Mormon Studies Commons^™

Front Matter, Byu Studies

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Love And Intimacy In Family, Kinship, Friendship, And Community, Allen E. Bergin, Mark H. Butler

BYU Studies

In addition to gospel principles, concepts from secular research can help us move closer to ideal relationships. Drawing on current research from the social sciences that is in harmony with gospel principles, this article, which is taken from a chapter of a new publication entitled Eternal Values and Personal Growth: A Guide on your Journey to Social, Emotional, and Spiritual Wellness, explores ways people can become more Christlike in marriage, in friendships, and across generations.

Condolence, Patrick Devonas

BYU Studies

No matter how strong evil becomes, it can never destroy hope and beauty.

—ten-year-old boy viewing Condolence

Conjugation, Donnell Hunter

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

End Matter, Byu Studies

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Hedonism, Suffering, And Redemption: The Challenge Of Christian Psychotherapy, Edwin E. Gantt

BYU Studies

Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

—Matthew 26:38

Pentecost Continued: A Contemporaneous Account Of The Kirtland Temple Dedication, Steven C. Harper

BYU Studies

The significance of what transpired at the dedication of the Kirtland Temple on March 27, 1836, is well established among Latter-day Saints. The historical record affirming an outpouring of divine manifestations is rich. Even so, precious few contemporaneous reports by observers are available. Recently, however, the richness of the historical record increased with the discovery of an eyewitness account of the miraculous Kirtland Pentecost penned by Benjamin Brown.

Asian American Mormons: Bridging Cultures Jessie L. Embry, David A. Allred

BYU Studies

Jessie L. Embry. Asian American Mormons: Bridging Cultures. Provo, Utah: Charles Redd Center for Western Studies, Brigham Young University, 1999.

Light-Mindedness Versus Lightheartedness: Conflicting Conceptions Of Laughter Among Latter-Day Saints, Diana L. Mahony, Marla D. Corson

BYU Studies

Therefore, cease form all your light speeches, from all laughter... and light-mindedness, and from all your wicked doings.

—D&C 88:121

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

—Prov. 17:22

Why Bad Things Happen At All: A Search For Clarity Among The Problems Of Evil, John Sutton Welch

BYU Studies

In college I lost my faith—not completely and not for long. But that moment impacted my beliefs deeply. I was standing in the back of the theater watching a scene unfold, waiting for my cue to enter. On the stage, my character's parents, farmers during a war depicted in Bertold Brecht's Mother Courage, realize that the army impressing my character into service is about to descend on their farm and then on the nearby village. Alone and defenseless, they beg God to save them. As I watched this pathetic pair plead for rescue, a though occurred to me that …

The Character Of Joseph Smith, Richard Lyman Bushman

BYU Studies

The title of this essay, "The Character of Joseph Smith," may promise more than can ever be fulfilled. Joseph warned the Saints of the difficulty in trying to understand him. In the King Follett discourse given two months before his death, he told them, "You dont know me—you never will." Another version of the same speech says, "You never knew my heart. No man knows my hist[ory]." He seems to say that what we want to know most—his heart and his history—are not to be found out. No matter how much we study him, we must be cautious about believing …

The Process Of Inspired Translation: Two Passages Translated Twice In The Joseph Smith Translation Of The Bible, Kent P. Jackson, Peter M. Jasinski

BYU Studies

Since 1996, researchers from Brigham Young University—with the assistance of new photographs, scanned images, and much hands-on examination of the documents—have been engaged in a careful study of the text written on the original manuscripts of the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible. The work has yielded the publication of a large facsimile transcription of all the original manuscript pages and much new information about how Joseph Smith prepared the text. Among the many new discoveries resulting from this research is an enhanced understanding of the sequence and chronology of the Prophet's work.

“Miles To Go Before I Sleep”, Brett Walker

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

The "Unidentified Pioneers": An Analysis Of Staffordshire Mormons, 1837 To 1870, Stephen G. Arrowsmith

Theses and Dissertations

The evidence presented in this thesis advocates an increased level of scholarly interest in English working-class Mormon converts. To illustrate who these people were, and what their roles were as part of Mormon story, this regional study introduces and makes available over twelve hundred Staffordshire Mormons, and asks questions of the collected statistical information. The conservative Staffordshire Mormons clearly assisted the establishment, and continuation, off a Zion in the American West. Much of the data confirms previous scholarship; however, those with “differing visions” of Mormonism (for example, the RLDS Church) attracted Staffordshire converts in larger numbers than previously suggested. The …

The Marriage Of Adam And Eve: An Ancient Covenant, Roseann Benson

Theses and Dissertations

The metaphorical marriage, as described by the Old Testament prophets beginning with Hosea, symbolized the relationship of God the bridegroom, to israel his bride. This covenant relationship between God and Israel also symbolized the relationship God ordained between husband and wife. Literary structures, ritual patterns, and the Hebrew word which means "know" are common to ancient Near Eastern treaties and Old Testament covenants; most importantly, the marriage covenant. The marriage covenant is under the umbrella of previous covenants which a man and woman have entered into as part of the house of Israel. The terms "help meet" and "ruler" are …

“Nothing Less Than Miraculous” The First Decade Of Mormonism In Mongolia, Steven C. Harper

BYU Studies

The Latter-day Saints' assumption of Christ's great commission—the command to teach and baptize all nations—can hardly be overstated as a motivational force for sending missionaries to far-away places to testify of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. An 1831 revelation authorized and empowered Joseph Smith to send missionaries "unto the ends of the world" and "to lay the foundation of this church, and to bring it forth out of obscurity" (D&C 1:23, 30). What better manifestation could be found of the power of these words than the events of the first decade of Mormonism in Mongolia, perhaps the most obscure …

Blood Of The Prophets: Brigham Young And The Massacre At Mountain Meadows Will Bagley, Lawrence Coates

BYU Studies

Will Bagley. Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2002.

