BYU Studies
Alphabetical by Authors

To help celebrate our 50th anniversary, Doris R. Dant has compiled a new book of personal essays titled Adventures of the Soul: The Best Creative Nonfiction from BYU Studies. Expect startling disclosures if you open this book, for these are personal essays—the reality show of literature. Sometimes with brutal candor, these essays trace gospel messages in the lives of the humble. A Xhosa black man with three teeth and a perfectly round head becomes the Savior of all races. A young mother recognizes her entire body belongs to her children—“take, eat!” A harmonica player is awakened and washed by irrigation water, the water of life. A returned missionary learns to see God’s mysterious hand in the life of a former foe. Miracles, love, pain, the substance of life—all can be found in these stories. “Adventures is a page-turner! When there is a point to be illustrated in a talk or a family home evening discussion, readers are likely to reach for this book.” — Karen Lynn Davidson author of Our Latter-day Hymns: The Stories and the Messages and coeditor of Eliza R. Snow: The Complete Poetry “The stories are compelling because we see ourselves in them and sometimes the author sounds just like us.” — Richard Neitzel Holzapfel Director, Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University “The essays in this volume will provoke reactions from tears to laughter and give readers a window into the richness of the Mormon experience in the modern world.” — Nathan B. Oman Assistant Professor at William and Mary Law School

Since 1998 the Brigham Young University Museum of Art has hosted the biennial Art, Belief, Meaning Symposium. The purpose of the symposium is to provide an opportunity for Latter-day Saint artists, critics, and commentators to contribute to the ongoing discussion about issues related to art and spirituality. Our goal is to articulate our interest in the making of art that not only is relevant and meaningful for our day, but which also bears witness and gives perspective to the realities that flow from the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. The symposium provides a welcome forum for discussion regarding issues that have always concerned serious religious artists: • What is the role of the artist in relation to the mission of the Church? • What is the place of self expression, belief, and inspiration in religious art? • Do artists have a “mission” through their work? • How does individual testimony find expression in the work of the artist? • Does religion create untenable tensions in the expression of the artist? • What is the relationship between idea and technique in religious art? • Can religious art find expression through contemporary art movements? This series provides an opportunity for like-minded believers, those with deep and often passionate interests in the arts, to come together, reason together, and benefit from each others’ points of view. Hopefully others who find themselves confronted by similar issues will benefit from a careful reading of these essays.

Elder M. Russell Ballard once said, Inspired art speaks in the language of eternity, teaching things to the heart that the eyes and ears can never understand. Students and scholars at Brigham Young University discuss art in our theology in this new publication entitled Art, Belief, Meaning. The articles in this volume come from the proceedings of the 2003 Art, Belief, and Meaning symposium. This volume starts by analyzing some of the challenges of being a Latter-day Saint artist. Examples include Pat Debenham’s “Seduction of Our Gifts” and Tanya Rizzuti’s “Imparting One to Another: The Role of Humility, Charity, and Consecration within an Artistic Community.” The next section deals with the aesthetics of art. Articles in this section like Grant L. Lunds’s “What Makes a Good Image? What Makes a Good Life?” and Bruce H. Smith’s “What Can You Do with an Eclair?” help us to understand what makes art beautiful. The last section looks at the role of postmodernism in art. Some articles include “Taking Off Our Shoes: On Seeing the Other Religiously” by Keith H. Lane, and Nancy Andruk’s “Accountability, Efficacy, and Postmodernism.”

From living in a dugout called the Castle of Spiders to eating so many weeds their skin took on a green cast to losing four children in just a few weeks to diphtheria, nearly everything imaginable happened to the Mormon settlers of Utah Territory. Here are the details of the lives of the common people⿿what they ate, wore, lived in, and celebrated, how they worshipped, and why they endured. Here are the details of the lives of the common people, those who traveled in the dust of the leaders. What they ate, wore, lived in, and celebrated. How they worshiped. Why they endured. This volume begins with Marlin K. Jensen’s eulogy of the uncommonly heroic common Saint. Twenty-one renowned historians then apply nearly every type of source and method imaginable to capture pioneer life’s ordinary rhythms and cycles. In Nearly Everything Imaginable, you’ll find hundreds of vignettes from Utah’s early settlers, including these: Old and young would gather for dancing; everybody came early and left about the midnight hour. The bedrooms opening from the hall were generally filled with babies snugly tucked away, while the mothers enjoyed the dance. The huge fireplaces at either end of the hall were piled high with dry cedar fagots, the flames from which leaped and danced up the chimneys. Candles held in place by three nails driven into wooden brackets were ranged high along the walls. Tickets were paid for in any kind of produce that the fiddlers could be induced to accept. Usually a couple of two-bushel sacks could be seen near the door, into which the dancers deposited their contributions. Father made a plow out of a big forked stock and we boys held it in place while our father pulled it. The stock plow was made of quaking aspen. He fastened it to himself by a strap. We plowed two and a half acres that way, and planted wheat. I always remembered that picture of my father doing the work of a horse.

