Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
-
- Religious Education (224)
- Biblical Studies (21)
- Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion (12)
- Christianity (10)
- History (8)
-
- Social and Behavioral Sciences (7)
- English Language and Literature (6)
- Art and Design (4)
- Linguistics (4)
- Rhetoric and Composition (4)
- Theatre and Performance Studies (4)
- Dance (3)
- Education (3)
- History of Religion (3)
- Comparative Methodologies and Theories (2)
- East Asian Languages and Societies (2)
- Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (2)
- New Religious Movements (2)
- Other Religion (2)
- Painting (2)
- Women's Studies (2)
- Communication (1)
- Comparative Literature (1)
- Criminology (1)
- Cultural History (1)
- Discourse and Text Linguistics (1)
- Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research (1)
- Institution
- Publication Year
- Publication
-
- Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship (138)
- BYU Studies (85)
- Faculty Publications (43)
- Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel (34)
- Theses and Dissertations (34)
-
- Mormon Studies Review (8)
- Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship (6)
- Interpreter Foundation Books (3)
- Studies in the Bible and Antiquity (2)
- All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023 (1)
- Bookshelf (1)
- Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations (1)
- Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers (1)
- Honors Projects (1)
- Mormon Pacific Historical Society (1)
- Publication Type
Articles 211 - 240 of 359
Full-Text Articles in Mormon Studies
Finding Documents On The Joseph Smith Papers Website, Kenneth L. Alford Ph.D.
Finding Documents On The Joseph Smith Papers Website, Kenneth L. Alford Ph.D.
Faculty Publications
The Joseph Smith Papers website (josephsmithpapers.org) is a wonderful resource. With thousands of documents and hundreds of resource pages, though, it can sometimes feel like you’re searching for a needle in a haystack. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how you might use the website to learn more about quotations and documents associated with the Prophet Joseph Smith. This article helps readers learn to use the Joseph Smith Papers website to find specific documents. It also teaches readers how to benefit from the numerous other resources available on the Joseph Smith Papers website.
Is Not This Real?, Joseph M. Spencer
Is Not This Real?, Joseph M. Spencer
BYU Studies
Latter-day Saints often take Korihor, the infamous Nephite anti-Christ, to be a fool, someone perhaps rightly struck dumb for stupidly demanding signs when he knew better. After all, he self-contradictorily trusted “an angel” who told him that “there is no God” (Alma 30:53). One popular commentary remarks: “Wickedness does not promote rational thought!”
Beyond Justice: Reading Alma 42 In The Context Of Atonement Theories, Mark D. Ellison
Beyond Justice: Reading Alma 42 In The Context Of Atonement Theories, Mark D. Ellison
Faculty Publications
In Alma 42, Alma teaches his son Corianton about the atonement in a statement laden with legal vocabulary. Terms such as law, judged, just, justice, injustice, punishment, probationary, and penitent dominate the message, in company with such concepts as the execution of the law, the infliction of punishment, and punishment being affixed to violation of law. By all appearances, Alma sets forth what theologians call a juridical view of atonement (one concerned with the administration of justice). The problem as Alma states it is that “all mankind were fallen” and because of disobedience were “in the grasp of justice” and …
The Book Of Mormon And Patriarchal Blessings: Reflections By An Ordained Patriarch, Richard Dilworth Rust
The Book Of Mormon And Patriarchal Blessings: Reflections By An Ordained Patriarch, Richard Dilworth Rust
Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel
In my service as a stake patriarch before going on several missions with my wife and subsequently in giving patriarchal blessings to several of my grandchildren, I have learned how the Book of Mormon as a whole and in its parts can be likened in many ways to a patriarchal blessing. Likewise, a patriarchal blessing given by an ordained patriarch can be likened to the Book of Mormon. An increased understanding of the one can help us better understand and value the other. In looking at the Book of Mormon and patriarchal blessings together, one can see even more clearly …
Lds Hispanic Americans And Lamanite Identity, Tyler Balli
Lds Hispanic Americans And Lamanite Identity, Tyler Balli
Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel
In September 1972, the Ensign published a piece called “What Is a Lamanite?” Using an “imaginary conversation” between different individuals of Latin American descent and a Church leader, this article got to the heart of the complexity of Lamanite identification within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When this piece was published in the 1970s—and even long before—some Church leaders strongly encouraged Hispanics to identify as Lamanites, a name referring to a people found in the Church’s founding scripture—the Book of Mormon. Even with the Church’s encouragement, however, not all Hispanics jumped to identify as Lamanites. The “What …
Questions In The Book Of Mormon, Holt Zaugg
Questions In The Book Of Mormon, Holt Zaugg
Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel
Questions are the catalyst that drives learning, providing a focus on what an individual wants or needs to know. They are the drivers that move knowledge acquisition to realms of greater understanding and wisdom. Karen Brown, a professor at Dominican University, describes questions as the heart of learning and the impetus for building knowledge. Teachers and students use questions to vet information and allow them to develop the ability to see when change is coming and to manage changes when they occur. Questions help people to zone in on important details that help to sharpen and refine their thinking.
