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Frontmatter, Quaker Religious Thought, No. 139, Jon R. Kershner

Quaker Religious Thought

ABOUT THIS ISSUE

Welcome to the fall issue of Quaker Religious Thought! The papers from this issue were presented at the January 2022 Quaker Theological Discussion Group sessions. The theme of the sessions was, “Decolonizing the Quaker Peace Testimony.” The articles printed here challenge all Friends to reflect on the use of the Quaker peace testimony, and especially the ways it has been used to enable oppression. This is a difficult and important conversation to have, because for many Friends the Quaker peace testimony has only ever been conceived of as an act of obedience to God and an unqualified …

Contributors - Quaker Religious Thought, No. 139, Jon R. Kershner

Quaker Religious Thought

No abstract provided.

The Incoherence Of An Evil God, Carlo Alvaro

Publications and Research

The evil god challenge is for theists to explain why a good god’s existence should be considerably more reasonable than an evil god’s existence. Challengers note that there is a symmetry between a good god and an evil god. Moreover, the classical arguments for a good god can prove the existence of an evil god just as well. Furthermore, theodicies can be mirrored by reverse theodicies. Consequently, the evil god challenge leads to two implications. One, if an evil god is deemed absurd, by logical symmetry, a good god must also be absurd. Two, if an evil god is not …

Alexey Starostin (Ed.) Muslims In Russia’S Far East: History And Contemporary Situation. (Book Review), Elena Glavatskaya

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

A review of Alexey Starostin (ed.) Мусульмане на Дальнем Востоке России: история и современность (Muslims in Russia’s Far East: History and Contemporary Situation). Kazan’ : Typografia “Algoritm+”, 2020, 656 pp, hardback. ISBN: 978-5-6042963-5-6.

Russia’S War In Ukraine And The Limits Of Religious Diplomacy, Ina Merdjanova

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"The ongoing international efforts to put an end to the bloodshed in Ukraine have exposed the limits of faith-based diplomacy. This is particularly true when church and state embrace each other in a symbiotic alliance, in order to pursue their respective hegemonic ambitions."

Repressive Psychiatry As A Means Of Combating Religious Dissidents In The Soviet Union, Oksana Vysoven, Nina Brehunets, Tetyana Lohvynyuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article highlights the impossibility of the coexistence of modern civilization in conditions of impunity for crimes against humanity, which have no statute of limitations, but due to the lack of punishment and concealment of information it creates even greater crimes. Many of the unjustly convicted political prisoners have been rehabilitated since the condemnation of Stalin's cult of personality and his crimes in Soviet Ukraine since 1956. As a result of the mass rehabilitation of political prisoners, the regime gained serious opposition, some of whom сonsisted of evangelical Baptist communities who advocated genuine freedom of conscience. The Soviet regime used …

Appeal Of The Representatives Of Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Educational Institutions Regarding The War Of The Russian Federation Against Ukraine, Oleksandr Geychenko, Roman Soloviy, Taras Dyatlik, Olga Dyatlik, Ivan Rusyn, Valentyn Siniy, Kseniia Trofymchuk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Statement of the “Evangelische Bildungseinrichtungen der Ukraine“ 20 April 2022.

"As the next phase of Russia-Ukraine war began with the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, we, the representatives of Ukrainian evangelical theological educational institutions, have witnessed massive war crimes, including numerous acts of violence, irrational cruelty, and inhuman treatment of civilians, destruction of cities, executions of peaceful civilians, rapes, pillaging, and plundering."

Frontmatter (Volume 42, Issue 6), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

A Man That Can Translate And Infinite Goodness: A Response To Recent Reviews, Jonathan E. Neville

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

Since 1829, various theories about the production of the Book of Mormon have been proposed. Modern scholarship has moved away from the idea that Joseph Smith actually translated ancient engravings into English. Two books, A Man That Can Translate and Infinite Goodness, propose a “neo-orthodox” view, offering evidence that Joseph did translate ancient engravings into English. Recent reviews in the Interpreter of these two books significantly misunderstand and misrepresent the argument. T his response corrects some of those misconceptions.