Hymns by Eliza R. Snow—such as “O My Father,” “Behold the Great Redeemer Die,” and “How Great the Wisdom and the Love”—evoke powerful religious imagery. In her hymns and in her hundreds of other poems, Snow captured nineteenth-century Mormonism, where revelation and history intersected and Latter-day Saints labored for the meeting of heaven and earth they named Zion. Snow’s poems convey many sublime truths about the human condition. As Zion’s honored spokeswoman, no public event in the Mormon community from the 1840s to the 1880s was complete without a contribution from her. “Through [Snow’s poems] the names of many of the actors in the drama of Mormonism, will be handed down to posterity,” wrote Emmeline B. Wells. Intelligent, well-read, and articulate, Snow also had an understanding of the scriptures. Through her position in the inner circles of church leadership, her poetry, and her gifts as a spokeswoman, she became one of the most influential and best-known women in Mormon history. As a result, this collection is as much biographical, historical, and theological as literary.

In 1939 when Hitler’s armies marched into Poland, the LDS missionaries marched out of Germany and eventually out of continental Europe, leaving a strong and thriving Church in eastern Germany. Through personal interviews with East German Saints, this volume documents the moving personal faith of those Saints who survived World War II and rebuilt Zion during the communist years.

In 1939 when Hitler’s armies marched into Poland, the LDS missionaries marched out of Germany and eventually out of continental Europe, leaving a strong and thriving Church in eastern Germany. Through personal interviews with East German Saints, this volume documents the moving personal faith of those Saints who survived World War II and rebuilt Zion during the communist years.

Hymns by Eliza R. Snow—such as “O My Father,” “Behold the Great Redeemer Die,” and “How Great the Wisdom and the Love”—evoke powerful religious imagery. In her hymns and in her hundreds of other poems, Snow captured nineteenth-century Mormonism, where revelation and history intersected and Latter-day Saints labored for the meeting of heaven and earth they named Zion. Snow’s poems convey many sublime truths about the human condition. As Zion’s honored spokeswoman, no public event in the Mormon community from the 1840s to the 1880s was complete without a contribution from her. “Through [Snow’s poems] the names of many of the actors in the drama of Mormonism, will be handed down to posterity,” wrote Emmeline B. Wells. Intelligent, well-read, and articulate, Snow also had an understanding of the scriptures. Through her position in the inner circles of church leadership, her poetry, and her gifts as a spokeswoman, she became one of the most influential and best-known women in Mormon history. As a result, this collection is as much biographical, historical, and theological as literary.

Issued by the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve in 1995, “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” has instructed and inspired Latter-day Saints throughout the world, including many LDS scholars who seek to strengthen and defend marriages and families. This new volume, edited by Alan Hawkins, David Dollahite, and Thomas Draper, all of The School of Family Life at Brigham Young University, draws together the best of their latest findings.

The New Rendition of the book First Corinthians provides a modern English translation of the Greek text while remaining true to Paul’s intent. This translation is excerpted from Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians by Richard D. Draper and Michael D. Rhodes. This new version clarifies many previously vague or misunderstood passages and enlightens the text for today’s readers. This epistle is particularly interesting and important to faithful Christians interested in the Apostle Paul’s testimonies of knowledge, revelation, purity, gifts of the spirit, the sacrament, charity, the resurrection, baptism for the dead, heavenly glory, and many other topics crucial to the life of righteousness. This Rendition is part of the BYU New Testament Commentary series. This scholarly project aims to create a faithful modern English translation together with a full, in-depth, carefully researched Latter-day Saint commentary for each book on the New Testament. More of the New Rendition and commentary volumes will be added in coming months and years. As of 2019, volumes have been published on Mark, Luke, First Corinthians, and Revelation.

