Religion Commons^™

Firstlings, Sacrifices, And Burnt Offerings, Matthew Roper, John Tvedtnes

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

In abridging the account of the Nephite gathering under King Benjamin, Mormon stated, “And they also took of the firstlings of their flocks, that they might offer sacrifice and burnt offerings according to the law of Moses” (Mosiah 2:3). Under Mosaic law, first-lings, or firstborn animals, were dedicated to the Lord, meaning they were given to the priests, who were to sacrifice them and consume the flesh (see Exodus 13:12–15; Numbers 18:17). The exception to this rule was the firstborn lambs used for the Passover meal, which all Israel was to eat (see Exodus 12:5–7).

Symposium Explores Widespread Tree Of Life Motif

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

Scholars from various disciplines and institutions gathered in Brigham Young University’s Varsity Theater on 28 and 29 September 2006 to explore the pervasive and powerful tree of life motif as found in civilizations spanning the Far and Middle East to Mesoamerica and as expressed in Latter-day Saint scripture and art. The following report highlights the two presentations by visiting non–Latter-day Saint scholars and briefly summarizes the others.

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Maxwell Institute Scholars Speak At Fair Conference

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

Scholars from the Maxwell Institute, as well as a number of authors who contribute to the institute’s publications, delivered papers at the recent FAIR conference held in Sandy, Utah, in August. The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of Latter-day Saint doctrine, belief, and practice.

Negative Questions In The Book Of Mormon, Ben Spackman

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

Much research has been devoted to identifying and examining language patterns in the Book of Mormon that appear to reflect the book’s underlying Semitic character. One possible Hebraism in the Book of Mormon that has not received attention is the use of negative rhetorical questions when a positive meaning is intended. Some modern Bible translations now translate these negative questions in a positive or even emphatic way. This rhetorical device occurs in English, but it is stronger and more com-mon in biblical Hebrew.

Lehi’S Epic Journey Detailed In New Book

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

The seamless blend of scholarship and artistry of the Maxwell Institute’s DVD documentary Journey of Faith continues in expanded form in the new book Journey of Faith: From Jerusalem to the Promised Land. Complemented by numerous additional threads of historical detail and scholarly insight, this visually stunning look at Lehi’s trek through the harsh Arabian desert reflects a synergistic collaboration of talented scholars, artists, and photographers seeking to illuminate an epic event in scriptural history and situate it in a real-world setting.

Making The Case For Cultural Diffusion In Ancient Times

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

Old theories die hard in academia, at least when they are entrenched and have been defended intellectually with fervor. Only with overwhelming evidence to the contrary does the institutional status quo crumble and make way for new theories to find legitimacy within the academic mainstream. Illustrative of this struggle for acceptance in the academy has been the contest between the establishment position that ancient American civilization evolved in complete independence from the Old World and the “cultural diffusion hypothesis.” The latter proposes that American societies did not arise and develop in total isolation but were stimulated by connections from the …

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Maxwell Institute Open House

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

The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship invites you to an open house from 7:00 to 9:00 pm in room 3215 of BYU’s Wilkinson Center on Thursday, 24 August 2006, during Campus Education Week. This will be an occasion for you to meet authors, editors, directors, and friends and to celebrate the formation of this new BYU institute.

The Rings That Bound The Gold Plates Together

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

Eyewitnesses to the Book of Mormon plates described in consistent terms the rings that bound the gold plates into a single volume. The rings were three in number and apparently made of the same material as the plates themselves. While our attention naturally focuses on the plates and the translation of the text engraved upon them, the rings may offer another subtle but telling confirmation of the record’s ancient origin.

Wordplay On The Name ‘Enos’, Matthew L. Bowen

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

In his analysis of Mosiah 1:2–6 and 1 Nephi 1:1–4, John A. Tvedtnes notes that in many instances “Nephite writers relied on earlier records as they recorded their history.”1 He makes a convincing argument that the description of King Benjamin teaching his sons “in all the language of his fathers” (Mosiah 1:2) is modeled on Nephi’s account.

Lehi’S Trek Dvd Reissued To Target Broader Audience

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

Journey of Faith, a FARMS documentary about Lehi’s travels through ancient Arabia, has been well received and has generated considerable interest since its release last summer (see report in Insights25/3). Now steps are under way to produce a reissue of the DVD, this time with translations of the commentary into Spanish and Portuguese with English closed-captioning.

Latest Findings In The Book Of Mormon Critical Text Project

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

These are the best of times for Book of Mormon studies. Since 2001, FARMS (now part of the Maxwell Institute) has been publishing the long-anticipated findings of Professor Royal Skousen’s Book of Mormon Critical Text Project. Each massive volume in this landmark study, appearing on a yearly basis, averages nearly 670 oversize pages of research and analysis that reward careful examination with expanded views of the founding text of Mormonism.

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Nibley Fellowship

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

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 program 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 name of FARMS—studies of the Book of Mormon, the Book of Abraham, the Old and New Testaments, early Christianity, ancient temples, and related subjects. Applicants cannot be employed at the Institute or be related to an Institute employee.

“Look To God And Live”, Kristian S. Heal

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

Near the end of the children of Israel’s journey to the promised land following their miraculous escape from Egypt, they once again began to complain against the Lord and against Moses. As a result of this sin, the Lord sent “fiery serpents” among them (Numbers 21:6). Faced with physical death, the people went to Moses, confessed their sins, and entreated him to pray to the Lord to take the serpents away. However, the serpents were not taken away as requested. Instead, in what may have seemed an expression of deep irony—but was in reality a sacred symbol—Moses was instructed to …

Lds Scholar, Scientist Weigh In On Talk Radio Dna Debate

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

On 23 February 2006 BYU professor Daniel C. Peterson and DNA scientist John M. Butler were interviewed on the Hugh Hewitt radio program concerning DNA and the Book of Mormon. One week earlier, the Los Angeles Times had run a front-page story on how human DNA studies contradict the Book of Mormon because they suggest an Asian ancestry for people native to the Americas; and on that same day the Times reporter, William Lobdell, was a guest on Hewitt’s program.

