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Articles 1 - 30 of 288
Full-Text Articles in Mormon Studies
A Fitting Tribute To The Prophet Of The Restoration, Steven L. Olsen
A Fitting Tribute To The Prophet Of The Restoration, Steven L. Olsen
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Joseph Smith: A Life Lived in Crescendo is one of the most extensive and ambitious scholarly works on the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Its twenty-one essays address various issues relating to the culmination of the Prophet’s ministry. They provide diverse and profound insights worthy of examination by serious students of the latter-day Restoration.
Joseph And Oliver Told The Truth About The Translation: A Response To Brant Gardner’S And Jeff Lindsay’S Reviews, James W. Lucas
Joseph And Oliver Told The Truth About The Translation: A Response To Brant Gardner’S And Jeff Lindsay’S Reviews, James W. Lucas
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Two recent reviews of By Means of the Urim & Thummim: Restoring Translation to the Restoration by Jeff Lindsay and Brant Gardner seriously misrepresent the book’s argument. Perhaps most significantly, they largely sidestep the book’s central thesis that the statements by Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery that the Book of Mormon was translated from the plates using the “Urim and Thummim” interpreters which God provided with the plates should be at the center of any account of the Book of Mormon’s production. Prioritizing problematic and unreliable seer stone accounts conflicts with the testimonies of these primary eyewitnesses, and thus is …
I Have Learned For Myself Teaching The First Vision To The Rising Generation, Jess Jones
I Have Learned For Myself Teaching The First Vision To The Rising Generation, Jess Jones
Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel
Latter-day Saint youth learning about Joseph Smith’s First Vision can draw inspiration and courage from his example to “ask of God,” as James directs, and seek heavenly wisdom. But Joseph’s faith did not end with that singular experience in the grove—world-changing though it was. Instead, here lied on scripture, personal sacred memories, and family relationships to build the spiritual resilience that sustained him throughout his life. Those who leave the Church may draw on narrative arcs from their abandoned religious past, finding parallels in Joseph’s feelings of confusion, discontent, discord, and uncertainty about the truth. Therefore, teachers must emphasize that …
Religious Reenactment As A Framework For The Camp Of Israel, Thomas Kendall Buchmiller
Religious Reenactment As A Framework For The Camp Of Israel, Thomas Kendall Buchmiller
Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel
During the early days of the Restoration, many Saints saw themselves in the stories of the Old Testament. They felt a kinship with God’s ancient people and believed God would deliver them just as he did his ancient saints. As a result, they used those Old Testament stories as models for how to conduct themselves and how to react to their circumstances. We see this principle of narrative reenactment specifically in the events of the Camp of Israel. Though from the outside the Saints were seen as antagonistic and fanatical, they saw themselves as replicating the events of Joshua and …
Visions Of Salvation: What The Visions Of Joseph Smith Reveal To Us About How To Inherit Heaven, Mark A. Mathews
Visions Of Salvation: What The Visions Of Joseph Smith Reveal To Us About How To Inherit Heaven, Mark A. Mathews
Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel
As the Prophet Joseph Smith sought answers to profound questions concerning salvation and the afterlife, he received instruction through a series of visions. This article explores Joseph Smith’s evolving understanding of salvation as revealed through key visions, including the First Vision, encounters with angelic beings, and revelations on the kingdoms of glory and salvation for the dead. These visions unfolded a comprehensive doctrine of salvation rooted in faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. They also expanded the concept of salvation to include kingdoms of glory and salvation for the dead, making a degree …
Joseph Smith Jr. As A Translator: The Book Of Abraham As A Case Study, Stephen O. Smoot
Joseph Smith Jr. As A Translator: The Book Of Abraham As A Case Study, Stephen O. Smoot
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
This paper examines Joseph Smith’s approach to translation, using the Book of Abraham as a case study to explore the interplay between divine revelation and human participation in scriptural production. While the Book of Abraham incorporates both ancient and modern elements, its unique synthesis resists simple categorization as either an unblemished Abrahamic autograph or a purely nineteenth-century pseudepigraphon. Drawing on historical evidence and textual analysis, this paper aims to illuminate Joseph Smith’s role as both translator and revelator, offering insights into how Latter-day Saints might understand the complex process of producing sacred texts.