The Book Of Mormon In American Missions At The Turn Of The Twentieth Century, John C. Thomas
The Book Of Mormon In American Missions At The Turn Of The Twentieth Century, John C. Thomas
Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel
Historians describe the opening decades of the twentieth century as a challenging time of transition for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Manifesto on plural marriage in 1890 and the successful bid for Utah’s statehood in 1896 pointed toward rapprochement with American culture. But in an era of potential assimilation, tensions lingered as Mormons labored to “translate the things America demanded of them into the language and imperatives of their own faith.” Thomas G. Alexander observed that ongoing controversy in the era prompted Church leaders to search for “a new paradigm that would save essential characteristics of …
Review Of The Bible, Mormon Scripture, And The Rhetoric Of Allusivity, By Nicholas J. Frederick, Cory Crawford
Review Of The Bible, Mormon Scripture, And The Rhetoric Of Allusivity, By Nicholas J. Frederick, Cory Crawford
Mormon Studies Review
In this monograph Nicholas Frederick tackles the directional literary relationship between canonical Mormon scripture and the King James Bible with a methodology more secure and transparent than has been applied in the past. He advances substantively the study of Latter-day Saint sacred texts by trying to get an analytical handle on what attentive readers detect easily, namely, that the rhetorical space created and occupied by Joseph Smith’s canonized writings, produced in English, is inseparable from the English of the King James Bible in ways that complicate the question of historicity and translation. For Frederick, detecting and decoding allusion in LDS …
Timing The Translation Of The Book Of Mormon: "Days [And Hours] Never To Be Forgotten", John W. Welch
Timing The Translation Of The Book Of Mormon: "Days [And Hours] Never To Be Forgotten", John W. Welch
BYU Studies
This paper aims to stimulate specific thinking about the intense and complex events during which the Book of Mormon was translated in 1829. Encouraged initially by Elder Neal A. Maxwell, and building on my chapter in the second edition of Opening the Heavens, this article strives to be as precise as possible about the timing of the events and progress of the Book of Mormon translation during the months and days it took place. In 1834, Oliver Cowdery wrote, “These were days never to be forgotten—to sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven, …
Elvis Has Left The Library: Identifying Forged Annotations In A Book Of Mormon, Keith A. Erekson
Elvis Has Left The Library: Identifying Forged Annotations In A Book Of Mormon, Keith A. Erekson
BYU Studies
For nearly three decades, the ghost of Elvis Presley has hung over the historical collections of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 1989, a copy of the Book of Mormon was donated that contained marginal annotations purportedly by the “King of Rock and Roll.” Word of the acquisition spread quickly by fireside speakers, classroom teachers, and newspaper columnists. Requests to see and touch the book came repeatedly, so much so that by 2002 the book’s binding had cracked and a digital copy was made for visitors who came each week for a peek. In 2007, an independent …
Abinadi: He Came Among Them In Disguise, Neal Rappleye
Abinadi: He Came Among Them In Disguise, Neal Rappleye
BYU Studies
Abinadi: He Came among Them in Disguise, edited by Shon D. Hopkin (Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2018)
Approaching Completion: The Book Of Mormon Critical Text Project: A Review Of Royal Skousen's Analysis Of Textual Variants Of The Book Of Mormon And The History Of The Text Of The Book Of Mormon: Grammatical Variation, Grant Hardy
BYU Studies
Analysis of Textual Variants
Dating The Departure Of Lehi From Jerusalem, Jeffrey R. Chadwick