Farms Review Answers Critics, Sizes Up Scholarship

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

At 500 pages, the new FARMS Review (vol. 17, no. 2) nearly bursts its binding with items of interest for anyone desiring to be well-informed on Mormon studies. The coverage ranges from Lehi’s encampments in Arabia and the resurgence of the all-but-dead Spalding theory to Jewish-Mormon relations, creation ex nihilo, and the Egyptian Hor Book of Breathings.

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Farms Unveils New Web Site

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

In December 2005 FARMS released a new version of its Web site. In response to feedback from people who have used the site over the last several years, the new FARMS site boasts additional content and enhanced features.

Farms Documentary Premieres In Washington Dc

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

Golden Road: The Ancient Incense Trail, a new FARMS documentary about the legendary route used by Arabia’s incense traders, premiered at the Washington DC Temple Visitors’ Center on 5 November 2005 to a group of foreign and U.S. dignitaries.

New Translation Launches Meti’S Library Of The Christian East Series

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

One of the misconceptions that many Westerners have is that all Arabs are Muslims and that all Muslims are Arabs. In fact, many of the major Islamic countries in the world (e.g., Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Malaysia, and the most populous of them all, Indonesia) are not Arab, and large minorities in some Arab countries are not Muslim. Christianity is a Near Eastern religion, not a European one, and it has been in the Near East since its origin. (An Egyptian Christian friend once complained to me about how tired he had become of Americans and Europeans asking him whether his …

Ispart Renamed Neal A. Maxwell Institute For Religious Scholarship

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

Brigham Young University’s Board of Trustees recently approved the renaming of BYU’s Institute for the Study and Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts (ISPART) to the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship.

A Place To Call Home: Belonging In The Body Of Christ In Home And School, Gail Ashmore

Staff Work

"Letters and numbers are important, but a seat at the table to commune and contribute is vital."

Posting about guiding children to their full potential as servants of God from CACE -The Center for the Advancement of Christian Education.

A Place to Call Home

Wildfire & Sacred Flame: Enthusiasm In American Revivalism 1734-1944, Randy Lee Darnell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The First and Second Great Awakenings were momentous events in American history. The developments that occurred from these movements forever influenced religion in the United States. Many participants in these revivals either witnessed or took part in an emotional religious experience often dubbed “enthusiasm,” which critics dismissed as fanaticism or the work of the devil. Advocates averred that these behaviors were genuine experiences brought about by the Holy Spirit. What can be demonstrated by the historical sources left behind from America’s great revivals is a continuity of this religious behavior from the First Great Awakening to revivals in the early …

Identification And Treatment Of Kierkegaardian Despair: An Informal Indirect Apologetic Strategy, Licio Soares

Masters Theses

The central question this paper aimed at addressing was: How to present the gospel to people that are resistant to its presentation? The Danish philosopher and theologian Soren Kierkegaard suggested that the best strategy in this scenario was indirect communication. In Kierkegaard’s pseudonymous writings many theological themes were indirectly presented as philosophical ones. The following Kierkegaardian themes were selected and arranged into a two-phase apologetic strategy that can be used in informal conversational settings: Anxiety, Despair, The Crowd, Single Individual, Revelation, and Faith. Indirect communication takes place in the first phase which is comprised of the first four themes. The …

Submission To The State As An Act Of Submission To God: A Call For Total Submission Within The Nature And Commands Of God, Jesse David Krystowiak

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Christians must view their interactions with the state as a direct line of submission to the supremacy of God's own rule. Within God's call to submit to those in positions of civil leadership is the understanding that one's submission to the state is placed within the confines of bringing glory to God on the basis of God's nature and commands.

Exploring The Correlation Between Family And The Church: Integrating The Family Into A New Church By Implementing Group Psychoeducation Counseling, Korey A. Tucker

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This action research project addressed the problem of families not fully integrating into a new church community. The research used the implementation of group psychoeducation counseling to help integrate families into a new church system. Exploring the correlation between the family and church revealed that healthy families help to create a healthy church. The rationale for implementing group psychoeducation counseling is that other forms of engaging the family could not address all the needs and challenges families experience when attempting to assimilate fully into a new church system. The research method utilized was a mixed-method approach, using pre- and post-assessment …

Semitic Residue: Semitic Traits That Indicate Early Source Material Behind The Gospel Of Matthew, Brian Gray Chilton

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Skeptics have often argued that the Gospels were written too late to have contained any valuable information about Jesus. Furthermore, the likes of Rudolf Bultmann and the Jesus Seminar claim that very little can be known about the voice of the historical Jesus. However, this work argues that the oral traditions stemming from community-based transmission provides a basis to hold that the oral traditions that undergird the finished Gospels are much earlier than the written texts themselves. Using the Gospel of Matthew as a test case and seven criteria to gauge the strength of residue, this study argues that the …

Developing Biblical, Community-Based Resources For Military Wives Entering The Empty Nest And Midlife Transition Period, Cynthia Louise Stumme

Masters Theses

Military wives approaching the onset of middle age and the empty nest should have access to resources that help them navigate the challenges of midlife within the context of the military lifestyle. The US military provides resources supporting successful family relationships for almost every other demographic except for military wives at the midlife and empty nest stage of life. While midlife is understudied as a life stage, the existing research does identify specific objectives for personal development and growth during middle age which lead to thriving in that stage and in old age. Using these objectives as a guide, this …