Seeing With A Hat: How Joseph Smith Used A Hat In Translating The Book Of Mormon, Stan Spencer
Seeing With A Hat: How Joseph Smith Used A Hat In Translating The Book Of Mormon, Stan Spencer
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Joseph Smith’s use of a seer stone and hat in producing the Book of Mormon has been a point of confusion, dismay, and even embarrassment among some believers. These feelings may reflect a lack of understanding of the functions of these objects in enabling Joseph to receive divine revelation. As the term was used in the Bible and commonly used in Joseph Smith’s day, a seer was a “seer” of visions. Accordingly, a seer stone was a stone used for seeing visions. Joseph was reported to have used seer stones to receive the translation of the Book of Mormon in …
David W. Pattern Faithful Friend Or Heel Lifter?, Mark T. Lewis
David W. Pattern Faithful Friend Or Heel Lifter?, Mark T. Lewis
Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel
In 1843 Joseph Smith reflected on his experiences with the original members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in this dispensation, remarking that only Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball had not “lifted their heel” against him. Of the remaining ten members of the Quorum, nine faced documented disciplinary action or openly opposed Joseph, but David W. Patten did not. Patten’s loyalty, martyrdom, and frequent commendations from Joseph, the Lord, and his contemporaries make Patten’s exclusion from Joseph’s 1843praise of Brigham and Heber puzzling. Those who knew Patten spoke at length of his faithfulness and often listed his name …
What Can Artificial Intelligence Tell Us About The Literary Skills Needed To Dictate A Text Like The Book Of Mormon?, Brian C. Hales
What Can Artificial Intelligence Tell Us About The Literary Skills Needed To Dictate A Text Like The Book Of Mormon?, Brian C. Hales
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
The first oral draft of the Book of Mormon dictated by Joseph Smith reflected remarkable literary refinement and complexity. Such observations demonstrate that he exhibited highly developed composition and oratory skills. To date, no scholar has attempted to describe the specific skills Joseph manifested while dictating. This essay addresses whether Artificial Intelligence (AI) could generate an accurate list of the skills necessary. It begins by identifying and informally testing eleven chatbots to see if they can accurately predict the skills needed to perform a task. Seeing success, they are next asked a long question about the skills needed to dictate …
“There Is Law” Joseph Smith’S Use Of Arbitration To Protect The Book Of Mormon, Jeffrey N. Walker, Andrew H. Hedges, Gerrit J. Dirkmaat
“There Is Law” Joseph Smith’S Use Of Arbitration To Protect The Book Of Mormon, Jeffrey N. Walker, Andrew H. Hedges, Gerrit J. Dirkmaat
BYU Studies
This case marks the first time Joseph Smith invoked his legal rights to safeguard work connected with his prophetic calling from abuse or exploitation. The case arose from Abner Cole’s1 January 1830 efforts to publish Book of Mormon excerpts in his newspaper The Reflector, which he printed on the same Palmyra, New York, press that the Book of Mormon was being printed on. The case was evidently settled in Joseph Smith’s favor through arbitration, an out-of- court option for adjudication that New York law considered legally binding.2
This Branch Of The Church The Early Development Of Local Administration In The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, Part 2, The Church In Flux, 1846–1851, Brandon Plewe
BYU Studies
A primary concern of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the spiritual and physical welfare of its members, and local congregations have always been the primary mechanism for that ministry. However, the structure and leadership of local administrative organizations has changed significantly over the history of the Church, most significantly under its first two presidents, Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. During these years, the terms and structures that are familiar to us—wards, presidents, bishops, stakes, and so on—emerged, but so did many practices that did not survive the 1877 Priesthood Reorganization.
On The Road With Richard Bushman, Grant Wacker
On The Road With Richard Bushman, Grant Wacker
BYU Studies
Richard Bushman invited me to respond to his essay, given my long-standing interest in the Protestant encounter with world religions. With this very short essay of my own, I am pleased to offer a few words of appreciation and thoughts about further inquiries.
Translation And The World Order, Richard Lyman Bushman
Translation And The World Order, Richard Lyman Bushman
BYU Studies
Joseph Smith published three books he called translations: his masterwork, the Book of Mormon, translated from gold plates when he was twenty-four and published in March 1830; the eight chapters of the book of Moses based on Genesis in the Bible, begun in June 1830 and completed by February of the following year; and the book of Abraham, translated from scrolls that the Church purchased from Michael Chandler in 1835 and published in 1842. It is hard to think of any prophetic figure in religious history who relied as extensively on translations to spread his message as did Joseph Smith.
