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Full-Text Articles in Mormon Studies

Gay Rights And The Mormon Church: Intended Actions, Unintended Consequences, Tom Christofferson Jan 2020

Gay Rights And The Mormon Church: Intended Actions, Unintended Consequences, Tom Christofferson

BYU Studies

When valedictorian Matt Easton spoke to his graduating classmates in the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences at Brigham Young University in April 2019 and pronounced himself “proud to be a gay son of God,”1 it was notable—not for the frank self-identification, nor because college administration had preapproved the speech. Rather, what was remarkable was the instant, energetic, and sustained cheers and applause from the large Marriott Center audience.

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Gay Rights And The Mormon Church: Intended Actions, Unintended Consequences, W. Justin Dyer Jan 2020

Gay Rights And The Mormon Church: Intended Actions, Unintended Consequences, W. Justin Dyer

BYU Studies

In this book, Gregory Prince compiles and examines available records of how individual leaders within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Church as an institution have approached issues of homosexuality and same-sex marriage. The compilation is most welcome as it provides many useful sources to understand how the Church and its leaders have discussed and acted on these issues. The book is an important reference, and I have gone back to it again and again to reference its timelines and sources.

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Mormons, Musical Theater, And Belonging In America By Jake Johnson, Megan Sanborn Jones Jan 2020

Mormons, Musical Theater, And Belonging In America By Jake Johnson, Megan Sanborn Jones

BYU Studies

In his ambitious first book, musicologist Jake Johnson examines how and why the vocal and theatrical traditions of American musicals are evidenced in the theology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At the heart of this examination are close readings of a number of popular American musicals and what Johnson sees as their Utah counterparts— Oklahoma! and Promised Valley; Fiddler on the Roof and Life . . . More Sweet than Bitter; The Book of Mormon and Saturday’s Warrior. Part history, part literary criticism, part religious studies, and part music studies, Mormons, Musical Theater, and …

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The Teachings Of Church Leaders Regarding The Crucifixion Of Jesus Christ: 1852–2018, John Hilton Iii, Emily K. Hyde, Mckenna Grace Trussel Jan 2020

The Teachings Of Church Leaders Regarding The Crucifixion Of Jesus Christ: 1852–2018, John Hilton Iii, Emily K. Hyde, Mckenna Grace Trussel

Faculty Publications

From the beginnings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (herein referred to as “the Church”), the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ has been at the heart of its theology. In numerous revelations received by Joseph Smith, the Savior is identified as having been “crucified for the sins of the world” (D&C 53:2; see also 21:9, 35:2, 46:13, 54:1, 76:41). President Brigham Young taught that salvation was only “through the name and ministry of Jesus Christ, and the atonement he made on Mount Calvary.”1 President John Taylor said that Christ “was crucified and put to death to atone for …

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New And Everlasting: The Relationship Between Gospel Covenants In History, Kerry Muhlestein, Joshua M. Sears, Avram R. Shannon Jan 2020

New And Everlasting: The Relationship Between Gospel Covenants In History, Kerry Muhlestein, Joshua M. Sears, Avram R. Shannon

Faculty Publications

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints speak of covenants in general, baptismal covenants, temple covenants, the new and everlasting covenant, the Abrahamic covenant, and the Mosaic or Sinai covenant. But what are these covenants, and how are they related to each other? Students in many settings experience confusion about these questions. Each book of scripture shares aspects of covenants that students may not understand as well as they could. Greater clarity will allow them to draw more power from scriptural and current prophetic teachings about the centrality of the covenant in every dispensation.

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Joseph Smith, Gethsemane, And The Crucifixion Of Jesus Christ, John Hilton Iii Jan 2020

Joseph Smith, Gethsemane, And The Crucifixion Of Jesus Christ, John Hilton Iii

Faculty Publications

The Savior’s Atonement is central to the theology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Prophet Joseph Smith wrote, “We believe that through the atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.”1 On another occasion, he revealed that those inheriting the celestial kingdom are “made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the shedding of his own blood” (Doctrine and Covenants 76:69).

