Religious Education Commons^™

Mormon Women In Memoir, Angela Hallstrom, Jacqueline S. Thursby, Rosalyn Collings Eves, Amy A. Easton-Flake, Amy Isaksen Cartwright

BYU Studies

Heaven Is Here: An Incredible Story of Hope, Triumph, and Everyday Joy, by Stephanie Nielson (New York: Hyperion, 2012)

My Story, by Elizabeth Smart with Christopher Stewart (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2013)

Flunking Sainthood: A Year of Breaking the Sabbath, Forgetting to Pray, and Still Loving My Neighbor, by Jana Riess (Brewster, Mass: Paraclete Press, 2011)

The Place of Knowing: A Spiritual Autobiography, by Emma Lou Warner Thayne (Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse, 2011)

The Book of Mormon Girl: A Memoir of an American Faith, by Joanna Brooks (New York: Free Press/Simon and Schuster, 2012)

Global Mom: Eight Countries, Sixteen Addresses, …

Elijah Abel: The Life And Times Of A Black Priesthood Holder, Matthew J. Harris

BYU Studies

W. Kesler Jackson. Elijah Abel: The Life and Times of a Black Priesthood Holder.

Springville, Utah: Cedar Fort, 2013.

Brigham Young: Sovereign In America, Roger Terry

BYU Studies

David Vaughn Mason. Brigham Young: Sovereign in America.

Routledge Historical Americans Series. New York: Routledge, 2015.

All That Was Promised: The St. George Temple And The Unfolding Of The Restoration, Bruce C. Hafen

BYU Studies

Blaine M. Yorgason, Richard A. Schmutz, and Douglas D. Alder. All That Was Promised: The St. George Temple and the Unfolding of the Restoration.

Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2013.

Saints Observed: Studies Of Mormon Village Life 1850-2005; Four Classic Mormon Village Studies, Todd L. Goodsell

BYU Studies

Howard M. Bahr. Saints Observed: Studies of Mormon Village Life, 1850-2005.

Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2014.

Howard M. Bahr, ed. Four Classic Mormon Village Studies.

Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2014.

American Crucifixion: The Murder Of Joseph Smith And The Fate Of The Mormon Church, Alexander L. Baugh

BYU Studies

Alex Beam. American Crucifixion: The Murder of Joseph Smith and the Fate of the Mormon Church.

New York: Public Affairs, 2014.

Histories, Volume 1: Joseph Smith Histories, 1832-1844; Histories, Volume 2: Assigned Histories, 1831-1847, James B. Allen

BYU Studies

I am always delighted to pick up a new volume of the Joseph Smith Papers and find that it continues the same book quality that has characterized the series from the beginning. Every volume is elegantly designed and solidly bound, and the editorial work is outstanding. Most of all, every volume includes documents that are invaluable in understanding and writing about early Mormon history.

Called To Teach: The Legacy Of Karl G. Maeser, Heather M. Seferovich

BYU Studies

Powerful and inspiring teachers can profoundly impact their students, both in this life and in the eternities. Many of us are fortunate to look back fondly on one or two influential teachers who played a critical role in shaping our personalities or careers. Anyone who is a teacher, whether in a formal or informal classroom, or anyone who has had an inspiring teacher will enjoy the educational biography of Karl G. Maeser, written by another teacher, A. LeGrand “Buddy” Richards, a professor of educational leadership in the McKay School of Education at Brigham Young University.

Nels Anderson's World War I Diary, Kenneth L. Alford

BYU Studies

With the centennial of World War I beginning in 2014, Nels Anderson’s World War I Diary, edited by Allan Kent Powell, is a timely and engaging firsthand account of America’s involvement in “the war to end all wars.” This account sees the war through the eyes of a Latter-day Saint private fighting with the American Expeditionary Force in Europe.

The Mormon Image In The American Mind: Fifty Years Of Public Perception, Sherry Pack Baker

BYU Studies

J. B. Haws received his PhD from the University of Utah and is an assistant professor in the Department of Church History at Brigham Young University. His research interests include twentieth-century history of Latter-day Saints and the general public perception of the group. This book (based on his 2010 PhD dissertation) is the winner of the 2014 Mormon History Association Best Book Award.