Dating The Departure Of Lehi From Jerusalem, Jeffrey R. Chadwick
BYU Studies
Most Latter-day Saints would agree that the prophet Lehi and his family left their home in Jerusalem and departed into the wilderness in the year 600 BC. This is largely due to the presence of an asterisk in 1 Nephi 2:4, present in every official edition of the Book of Mormon from 1920 to 2012, which alerts readers to a “600 BC” chronological notation at the bottom of the page. However, a number of studies over the last forty years have suggested that 600 BC cannot have been the correct date of Lehi’s departure, preferring later dates anywhere from 597 …
An Egyptian Linguistic Component In Book Of Mormon Names, Eve Koller
An Egyptian Linguistic Component In Book Of Mormon Names, Eve Koller
BYU Studies
In February 2012, while studying the Book of Mormon, I searched in the index of the Triple Combination to clarify the identity of an individual. I came across names starting with “Z” and noticed a pattern—Zenephi, Zenos, Zenock. They looked as though they were composed of scriptural names (Nephi, Enos, Enoch, and so forth) with different forms of a z- prefix that might mean “son of ” or “descendant of.” Later, I noticed the name Cezoram and wondered if it was part of the same pattern, with a variation of the …
Abinadi's Legacy: Tracing His Influence Through The Book Of Mormon, John L. Hilton Iii
Abinadi's Legacy: Tracing His Influence Through The Book Of Mormon, John L. Hilton Iii
Faculty Publications
Eminent author Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "All minds quote. Old and new make the warp and woof of every moment. There is no thread that is not a twist of these two strands. By necessity, by proclivity, and by delight, we all quote." Identifying these instances of textual weavings is one aspect of a literary field known as intertextuality, an area that holds great promos for Book of Mormon research. Grant Hardy has suggested that it would be fruitful for our understanding of the Book of Mormon "to track various phrases throughout the Book of Mormon to determine which Nephite …
The Abinadi Narrative, Redemption, And The Struggle For Nephite Identity, Daniel L. Belnap, Dan Belnap
The Abinadi Narrative, Redemption, And The Struggle For Nephite Identity, Daniel L. Belnap, Dan Belnap
Faculty Publications
Though there is no question that the Book of Mormon’s primary purpose is to impart an understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ, this message is generally embedded by its editors and authors in very distinct historical and political settings. This is particularly true of Mormon, who often crafted his narratives so that a given prophetic ministry intersected and interacted with the sociopolitical concerns of the contemporary Nephite population. One such concern emerging again and again in Nephite history was their identity or relationship as Israel.
Understanding The Abrahamic Covenant Through The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds
Understanding The Abrahamic Covenant Through The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds
BYU Studies
Latter-day Saint discourse concerning Abraham and the blessings and covenants given to him by the Lord is distinguished by its reliance on the restoration of ancient scriptures and other revelations given to Joseph Smith. The revival of scholarly interest in Abraham in recent decades provides a timely opportunity to explore the contemporary findings of biblical scholars from a Latter-day Saint perspective—which, in turn, invites an in-depth exploration of how the Lord’s covenants with Abraham were understood by the Nephite prophets in the Book of Mormon, how their perspectives compare with contemporary biblical scholarship, and how the Nephite perspective may modify …
Questions In The Book Of Mormon, Holt Zaugg
Questions In The Book Of Mormon, Holt Zaugg
Faculty Publications
This article examines how questions are used in the Book of Mormon to teach concepts and principles.
