conversation, however, you’ll see that when we attempted to date events that Smith mentioned in his 1838 history, Steve tended to argue for 1820 …

Not The First But The Second, Richard E. Bennett

BYU Studies

Professor James B. Allen, distinguished scholar of Joseph Smith’s First Vision accounts, wrote the following in a 2012 article: “The writing of Mormon history has only begun. As in the case of other institutions and movements, there is still room in Mormonism for fresh historical scholarship. . . . What is needed, simply, is the sympathetic historian who can approach his tradition with scholarship as well as faith and who will make fresh appraisal of the development of the Mormon mind.”1 The purpose of this presentation is to provide such a “fresh appraisal” of Joseph Smith’s 1820 theophany, less perhaps …

Editor’S Introduction, Katherine Kitterman

BYU Studies

I study the history of women’s voting rights in Utah. For the past two years, I’ve been the historical director for Better Days 2020, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with a mission to popularize Utah women’s history. The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of Utah women’s first votes, the centennial of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, and the 55th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, all important parts of the long struggle for equal suffrage in the United States. So this anniversary year is a golden opportunity to learn about women in history who fought for equality, spoke …

A Treasure Trove Of Research Resources About Historical Latter-Day Saint Women, Connie Lamb

BYU Studies

Even considering the fine books and articles on the history of Latter-day Saint women that have been written in the last fifty years, there are still innumerable questions about early Utah women to be explored. For example, how did the votes of women in territorial Utah from 1870 on affect local and territorial elections? Who were the first female politicians in Utah, and what did they accomplish? In what ways were Latter-day Saint women involved in the national suffrage movement in the United States? How did Kanab, Utah, come to have an entire slate of female city officials, and what …

Full Issue

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Reflections After Thirty Years, James R. Payton

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"All this awareness shaped my hopes for what might transpire in the wake of the remarkable changes enacted in the wake of 1989. Those hopes reverberated with what was expressed in a different field for the future of Eastern Europe in the aftermath of Communism’s collapse. I recall reading scholars much more gifted in things economic than I, hoping that the liberated nations of Eastern Europe might develop a “third way,” between capitalism and Communism. Much as that was talked about, however, the story of the past three decades reveals that no such economic third way has been discovered. I …

Methodism As Context For Joseph Smith’S First Vision, John Wigger

BYU Studies

When I started looking at early American Methodism thirty years ago, the first thing that struck me was how full of vibrant supernaturalism it was. Early American Methodists lived in a world where visions, prophetic dreams, and supernatural impressions were everywhere. God spoke to them directly. They talked about these things openly, without embarrassment. Supernaturalism was a part of everyday life and central to their connection to one another.

“Experimental Proof Of The Ever Blessed Trinity”, Rachel Cope

BYU Studies

Due to his interest in the experiential elements of religion and his desire to gain a greater understanding of holiness or sanctification, John Wesley wrote letters to some of his followers in the late eighteenth century, asking if they had “experimental proof of the ever blessed Trinity.”¹ Fascinated by accounts he had read of de Renty’s encounter with the distinct persons of the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit— Wesley wanted to know if others had experienced divine redemption in a similarly relational manner.² Several individuals responded to his missive in the affirmative; they reported that they had received …

The Visions Of Zion, Peter J. Blodgett

BYU Studies

When Henry Edwards Huntington retired in 1910 from a successful career in railroading and land development, he turned both his great fortune and his vast experience to the advancement of his fondest personal avocation, the collecting of rare books and manuscripts. Already well-known for his accomplishments as a collector, he now applied himself with great effort to this pursuit. By the time of his death in 1927, he had assembled one of the finest private holdings then in existence relating to Anglo-American history and literature. The research library established by Huntington on the foundation of that private collection has remained …

When Did Joseph Smith Know The Father And The Son Have “Tangible” Bodies?, John W. Welch

BYU Studies

Joseph Smith learned many things in the First Vision—it was a burst of knowledge that poured down upon him in the spring of 1820. Particularly, he was greeted by two divine beings, “whose brightness and glory defy all description.” The first of the two, “pointing to the other,” said, “This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!” (JS–H 1:17). Joseph then listened as Jesus spoke. That experience gave more authoritative answers to questions about the Godhead than anyone in the world had received since the vision of Stephen, who saw a heavenly vision of Jesus, “the Son of man standing on …

Even Psalm, Darlene Young

BYU Studies

Smog today, but I saw your wink in the pink light of the peaks above it, heard your chuckle in the plumes of trumpets and under-the-skin drums of the high school marching band practicing four blocks away.

Revelations And Translations, Volume 3: Printer’S Manuscript Of The Book Of Mormon The Joseph Smith Papers, James B. Allen

BYU Studies

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints revere the Book of Mormon as a sacred text that was translated “by the gift and power of God” (D&C 135:3) by Joseph Smith and first published in 1830. Since then it has seen numerous editions, has been translated into around one hundred languages, and is distributed around the world. The story of how the Book of Mormon originated and eventually spread is well known, but the details of its textual history are not widely known.