Mormon Studies Commons^™

California Saints: A Readers Theater, J. Michael Hunter

Faculty Publications

California Saints: A Readers Theater was performed at the Mormon History Association Devotional, Emanuel Church, Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park, Coloma, California, Sunday May 25, 2008, 8:30-9:30 AM. Through excerpts from diaries and letters, the story of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) in California from 1846 to 1857 is recounted. Readers were all descendants of Mormons associated with California’s early history. Readers included Richard Bushman, John Huntington, Leo Lyman, and Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. Musical vocalists included John Huntington and Rachel Thatcher Loveridge.

Church Growth In Tonga: Historical And Cultural Connections, Michael A. Goodman

Faculty Publications

Tēvita Muli Kinikini (1905–84) was a Tongan Latter-day Saint pioneer of great faith.1 His father, Taniela Kinikini, was a member of the Free Church of Tonga and also a man of mighty faith and spiritual gifts. Muli married Le‘o Tukui, whose father was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints. Touched by the Spirit while listening to the mission- aries, Muli announced his intention to be baptized. In response, his parents threatened a double suicide, and his uncle, one of the nobles of his island, threatened to take away Muli’s land. Muli answered him: “Do …

"I Will Contend With Them That Contendeth With Thee": The Divine Warrior In Jacob's Speech Of 2 Nephi 6-10, Daniel Belnap

Faculty Publications

It is unclear from the text exactly where or when Jacob offered his magnificent discourse recorded in 2 Nephi 6–10, but while such details are missing, the discourse itself stands as one of the most powerful passages of scripture in the Book of Mormon. The purpose of the speech was to answer an ongoing concern of the Nephites. Since their departure from Jerusalem it appears that the Nephites had felt cut off and isolated from God’s promises because they lacked a permanent land of inheritance. By the time of Jacob’s speech, the Nephites had been driven from two lands of …

One Continuous Flow: Revelations Surrounding The New Translation, Kerry M. Muhlestein

Faculty Publications

We often underestimate both the complexity and continuity of Joseph Smith's revelatory life. His visions rolled, he said, "like an overflowing surge before [his] mind." Now that they have been compartmentalized into different sections, chapters, and books, we tend to compartmentalize them in our minds. Such a practice, however, limits our ability to see how powerful and continuous this "overflowing surge" really was.

Helping Students Ask Questions, John Hilton Iii

Faculty Publications

On one occasion, a class was learning about the law of chastity. The teacher had challenged the class members to commit to live the law of chastity. One young woman raised her hand and said, “What if somebody has already broken the law of chastity? Can he or she still set a goal to live it from this point on?” This important question from a student prompted the teacher to emphasize the power of repentance—something he had not planned to do. Questions from students can have a powerful effect in the teaching and learning process.

Bounds And Conditions: A Kolob In Our Solar System?, David D. Allred

Faculty Publications

In 2003, Dialogue ran adjacent essays by two scientists, David Tolman and David Allred. The two Davids had been students together at Princeton, attending the same student ward. Decades after Princeton, Tolman had left Mormonism and Allred had stayed. Their essays are a fascinating juxtaposition. In the course of his piece, David Allred ventured for a few paragraphs into a discussion of the planet Jupiter and its role as a governor and protector in our solar system—a type of Kolob. Although the other author dismissed the topic as “fanciful physics,” my own interest was piqued. I asked Dr. Allred, who …

Jesus, The Great Shepherd-King, Dana M. Pike

Faculty Publications

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters” (Psalm 23:1–2). So begins one of the most beloved psalms and best-known biblical passages mentioning a shepherd. Shepherd imagery is utilized in scripture to depict three important aspects of Jesus’s identity and mission: His roles as Savior, King, and Jehovah, the God of Israel. Of these three, His role as compassionate Savior, devoted to protecting and saving the flock of God, is the aspect of shepherd symbolism that typically comes to mind. Less well known, …

Before Jeremiah Was: Divine Election In The Ancient Near East, Dana M. Pike

Faculty Publications

FRAGMENTS OF GOSPEL TRUTHS are often detected by Latter-day Saint scholars studying ancient texts, especially texts from the ancient Near East. This essay focuses on one example of this phenomenon. Divine election—the academic designation for the choosing of people by deity for position and opportunity in mortal life—is a claim that is well attested in ancient Near Eastern texts, including the Hebrew Bible.¹ Latter-day Saints correlate certain aspects of this concept with premortal foreordination and are familiar with a few key biblical passages, such as Jeremiah 1:5, that feature divine election. However, many Latter-day Saints are less familiar with the …