The rendering of the Greek text of the Epistle to the Hebrews into modern English presents a flowing and easily understood translation of one of the most beautiful biblical studies of the nature and ministry of Christ. The English rendering comes from an extensive and excellent Commentary entitled The Epistle to the Hebrews by Richard D. Draper and Michael D. Rhodes forthcoming in 2019. This translation seeks to correct one of the major problems the King James translators were unable to overcome. These men were classists and knew well the power and beauty of the Attic prose of Plato and Aristotle. Unfortunately, “the rubbed down and difficult Greek” of the New Testament era held a number of mysteries they were unable to solve. This left a number of passages, especially in the dense and difficult writings of the epistles, very hard to understand in their translation. In this new rendering of the Greek text, the current translators have attempted to present the true sense of the New Testament writings as faithfully and clearly as possible in modern English. It strives to balance the esoteric details of a text with the importance of communicating the breadth of its meaning as clearly as possible to English readers. Sometimes grammatical and syntactical forms that make good sense in Greek seem stilted, odd, and even weird when translated word for word into English. The translators’ purpose has been to render the Greek in such a way that an educated reader could readily understand its meaning. They have consistently tried to avoid an overly “literal” translation, which would likely obscure original intents. They have, therefore, followed Bruce Metzger’s dictum to be “as literal as possible, but as free as necessary” in order to communicate to the English reader the meaning of the text. This Rendition is part of the BYU New Testament Commentary series. This scholarly project aims to create a faithful modern English translation together with a full, in-depth, carefully researched Latter-day Saint commentary for each book on the New Testament. As of 2019, volumes have been published on Mark, Luke, First Corinthians, and Revelation. More of the New Rendition and commentary volumes will be added in coming months and years.

The New Rendition of the book of Revelation provides a modern English translation of the Greek text while remaining true to the Apostle John’s intent. This translation is excerpted from The Revelation of John the Apostle by Richard D. Draper and Michael D. Rhodes. The text of Revelation in the King James Version seems oblique and in some cases inexplicable, but this New Rendition clarifies many misunderstood or misinterpreted passages and helps make John’s powerful testimony more understandable and applicable to the modern disciple. The authors have studied, taught, and published scholarly works on the book of Revelation for decades and aim to make the text accessible with this version. Insights into the meaning of this grand apocalyptic book are drawn from early Christian perspectives, Latter-day Saint scriptures, and a panoply of references to churches, angels, trumpets, seals, signs, beasts, and elders leading to the great marriage supper of the Lamb of God and the establishment of the celestial New Jerusalem. This Rendition is part of the BYU New Testament Commentary series. This scholarly project aims to create a faithful modern English translation together with a full, in-depth, carefully researched Latter-day Saint commentary for each book on the New Testament. More of the New Rendition and commentary volumes will be added in coming months and years. As of 2019, volumes have been published on Mark, Luke, First Corinthians, and Revelation.

A verse-by-verse commentary on the New Testament Epistle to the Hebrews. Provides a modern English version of the text. Cites scriptures of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). Focuses on Jesus Christ and his role as High Priest and Savior, highlighting the saving nature of faith in him. The Epistle to the Hebrews is a faith-filled testimony of Jesus Christ. This commentary is the most comprehensive study of the epistle that Latter-day Saint scholars have yet produced. The commentary removes many of the barriers that hinder the reader from understanding this complex work. The volume is not written for an academic audience but for anyone interested in a detailed examination of this highly spiritual and insightful work. The authors show that although the epistle has been ascribed to the Apostle Paul because its doctrines and approaches are so similar to his, it is actually the work of an unnamed early church authority. The result of this conclusion stresses that the Apostle was not alone in his understanding of the work, ministry, and mission of the Lord. In the past, many non–Latter-day Saint readers have viewed the epistle as a polemic against certain Jews who were making trouble for Jewish Christians. This work finds Hebrews to be primarily a pastoral work carefully designed to encourage its readers to base their lives on nothing more and nothing less than Jesus Christ. The commentary presents the full Greek text alongside the King James Version and the authors’ New Rendition, followed by translation notes and analysis. The translation notes explain the meaning and context of words, phrases, and passages and the choice of words in the New Rendition. The analysis examines the doctrine and teachings of each section, opening the epistle to the reader’s understanding. The work strives to be up to date, comprehensive, scholarly, and as doctrinally sound as possible. It relies on the canon of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Joseph Smith Translation, and teachings of latter-day prophets alongside rigorous biblical scholarship and the original Greek text. This commentary has the same purpose as the epistle itself: to bear witness of the Lord and his lifegiving ministry. This up-to-date commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews provides a unique restoration perspective on the Jewish and first-century Christian themes of Jesus Christ’s authority, priesthood, temples, and faithfulness. Draper and Rhodes make this somewhat neglected and challenging epistle much more understandable through a careful examination of the Greek text accompanied by a side-by-side KJV text and translation notes. Their analysis sections contain numerous invaluable insights gleaned from many decades of teaching. This commentary assists modern readers to gain the scripture study skill of context as Draper and Rhodes elucidate this epistle’s text from both a Semitic and Gentile historical and cultural milieu. — Brent Schmidt, faculty, Department of Religious Education, Brigham Young University–Idaho The commentary on Epistle to the Hebrews is fascinating! As with the other commentaries written by Richard D. Draper and Michael D. Rhodes, we have the Greek text, the translation, and the reasoning behind the translation. The historical, sociopolitical, and religious background they provide is invaluable in fully understanding the inspired (and inspiring) messages of the writer of Hebrews. I find this commentary very accessible. You don’t have to have a background in history or be a biblical scholar. You can dive in where you are at and learn at the feet of masters. I also appreciate the enhanced insights from the inclusion of Latter-day Saint scripture. There are a number of scholarly commentaries on Hebrews, but very few that are accessible to a lay person, and none with a Latter-day Saint perspective. If you are seeking a deeper understanding of Jesus Christ and His Atonement, this commentary will be invaluable. — Eleanor Thorne, administrator with BYU Continuing Education, PhD from University of Missouri–Colombia Draper and Rhodes have written a useful commentary to this important New Testament book. Their commentary is especially helpful for teasing out connections between the ancient writings in the New Testament and the unique contributions of the Restoration. The Epistle to the Hebrews is a book that has a lot of resonance with latter-day scripture and teachings, and Draper and Rhodes’s commentary is written with an ear to that resonance. — Avram Shannon, assistant professor, Department of Ancient Scripture, Religious Education, Brigham Young University