New Perspectives On 2 Enoch: No Longer Slavonic Only, David J. Larsen

BYU Studies

This book contains the proceedings of the Fifth Enoch Seminar, held in Naples, Italy, on June 14–18, 2009. The theme of the conference was “Adam, Enoch, Melchizedek: Mediatorial Figures in 2 Enoch and Second Temple Judaism,” covering topics of intrinsic interest for biblical scholars generally, as well as for Latter-day Saints. The book’s subtitle, No Longer Slavonic Only, refers to an important discovery announced at the seminar. The book of 2 Enoch is also commonly referred to as “Slavonic Enoch” because the text has been known only in its Slavonic translation; now Coptic fragments of the text have been …

Dead Wood And Rushing Water: Essays On Mormon Faith, Culture, And Family, Mark Brown

BYU Studies

Boyd Jay Petersen. Dead Wood and Rushing Water: Essays on Mormon Faith, Culture, and Family.

Sandy, Utah: Greg Kofford Books, 2013.

Helen Andelin And The Fascinating Womanhood Movement, Mary Jane Woodger

BYU Studies

Julie Debra Neuffer. Helen Andelin and the Fascinating Womanhood Movement.

Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2014.

Roads In The Wilderness: Conflict In Canyon Country, Brian Q. Cannon

BYU Studies

Jedediah S. Rogers. Roads in the Wilderness: Conflict in Canyon Country.

Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2013.

Kirtland Temple: The Biography Of A Shared Mormon Sacred Space, Elwin C. Robinson

BYU Studies

David J. Howlett, a professor and member of the Community of Christ, opens up a view of the Kirtland Temple that is not often considered by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Howlett chronicles the various ways that the Kirtland Temple has been a point of conflict and confluence, influencing the interaction between faith traditions stemming from Joseph Smith’s religious experiences.

"A Peculiar People": Anti-Mormonism And The Making Of Religion In Nineteenth-Century America, J. Spencer Fluhman, George L. Mitton

BYU Studies

Latter-day Saints were often surprised or astonished at the amount of anti-Mormon rhetoric and sentiment that seemed to come out of the woodwork during the Romney candidacies. While to a varying degree there has always been an obvious anti-Mormon backdrop, it is an awakening to realize the strong, latent undercurrent that surfaces at times. J. Spencer Fluhman's book on anti-Mormonism in the nineteenth century is a helpful contribution to an understanding of the origins, sources, trends, and implications of such religious aversion. Fluhman is a professor of history at Brigham Young University and editor of the Mormon Studies Review. The …

The Myth Of Religious Violence: Secular Ideology And The Roots Of Modern Conflict, William T. Cavanaugh, Bryan W. Cottle

BYU Studies

Whether or not religion is essentially prone to violence is not a new debate within academia. While many scholars argue religion creates more violence in the world than any other institution, others argue that secular movements are by far the greater culprit, and the remainder struggle to find a middle ground. Despite disagreements, the scholarly discussion has largely hinged on the formation of a religious versus secular dichotomy. Does this paradigm damage our appraisal of religious violence, and are there alternative paradigms to consider?

William Cavanaugh's work, The Myth of Religious Violence, answers in the affirmative. Cavanaugh, a professor …

The Mormons: An Illustrated History Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, Roy A. Prete, Herman Du Toit

BYU Studies

Many predicted that the printed book would be doomed by developments in digital media. Far from it. This sumptuously illustrated "coffee table" hardcover publication by Merrell, an independent British publisher, testifies to the value of the printed book. The materiality of the medium emphasizes the synthesis of the complex visual and textual content of this publication--stressing the fact that this is a book and not a digital file after all. Stephen Hales Creative Inc., a design company in Provo, Utah, was responsible for the appealing visual design and layout of the book. The hard cover and dust jacket are both …

The Weir Family, 1820–1920: Expanding The Traditions Of American Art, Marian Wardle, Herman Du Toit

