Religion Commons^™

Theology Of The Laity: The Lutheran Way, Brian M. Mosemann

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

The distinction between the laity and clergy has been a contributing cause of disunity within the church because the clergy and laity are often pitted against one another with one or the other being elevated to the detriment of the other. This problem has plagued the church from the middle ages until the present day. Since the definition of the term “laity” is vacuous, the laity are generally defined relative to the clergy, specifically in reference to their authority and duties. This results in a negative definition when the laity are defined as the opposite of the clergy. The laity …

A Rank-Based Analysis Of Word Order And Codification In The Greek Of The Pastoral Epistles, James Fickenscher

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

The relationship of word order and clausal structures with meaning, literary style, and authorial considerations in New Testament Greek is an often underdeveloped yet important field for reading, understanding, and interpreting the New Testament text. Navigating between a grammatical-historical and historical-critical reading of the New Testament, this dissertation analyzes the phenomena of word order and clausal structures afresh through the lens of systemic functional grammar, following the work of Michael Halliday. This project contributes a preliminary step forward in constructing a method that can account for and understand the purpose of word order patterns and variance from those patterns within …

The Wizard's Alphabet Book: Illustration As Counter-Environment To The Digital World, Stephen Barany

MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture

This thesis essay accompanies a built installation of twenty-six densely drawn illustrations, each consisting of numerous creatures and objects whose names all begin with the same letter. Thus, each illustration represents a different letter of the alphabet. Printed on cloud-shaped substrates and suspended as a group in a 10”x10” ring, the array of illustrations form a small space where viewers can immerse themselves in the act of free and careful looking. This essay elaborates on the ideas that propelled the design and construction of this illustrated installation.

This essay explores the potential for illustration to create a space for looking …

"Nothing But The Son Of A Black Woman": Anti-Blackness, Gender Dynamics, And Muslim Communities Of Memphis, Zari Muhammad

Senior Honors Papers / Undergraduate Theses

The Nation of Islam (NOI) is largely responsible for the growth of Islam in America during the 20th century. However, they are often isolated from their Muslim counterparts, being framed as an “inauthentic” Islamic school of thought by Sunni Muslim communities. This is due in part to the different practices of Islam, but also a result of American systemic anti-Blackness. Furthermore, Black Muslim women face numerous problems in the NOI , as the internal gender dynamics are based on white nuclear family systems that lead to further gendered ostracization within these same communities. This is exemplified in Memphis, Tennessee, where …

The Cosmic Catastrophe Of History: Patristic Angelology And Augustinian Theology Of History In Tolkien's "Long Defeat", Edmund M. Lazzari

Journal of Tolkien Research

Much of the poignancy of J.R.R. Tolkien's literary universe comes from its atmosphere of tragedy. The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings take place in a universe where noble and heroic actions are most often small candles lit against the inexorable march of evil. This backdrop of tragedy, which Galadriel names "the long defeat," is certainly influenced by Tolkien's views of Germanic mythologies, but it also draws much from the medieval notions of evil in Patristic Angelology and St. Augustine's theology of human history. These twin understandings of evil ultimately lead to one conclusion in Tolkien: the need for …

Spiritual Outcomes Of A Faith-Based Camp Program For Children Of Incarcerated Parents, Raquel T. Ellis, Krystal Hays, Jeff Hamilton, Lemesis J. Reyes

Movement and Being: The Journal of the Christian Society for Kinesiology, Leisure and Sports Studies

Children of incarcerated parents are likely to experience a number of adverse outcomes including poverty, substance abuse, community violence, multiple caregivers, school failure, and justice system involvement (Hairston, 2007; Martin, 2017; Murphey & Cooper, 2015). The experience of having a parent incarcerated, and the negative outcomes associated with it, disproportionately expose these children to adverse childhood events (ACE’s) known to result in higher morbidity and mortality (Turney, 2018). However, spiritual resources, along with engagement with caring adults, can increase a child’s resilience and buffer the impact of these negative outcomes. This exploratory study describes Camp Agape California (CAC), a faith-based …

Degree Of Satisfaction Of Elderly About The Services Provided To Them In Social Care Houses In White Beds Association, Yousef Mohammed Al-Shurman, Ferdous Hasan Omari

Al-Balqa Journal for Research and Studies البلقاء للبحوث والدراسات

This study aims at identifying the degree of satisfaction of the elderly about the (social, health, entertainment, psychological) services provided to them in social care houses. The sample of the study includes all residents of the White Beds Association for the care of the elderly in Amman. The researcher designed a questionnaire to use in the interviews with the elderly. The questionnaire has four items, and each item includes a group of questions about the service provided to them. The researcher interviewed all the members of the White Beds Association, whose health condition allowed this, (75 elderly people: 44 men …