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“He Denieth None That Come Unto Him” The Mormon-Jewish Relationship During The Holocaust And World War Ii, Erica Lauren Shaw Jan 2020

“He Denieth None That Come Unto Him” The Mormon-Jewish Relationship During The Holocaust And World War Ii, Erica Lauren Shaw

Online Theses and Dissertations

The Church of Latter-day Saints of Jesus Christ stumbled into fruition and global recognition after decades of oppression and resistance from its contemporaries. Despite its rocky beginnings, the Church’s membership remained largely friendly to anyone who expressed interest in their gospel. Among those whom they shared a positive relationship with were the Jewish people. The research presented here explored the history of that relationship from its doctrinal significance to its greatest test: the Holocaust and World War II.

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Review: Ronit Y. Stahl. Enlisting Faith: How The Military Chaplaincy Shaped Religion And State In Modern America. Cambridge, Ma: Harvard University Press, 2017., Patrick Q. Mason Jan 2020

Review: Ronit Y. Stahl. Enlisting Faith: How The Military Chaplaincy Shaped Religion And State In Modern America. Cambridge, Ma: Harvard University Press, 2017., Patrick Q. Mason

Mormon Studies Review

Pop quiz: What do Mormons, Eastern Orthodox, and Buddhists have in common? Answer: For much of the twentieth-century, members of all three groups were classified as “Protestants” by the United States military. Why? Because in the “Protestant-Catholic-Jew” schema of “tri-faith America” that dominated for many decades, if you weren’t Roman Catholic or Jewish, you must have been Protestant. American historian Ronit Stahl has elevated this and many other head-scratching bureaucratic idiosyncrasies into a readable and insightful analysis of how the military chaplaincy both reflected and shaped the dynamic relationship of religion and the state in twentieth-century America. Enlisting Faith is …

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Review: Robin Scott Jensen And Brian M. Hauglid, Eds. The Joseph Smith Papers, Revelations And Translations, Volume 4: Book Of Abraham And Related Manuscripts. Salt Lake City: The Church Historian’S Press, 2018., Susanna Morrill Jan 2020

Review: Robin Scott Jensen And Brian M. Hauglid, Eds. The Joseph Smith Papers, Revelations And Translations, Volume 4: Book Of Abraham And Related Manuscripts. Salt Lake City: The Church Historian’S Press, 2018., Susanna Morrill

Mormon Studies Review

The staff of the Joseph Smith Papers have published the Book of Abraham and related documents as volume 4 of the “Revelations and Translations” series of the project. As with the other facsimile volumes of the project, it is a physically handsome, high quality production: durable, easy to use, and easy to read. The content of the volume is fascinating, obscure, and invitingly important for scholars of religion. The introduction ends with the statement, which captures the broader anxieties concerning its contents: “This volume does not . . . seek to assist readers in understanding the Book of Abraham narrative …

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Review: James R. Swenson. In A Rugged Land: Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, And The Three Mormon Towns Collaboration, 1953–1954. Salt Lake City: University Of Utah Press, 2018., Rachel Mcbride Lindsey Jan 2020

Review: James R. Swenson. In A Rugged Land: Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, And The Three Mormon Towns Collaboration, 1953–1954. Salt Lake City: University Of Utah Press, 2018., Rachel Mcbride Lindsey

Mormon Studies Review

When Brigham Young surveyed the vista before him in 1847 and uttered “this is the place,” he meant that the wearied band of Latter-day Saints had finally arrived in Zion. More than a century later, those same words, simple but filled with divine promise, were seen on a neon cowboy at the Nevada state line and scribbled by a young Daniel Dixon as the first in his essay accompanying the Life magazine photo-essay, “Three Mormon Towns.” The year before the essay was printed, Dorothea Lange and Ansel Adams pitched an idea to the editors at Life and were granted approval …