The Abinadi Narrative, Redemption, And The Struggle For Nephite Identity, Dan Belnap, Daniel L. Belnap
The Abinadi Narrative, Redemption, And The Struggle For Nephite Identity, Dan Belnap, Daniel L. Belnap
Faculty Publications
Though there is no question that the Book of Mormon’s primary purpose is to impart an understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ, this message is generally embedded by its editors and authors in very distinct historical and political settings. This is particularly true of Mormon, who often crafted his narratives so that a given prophetic ministry intersected and interacted with the sociopolitical concerns of the contemporary Nephite population. One such concern emerging again and again in Nephite history was their identity or relationship as Israel. This question lay at the heart of a number of social and religious movements …
“ America Reads” And The Book Of Mormon, D. Todd Christofferson
“ America Reads” And The Book Of Mormon, D. Todd Christofferson
Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel
Between 1828 and 1831, the American Bible Society launched an aggressive campaign to put a copy of the Old and New Testament in every American home. During those three years, over 500,000 copies of “the Good Book” were printed and distributed across the country, illustrating just how much Protestant Americans considered themselves to be a God-fearing and Bible-believing people. At the same time of the American Bible Society’s ambitious initiative, a young man named Joseph Smith from upstate New York was translating and printing an additional sacred book of scripture, eventually published as the Book of Mormon.
All Kindreds Shall Be Blessed: Nephite, Jewish, And Christian Interpretations Of The Abrahamic Covenant, Noel B. Reynolds
All Kindreds Shall Be Blessed: Nephite, Jewish, And Christian Interpretations Of The Abrahamic Covenant, Noel B. Reynolds
Faculty Publications
A review of current and traditional scholarship regarding the covenant God made with Abraham combined with a thorough review of Book of Mormon references shows that the Nephite understanding varies in important ways from traditional Christian and Jewish interpretations. However, some of the insights of contemporary scholarship are more compatible with the Book of Mormon perspective.
The Ancient Doctrine Of The Two Ways And The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds
The Ancient Doctrine Of The Two Ways And The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds
Faculty Publications
Scholars have long recognized that a number of ancient cultures shared a traditional doctrine of the Two Ways that could be used to instruct youth and others in the right way to live their lives. While the language of the Two Ways surfaces on occasion in both the Old and New Testaments, the doctrine is not developed or explained in any detail in the Bible. However, noncanonical texts of the Greco-Roman period display a highly developed and stylized form of the doctrine in both Jewish and Christian traditions. The earliest known version of these stylized forms of the doctrine occurs …
Scripture Note—“For This Cause Did King Benjamin Keep Them”: King Benjamin Or King Mosiah?, Daniel Sharp
Scripture Note—“For This Cause Did King Benjamin Keep Them”: King Benjamin Or King Mosiah?, Daniel Sharp
Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel
In the 2013 edition of the scriptures published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ether 4:1 reads, “And the Lord commanded the brother of Jared to go down out of the mount from the presence of the Lord, and write the things which he had seen; and they were forbidden to come unto the children of men until after that he should be lifted up upon the cross; and for this cause did king Mosiah keep them, that they should not come unto the world until after Christ should show himself unto his people.” But the 1830 …
“After All We Can Do” (2 Nephi 25:23), Jared W. Ludlow
“After All We Can Do” (2 Nephi 25:23), Jared W. Ludlow
Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel
A Book of Mormon verse that has led to immense discussion and scrutiny is 2 Nephi 25:23: “For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.” It is particularly the last part of the verse, “after all we can do,” that has garnered the most attention since it seems to qualify the statement on grace and leads interpreters to define what grace means in LDS belief and consequently …
“The Intent For Which It Was Given”: How The Book Of Mormon Teaches The Value Of Scripture And Revelation, Nicholas J. Frederick