Laman And Lemuel: A Case Study In "Not Becoming", Michael A. Goodman

Faculty Publications

We can easily see Laman and Lemuel as being lost from the start. Almost like stock characters in a novel, they may appear to have little depth or complexity. This simplistic view makes it hard to identify the reasons behind, as well as the consequences of, Laman and Lemuel’s behavior. Consequently, if we do not look for deeper meaning in Laman and Lemuel’s story, we may fail to identify the necessary precepts to avoid the pitfalls they fell into and to which we are vulnerable today.

Through a more contextual view of Laman and Lemuel’s lives, we are provided with …

Charles Good's Act Of Kindness And The Handcart Children, Fred E. Woods, William G. Hartley

Faculty Publications

On a hot July afternoon in 1856, businessman Charles Good paid an unannounced visit to a crowded campground west of Fort Des Moines. There he found nearly 500 tired travelers--Mormon emigrants who had pulled their handcarts earlier that day through the small business district of Fort Dex Moines where Good lived. This was the fourth handcart company to pull through the city in two months. Good's visit would be noted in the company's official journal, but subsequent histories have overlooked his charitable gesture--a simple act of kindness--while at the camp.

Iowa City Bound: Mormon Migration By Sail And Rail, 1856-1857, Fred E. Woods

Faculty Publications

In the spring of 1855, an article in the Mormons' British periodical, The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, instructed church members to leave "Babylon" just as ancient Israel had left Egypt under Moses' leadership. For European converts, the Atlantic was their Red Sea and Brigham Young their American Moses. During his nearly 30 years (1847-1877) as president and prophet of the Latter-day Saints (LDS), Young directed the organized migration of more than 70,000 people to Utah, most of them from Europe. He approved yearly migration plans, appointed officers to manage the various companies, and arranged for church agents to assist at …

Modern Polygamy And Mormon Fundamentalism: The Generations After The Manifesto, J. Michael Hunter

Faculty Publications

Book review of Brian C. Hales's Modern Polygamy and Mormon Fundamentalism: The Generations after the Manifesto (Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2006).

Approaching Understandings In The Book Of Abraham, Kerry M. Muhlestein

Faculty Publications

The Book of Abraham is replete with important and rich doctrines for Latter-day Saints. The existence of papyri connected with the Book of Abraham furthers interest in this volume of scripture. While much research has been conducted into the doctrines and also the origins of the Book of Abraham, clearly much more remains to be done.

Behold, Ye Shall Have Joy With Me’: A Study On The Lord, The Servant And The Allegory Of The Olive Tree, Dan Belnap, Daniel L. Belnap

Faculty Publications

In chapter 5 of the book of Jacob, we find a unique text commonly referred to as the allegory of the olive tree. President Joseph Fielding Smith once said that “the parable of Zenos . . . is one of the greatest parables ever recorded.”1 Composed of seventy-seven verses, this allegory is thought to follow the progression of a particular olive tree and its offspring in the Lord’s vineyard. Many readers have commented on the special nature of the allegory, with studies ranging from theological meaning, to linguistic comparisons, to actual viticultural practices. Though these studies differ in content, they …

Mormon Media History Timeline: 1827-2007, Sherry Baker

Faculty Publications

This timeline is a work in progress. It is posted currently as a PDF file in order to make it available in a timely manner to scholars who are working on Mormon media history, or any other scholarship for which it might be helpful and informative. It is anticipated that the timeline eventually will be reworked into media formats that will make it more accessible, and that will allow it to be updated, enhanced, and corrected over time. If you wish to comment upon this Mormon Media History Timeline, contact Sherry Baker at [email protected].