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“Effusions Of An Enthusiastic Brain”, Jeremy Talmage Jan 2020

“Effusions Of An Enthusiastic Brain”, Jeremy Talmage

BYU Studies

[I] wanted to get Religion too,” reminisced the Latter-day Saint prophet Joseph Smith. “[I] wanted to feel & shout like the Rest but could feel nothing.”1 A wide-eyed witness of the nineteenth-century religious revivals that enveloped western New York, Smith made this lament to a close acquaintance shortly before his death in 1844. Reflecting back on the religious excitement of his youth, he detailed how he longed for a spiritual manifestation like many others enjoyed but for whatever reason seemed unable to experience the evangelical enthusiasm he so deeply desired. As a fourteen-year-old adolescent, Smith had been torn among …

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Twenty Years Of The Religious Educator, Brad Wilcox, Timothy G. Morrison Jan 2020

Twenty Years Of The Religious Educator, Brad Wilcox, Timothy G. Morrison

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Where were you twenty years ago? That was before the terrorist attacks of 2001 and the heightened airport security that followed. Do you remember when the vote between George W. Bush and Al Gore dangled on a few hanging chads in Florida? President Gordon B. Hinckley was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2000 and dedicated the Conference Center in Salt Lake City. Faith Hill was singing “Breathe,” and the Yankees beat the Mets in the 2000 World Series. The Sixth Sense was an Oscar-nominated movie that had us on the edge of our …

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A Jershon Classroom, Scott Royal Bagley Jan 2020

A Jershon Classroom, Scott Royal Bagley

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

A powerful tool for recruiting students can be our classroom environment. The scriptures give us a wonderful example of this idea. After the people of Ammon are given the land of Jershon, they are soon joined by religious refugees from among the Zoramites (Alma 35:6–9), fugitives from among the Lamanites (Alma 47:29), and Lamanite wartime prisoners (Alma 62:17, 27–29). The people of Ammon accept all of these people as their own. But the question is this: what was it about the people of Ammon that attracted these societal refugees? As we examine the people of Ammon and how they cared …

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Front Matter Jan 2020

Front Matter

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Welcome to our twentieth anniversary issue of the Religious Educator. This issue represents the beginning of our third decade serving those who study and teach the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Begun as an annual publication in 2000, the journal has become an important resource for those interested in Latter-day Saint scripture, doctrine, and history. Within the pages of the current issue, Professors Brad Wilcox and Timothy G. Morrison narrate the story of the Religious Educator while analyzing its contents over the first twenty years. Additional authors examine the plan of salvation as taught in the Book of Mormon, present …

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“Between The Time Of Death And The Resurrection”: A Doctrinal Examination Of The Spirit World, Mark A. Mathews Jan 2020

“Between The Time Of Death And The Resurrection”: A Doctrinal Examination Of The Spirit World, Mark A. Mathews

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

All men know that they must die,” explained the Prophet Joseph Smith, “and it is . . . but reasonable to suppose that God would reveal something in reference to the matter.”

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David O. Mckay And Progressive Education Implementation For The Sunday School, Mary Jane Woodger Jan 2020

David O. Mckay And Progressive Education Implementation For The Sunday School, Mary Jane Woodger

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

In 1897 David O. McKay graduated from the University of Utah with a Normal (Teaching) Certificate. He would become the first president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to have a college education and to have previously been a professional educator. This educational background would permeate every position McKay would hold in the hierarchy of the Church.

