BYU Studies
Alphabetical by Authors

This is a continuation of the comprehensive bibliography of LDS writings on the Old Testament published in BYU Studies 37, no. 2 (1997–98), available at byustudies.byu.edu. This bibliography includes publications from 1997 to the end of 2005 as well as a few older publications that were not included in the first bibliography. Since that bibliography, there has been a Sperry Symposium dedicated to the Old Testament; all of those printed proceedings (Covenants, Prophecies, and Hymns of the Old Testament) are included in this bibliography. Published in 2005 is the volume Sperry Symposium Classics, a collection of papers from previous symposia; since many of those articles were revised for the 2005 volume, they are included here. Also relevant to the Old Testament is a volume published by FARMS entitled Glimpses of Lehi’s Jerusalem. Of note but not included in this bibliography because of space considerations are the many Old Testament topics discussed in encyclopedic form in The Book of Mormon Reference Companion, edited by Dennis Largely (Deseret Book, 2003).

Joseph Smith and his followers declared the Book of Mormon’s supernatural origin—that it was a divinely inspired translation of an ancient-American record, acquired by Joseph through visions and the help of an angel. This explanation, however, was widely rejected by outsiders from the outset. Within weeks after the Book of Mormon’s first pages came off the press, critics promoted “naturalistic explanations”—so called because they are based on scientific observation or natural phenomena—that rejected the possibility of a divine, supernatural origin of the Book of Mormon. To varying degrees, these naturalistic theories continue to be perpetuated today. This article examines the most popular naturalistic explanations for the Book of Mormon longitudinally, which will enable readers to better understand them and why they have waxed and waned in popularity over time.

These studies offer solid information about the material culture of the first-century Judea. Even though the story of Masada itself has recently become significantly politicized and rightly reexamined in the scholarly literature, these developments do not diminish the importance of this archaeological site as a source of information about the world of the New Testament.

Poetry. No abstract available

Poetry. No abstract available

Poetry. No abstract available.

Mormons in Eastern Europe found themselves mercilessly caught at the center of political and social turmoil during World War II and its aftermath. This book is a completely new collection of first-hand accounts by German and other Eastern European Latter-day Saints who suffered unbelievably brutal trials and lived to tell their stories. These personal statements, gathered and translated by Lynn Hansen, are humbling: Mama always said, ‘Go to bed, then you will not feel the hunger.’ We stumbled around in the dark forest with the others. A fire bomb fell into the bunker and we had to get out because there was so much smoke. As we came out, we saw the entire city on fire. Despite having their homes bombed and their lives shattered, and despite having to struggle for survival in frozen forests and on foreign streets, these Saints clung to their faith. Their vivid memories and poignant testimonies convey this through and through. Often, prayer was their only ally. Though the individual stories of these many Saints are varied and diverse, they all echo a common theme: Our Father in Heaven was accompanying us. The true treasure of these stories is the lesson that faith and testimony, obedience and faithfulness will bring blessings from heaven. As one survivor puts it, The gospel is true. The priesthood of God exists, and we have been mightily blessed in the Church, in our families, and also materially in having what we needed to sustain life. These real-life experiences build faith despite despair, offer hope amidst peril, and champion charity in defiance of hate.

Mormons in Eastern Europe found themselves mercilessly caught at the center of political and social turmoil during World War II and its aftermath. This book is a completely new collection of first-hand accounts by German and other Eastern European Latter-day Saints who suffered unbelievably brutal trials and lived to tell their stories. These personal statements, gathered and translated by Lynn Hansen, are humbling: Mama always said, ‘Go to bed, then you will not feel the hunger.’ We stumbled around in the dark forest with the others. A fire bomb fell into the bunker and we had to get out because there was so much smoke. As we came out, we saw the entire city on fire. Despite having their homes bombed and their lives shattered, and despite having to struggle for survival in frozen forests and on foreign streets, these Saints clung to their faith. Their vivid memories and poignant testimonies convey this through and through. Often, prayer was their only ally. Though the individual stories of these many Saints are varied and diverse, they all echo a common theme: Our Father in Heaven was accompanying us. The true treasure of these stories is the lesson that faith and testimony, obedience and faithfulness will bring blessings from heaven. As one survivor puts it, The gospel is true. The priesthood of God exists, and we have been mightily blessed in the Church, in our families, and also materially in having what we needed to sustain life. These real-life experiences build faith despite despair, offer hope amidst peril, and champion charity in defiance of hate.

No one knew…that Jack was beginning what would be a quarter-century tenure in his new role, but he had already set the course for it. He had seen no reason to revolutionize what BYU Studies was—a quarterly journal committed to showcasing the complementary nature of revealed and discovered truth, welcoming contributions from all fields of learning written for educated nonspecialists. He was determined, however, to “expand the variety of its articles and the size of its reading audience,” based on the belief that “BYU Studies can and should offer the world the best scholarly perspectives on topics of academic interest to Latter-day Saints. I don’t expect my tenure to last nearly as long as Jack’s. To paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen: you know Jack and I’m not him. Like Jack, however, I want BYU Studies Quarterly to remain committed to showcasing the complementary nature of revealed and discovered truth. I welcome contributions from all fields of learning written for educated nonspecialists. I will expand the variety of articles based on the belief Jack instilled in me: BYU Studies owes readers the best perspectives on topics of academic interest to Latter-day Saints.