Of all of Paul’s epistles, First Corinthians may resonate the most with Latter-day Saints. Many of its doctrinal teachings reappear in the Restoration: baptism for the dead, degrees of glory, charity never faileth, the administration of the sacrament, and others. The counsel Paul gave remains remarkably relevant today because conditions and attitudes found in ancient Corinth have reemerged in the postmodern Western world. The Corinthian microcosm was largely a skeptical, materialistic, pluralistic, immoral society whose standards were contrary to those of the Christian community. The Corinthians questioned God, the Resurrection, and the place of the Spirit in their lives. Paul was compelled to address such issues in that society, and the result is an epistle highly germane still today. This book is the most comprehensive study of First Corinthians that LDS scholars have yet produced. It relies on the LDS canon of scripture and the teachings of LDS prophets alongside rigorous biblical scholarship and Paul’s original Greek. Because this commentary relies heavily on the Greek text, the full Greek text is presented along with the King James Version. It also presents a new rendering of the Greek text that makes the text more understandable to modern readers. This rendition is set side by side with the King James text for easy comparison. The commentary contains translation notes and helpful historical and cultural background. The work strives to be as up to date, comprehensive, scholarly, and doctrinally sound as possible. Through examining every verse of First Corinthians, the rich theology of the Atonement, grace, the gifts of the Spirit, the sacrament, love, and resurrection of the dead come alive. Those who read this volume will find in it faith, hope, and understanding of key principles and doctrines. The text bears a strong witness of the Lord Jesus Christ and a clear elucidation of his gospel as articulated by the Apostle Paul. The commentary on Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians is absolutely enlightening! It provides the Greek text, a translation entitled a “Rendition,” and an in-depth explanation for why most words, phrases, and verses are rendered the way they are. But the authors don’t stop there. They give us the historical, sociopolitical, and religious background necessary to understand Paul’s writing in context. Their discussion of Paul’s teachings is articulate, straightforward, and doctrinally and spiritually insightful. Paul’s message to the Corinthians and the conditions surrounding it have truly come alive for me. This commentary has become an invaluable tool and a regular part of my scripture study. — Eleanor Thorne, Administrator with BYU Continuing Education, PhD from University of Missouri–Columbia Draper and Rhodes’s collaboration on First Corinthians, is, in my estimation, even better than their very solid and substantial commentary on ­Reve­lation. A detailed introduction sets the stage for Paul’s letter by surveying questions of authorship, date, historical background to Corinth, circumstances for writing, unifying themes, and, as a special bonus, a collection of interpretations and famous quotations by LDS authorities for each chapter of the letter, organized in decreasing order of the frequency of comments on the chapter. This commentary advances by light years what previous Mormon projects of this nature have done. — Craig L. Blomberg, Distinguished Professor of New Testament, Denver Seminary Draper and Rhodes collectively have many decades of experience teaching and writing about the New Testament in a faith-promoting manner. This volume examines First Corinthians on many levels, both secular and spiritual. Their rendition closely follows the Greek when possible while also idiomatically and skillfully rendering cryptic and ambiguous passages into plain English. Their analysis often illuminates terms, doctrines, and concepts that sometimes escape traditional New Testament scholarship. Their commentary deeply explores the first-century setting and context of this important letter of Paul. The results are invaluable for students, teachers, leaders, and scholars of all types who seek wisdom by study and also by faith. — Brent J. Schmidt, Professor of Religious Education at Brigham Young University-Idaho, author of Relational Grace: The Reciprocal and Binding Covenant of Charis