Insights Available As We Approach The Original Text, Kerry M. Muhlestein

Faculty Publications

What excites me most about Royal Skousen's Analysis of Textual Variants,Part One: 1 Nephi 1 2 Nephi 10 (hereafter Analysis) is what it says about Latter-day Saints' commitment to the scriptures in general and to the Book of Mormon specifically. This volume, like others in the series published to date, bespeaks our desire to know, as accurately as possible, what the text actually says. We understand that even those with the best intentions sometimes introduce mistakes into the most sacred and important texts. Skousen demonstrates that he and others value the Book of Mormon so much that meticulous and intense …

A Mormon And Still A Jew: The Life Of Alexander Neibaur, Fred E. Woods

Faculty Publications

Alexander Neibaur was a man of many talents. An educated man and gifted poet, he was fluent in seven languages. One account describes Neibaur as "a small, thin man, with a round ruddy face, with sharp eyes." He was also unusual inasmuch as he was Utah's first dentist and matchmaker, and the first known male Jewish convert to Mormonism; and he left the only known contemporary diary account of Joseph Smith's first vision experience. Neibaur was also a good family man, honest and loyal, and a kind friend and trusted neighbor, not only to fellow Church members but also to …

Starting A Pioneer Newspaper : The Deseret News, J. Michael Hunter

Faculty Publications

Before the Latter-day Saints arrived in Salt Lake City, arrangements were made for a printing establishment in the Salt Lake Valley. At Winter Quarters, Brigham Young sent W. W. Phelps to obtain a press that might be brought west. This article briefly describes the Ramage press that Phelps acquired. The Deseret News, the first newspaper in the Rocky Mountains, began publication on June 15, 1850. This weekly eight-page paper contained news taken from national newspapers, events in Britain, and local information such as activities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), and crop conditions. One …

Of Printers, Prophets, And Politicians: William Lyon Mackenzie, Mormonism, And Early Printing In Upper Canada, Richard Bennett, Daniel H. Olsen

Faculty Publications

Well-known in both Canadian and Latter-day Saint history is the arrival of Charles Ora Card and his faithful band of followers in southern Alberta in 1887. Less explored is the much earlier venture into Upper Canada (Ontario) of such prominent Mormon leaders as Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, Orson Hyde, and scores of others during the 1830s in their concerted attempts to promulgate their new faith on Canadian soil. Their success in converting hundreds of people, many of whom were British- and American-born Methodists or members of other nonconformist faiths, prompted Mormon leaders to send missionaries …

Byu–Hawaii: A Conversation With Eric B. Shumway, Fred E. Woods

Faculty Publications

BYU–Hawaii: A Conversation with Eric B. Shumway Interview by Fred E. Woods, Eric B. Shumway is president of BYU–Hawaii. Fred E. Woods is a professor of Church history and doctrine at BYU, Provo campus.

Female Breast Cancer Incidence And Survival In Utah According To Religious Preference, 1985-1999, Ray M. Merrill, Jeffrey A. Folsom

Faculty Publications

Female breast cancer incidence rates in Utah are among the lowest in the U.S. The influence of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint (LDS or Mormon) religion on these rates, as well as on disease-specific survival, will be explored for individuals diagnosed with breast cancer in Utah from 1985 through 1999. Methods: Population-based records for incident female breast cancer patients were linked with membership records from the LDS Church to determine religious affiliation and, for LDS Church members, level of religiosity. Incidence rates were age-adjusted to the 2000 U.S. standard population using the direct method. Cox proportional hazards …

Pronounced Clean, Comfortable, And Good Looking: The Passage Of Mormon Immigrants Through The Port Of Philadelphia, Fred E. Woods

Faculty Publications

We were pronounced clean, comfortable, and good looking. So wrote LDS voyage leader Matthias Cowley after arriving in Philadelphia with a company of foreign Saints in the mid-nineteenth century. At this time, Latter-day Saint European immigrants, obeying the call to come to Zion, were gathering to America by the thousands on the way to their Mormon Mecca in Salt Lake City. They were obeying the call to come to Zion. In 1852, the First Presidency issued the following counsel: "When a people, or individuals, hear the Gospel, obey its first principles, are baptized for the remission of sins, and receive …

A World In Darkness -- Early Latter-Day Saint Understanding Of The Apostasy, 1830-1834, Richard Bennett, Amber J. Seidel