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Teaching In The Savior’S Way: True Principles In Both Spiritual And Secular Learning, Damon L. Bahr Jan 2020

Teaching In The Savior’S Way: True Principles In Both Spiritual And Secular Learning, Damon L. Bahr

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

While I was serving as a stake president in 2012, members of the coordinating council of which I was a member were assigned to teach the leadership of their respective stakes about the new Come, Follow Me youth curriculum, the first explicit, curriculum-based embodiment of Teaching in the Savior’s Way. In my preparations for fulfilling this assignment, I observed that teaching in his way is not just a teaching “method,” but rather a perspective on teaching and learning. I also noticed there were a number of similarities between teaching in the Savior’s way and the pedagogy I had been …

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Full Issue Jan 2020

Full Issue

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

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The Plan Of Salvation And The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Edwards Jan 2020

The Plan Of Salvation And The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Edwards

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Students of American religious history have not usually appreciated the extent to which the 1830 publication of the Book of Mormon introduced explicit presentations of the gospel of Jesus Christ and his plan of salvation into Judeo-Christian biblical discourse. This paper will feature a textual and structural exposition of the scripturally unique plan of salvation as taught in the Nephite scriptures. This exposition in turn will provide the necessary grounding for (1) distinguishing this plan from the gospel of Jesus Christ, (2) an examination of the Nephite prophets’ predominant focus on the redeeming functions of the plan, and (3) some …

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Review: Scott C. Esplin. Return To The City Of Joseph: Modern Mormonism’S Contest For The Soul Of Nauvoo. Urbana: University Of Illinois Press, 2018., James S. Bielo Jan 2020

Review: Scott C. Esplin. Return To The City Of Joseph: Modern Mormonism’S Contest For The Soul Of Nauvoo. Urbana: University Of Illinois Press, 2018., James S. Bielo

Mormon Studies Review

One way to imagine and encounter the US landscape is as a religious landscape—that is, a landscape densely imprinted with religious histories and identities. If you were so inclined, you could travel from one religiously memorialized place to another, seemingly without end: historic sites of worship; commemorations of events, persons, and movements; religiously themed museums, theme parks, gardens, shrines, and reenactments; extant and nonextant intentional communities; entire municipalities where local life is closely coupled with particular traditions; and so on. As an “American Original,” Mormonism provides a truly fascinating itinerary of destinations; places integral to the formation, diversification, and expansion …

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Whiteness In Modern Latter-Day Saint History And Culture, Jessica Marie Nelson Jan 2020

Whiteness In Modern Latter-Day Saint History And Culture, Jessica Marie Nelson

Mormon Studies Review

In the wake of the Alt-Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a strong statement announcing its “great sadness and deep concern” regarding the violence and intolerance on display by those who gathered in Charlottesville to defend a Confederate statue. The church concluded the statement by saying: “Our prayers are with those who are suffering because of this intolerance and hatred. We pray for peace and for understanding. Above all, we pray that we may treat one another with greater kindness, compassion and goodness.” Two days later the church updated the …

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Words Of Wisdom: New Generations And New Challenges, Ryan T. Cragun Jan 2020

Words Of Wisdom: New Generations And New Challenges, Ryan T. Cragun

Mormon Studies Review

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, like many other denominations, is facing a number of challenges at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Should women play a more prominent role in the religion?1 Can the LDS Church accommodate lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals?2 Do transgender and queer individuals even fit within Mormon cosmology and conceptions of gender?3 Will the LDS Church adjust its standards to reflect modern norms relating to clothing, body modification, sexual activity, pornography, and masturbation?4 Does the LDS Church have an answer for the enormous wave of secularization that is leading to declining interest in …

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Business And Religion: The Intersection Of Faith And Finance, Roger Terry Jan 2020

Business And Religion: The Intersection Of Faith And Finance, Roger Terry

BYU Studies

If you are interested in the intersection of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and finance, you will be intrigued by this compilation of papers presented at a March 2018 symposium sponsored by the Department of Religious Education at Brigham Young University and the Church History Department in Salt Lake City. The topics are many and varied and are divided loosely into the four sections of this volume.

