Mormon Studies Commons^™

Reanchoring Our Purpose To Jesus Christ, Clark G. Gilbert, Scott C. Esplin, Jared W. Ludlow, Barbara Morgan Gardner

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Esplin: Thank you for your willingness to share your thoughts and insights with us. For some who may be unaware of your background, will you introduce yourself to our readers. Gilbert: I really feel like the Lord planted experiences in my life from my very earliest years that had a purpose in Him. I would not have known the significance of many of those experiences until just in the last decade. I grew up in a home where education, and Church education in particular, were highly valued. Both my parents graduated from BYU. Both my parents have law degrees. From …

Time And Intensity Growth Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints In Greece, Mary Jane Woodger

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

In the late 1970s, missionary work was reinstated in Greece after Latter-day Saint missionaries not having been in the nation for nearly one hundred years because of political unrest. In time Greece became part of the Austria Vienna East Mission, which covered much of Eastern Europe, with Dennis B. Neuenschwander as mission president (1987–1991). In 2019, while reflecting on his service, Neuenschwander discussed an inherent relationship between intensity and time: “Some of our experiences can be very intense, focused in a relatively short period of time. However, the consequences, implications, and applicability of such powerful experiences and moments must often …

Highlights From The Spring 2022 Prospective Missionary Devotional, Marcus B. Nash

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

This article is a transcription of the Spring 2022 Prospective Missionary Devotional featuring Elder Marcus B. Nash of the Seventy, with two future missionaries, Hannah Bingham and Carter Boswell, serving as hosts. The semiannual Prospective Missionary Devotional is presented by BYU Religious Education and the Utah Valley Institute of Religion. During the devotional, Elder Nash asked several current and future missionaries to answer questions about their experiences and the challenges they were facing. Following this portion, Elder Nash answered questions that the audience had submitted. The devotional concluded with Elder Nash giving prospective missionaries some crucial tips on how to …

"Knocking On People's Computers" Missionary Work In The Digital Age, Scott L. Howell, Liberty Howell, Camellia Hill

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

The missionary purpose of bringing souls unto Christ will never change, but the methods of sharing it will. Over fifty years ago, President Harold B. Lee taught that “the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ are divine. Nobody changes the principles and [doctrine] of the Church except the Lord by revelation. But methods change as the inspired direction comes to those who preside at a given time.”[1] In a recent Church News podcast, Elder Brent H. Nielson of the Presidency of the Seventy reminded us that “no matter the method we use to do missionary work: Whether it’s a …

Front Matter

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

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"That Ye May Have Hope" Nephi's Use Of Isaiah 49:22-23 In Teaching The Concept Of Hope, Matthew L. Bowen

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Nephi and later Book of Mormon authors typically explain their uses of Isaiah’s writings in their own records. These statements occur in the framing material before and after lengthy quotations. Before Nephi’s first such quotation—the entirety of Isaiah 48–49—he offers a reason for reading this block of text to his family members, one that ultimately explains his including it in his small plates record: “But that I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer, wherefore I did read unto them that which was written by the prophet Isaiah” (1 Nephi 19:23).[1] This oft-cited statement of …

Covenants, Kinship, And Caring For The Destitute In The Book Of Amos, Joshua M. Matson

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

At the outset of the book of Amos, the Old Testament prophet captures the attention of the ancient Israelites when he condemns the inhabitants of Tyre, a port city north of Israel often used synonymously to reference the Phoenicians, for not remembering “the brotherly covenant” (Amos 1:9), or as it appears in a different translation, “the covenant of kinship” (1:9 NRSV). [1] The Israelites easily recognized and eagerly accepted this condemnation because they were the victims of the covenantal breach from one of their neighboring regional powers. [2] Amos, however, did not travel from the southern kingdom of Judah to …

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

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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

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Saving A Child (Exodus 1-2), Kevin L. Tolley

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Exodus is arguably the most essential book in the Hebrew Bible because it depicts the pivotal events in Israel’s history and the definitive institutions of its religion. These themes have reverberated through all subsequent Jewish and Christian history.[1] Nahum Sarna wrote that the Exodus narrative “profoundly influenced ethical and social consciousness” in the Torah and was the “motivation for protecting and promoting the interests and rights of the stranger and disadvantaged of society.”[2]

Developing Discerning Disciple-Learners And Teachers Byu–Hawaii’S Christ-Centered Framework For Learning And Teaching, Jared Marcum

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Even though the sole duty of religious educators is to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ,[1] they cannot shoulder the whole responsibility of spiritual education at the Church Educational System’s (CES) institutions of higher learning. President Kevin J Worthen stated, “If the only insights that students receive on gospel truths are in their religion classes, we will not be that different from other good universities to which an institute of religion is attached. What will truly make us unique—and what we must uniquely do well—is to meet the challenge set forth by President Spencer W. Kimball: ‘That every professor and …

Religious Literacy Practices For Young Readers, Eric D. Rackley, Rebekah Kay Strain

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Although much of our gospel knowledge depends upon our interactions with scripture, misconceptions about reading it persist. One of the most enduring is the illusion of comprehension in which young readers mistakenly believe that reading words is sufficient to understand ideas.[1] To understand the important insights embedded in scripture and other complex texts, “reading must go considerably beyond the words alone.”[2] Words are sketches of ideas—not ideas themselves—so no text, however descriptive or eloquent, can include all the information necessary to understand its most compelling truths. For young readers to take full advantage of scripture and have the truths of …

The Covenant Among Covenants The Abrahamic Covenant And Biblical Covenant Making, Shon D. Hopkin

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

As stated by one biblical scholar, “It is recognized by all serious students of the Bible that the covenant with Abraham is one of the important and determinative revelations of Scripture. It furnishes the key to the entire Old Testament.”[1] Many Christians believe that the Old Testament covenant was superseded with the coming of Christ. Joseph Smith, however, taught that God is always the same, that his plan of salvation does not change, and that his promises in ancient times remain in effect.[2] Thus, for Latter-day Saints, the Restoration of the gospel hinges on “the new and everlasting covenant” (Doctrine …

Nephi's Messiah, Tanner A. Barratt

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

The Book of Mormon powerfully testifies of Jesus Christ. He is mentioned every 1.7 verses and by scores of different names.[1] Among the many names by which Jesus is identified in sacred writings, the name by which we most commonly know him is Jesus Christ. The word Christ is Greek in origin and means anointed one. It is interesting to note that, just like the Greek word Christ, the Hebrew word Messiah is translated as anointed one. Even though these two titles have the same definition, they present themselves differently in the Book of Mormon.