Faculty Publications

Our first purpose will be to show that Joseph Smith's sense of an apostasy from the true Christian faith was ratified in the first vision; furthermore, that this understanding changed and developed during the early years of his prophetic training. Our second objective will be to examine how the doctrine of the apostasy was understood and taught by both leaders and missionaries within the first four years of the organization of the Church of Christ in 1830. Although this is a subjective rather than a quantitative study, we have concluded, after an extensive review of many of the contemporary sources, …

The Book Of Breathings In Its Place, Kerry M. Muhlestein

Faculty Publications

Michael D. Rhodes's publication on the Hor Book of Breathings is an unusual book in many ways. It is a scholarly Egyptological work, dealing with an understudied type of text from an understudied era of Egyptian history, appearing in the midst of a series that has been dedicated to the exploration of a book considered to be scripture by the Latter-day Saints. Additionally, it deals with what many have incorrectly considered to be a text that can be used to test the revelatory ability of the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints.

The Kinderhook Plates, The Tucson Artifacts, And Mormon Archeological Zeal, J. Michael Hunter

Faculty Publications

“The Kinderhook Plates, the Tucson Artifacts, and Mormon Archeological Zeal” discusses Mormon archeological zeal, or the short-sighted enthusiasm shown by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) regarding relics or artifacts that might "prove" the veracity of the Book of Mormon or even of the LDS Church. This article summarizes the history of both the Kinderhook Plates and the Tucson Artifacts within this context, stating that the Kinderhook Plates have been proven fraudulent but that the Tucson Artifacts still provide mystery to researchers. The Kinderhook Plates were created by three conspirators who lived in Kinderhook, …

The Case For Sidney Rigdon As Author Of The Lectures On Faith, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

Twentieth century attempts to include the "Lectures on Faith" in the writings of Joseph Smith, Jr., provoked this comprehensive survey of historical evidence and carefully designed authorship testing of the text. Every credible approach reaches the same conclusion. Sidney Rigdon wrote the Lectures on Faith, likely without help from Joseph Smith or any others. These Lectures are characterized by both teachings and language that Rigdon may have retained from his recent discipleship with Alexander Campbell. The published Lectures follow both the form and content of lectures given and then published by frontier phenomenon Charles Finney. The decision to insert these …

The Decline Of Covenant In Early Christian Thought, Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

While many LDS attempts to describe or explain the transformation of the Christian movement and its teachings in the early centuries in terms of an accommodation to Greek philosophy, this paper focuses on the first two Christian centuries and the early elimination of covenant thinking and practice that may have opened the door to Greek thought.

The Mormon Hive: A Study Of The Bee And Beehive Symbols In Nineteenth Century Mormon Culture, J. Michael Hunter

Faculty Publications

From antiquity to the middle of the eighteenth century, humans used the bee and beehive symbols to represent monarchy. Political and social changes resulted in a reinterpretation of the bee and beehive symbols during the eighteenth century. Republicans ignored the royalist associations of bees and beehives, and used them to represent values of the new republicanism. In nineteenth-century America, the Mormons, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, encountered the bee and beehive symbols while participating in the rites of Freemasonry. In the nineteenth century, Mormons used the bee and beehive symbols to represent the Kingdom of …

The Palawai Pioneers On The Island Of Lanai: The First Hawaiian Latter-Day Saint Gathering Place (1854-1864), Fred E. Woods

Faculty Publications

A decade after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum, the message of the Restoration continued to breathe new spiritual life into thousands who were part of scattered Israel, and the Hawaiians were no exception. The call to gather had go forth: "Gather ye out from among the nations, from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Send forth my elders of my church unto the nations, which are afar off; unto the islands of the sea" (D&C 133:7-8). After the Saints had been exiled from Nauvoo in 1846 and had migrated …

Traditional Christian Sacraments And Covenants, Noel B. Reynolds, Bryson L. Bachman

Faculty Publications

Whereas Mormon theology and scripture understands baptism as the witnessing of a covenant to follow Christ, a survey of Christian tradition shows that the early Christian writers did not link their understanding of covenant with baptism. Historical reasons for the de-emphasis of covenant language in the Roman period are identified, before it picked up again in baptismal settings after the fourth century. Extensive discussion of covenant theology emerged later between the reformers. Calvin, Luther, and Zwingli are considered, but Bullinger has the most to say on the link between ordinances and covenants in a way that would make sense for …