BYU Studies

Marian Wardle, curator of American art at the Brigham Young University Museum of Art and part-time faculty member at BYU in art history, has assembled a remarkable group of writers from across the country for an anthology that focuses on the lives and artistic production of three of America's most notable artists: Robert Walter Weir (1803-1889) and his sons John Ferguson Weir (1841-1926) and Julian Alden Weir (1852-1919). The BYU Museum of Art became the beneficiary of a collection of the Weirs' artworks when one of Julian Weir's daughters, Dorothy, passed away in 1947, leaving much of her family's extensive …

Rube Goldberg Machines: Essays In Mormon Theology, Adam S. Miller, Thomas F. Rogers

BYU Studies

Philosopher Adam S. Miller, who teaches at Collin College in McKinney, Texas, and presently serves as director of the prestigious Mormon Theology Seminar, has written a small book that deserves big attention.

In his thoughtful preface, historian Richard L. Bushman asserts that "Adam Miller is the most original and provocative Latter-day Saint theologian practicing today" and that, like other philosophers and theologians, his writings reflect his possible doubt that his subject "can be reduced to a rational orderly system." But, for me, there is immense continuity to the book's fourteen essays, each of which interfaces with the restored gospel in …

Banishing The Cross: The Emergence Of A Mormon Taboo, Michael G. Reed, Alonzo L. Gaskill

BYU Studies

This first book by Michael G. Reed is a revamp of his 2009 master's thesis, "The Development of the LDS Church's Attitude toward the Cross" (California State University, Sacramento). In this current work, Reed beefs up his text with some additional sources and graphics, and he adds a chapter on the cross as a symbol in the Strangite and Community of Christ (RLDS) traditions.

The book's aim is to delineate the place of the cross as a symbol in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and in the two aforementioned Restoration churches, though the book largely focuses on …

Matched; Crossed; Reached. The Matched Trilogy, William Morris, Ally Condie

BYU Studies

Ally Condie, a Latter-day Saint and graduate of Brigham Young University, is best known as the author of the Matched trilogy. These three books contain all the ingredients for a successful YA (young adult fiction) series: a plucky heroine, a love triangle, a dystopian setting. And a success it is: each volume has spent numerous weeks on various best-seller lists, Disney has optioned the film rights to the trilogy, and numerous fan sites and social media groups are active online. If it were just those ingredients alone, the trilogy would not be worth noting amid the outpouring of YA novels …

Dark Mirrors: Azazel And Satanael In Early Jewish Demonology, Andrei A. Orlov, David J. Larsen

BYU Studies

Andrei A. Orlov, professor of Judaism and Christianity in Antiquity at Marquette University, is a highly prolific author and world-renowned scholar who specializes in Christian origins, Jewish apocalypticism and mysticism, and Old Testament pseudepigrapha, including texts such as 2 Enoch and the Apocalypse of Abraham. Among Orlov's many writings are the books The Enoch-Metatron Tradition (TSAJ, 107; Tuebingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2005), From Apocalypticism to Merkabah Mysticism (SJSJ, 114; Leiden: Brill, 2007), Divine Manifestations in the Slavonic Pseudepigrapha (OJC, 2; Piscataway: Gorgias, 2009), and Concealed Writings: Jewish Mysticism in the Slavonic Pseudepigrapha (Flaviana; Moscow: Gesharim, 2011).

The present book under review, …

Premarital Sex In America: How Young Americans Meet, Mate, And Think About Marrying; Sex And The Soul: Juggling Sexuality, Spirituality, Romance, And Religion On America's College Campuses, Mark Regnerus, Jeremy Uecker, Donna Freitas, Brian J. Willoughby

BYU Studies

MARK REGNERUS, JEREMY UECKER. Premarital Sex in America: How Young Americans Meet, Mate, and Think about Marrying. New York City: Oxford University Press, 2011.

DONNA FREITAS. Sex and the Soul: Juggling Sexuality, Spirituality, Romance, and Religion on America's College Campuses. New York City: Oxford University Press, 2010.