Lehi’S Dream, Nephi’S Blueprint: How Nephi Uses The Vision Of The Tree Of Life As An Outline For 1 And 2 Nephi, Noel Reynolds

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

This essay harnesses the late twentieth-century discovery of Hebrew rhetoric by Bible scholars to identify Lehi’s dream as the foundation of the carefully constructed unity in Nephi’s writings and to identify previously unrecognized elements of that dream which are distributed throughout his final work. The teachings and prophecies in 1 and 2 Nephi are shown to derive from their shared dream/vision. Further, the entirety of Nephi’s writings in the Small Plates is shown to be a tightly designed rhetorical production that establishes the centrality of Christ’s identity, mission, and teachings for current and future generations of Lehi’s descendants and ultimately …

Empowering Young Adult Women Through Female Role Models In The Old Testament, Jean B. Bingham, Barbara Morgan Gardner

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

The following is Barbara Morgan Gardner’s interview of President Jean B. Bingham about women in the Old Testament and young adult women today.

Barbara: What do you remember about teaching the Old Testament as an early-morning seminary teacher?

Models Of Motherhood Expansive Mothering In The Old Testament, Avram R. Shannon, Thora Florence Shannon

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Motherhood, both in the scriptures and in our own experiences, is a wonderful and beautiful thing, but it can sometimes be a fraught category. Societal and religious expectations on mothers can be overwhelming and can lead to despair, difficulty, and marginalization.[1] Motherhood is often defined as a narrow range of nurturing behaviors such as bearing, nursing, feeding, and fulfilling other physical needs of children.[2] Some people have used the Old Testament to proscribe women's roles to motherhood and then to define their roles of motherhood as a limited range of these mostly physical acts of childcare.[3] While these are vitally …

Did Joseph Smith Use A Seer Stone In The Translation Of The Book Of Abraham?, Stephen O. Smoot

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

A complete understanding of how Joseph Smith translated the Book of Abraham unfortunately remains elusive. Writing in the introduction to the Joseph Smith Papers Project’s edition of the manuscripts pertaining to the Book of Abraham, volume editors Robin Scott Jensen and Brian M. Hauglid observe how “no known first-person account from Joseph Smith exists to explain the translation of the Book of Abraham, and the scribes who worked on the project and others who claimed knowledge of the process provided only vague or general reminiscences.”[1] Complicating matters is the fact that scholars have not reached consensus on the exact relationship …

Khirbet Beit Lei And The Lehi Of Samson Old Testament And Book Of Mormon Considerations, And A Newly Identified Site For Biblical Leḥi And En-Hakkore, Jeffrey R. Chadwick

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

In the study, appreciation, and teaching of ancient scripture, the disciplines of archaeology, geography, history, and language can often provide helpful and instructive insights for understanding the settings and events of scriptural narratives. The doctrinal and applicative aspects of those narratives may be enhanced by a correct understanding of their ancient backgrounds. But caution must be taken that data and interpretations from these disciplines be used in accurate and responsible ways, and that sensational claims or wishful thinking unsupported by the data not be advanced in our classes nor become part of the teaching experience. A case in point in …

Full Issue

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

Lifelong Conversion, Dale G. Renlund

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

My dear brothers and sisters, thank you for being here, early in the semester and for some of you the beginning of your university experience. Thank you for taking the time to be here. I am grateful for President Kevin J Worthen and for the remarkable things he does. I have looked up to him for a long time.

“Holiness To The Lord” And Personal Temple Worship, Gaye Strathearn

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Over thirty years ago, I embarked on a three-day excursion into the Sinai Peninsula and the traditional site of Mount Sinai. This mountain is in the middle of a mountainous desert, miles from anywhere. We arrived there in the early evening and had dinner in a Bedouin camp and then bunked down in some tents, waiting for 3:00 a.m. to arrive. That is when we were to make the 2,500-foot ascent, because our leaders said that it would be much too hot if we waited until the sun came up. Somewhere along the line, I ended up being the one …

Front Matter

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

"A Kingdom Of Priests, And An Holy Nation" The Work Of Covenant Women And Men In Building Zion, Sharon Eubank