This article will join the procession of articles dealing with the problem of scriptural change and its impact upon LDS theology. There will be concern to explain the nature of the material undergoing change, the historical, situations in which these changes occurred, and the impact of these facts upon a concept of revelation. As it is in the book of Moses that the most important changes have occurred, an explanation of how and why these changes were made in this text should satisfy the reader.

In recent years, the topic of Mormonism and race has attracted the attention of many Mormon scholars. In 2015, W. Paul Reeve’s Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness was published, in which he argues that the development of Mormon racial theology is best understood as a reaction to larger trends in nineteenth-century America. The Protestant majority privileged “whiteness,” Reeve argues, and Mormons sought to appease them by embracing a whiteness theology. The year 2015 also saw the publication of a special edition of the Journal of Mormon History featuring race and Mormonism. Advocating a “new history of race and Mormonism,” the essayists examined “the constitution of a white colonial hegemony in Mormonism,” moving beyond the typical medium of the priesthood and temple ban to explore Mormon racial teachings. Clearly, scholars are paying close attention to the Mormon racial experience and trying to understand how race affected Mormon doctrine and practice.

Most Latter-day Saints take for granted the existence of portraits of the Three Witnesses, but in fact no likeness of Oliver Cowdery was available to the Church until 1883, and then it was touch-and-go whether one would be obtained. Had it not been for the faith and tenacity of James H. Hart, who pursued the portrait when others had failed, we might never have known just what Oliver Cowdery looked like. In the course of following the trail of the portrait, Hart was also able to conduct important interviews with David Whitmer.

The restoration of priesthood authority was a key event in the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Joseph Smith in 1830, as is well known. Much less familiar is the fascinating process of continuing revelation and administrative brilliance that has unfolded over the last two centuries as priesthood offices and quorums have gone into action. This book makes available William G. Hartley’s lifetime of research about that powerful story. Interesting questions include: How were local congregations organized before there were wards and ward bishops? Do bishopric counselors need to be high priests? When did leaders begin to expect all boys to receive the Aaronic priesthood at age 12 in preparation for becoming elders? What is a quorum? Who defines the work of an elders quorum? What is the relationship between the Presiding Bishop and Aaronic Priesthood quorums? When and why did the Seventies become General Authorities? These, and many others, are answered on the pages of this unique and very significant book. This remarkably thorough collection of Professor William Hartley’s career writings is a handsome tribute to a very talented and careful scholar, and a “must read” for every serious student of LDS Church History. —Richard E. Bennett, Associate Dean, Religious Education, Brigham Young University

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.

“We live in a world awash with ancient religious texts. Among the most famous discoveries made since the publication of the Book of Mormon are (in order of discovery) the Royal Library of Ashurbanipal, the Cairo Genizah, the Oxyrhyncus Papyri, the Ras Shamra tablets, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Nag Hammadi library. What is our responsibility as Latter-day Saints toward these other texts? How are we to read them? To answer these questions, we go back to the beginning, to the first and grandest ancient text of the Restoration, to the Book of Mormon. We look to the Book of Mormon to help determine four fundamental strategies that can guide our future engagement with ancient texts as a community of Saints. The Book of Mormon explains and enacts an ethic of reading that promises not only to enlighten but to redeem us from a misguided sense of sufficiency and to direct us to attend to the outpouring of light that followed in its wake. As we recognize this prompting, we begin to understand that God has spoken, does speak, and will continue to speak to his children through ancient religious texts.” [Authors]

When a group of LDS scholars collaborated in 1994 under the auspices of the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies to publish a book on the allegory of the olive tree in Jacob 5, few substantial works on olive production in the ancient world existed. Now, two new archaeological books add a wealth of information to our understanding of the importance of the olive in ancient life. The first mention of the olive in the Book of Mormon is found in Lehi’s prediction of the Babylonian captivity and the coming of the Lamb of God. Lehi compared the house of Israel to an olive tree whose branches would be broken off and scattered upon all the face of the earth (1 Ne. 10:12). After being scattered,the house of Israel would be gathered and the natural branches of the olive tree, or the remnants of the house of Israel, would be grafted in, or come to a knowledge of the true Messiah (1 Ne. 10:14). In this passage, Lehi probably drew upon Zenos’s allegory, found on the plates of brass. In incredible horticultural detail, that allegory compares the house of Israel to an olive tree. Yet that Old World information was apparently lost among Lehi’s descendants in the New World. After the fifth chapter of Jacob, the olive is not mentioned again in the Book of Mormon.

The Gadianton wars were different from most other wars in the Book of Mormon in that they were internal, often covert, and protracted. They included components of terrorism, assassination, insurgency, and other horrific aspects of war. We can trace similar characteristics from these ancient wars with the current conflicts that are occurring today, especially those in the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and Africa. The story of seventy years of fighting with the Gadianton robbers is told using a modernized perspective that focuses specifically on the methods by which the robbers fought the wars—secret base areas, propaganda, guerrilla-type attacks—strikingly similar to modern events.