Corelates Of Legalism In A Global Sample Of Seventh-Day Adventists, Duane C. Mcbride, Alina M. Baltazar, Karl G. D. Bailey, Shannon M. Trecartin, David Trim

Adventist Human-Subject Researchers Association

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is often identified as a strict church (Iannaccone, 1994; Chen et al., 2019; McBride et al., 2020) in that it has specific dietary and behavioral requirements for joining and continued membership. These include abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs as well as a strong emphasis on vegetarianism (McBride et al., 2020). This has resulted in longevity advantage for Adventists (Fraser et al., 2020). This focus on behavioral requirements have resulted in critics viewing Adventists as legalists (WELS, 2022). The purpose of this research is to examine the issue of legalism among Adventist Church members.

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

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New Book Explores Faith And Philosophy

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

The Maxwell Institute and Brigham Young University are pleased to announce the publication of a new volume by BYU philosophy professor James E. Faulconer.

Number Manipulation For Profit, Or Just For Fun?, Paul Y. Hoskisson

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

When the writer of the Gospel of Matthew listed the genealogy of Christ, he divided it into three sections, each containing 14 generations, to wit, Abraham to David, David to the Exile, and the Exile to Christ (Matthew 1:17; also 1–17). In order to do this he had to manipulate the names by leaving out several ancestors mentioned in the Old Testament. The reason Matthew thought it necessary to create this mathematical/genealogical fiction has never been explained adequately.

Wordprint Analysis And Joseph Smith’S Role As Editor Of The Times And Seasons, Paul Fields, Matthew Roper, Atul Nepal

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

One of the issues that swirls around discus- sions of Book of Mormon geography is the rightful place the editorials in the 1842 Times and Seasons must take. The story of the editorials begins with Joseph’s receipt of John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood’s Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chaipas, and Yucatan, published in 1841. In early 1842, the Times and Seasons published several enthu- siastic articles that drew attention to the discoveries of Stephens and Catherwood in Central America and compared them favorably with the Book of Mormon. Two of these articles were signed by the editor, while …

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

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Summer Seminar Mentors Rising Scholars

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

Ten graduate and advanced undergraduate students selected from more than half a dozen institutions participated in the Mormon Scholars Foundation summer seminar held this past May and June under the auspices of the Maxwell Institute.

Meti Volume Highlights Education, D. Morgan Davis

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

Consider this picture: A sandy courtyard some- where on the outskirts of a desert village. A group of boys—ages perhaps 8 to 16—are gathered outside the entrance to a simple, well-worn little building. They are seated or kneeling in the sand, huddled in the last vestiges of the late morning shade. Each holds a text or a tablet. Some are reading, some are looking out to where the pale sky meets a broken line of housetops and trees, reciting, in a quiet murmur to themselves, the words of the book they are holding. Some gently rock back and forth as …

Zarahemla: Revisiting The “Seed Of Compassion”, Pedro Olavarria, David E. Bokovoy

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

More than ten years ago, Stephen Ricks and John Tvedtnes presented a case for interpreting the Book of Mormon proper noun Zarahemla as a Hebraic construct meaning “seed of compassion” or “child of grace, pity, or compassion.” The authors theorized:

It may be that the Mulekite leader was given that name because his ancestor had been rescued when the other sons of King Zedekiah were slain during the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem. [See Mosiah 25:2.] To subsequent Nephite generations, it may have even suggested the deliverance of their own ancestors from Jerusalem prior to its destruction or the anticipation of …

“Symbolism In Scripture” Focus Of Willes Center Conference

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

“Symbolism in Scripture” was the theme of the second biennial Laura F. Willes Center Book of Mormon Conference held recently. The conference included presentations by 13 scholars addressing such topics as “The Symbolic Use of Hand Gestures in the Book of Mormon and Other Latter-day Saint Scripture” and “Light: The Master Symbol.”