Relational Grace The Reciprocal And Binding Covenant Of Charis, Brent J. Schmidt
Relational Grace The Reciprocal And Binding Covenant Of Charis, Brent J. Schmidt
Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel
In New Testament times, the concept of grace (Greek charis) was operative in relationships in which a person giving something of value to another could expect the recipient to provide service, thanks, or something else of much lesser value in return. When the Apostle Paul described Jesus Christ’s atoning sacrifice as a gift (charis), his ancient audiences understood that redemptive act as initiating a covenantal bond with expectations of devoted discipleship. Bible translators have never properly conveyed Paul’s message of active, obliging grace, an oversight that some scholars of the New Pauline Perspective are now demonstrating. During the Great Apostasy, …
Liberty Jail: Seedbed For Eternal Temple Blessings, Steven L. Olsen
Liberty Jail: Seedbed For Eternal Temple Blessings, Steven L. Olsen
BYU Studies
The difficult Missouri winter of 1838–39 exacerbated an emerging existential crisis for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its founding prophet, Joseph Smith. Latter-day Saints were being driven from their homes and killed by armed militias who justified their aggression with the “extermination order” of Governor Lilburn W. Boggs. This forced evacuation also dispossessed the Latter-day Saints of their “land of promise” and “center place of Zion”—the capital of their millennial utopia that was named for the primordial patriarch Enoch’s “City of Holiness,” whose inhabitants’ righteousness was sufficient, according to Joseph’s visions, to effect its translation into …
Response To Grant Wacker, Richard Lyman Bushman
Response To Grant Wacker, Richard Lyman Bushman
BYU Studies
As so often happens when Latter-day Saint historians discuss Joseph Smith with their non-LDS compatriots, Grant Wacker wants to welcome Joseph Smith into the company of American prophets, while I insist that Smith is bizarre, strange, and other. Wacker sees Smith as a recognizable figure on the American religious landscape; I see him as an outlander notably because he presented himself initially as a translator. I admit it had never occurred to me to think of Pentecostal speakers in tongues as translators, but of course they were. It seemed a natural connection to Wacker, who is deeply conversant in Pentecostal …
"Salamanders" And "Short-Hand Egyptian"
"Salamanders" And "Short-Hand Egyptian"
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
The 1830 letter of Martin Harris to W. W. Phelps, published in the Church News in April, has already attracted national attention. In this letter, Harris describes an early spiritual appearance to Joseph Smith, stating that "the spirit transfigured himself from a white salamander in the bottom of the hole."
Special Byu Studies Issue On Mormon Beginnings
Special Byu Studies Issue On Mormon Beginnings
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
The recent issue of BYU Studies contains five significant articles about Joseph Smith's early years. Subjects such as treasure seeking and seership are analyzed particularly in light of newly discovered documents. The contributors are Dean Jessee, Ron Walker, Marvin Hill, and Richard Anderson. Copies of this issue (volume 24, number 4) may be ordered for $4.00 from 1102 JKHB, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602.
Book Reviewed
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
John Hilton has submitted a review of the stylometric or word-print studies of Ernest Taves. While word-print studies may eventually tell us a great deal about various word-placement habits in the texts of the Book of Mormon and the writings of Joseph Smith, the efforts of Taves are flawed in several ways. Hilton and his colleagues have been working for several years on what they hope will be a more-definitive computer analysis of Book of Mormon texts. Hilton's review may be ordered now, while the larger study is still in preparation.
Updates For 1985 Now Available
Updates For 1985 Now Available
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
Every month, the most exciting discoveries and developments in Book of Mormon research are reported in the F.A.R.M.S. Updates. These are scholarly, documented, quickly readable executive-type reports, mailed to researchers and substantial contributors. At the end of each year these Updates are collected and made available as a F.A.R.M.S. Preliminary Report. For anyone who likes to keep up on Book of Mormon developments, these Updates are a gold mine
How Long Did It Take Joseph Smith To Translate The Book Of Mormon?
How Long Did It Take Joseph Smith To Translate The Book Of Mormon?
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
Among the amazing facts about the Book of Mormon is the astonishingly short time Joseph took to translate it. Recent research into the historical record shows it unlikely that any more than 65 to 75 days were involved in the actual translation.
