BYU Studies
Alphabetical by Authors

The 1829 “Articles of the Church of Christ” is a little-known antecedent to section 20 of the Doctrine and Covenants. This article explores Joseph Smith’s and Oliver Cowdery’s involvement in bringing forth these two documents that were important in laying the foundation for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Section 20 was originally labeled the “Articles and Covenants.” It was the first revelation canonized by the restored Church and the most lengthy revelation given before the first priesthood conference was held in June 1830. Scriptural commentators in recent years have described the inspired set of instructions in section 20 as “a constitution for the restored church.” In many respect, the Articles and Covenants was the Church’s earliest General Handbook of Instructions. Although Latter-day Saints typically associate the Articles and Covenants with the organization of the Church on April 6, 1830, this regulatory document had roots in earlier events: in the earliest latter-day revelations, in statements on Church ordinances and organization from the Book of Mormon, and in the preliminary set of Articles written by Oliver Cowdery in the last half of 1829.

An increasing number of psychotherapists reject traditional psychology’s marginalization of religion. As in the original Turning Freud Upside Down, this second volume looks to Christ’s gospel for direction. With a gospel perspective, the authors have questioned some of psychotherapy’s standard assumptions and have proposed features that should be found in gospel-compatible psychotherapy. “As I read these chapters, I was grateful for the thoughtful contributions of each of the authors. There was a genuine respect for the complexity inherent in trying to view therapy through a gospel lens. If you, like me, find yourself feeling inspired, uplifted, strengthened, and more committed to being true to gospel truths in the context of the relationships we engage in as therapists, then you have experienced the invitation to dialogue about significant issues in helping the clients that come to us. I offer deep appreciation for this opportunity to recalibrate my thinking and actions as a therapist. I wholeheartedly endorse this book in the spirit living the gospel and practicing it with others.” Vaughn E. Worthen, PhD Clinical Professor of Counseling Psychology at Brigham Young University Turning Freud Upside Down is not child’s play. However, I recommend any serious believer who is trained to heal troubled minds to examine this volume. It ably strives to seal clinical psychological thoughts with principles available to us as Saints of the latter days. Unchanging eternal gospel principles fit very nicely into this new examination of old theories. Turning Freud Upside Down really is Turning Truth Right Side Up.” Joseph Cramer, MD Pediatrician for over thirty-five years, past president of the Utah Medical Association

Latter-day Saints often worry about psychotherapy negatively affecting their souls-for good reason. Even religious therapists may promote anti-gospel principles. This hazard is particularly extreme when therapists are unaware of their practicing assumptions. Now counselors-and their clients-can go to Turning Freud Upside Down for a gospel corrective to that problem. No mere Freud basher; this book indicts basic concepts riddling much of traditional psychotherapy. If you want to think about psychotherapy in dramatically new ways, read Turning Freud Upside Down. As its title suggests, this book upends traditional psychological dogma. Far more important it also advances alternative, gospel-based views of human behavior and personality. Latter-day Saint and other Christian clinicians who feel lost in the trenches will find this book an indispensable map for moving further away from secular assumptions and techniques to a more spiritual base. I eagerly await the forthcoming volumes in this series. —Godfrey J. Ellis, PhD Director of the Master’s Program in Counseling Psychology St. martin’s University

Most scholarly attention to the First Vision is dedicated to determining whether it happened or whether whatever happened is reliably described in the few primary accounts we have of it. My interests lie in a different direction. I am interested in the First Vision accounts insofar as they tell us something about religion, not about history, and not least because my wager is that this story, as a story, exceeds the limits of history, especially when it becomes understood as scripture. Which is to say, I want to better understand the work done by this story among the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For this analysis of Smith’s representation of his quest and its positive resolution, I will rely chiefly on the 1832 and 1838 manuscripts as the most intentional of the four accounts. They not only share a historiographical purpose but also are related in their production, the 1838 manuscript having used the 1832 account as a base for its narrative structure and descriptive detail of events. In contrast, the intervening 1835 account is a report of a conversation with a sole interlocutor observed by a notetaking third party. It less useful as a primary source for Smith’s understanding of the larger significance of his initial spiritual experience. The 1842 Wentworth letter is as intentional as the other church histories but relies on secondary accounts for much of its content. Finally, because of its canonical status, the 1838 manuscript is not merely authoritative but generative of the faithful reader’s religious convictions. Therefore, it is uniquely relevant to this analysis of the First Vision’s meaning and function among the Saints.