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

I’m so pleased to be invited to speak at this year’s Sperry Symposium and especially on a theme I care deeply about: “A Covenant of Compassion: Caring for the Marginalized and Disadvantaged”—particularly examples from the Old Testament. The scope of the topic I have chosen tonight is too big to be confined simply to Old Testament times, but that is where I am going to start. The expansive vision of a covenantal kingdom of priests as a holy nation has animated prophets since Enoch actually achieved it in his day, and the promise of it has everything to do with …

The Ascension Of Abraham A Mortal Model For The Climb To Exaltation, Fred E. Woods

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Talmudic literature proclaims, “We do not see things as they are.” Rather, “we see things as we are.”[1] This profound statement reminds us that our vision is often blurred by our mortal misjudgments and forgetfulness; we forget that we are in fact the sons and daughters of God, the literal offspring of Deity. The talmudic aphorism is an invitation to introspection, an adjustment of our lens, before we give serious thought to another person, particularly one so enlightened as Abraham, who we are told has entered into his exaltation (see Doctrine and Covenants 132:29). We can learn much from viewing …

"For A Wise Purpose In Him" Alma 37'S Implications For Future Generations, Matthew Scott Stenson

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

After briefly describing and differentiating between his two sets of plates, Nephi writes, “Wherefore, the Lord hath commanded me to make these plates [the small plates] for a wise purpose in him, which [complete] purpose I know not. But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words. And thus it is. Amen” (1 Nephi 9:5–6). From these words of Nephi we can extrapolate what has been called the “doctrine of providence.”[1] The …

The First Commandment First, D. Todd Christofferson

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Each of the three synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—recounts a question put to Jesus about the greatest commandment in the law. In Matthew, the questioner is a lawyer of impure motive, tempting the Master. [1] In Mark, it is a scribe asking the question, but one who sincerely seems to want to know. [2] In Luke, we are back to “a certain lawyer [who] stood up, and tempted him.” [3]

The Important Role Of Relationships In Our Heavenly Father's Plan Of Salvation, Brian Mead

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

President Boyd K. Packer was a master teacher who spent both his professional life and his personal time in full-time service to the Church, seeking to build faith and testimony in the lives of youth and young adults. As a teacher, he understood the value of providing students with a “framework upon which the truths they discover at random can be organized into a personal testimony.” [1] Because of this understanding, he invited religious educators to begin each year by providing an overview of the plan of salvation. He believed that this overview would “be of immense value to . …

The Cry Of The Widow, The Fatherless, And The Stranger The Covenant Obligation To Help The Poor And Oppressed, David Rolph Seely

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

On January 14, 1847, President Brigham Young, who was at Winter Quarters organizing the Saints for the trek west, received a revelation from the Lord that would become section 136 of the Doctrine and Covenants. The revelation was entitled “The Word and Will of the Lord concerning the Camp of Israel in their journeyings to the West” and commanded the Saints to “be organized into companies, with a covenant and promise to keep all the commandments and statutes of the Lord our God.” The “covenant and promise” included the commandment to care for each and every one of the Saints. …

Front Matter

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

Remembering Christ's Blood Which Was Shed, Ryder Seamons, John Hilton Iii

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Each Sunday, as part of one of the most familiar rituals in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we hear in our sacrament prayers that the broken bread we eat is a symbol of Christ’s body, and the water we drink a symbol of Christ’s “blood . . . , which was shed for [us]” (Doctrine and Covenants 20:79). Most importantly, we are invited to take these emblems “in remembrance” of his body and shed blood, both at that moment and “always.” Integral to the spiritual cleansing we can experience as we take the sacrament is our remembrance …

Full Issue

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

Moo At The Moon, Susan Elizabeth Howe

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Cradled, Kevin Klein

BYU Studies

Son, if my breath were mine to give. If I could spend more than a ragged few to welcome and say goodbye to you. If we knew your mother could live

The Happiest Day Of Your Life, Michael Lavers

BYU Studies

You wake up and hear rain. You wake up and think there’s not enough rain, not enough songs about rain or memories of rain. Of being numbed or warmed by rain.