Mormon Studies Commons^™

In The Beginning: Genesis 1-3 And Its Significance To The Latter-Day Saints, Dan Belnap, Daniel L. Belnap

Faculty Publications

This volume begins with the same event the Bible itself does—the Creation. The Creation narrative and the Garden of Eden narrative that immediately follows have been the subject of much study throughout the years. Over the past century, particular attention has been given to the similarities between it and other ancient Near Eastern Creation narratives. For Latter-day Saints, the Creation and Garden of Eden narratives play central roles in their worship practices, the narratives themselves laying down the plan of salvation God ordained for all his children. In this first chapter, Dan Belnap describes what creation meant to those of …

The Promise And The Provocation: The Sinai Narrative, Dan Belnap, Daniel L. Belnap

Faculty Publications

Following the deliverance from the Red Sea, the Israelites encamped at Sinai, where events would take place that defined them from that period on, such as receiving the law of Moses and the rites associated with the tabernacle. For Latter-day Saints, perhaps even more significant is the event of the provocation, an event that is alluded to in Restoration scripture and that addresses the most profound of religious experiences: entering into the presence of God. Dan Belnap and Andrew Skinner explore the ramifications of the Sinai narrative in this chapter, noting in particular that the promises made to the Israelites …

Clark Memorandum: Fall 2021, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Byu Law School Alumni Association, J. Reuben Clark Law Society

The Clark Memorandum

• Truth, Civility, and Advocacy
• Cultivating a Deeper Faith in Jesus Christ
• Can Religion Be a Healing Force in Society?
• Navigating Life’s Uncertainties

Read on Issuu

"There Was One Samuel": Possible Multiple Sources For The Samuel Narrative, Dan Belnap, Daniel L. Belnap

Faculty Publications

During the second day of Christ’s ministry to the New World, a curious event took place. Having taught and commented on a number of biblical texts, Christ then had Nephi3 present his own record for review.1 The inspection uncovered a missing event that Christ brought to the attention of the gathered disciples: “Verily I say unto you, I commanded my servant Samuel, the Lamanite, that he should testify unto this people, that at the day that the Father should glorify his name in me that there were many saints who should arise from the dead, and should appear unto many, …

Doctrinal Insights From Joseph Smith’S First Vision, Robert L. Millet

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

The appearing of the Father and the Son to Joseph Smith is the foundation of this Church,” President David O. McKay stated. “Therein lies the secret of [the Church’s] strength and vitality. . . . What God is, is answered. His relation to his children is clear.” President Ezra Taft Benson pointed out, “Sometimes I think we are so close to [the First Vision] that we don’t fully appreciate its significance and importance and the magnitude of it.” President Benson then added, “The first vision of the Prophet Joseph Smith is bedrock theology in this Church.”

Introduction To A Byu Studies Quarterly Special Issue On Open Questions In Latter-Day Saint Theology, Eric A. Eliason, Terryl L. Givens

BYU Studies

Through revelation, our knowledge of the Lord’s creations and his plan for us is gloriously multifaceted, and ever increasing. Revealed truth continually pushes back darkness, opening our eyes to ever-more expansive vistas. Joseph Smith’s revelations often came as answers to questions that occurred to him in the context of his current state of knowledge. But as insight increases, it may seem that each answered question precipitates three more. This is the natural condition for followers of a religion of continuing revelation.

Understandings Of The Relationship Between Grace And Works, Terryl L. Givens

BYU Studies

No debate more thoroughly sunders the Christian world into competing factions than the simple question, Are we saved by grace or by works? It needs to be stated at the outset, however, that the framing of the debate in such terms is not truly accurate. Sola gratia, or salvation by grace alone, is one of the pillars of Protestantism. No one, on the other hand, affirms a doctrine of salvation by works. (Pelagians might have in the fifth century, but they are no longer alive to be part of the conversation.) The debate is really over the question, Are …

Book Of Mormon Geographies, Andrew H. Hedges

BYU Studies

Of the many unresolved issues facing members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today, perhaps none has generated as much speculation and controversy as the question regarding where, exactly, the events recorded in the Book of Mormon took place. Beginning in Joseph Smith’s lifetime and continuing to the present, scholars and interested members alike have offered a variety of possible locations for the more prominent places mentioned in the text, including the city of Zarahemla, the “narrow neck of land” (Ether 10:20), the river Sidon, and the site of the last battle between the Nephites and the …

Front Matter

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

“As Long As The World Shall Stand”, Elder David A. Bednar

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

I am grateful to gather with you today in this Brigham Young University devotional. Susan and I love you and have looked forward to this occasion with great anticipation for many weeks.