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A Documentary History Of The Book Of Mormon, John W. Welch Jan 2020

A Documentary History Of The Book Of Mormon, John W. Welch

BYU Studies

Larry Morris, a veteran researcher of everything related to Oliver Cowdery and early Latter-day Saint history, has provided the world with this fine collection of primary historical sources relevant to the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. Published by Oxford University Press, this formal presentation of his fascinating compilation will certainly be interesting, convenient, credible, and crucial in the hands of historians (in the rigorous documentary sense of that word) as well as in the hearts of amateurs (in the best Latin sense of that word).

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Moth And Rust: Mormon Encounters With Death, Connie Lamb Jan 2020

Moth And Rust: Mormon Encounters With Death, Connie Lamb

BYU Studies

Latter-day Saints view death as part of the plan of salvation and some have even claimed to have glimpsed the afterlife. Thus, as the book’s introduction explains, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have a good understanding of death and the afterlife, but many still fear dying (x). Despite Church teachings on the temporary nature of death, the death of someone dearly loved can still cause a Latter-day Saint to face stark reality and ask serious questions. Moth and Rust captures Latter-day Saints’ varying experiences and demonstrates the many ways death can be conceived.

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Mormon Cinema: Origins To 1952, Veronica Anderson Jan 2020

Mormon Cinema: Origins To 1952, Veronica Anderson

BYU Studies

Mormon Cinema: Origins to 1952 is the first book in a series by Randy Astle discussing Latter-day Saint cinema and its history. In the introduction, the author describes the five chronological “waves,” or eras, in Latter-day Saint film (10–12). In this first volume, he discusses the first two waves, the first running from July 1898 to October 1929, and the second spanning October 1929 to January 1953. A discussion of the following waves and an in-depth analysis of all the information presented will appear in subsequent books (7).

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"The Finest Of Any In The World": Silk Production And The Politicization Of Women In Utah, Hannah Chapman Jan 2020

"The Finest Of Any In The World": Silk Production And The Politicization Of Women In Utah, Hannah Chapman

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

No abstract provided.

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Recognizing The Everlasting Covenant In The Scriptures, Kerry Muhlestein Jan 2020

Recognizing The Everlasting Covenant In The Scriptures, Kerry Muhlestein

Faculty Publications

The Abrahamic, or new and everlasting, covenant is an important element of the Old Testament. In fact, the main way the Old Testament frames human relationships with God is whether people make and keep a covenant with him. Yet we often do not notice how much that theme is woven throughout all scripture. For example, the Book of Mormon title page specifically references the knowledge of the covenant as part of the purpose of writing and preserving the book, and the covenant is a major theme for many of its authors. The New Testament and the Doctrine and Covenants are …

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The Presentation Of Gender In The Book Of Mormon: A Review Of Literature, Joseph M. Spencer Jan 2020

The Presentation Of Gender In The Book Of Mormon: A Review Of Literature, Joseph M. Spencer

Faculty Publications

To date, the two most important—Certainly the most influential—visual illustrators of the Book of Mormon have been Arnold Friberg and Minerva Teichert. The distance between the ways they render the text into art is real and telling. As Paul Gutjahr notes, "Friberg's most dominant figures are unfailingly men, and almost all of them could have stepped out of the pages of a superhero comic book. By contrast, Teichert "stands out among Mormon artists because of her firm commitment to bringing forward the female elements of the book, carefully evoking the story's feminine side." Although Teichert and Friberg created their paintings …

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Creating And Conveying A Christlike Culture: More Than A Job, Elder Dale G. Renlund Jan 2020

Creating And Conveying A Christlike Culture: More Than A Job, Elder Dale G. Renlund

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Thank you, Sister Johnson, Sister Evans, and Sister Haws for singing and accompanying the hymn “Savior, Redeemer of My Soul.” I am here to declare what Sister Johnson just sang, those remarkable words by Elder Orson F. Whitney: that our Savior and Redeemer is the only One whose mighty hand can make us whole. He is the only one who can fill with sweet a bitter cup. Our united prayer is that we all can come to be in perfect harmony with Him and be fit for the life above. That is what I would like to talk about.

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