“The Intent For Which It Was Given”: How The Book Of Mormon Teaches The Value Of Scripture And Revelation, Nicholas J. Frederick
Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel
The book of Jarom is a short chapter, consisting of only fifteen verses, that nonetheless manages to summarize the affairs of the Nephites over an approximately forty-year period. In the midst of his outline of the current Nephite status quo, Jarom makes mention of the religious climate of the time: “Wherefore, the prophets, and the priests, and the teachers, did labor diligently, exhorting with all long-suffering the people to diligence; teaching the law of Moses, and the intent for which it was given; persuading them to look forward unto the Messiah, and believe in him to come as though he …
Review Of An Other Testament: On Typology, Andrew C. Smith
Review Of An Other Testament: On Typology, Andrew C. Smith
Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel
Typology has held a place of importance in the Christian tradition as a method of theology, scriptural exegesis, and history from the composition of the New Testament onward. In An Other Testament: On Typology, Joseph Spencer examines the place of typology within the Book of Mormon in order to understand the book’s theological complexity: “By theological complexity, I do not primarily mean that the ideas presented in the Book of Mormon are complex, though sometimes they are. Rather, I mean that it can be difficult to bring into focus some of the Book of Mormon’s overarching theological claims, given the …
On Doubting Nephi's Break Between 1 And 2 Nephi: A Critique Of Joseph Spencer's "An Other Testament: On Typology", Noel B. Reynolds
On Doubting Nephi's Break Between 1 And 2 Nephi: A Critique Of Joseph Spencer's "An Other Testament: On Typology", Noel B. Reynolds
Faculty Publications
This essay rejects the proposal by Joseph Spencer to recognize the true break in Nephi's two books as occurring after the fifth chapter of the second book. The essay invokes standard interpretive practices arguing that while Spencer does present reasoning to make sense of this novel proposal, he does not acknowledge the much greater weight of standard interpretation or provide explanations for ignoring it.
How "Come Unto Me" Fits In The Nephite Gospel", Noel B. Reynolds
How "Come Unto Me" Fits In The Nephite Gospel", Noel B. Reynolds
Faculty Publications
Book of Mormon readers can easily be left wondering in numerous passages where the repeated term "come unto me/him/Christ" refers to unspecified elements of the gospel understood as "the way" by which men and women can come to him. This paper identifies six passages that are presented as quotations from Jesus himself and that have identical rhetorical structures---in which this phrase appears to refer each time to that stage of the gospel described as "enduring to the end." This discovery may offer useful interpretive guidance for the numerous other passages that invoke the same phrase. This paper was updated June …
Animals In The Book Of Mormon: Challenges And Perspectives, Wade E. Miller, Matthew Roper
Animals In The Book Of Mormon: Challenges And Perspectives, Wade E. Miller, Matthew Roper
BYU Studies
When the Book of Mormon first appeared, skeptics said that references to horses, asses, elephants, and other animals (such as swine and cows) were out of place. During the first century after its publication, Book of Mormon critics argued that such animals never existed anywhere in the Americas before the arrival of Columbus and western Europeans in the late fifteenth century. In time, however, scientific discoveries showed that species of horses, asses, elephants, and other animals had once been present in North America, although dating to an earlier period than that covered in the Book of Mormon. Encouraged by such …
Reading Competency In The Book Of Mormon: Abish And Other Model Readers, Michael J. Call
Reading Competency In The Book Of Mormon: Abish And Other Model Readers, Michael J. Call
BYU Studies
In chapter 19 of the book of Alma, we are introduced to Abish, described in the narrative as one of the “Lamanitish women” serving in King Lamoni’s court (Alma 19:16). Mormon’s account of her experience on the day of the king’s conversion is compelling for many reasons, but I would like to explore here how Abish and other important figures in the text function as model readers, exhibiting the traits and competencies that the Book of Mormon authors expected the future reader of their text to bring to the reading act. In fact, a careful analysis of important reading acts …