Christ As Our Law: He Who Sanctifies, Enlightens, And Saves, Keith Lane

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

The doctrine of Christ is a living, practical theology of discipleship (see 2 Nephi 31:21, Doctrine and Covenants 10:62). With the revelations given to Joseph Smith, particularly those in the Doctrine and Covenants, the faith of the Latter-day Saints is grounded in the realm of practical behavior— of religious life ordered for individuals and the Church by laws, principles, and, above all, covenants and ordinances given us by Deity. But all these point to Christ himself as the law. Clearly there are elements of correct belief or orthodoxy, but these are primarily useful because they point us to faith in …

Section 77 And Book Of Revelation Scholarship, Nicholas J. Frederick

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

The book of Revelation is a complicated book, to say the least. For those of us who teach courses covering the book of Revelation, we often rely upon Joseph Smith’s questions and answers on the book of Revelation, now canonized as Doctrine and Covenants 77, as a means of providing some answers to all the mysterious complexity John’s vision presents to us. However, the question inevitably arises as to how closely the answers provided in section 77 adhere to the text of the book of Revelation as well as the opinion of New Testament scholars, both those contemporary to Joseph …

Uncovering The Voice Of The Lord: Analysis And Implications Of Joseph Smith’S Letter From Liberty Jail, Adam R. Jardine, Seth N. Hord

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Joseph Smith’s experience in Liberty Jail stands among the most faith-challenging, helpless, and discouraging moments of his life. His letters during this time are of such significance that portions have been canonized as scripture and are among the most cited sections by church leaders in general conference.1 This paper provides an exegesis of portions of Joseph Smith’s Liberty Jail letters with a specific focus on the transition in pronoun usage in his dictation of Doctrine and Covenants 121 and 122. Despite ample scholarly attention on these letters, there appears to be limited discussion regarding Joseph’s change of language in the …

“Come, See The Place”: Teaching Students The Value Of Historic Sites, Scott C. Esplin

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

The scriptures repeatedly speak of holy places. For example, the Old Testament frequently uses the term to refer to the tabernacle or later the temple, including designating a portion of both structures as “the holy place” and “the most holy place” (see Exodus 26:33–34; 1 Kings 6:16; Ezekiel 41:4).1 New Testament passages generally adopt the same usage, with the book of Acts twice recording when Jewish leaders accused Stephen and later Paul of corrupting the “holy place” by their teaching about Jesus of Nazareth (see Acts 6:13; 21:28). Foretelling when “the end [would] come,” the Savior himself cautioned followers in …

A Church Educator’S Guide To Identifying And Helping The Scrupulous Student, Debra Theobald Mcclendon

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Educators in the Church Educational System teach gospel doctrines and knowledge of the scriptures and also counsel students about personal issues such as strengthening testimony, learning how to receive personal revelation, working through difficult family or social circumstances, and solving specific issues in their lives. This often creates bonds of trust with students and students will often approach teachers with their intimate spiritual and temporal concerns.

Sinners In The Hands Of The Unknown God, Dainel K. Judd

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Many readers will recognize the title of this article as a merging of phrases from two well-known sermons in Christian history. The first five words of the title come from Reverand Jonathan Edwards’s eighteenth-century sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” The last three words form a phrase from the testimony of the Apostle Paul to the ancient Athenians wherein he spoke of “THE UNKNOWN GOD” (Acts 17:23).

Learning That Leads To God, Russell T. Osguthorpe

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

While teaching an instructional design course, I would often begin the semester by asking students to define the word learning. On the surface, that seems like a relatively simple task, but most students struggled to craft a definition that satisfied them. We would then explore scholarly definitions of the word, often with equally unsatisfying results. Scholars in the fields of education and psychology usually focus on three primary aspects of the word learning: (1) the acquisition of new knowledge or a new skill (2) that persists over time and (3) is not due only to growth and development.

Full Issue

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

Was Jesus Married?, Christopher James Blythe

BYU Studies

While the belief that Jesus was married during his lifetime has been popular among Church leaders and lay members since the nineteenth century, it has never been an essential of Latter-day Saint theology. Rather, belief in a married Christ prospered in the early decades of the Church with little controversy among members, until leaders in the early twentieth century discouraged its public discussion while never disparaging the concept. A century later, as FAIR, an independent apologetic think tank, states on its website, “Some [Latter-day Saints] believe that He was married; others believe He wasn’t. Most members are open to believe …

What Is The Nature Of God’S Progress?, Matthew Bowman

BYU Studies

In the theology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the question of whether or not God progresses can be separated into two more precise questions, each of which has been the topic of strenuous debate. The first has to do with whether God has always been divine or achieved that state through eons of progression, passing through a humanity much like ours along the way. The second is whether God continues to progress—and crucially, whether that progression is qualitative or simply quantitative: whether God’s progress means that God learns new things and gains new powers or whether …

Using Section 84 To Emphasize The Priesthood Power Of Women, Barbara Morgan Gardner