Mark Regnerus (University of Texas) and Jeremy Uecker (Baylor University), both professors of sociology, have previously collaborated on a host of academic papers focused on the dating, marital, and sexual lives of young adults. Regnerus has previously published a book entitled Forbidden Fruit (Oxford University Press, 2007), which explores the sexual lives of …

Talking With Mormons: An Invitation To Evangelicals, David Dominguez, Richard J. Mouw

BYU Studies

As an Evangelical who has resided in Utah County since 1989 and as a law professor at BYU for the past twenty-four years, I read with great interest Richard J. Mouw's latest book, Talking with Mormons: An Invitation to Evangelicals. I was pleased that the author, president of Fuller Theological Seminary, helped me sort out my thoughts on countless conversations with LDS colleagues, students, and neighbors concerning differences in our religious traditions and, even more importantly, provided a structure for more fruitful dialogue. I encourage anyone who cares about building bridges between and among Evangelicals and Mormons to take time …

Henry Burkhardt And Lds Realpolitik In Communist East Germany, Raymond Kuehne, James H. Backman

BYU Studies

The biography of Henry Burkhardt is an inspiring story tied to a group of Church members caught up in the politics of Germany after World War II. Like a young David asked to face a Goliath of repressive national power that caused a fledgling people to fear the political force around them, Burkhardt led faithful Latter-day Saints for four decades in a manner reminiscent of early pioneers like Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and Wilford Woodruff. Like each of these early faithful servants, Burkhardt became a leader at a young age, when as a missionary he was called in 1952 …

Gathering To La'ie, Riley M. Moffat, Jeffrey N. Walker, Fred E. Woods, Steven C. Walker

BYU Studies

I stayed in La'ie last winter, a stone's throw from the temple, which is within easy walking distance of Brigham Young University-Hawaii, which is next door to the Polynesian Cultural Center--all the major landmarks of the town within an easy ten-minute circuit. It is surprising to see how compact a place has earned so expansive a reputation. This book surprised me in the same way. There's a lot going on in this history of the little town--Gathering to La'ie traces how the sleepy village wrought dramatic influence on Hawaii, managed the miracle of melding diverse factions into a united …

The Mormon People: The Making Of An American Faith, Matthew Bowman, Armand L. Mauss

BYU Studies

Matthew Bowman is an up-and-coming young scholar of the generation now rising with the relatively new field of Mormon studies. Having completed his doctorate in American religious history at Georgetown University in 2011, he has nevertheless already been very visible for some time at academic conferences and in periodical literature of both Mormon and American religious histories. He has appeared on various public media sites, electronic and otherwise, as a commentator about Mormons and Mormonism, including discussions of his new book.

This book provides eight solid chapters, a brief introduction, and an even briefer conclusion, followed by four appendices, a …

Monsters And Mormons: Thirty Tales Of Adventure And Terror, Scott R. Parkin, Wm Morris, Theric Jepson

BYU Studies

Short story anthologies are oddly rare in Mormon literature. We publish plenty of single-author collections, but multi-author anthologies tend to be fewer and further between. As such, they tend to be viewed as manifestos of sorts, snapshots of the current state of the Mormon literary art--at least over the past two decades. From Eugene England's Bright Angels and Familiars through M. Shayne Bell's Washed by a Wave of Wind to Angela Hallstrom's Dispensation, we look to these anthologies as signposts of our collective literary maturity and use them as introductions to notable names that we might not hear of otherwise. …

Home Waters: A Year Of Recompenses On The Provo River, Dennis R. Cutchins, George B. Handley

BYU Studies

Herman Melville begins Moby Dick by noting the way humans seem almost magnetically attracted to water. "There is magic in it," he writes. "Take almost any path you please, and ten to one it carries you down in a dale, and leaves you there by a pool in the stream." George Handley would, no doubt, agree with this observation. His Home Waters: A Year of Recompenses on the Provo River is a gentle, slow, and deeply thoughtful book built on this special human relationship with water. Handley uses the Provo River as the locus for a series of contemplations on …