Nephi's Arrows Create Solid Bulls-Eye, Joseph Fielding Smith
Nephi's Arrows Create Solid Bulls-Eye, Joseph Fielding Smith
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
Three times in 1 Nephi 16 we are told that Nephi broke his steel bow. Never does it say that he broke any arrows. Yet when Nephi makes a new wooden bow, the text also says that he made "out of a straight stick, an arrow." (1 Ne. 16:23). Why would he need to make new arrows when he apparently still had a quiver full of old ones?
Correction Or Clarification
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
In the May 1991 issue of Insights, reference was made to Joseph Smith's New York Reputation Re-examined as "expressly anti-Mormon." Whereas affidavits reprinted and analyzed in this book may be considered "anti-Mormon," F.A.R.M.S. expresses no position about the book.
Essay Illuminates Publishing Process
Essay Illuminates Publishing Process
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
The Religious Studies Center at BYU sponsored a conference on Joseph Smith at the dedication of the new Joseph Smith Building on campus. Organized by Susan Easton Black, associate professor of Ancient Scripture at BYU, the conference was well attended and well received. Papers delivered at the conference have been published by the center and Bookcraft, and F.A.R.M.S. has arranged to reprint one of the chapters that particularly sheds light on the Book of Mormon.
Can The 1834 Affidavits Attacking The Smith Family Be Trusted?, Daniel C. Peterson
Can The 1834 Affidavits Attacking The Smith Family Be Trusted?, Daniel C. Peterson
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
The character and claims of Joseph Smith are fundamental to the claims of the Church he founded. Knowing this, critics of the Prophet have contended for more than a century and a half that he and his family were the kind of people from whom nobody would want to buy a used car, much less receive a plan of salvation.
Metal Plates And The Book Of Mormon, William J. Hamblin
Metal Plates And The Book Of Mormon, William J. Hamblin
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
In the past, critics of the Book of Mormon have attacked the alleged absurdity of the Book of Mormon having been written on golden plates and its claim of the existence of an early sixth century B.C. version of the Hebrew Bible written on brass plates. Today, however, critics almost universally admit that there are numerous examples of ancient writing on metal plates. Ironically, some critics now claim instead that knowledge of such plates was readily available in Joseph Smith's day. Hugh Nibley's 1952 observation seems quite prescient: "it will not be long before men forget that in Joseph Smith's …
Revisiting The Land Of Jerusalem Via The Dead Sea Scrolls, Gordon C. Thomasson
Revisiting The Land Of Jerusalem Via The Dead Sea Scrolls, Gordon C. Thomasson
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
For over 160 years, beginning at least with the 1833 publication of Alexander Campbell's Delusions, countless critics have claimed that the Book of Mormon's use of the phrase "land of Jerusalem" was a major error and proof that the book was false. They especially criticized the use of this phrase in reference to the place where Christ would be born. That phrase was not used in the Bible nor in the Apocrypha. Therefore, the critics concluded, it was an example of Joseph Smith's ignorance and evidence that he had tried to perpetrate a fraud. (For a thorough overview of …
What Does Recent Scholarship Really Say About The Book Of Mormon
What Does Recent Scholarship Really Say About The Book Of Mormon
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
A recently published collection of essays purports to examine the Book of Mormon using the latest scholarly tools and information. The authors of New Approaches to the Book of Mormon: Explorations in Critical Methodology assert that such scholarship shows the Book of Mormon is not of ancient origin, that it was written, not translated, by Joseph Smith in the nineteenth century and reflects that time and that time alone.
1993 Updates Present Latest Research
1993 Updates Present Latest Research
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
What does the influence of Viking metal working on the inhabitants of the New World tell us about the Book of Mormon? Were any Book of Mormon names still used by peoples in ancient America after Book of Mormon times? What significance did the sword of Laban have to the Nephites and to Joseph Smith? What can we learn from the differences between the visions of Lehi and Nephi? Can the 1834 affidavits attacking the Joseph Smith family be trusted? What did B. H. Roberts say about the Book of Mormon in The Truth, the Way, the Life?
Was These A Library In Harmony, Pennsylvania?, John W. Welch
Was These A Library In Harmony, Pennsylvania?, John W. Welch
Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
In 1982, Erich Robert Paul published an article in BYU Studies entitled "Joseph Smith and the Manchester (New York) Library." Essentially Paul shows that, while Joseph had potential access to a wide range of books there, "it is likely that during the 1820s he simply was not a part of the literary culture." This article has long been available as a F.A.R.M.S. Reprint.