To read the book of Revelation is to see a myriad of representations pass by our gaze, offering a kaleidoscope of bizarre and incongruent images. This world strikes us at first as fearfully and mysteriously strange and fantastic. But once these symbols are properly deciphered, they combine to present crucial messages for those living in the last days. These messages were designed by God to lead all successfully through these troubled times if they will read, hear, and do his will. This commentary presents a comprehensive analy­sis of John’s book aided by the lens of Latter-­day Saint doctrine and experience. God delivered his messages in the form of images housed within discrete visions, with each symbol explaining, exposing, or emphasizing various aspects of the message conveyed. The challenge is getting beyond the symbols to the represented realities. Information is drawn from all the Standard Works, the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible, and from modern Prophets and Apostles. Even so, the best of world scholarship has not been overlooked. Because this commentary relies heavily on the Greek text, the full Greek text of the book is presented in sections along with the King James Version and the authors’ new rendition. The commentary contains translation notes and analysis of every verse. The work strives to be as up to date, comprehensive, ­scholarly, and doctrinally sound as possible. Most important, the commentary emphasizes the primary focus of John’s work, “the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 1:1). The commentary highlights the Apostle’s witness that Jesus is the Lamb of God alive and active in these last days—directing earthly affairs and preparing his Saints and the faithful so that the Father’s intentions will ultimately be accomplished. Hope and promise dominate the work. The Lamb is in charge, and nothing moves beyond the limits he sets. He is coming to “destroy them which destroy the earth” (Rev. 11:18) and to bring his people into triumphant millennial glory. This commentary details how. This is the most ambitious, detailed, and scholarly commentary series on a portion of the Bible ever produced by Latter-day Saints. Perhaps even more noteworthy is the use of the full range of scholarly sources. The new rendition alone could be of great help to Latter-day Saints, especially those who may be wary of modern translations of the Bible outside the Church and nevertheless find the Elizabethan English of the KJV increasingly difficult to navigate. Adela Yarbro Collins has offered the pithiest summary of the Apocalypse I have ever heard: “Jesus wins!” But Draper and Rhodes offer the necessary unpacking of this summary in language that both captures John’s message accurately and highlights humanity’s appropriate response of worship. — Craig Blomberg, Distinguished Professor of New Testament, Denver Seminary Over the years, I’ve dealt with many biblical commentaries, and this one has a very reader-friendly format. It is at its best when introducing ideas about historical and contextual points from various non-LDS scholars. The authors understand that the audience this book is aimed at may not be as familiar with the terms as those who read and use most such commentaries. In fact, this is the strongest point of the book. It is a great step ahead for LDS readers. Naturally, LDS scholars and especially LDS General Authority and LDS scriptural comments are added at appropriate places. This is a book which will be used and referred to for years to come. — Terry L. Hutchinson, attorney and book reviewer for KDXU Radio This is an important contribution and one that should be applauded by those who wish to see, at the very least, a wider understanding of at least some of the concepts and problems expressed by the wider biblical community that otherwise may have no other way of being “safely” expressed from within. While the answers and issues may not be addressed or resolved how all might ideally like them to be, the fact that issues are being expressed and acknowledged from a substantial work by a Church-run institution is in and of itself, at least for me, a major gain. — David Tayman, media developer for technology consulting company and LDS blogger

Issued by the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve in 1995, “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” has instructed and inspired Latter-day Saints throughout the world, including many LDS scholars who seek to strengthen and defend marriages and families. This new volume, edited by Alan Hawkins, David Dollahite, and Thomas Draper, all of The School of Family Life at Brigham Young University, draws together the best of their latest findings.

Gregory Steven Dundas offers a detailed reading of governmental forms in the Book of Mormon in the context of other ancient civilizations. He makes the case that democracy was almost unknown in the ancient world and that nearly all people assumed that kingship was the best form of government. This makes King Mosiah’s decision to implement a form of democracy (elected judges) among the Nephites a significant aberration. Dundas also argues convincingly that, contrary to what moderns might assume, this early form of democracy did not fare very well. As soon as the system of judges was in place, significant and repeated challenges to it arose and eventually resulted in the collapse of this particular form of government.