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

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Latest Farms Review Tidies Garden Of Book Of Mormon Studies

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

A trio of essays in the current issue of the Review (vol. 22, no. 1) concerns John W. Welch’s The Sermon on the Mount in the Light of the Temple, which makes a highly original and important contribution to biblical studies by revealing the “temple register” and organic unity of Jesus’s famous sermon. George L. Mitton’s introductory remarks call attention to two scholarly reviews of Welch’s study that find his thesis intriguing and plausible. A substantial excerpt from Welch’s preface to his book follows, as does a review by Gaye Strathearn that offers a helpful summary of Welch’s approach and …

“And He Was A Young Man”: The Literary Preservation Of Alma’S Autobiographical Wordplay, Matthew L. Bowen

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

Thanks to the work of Hugh Nibley, Paul Hoskisson, Terrence Szink, and others, the plausibility of Alma as a Semitic name is no longer an issue. Hoskisson has noted that “Alma” derives from the root ‘lm (< *ǵlm) with the meaning “youth” or “lad,” corroborating Nibley’s earlier suggestion that "Alma” means “young man” (cf. Hebrew ‘elem,עלם). Significantly, “Alma” occurs for the first time in the Book of Mormon text as follows: “But there was one among them whose name was Alma, he also being a descendant of Nephi. And he was a young man, and he believed the words which Abinadi had spoken” (Mosiah 17:2; emphasis in all scriptural citations is mine). This first occurrence of “Alma” is juxtaposed with a description matching the etymological meaning of the name, suggesting an underlying wordplay: Alma (‘lm’) was an ‘elem. A play on words sharing a common root is a literary technique known as polyptoton.

Neal A. Maxwell Institute Hosts Conference On Avicenna

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

There are few figures in the history of Islamic thought whose stature can rival that of Ibn Sina (980–1037), or Avicenna, as he came to be known in the Latin West. Educated at Bukhara, in modern-day Uzbekistan, Avicenna was, by his own admission, a prodigy and recognized as such early on. If there is a certain lack of modesty in his making that claim, there is no disputing that he had the credentials to back it up. He was forced by the turbulent politics of his day to move a number of times, but through it all he never stopped …

Messiah Dvd Now Available

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

The long-anticipated DVD set, Messiah: Behold the Lamb of God, is now available for purchase. For the first time ever, teachings of the restoration, sound academic views from faithful Latter-day Saint scholars, and state-of-the-art documentary production have been combined in this seven-part series on Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

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

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Work Of Maxwell Institute To Be Presented At Education Week

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

Brigham Young University Campus Education Week, slated for August 16–20, 2010, will feature a series of presentations that represent a range of the work done by the Maxwell Institute.

Nibley Fellowship Program Assists Rising Scholars

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

For a number of years the Maxwell Institute has sponsored a graduate fellowship program that gives financial aid to students pursuing advanced degrees in fields of special interest to the Institute. Named in honor of the late eminent Latter-day Saint scholar Hugh W. Nibley, this program fosters the next generation of faithful scholars by provid- ing financial aid to students enrolled in accredited PhD programs in areas of study directly related to the work and mission of the Maxwell Institute. Of particular interest is work done under the auspices of the Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies …

Nibley Lecture Series Presentations Available Online

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

The lecture series “The Work of Hugh W. Nibley: On the 100th Anniversary of His Birth” concluded in April. The videos of each lecture are currently being prepared for availability on our Web site. Presently, video of four of the lectures can be accessed through the Upcoming Events section of the Maxwell Institute home page (maxwellinstitute .byu.edu).

An Early Islamic Challenge To Christian History, D. Morgan Davis

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

One of the great lessons to be drawn from the Islamic world of the Middle Ages is that in order for people of varying faiths and persuasions to coexist peacefully, it is not necessary that significant differences between them be settled or even downplayed. Islamic society was vibrant with debate and ideological rivalry. But there was a framework of tolerance that allowed for these differences while preserving basic modes for coexistence. For example, the Islamic caliphates (beginning in the seventh century and continuing into the early modern period) treated the Jews and Christians living within their domains as ahl al-kitab …

Full Issue

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

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“He Shall Add”: Wordplay On The Name Joseph And An Early Instance Of Gezera Shawa In The Book Of Mormon, Matthew L. Bowen

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

In explaining the prophecies of Isaiah in which his soul delighted, Nephi sets up an intriguing wordplay on the name Joseph. On several occasions he combines segments of Isaiah 11:11 and Isaiah 29:14 to foretell the gathering and restoration of Israel at the time of the coming forth of additional scripture. The most discernible reason for Nephi’s interpretation of these two specific texts in the light of each other is their shared use of the Hebrew verb yāsap, which literally means “to add” but can have the more developed senses to “continue” or “proceed to do” something and “to do …

Early Book Of Mormon Writings Now Online

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

The most extensive collection of writings about the Book of Mormon published between 1829 and 1844 has been made available as an online database. The collection, 19th-Century Publications about the Book of Mormon (1829–1844), includes nearly 600 publications and close to one million words of text. It is intended to comprise, insofar as possible, everything published during Joseph Smith’s lifetime relating to the Book of Mormon. Under the auspices of Digital Collections at Brigham Young University’s Harold B. Lee Library, this ambitious project can be accessed at lib.byu.edu/dlib/bompublications.