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

In the October 2019 general conference, President Russell M. Nelson expressed his yearning for the women of the Church to “understand that the restoration of the priesthood is just as relevant to you as a woman as it is to any man.” In the same talk, he invited the women to “gain, understand, and use the power with which you have been endowed” and to “study prayerfully all the truths you can find about priesthood power.” He encouraged the women to study Doctrine and Covenants sections 25, 84, and 107 as a starting point to increase their understanding. He then …

Front Matter

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

“Oh Say, What Is Truth?”: Approaches To Doctrine, Michael Goodman

BYU Studies

The restored gospel of Jesus Christ, like other religious traditions, claims to be based on true doctrines.² The above hymn, included in the first edition of the Pearl of Great Price, encapsulates the deep longing for truth by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Statements by Church leaders abound extolling the virtue and power of truth, but such statements often beg the question, What is truth? Scripture states that “truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come.”³ Church curricular material further states that “divine …

Is Sure Knowledge An Ideal For Everyone Or One Spiritual Gift Among Many?, Blair Dee Hodges, Patrick Q. Mason

BYU Studies

“I’d like to bear my testimony. I know the Church is true. I know that Heavenly Father lives and loves us. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet and restored the Church on the earth. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know that the Church is led by living prophets today. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.”

Is God Subject To Or The Creator Of Eternal Law?, James Mclachlan

BYU Studies

Whether God is subject to law or whether God created all law is a question long debated in priesthood quorums, Relief Society meetings, Gospel Doctrine classes, and around Latter-day Saint dinner tables. Both sides claim the scriptures and the Prophet Joseph Smith. The divide usually lines up with, on one side, Joseph Fielding Smith and Bruce McConkie teaching of God’s power over all things and, on the other, B. H. Roberts, John Widtsoe, and James Talmage seeing God as the revealer of laws that even God must follow. Not only is the question open and unsettled as a matter of …

The King Follett Discourse: Pinnacle Or Peripheral?, James E. Faulconer, Susannah Morrison

BYU Studies

On March 8, 1844, fifty-five-year-old King Follett, an early convert to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, was killed in a well-digging accident. On April 7, as part of a general conference of the Church in Nauvoo, and in response to the request of Follett’s family, Joseph Smith memorialized him with a sermon about the general subject of death and the dead. Smith said his sermon, a revelation on the origins of God and the divine potential of human beings, was about “the first principles of consolation.” Though Smith mentions Follett by name only early in the sermon, referring to …

Shards Of Combat: How Did Satan Seek To Destroy The Agency Of Man?, Philip L. Barlow

BYU Studies

Human beings in other guise lived before the creation of our world. This belief is at once controversial and durable, pervading the history of Western thought and bearing analogues elsewhere.¹ That gods, angels, or other celestial beings rebelled against their superiors or engaged in cosmic conflict prior to earth’s creation is a related concept, widespread in the ancient world. Depictions or allusions to such contests appear in the myths, lore, art, literature, and sacred texts of Babylon, Egypt, Israel, Persia, Greece, Rome, far-flung tribal religions, and elsewhere. In certain cases, the older traditions endure even to the present, as …

Each Atom An Agent?, Steven L. Peck

BYU Studies

An agent, broadly conceived, references something causally efficacious. More narrowly, the word agent is usually deployed in at least three senses. The first is as brute causality. For example, to say that water is an agent of erosion on vegetatively barren hillsides is to claim that water directly causes the removal of the soil in particular drainage systems. The second sense, used predominately in biology, recognizes an agent as an individual autonomous system that constrains the flow of energy and matter such that its actions are performed for particular functions or goals. For instance, a simple bacterium is drawn to …

The Joseph Smith Translation Of The Bible: Ancient Material Restored Or Inspired Commentary? Canonical Or Optional? Finished Or Unfinished?, Jared W. Ludlow

BYU Studies

Joseph Smith began an ambitious program to revise the biblical text in June 1830, not long after the organization of the Church of Christ and the publication of the Book of Mormon. While the result came to be known as the Joseph Smith Translation (JST), it was not a literal word-for-word translation of ancient biblical languages from a manuscript but more of an inspired revision or paraphrase based on the King James Version in English, carried out primarily between June 1830 and July 1833.¹ Since Joseph Smith never specifically addressed how or exactly why he made the particular changes …

How Limited Is Postmortal Progression?, Terryl L. Givens

BYU Studies

One way of making sense of Latter-day Saint heterodoxy—its location outside the spectrum of mainstream, historic Christianity—is to envision it as the culmination of early Christian trends that were suppressed or reconfigured in the early centuries of the new faith. In other words, one could see the Restoration as a road of Christian development not taken. After all, holds the great historian Walter Bauer, heresy is merely the orthodoxy that lost out.¹ One scholar of early Christianity observes that the condemnation of Origen, church father of the third century, ensured the supremacy in the Christian tradition of a “theology …