Blood Of The Prophets: Brigham Young And The Massacre At Mountain Meadows Will Bagley, Paul H. Peterson

BYU Studies

Will Bagley. Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2002.

Front Matter, Byu Studies

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

The Story Of A Disciple's Life: Preparing The Biography Of Elder Neal A. Maxwell, Bruce C. Hafen

BYU Studies

The story behind my work on the biography of Elder Neal A. Maxwell actually began in 1976, when he invited me to take leave from Brigham Young University and work for two years under his daily direction in the new Correlation Department at Church headquarters. In later years, when I was an administrator and a teacher at Ricks College and then at BYU, I saw him often in Church Educational System meetings, where he was a key figure on the Church Board of Education.

Book Notices, Jacques Du-Plessis, John W. Welch

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Full Issue, Byu Studies

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Blood Of The Prophets: Brigham Young And The Massacre At Mountain Meadows Will Bagley, Thomas G. Alexander

BYU Studies

Will Bagley. Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2002.

The Forgotten Voice Of The Oneida Stake Academy, Fred E. Woods

Faculty Publications

The Physiography class invited me to their Comet Party. We all got up at 3 o'clock a.m. and went to the academy building and there watched Halley's comet and indulged in outdoor games, wrote H. Oswald Christensen, a devoted faculty member of the Oneida Stake Academy in Preston, Idaho. His voice, along with those of many other Academy faculty members and students, must not be forgotten.

From Liverpool To Keokuk: The Mormon Maritime Migration Experience Of 1853, Fred E. Woods

Faculty Publications

In January, Fifty-three, we left our English home, Determined for the Gospel's sake, to Zion's land to come. Our family was very small, its members numbered three, Yet strong in faith of Israel's God, and full of hope were we. 'Twas not to us an easy task to bid old friends adieu, To take a long farewell of those who always had been true, To leave for aye, the cozy home we made but just before, And take a last fond look of things we should behold no more; The wind blew keen, as out we went into the cold …

The 1853 Mormon Migration Through Keokuk, Fred E. Woods, Douglas Atterberg

Faculty Publications

In May 1853, William W. Belknap, who would later serve as a major general in the Civil War and as secretary of war to President Grant, wrote to his sister, Clara, about the Mormon emigrants who were outfitting in Keokuk, Iowa, that spring and summer: "Yesterday was Sunday and I wish you had been here to go up to the Mormon Camp with me. They had preaching at three stands in three languages--English, German, and Danish. They sing --especially the Danes--very sincerely and are perfectly enthusiastic. It is a strange, strange mystery and if you were here you'd be astonished. …

Theatre In Pioneer Utah, J. Michael Hunter

Faculty Publications

The performance of theater and drama in Utah and the buildings that housed them are described. Theater was an important community project from the earliest days of Mormon settlement in Utah, beginning with the Social Hall. The Salt Lake Theatre opened in 1862 and until its demolition in 1928 was an important theater in the American West. Theater was a community project by the Mormon settlers of the Salt Lake Valley under the leadership of Brigham Young.

Illuminating Theatre / Ariel Davis : Utah Innovator, J. Michael Hunter

Faculty Publications

The general history of stage lighting and of lighting in the Salt Lake Theatre are described. Ariel Davis (1912-1997) was a famous inventor of theatrical lighting equipment. He grew up in Provo and graduated from Brigham Young University (BYU).

Island Of Tranquility: Rhetoric And Identification At Brigham Young University During The Vietnam Era, Brian D. Jackson

Theses and Dissertations

The author argues that beyond religious beliefs and conservative politics, rhetorical identification played an important role in the relative calmness of the BYU campus during the turbulent Sixties. Using Bitzer's rhetorical situation theory and Burke's identification theory, the author shows that BYU's calm campus can be explained as a result of communal identification with a conservative ethos. He also shows that apparent epistemological shortcomings of Bitzer's model can be resolved by considering the power of identification to create salience and knowledge in rhetorical situations. During the Sixties, BYU administration developed policies on physical appearance that invited students to take on …

“Thou Art The Man” Newel K. Whitney In Ohio, Mark L. Staker

BYU Studies

In the early 1820s, Newel K. Whitney set up his first store in Kirtland, Ohio, in a little log cabin (fig.1). From such humble beginnings he created a thriving business that would later become central to the early history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, over time the holdings and contributions of the Whitney family in Kirtland were largely forgotten. It was in Kirtland where Joseph Smith arrived and reportedly said to Whitney, whom the Prophet had never met before, "Thou art the man."