BYU Studies
Alphabetical by Title

This 1996 dissertation demonstrates that the expulsion of the Latter-day Saints from Missouri in 1838-1839 was entirely unwarranted and illegal. Analyzing the history of the seven military episodes of this conflict, especially in terms of the traditional roles of local militias in the United States, Alexander L. Baugh shows that Latter-day Saints as United States citizens had every right to take up arms to defend themselves, particularly when local and state officials failed or refused to intervene in their behalf. While there was wrong-doing especially on the part of some Mormon extremists, this study, contrary to other recent interpretations, places the balance of the responsibility for this antagonism heavily and decisively on the side of the Missourians.

Hopeful and heartbreaking, sobering and exultant. A Call to Russia captures missionary life as experienced by a mission president, his wife and daughter, and the sisters and elders who served under him. But above all, this book is an invitation to reflect upon our own lives. Some glimpses from President Rogers: “Every morning Merriam still wakes up and asks, ‘Where am I?’ while I shake off the night’s slumber and involuntarily ask, ‘Who am I?’” “Our senior district president recently asked me, ‘What are your greatest impressions since coming here?’ I answered, ‘Faith and love. Love and faith.’ And the way things seem to fall apart on at least a weekly basis before they’re somehow put back together.” “In our quest to see God’s face, what most matters in mortality is how we face one another—with what patience, tenderness, mercy, and good humor.” “Another great blessing—a mission makes us more aware than otherwise of our personal inadequacies.” “A friend wrote me, ‘You’ve certainly changed.’ It’s good others can see how the gospel has indeed changed us—how we have repented. As a great assistant to the president put it, ‘The best missionary is a repenting missionary.’” “We all confront, all the time, a choice between two paths. One is higher, with steeper terrain, where you often strain to catch your breath or to reach a handhold. The other lies well below it and tends if anything toward a gradual and easy descent.”

A natural tension seems to exist between two important features of the Book of Mormon. On one hand, Mormon includes in his record a version of the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus gave to the Nephites—an address that sets the standard for discipleship and that contains teachings obviously opposed to violence. In it, we hear about not resisting evil, turning the other cheek, going another mile when compelled to go one, loving our enemies—and so forth (3 Ne. 12:39–44). On the other hand, Mormon also presents various Nephite leaders as righteous even though they were immersed in violence. Captain Moroni stands out among these leaders because his wartime activities dominate the last third of the book of Alma: we see him in significant detail. The juxtaposition of these two threads appears contradictory. We see righteous men, including prophetic figures, engaged in the very activities that the text itself seems to prohibit. And this apparent contradiction seems significant even though most of these leaders lived before the Sermon was even given. This is because it is natural to think of the Book of Mormon as a whole—as a collection of significant experiences and teachings that are consistent with one another and that together present a unified, divine message to the world. We thus expect to see the book’s most prominent leaders actually live the standard found in the book’s most prominent teachings— whether they actually possessed the Sermon on the Mount or not. And therein lies the problem. Although these prominent teachings clearly seem to be opposed to violence, we see these prominent leaders very much engaged in violence. It is not necessarily obvious how to resolve this tension. One strategy, of course, would be to ignore the tension and to simply avoid thinking about it. But a sacred text requires more from us than that. So the apparent disparity has to be faced. How is it possible to reconcile Captain Moroni with the Sermon on the Mount?

Moroni reports receiving a revelation in which the Lord told him, “If those whom ye have appointed your governors do not repent of their sins and iniquities, ye shall go up to battle against them” (Alma 60:33). Because Pahoran, the chief governor of the Nephites at the time, turns out to be innocent of the charges contained in Moroni’s revelation, it is easy to think that Moroni’s revelation is mistaken in some way. Textual clues, however, suggest the revelation and its accompanying epistle were directed not only to Pahoran but also to many other generals, who were likely guilty of the sins mentioned by Moroni. Thus, contrary to previous thinking, Moroni’s revelation may have, in fact, been accurate.

More than a century after Latter-day Saints trekked across the Mormon Trail, Church members continue to celebrate this pioneer experience as an identity-defining touchstone of their American-born religion. Latter-day Saints commemorate their pioneer past in folklore, art, museums, and monuments, as well as with annual plays, pageants, and parades throughout the West.

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.

This compilation of groundbreaking Book of Mormon articles is selected from over fifty years of LDS scholarship published by BYU Studies. This volume features articles on Hebraisms and chiasmus in the Book of Mormon, as well as articles discussing emendation of the text, naturalistic assumptions, wordprint analyses, variations between copies of the first edition, and more. Contents “Hebraisms in the Book of Mormon: A Preliminary Survey” John A. Tvedtnes “Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon” John W. Welch “Does Chiasmus Appear in the Book of Mormon by Chance?” Boyd F. Edwards and W. Farrell Edwards “When Are Chiasms Admissible as Evidence?” Boyd F. Edwards and W. Farrell Edwards “Conjectural Emendation and the Text of the Book of Mormon” Stan Larson “Naturalistic Assumptions and the Book of Mormon” Gary F. Novak “View of the Hebrews: Substitute for Inspiration?” Spencer J. Palmer and William L. Knecht “Who Wrote the Book of Mormon? An Analysis of Wordprints” Wayne A. Larsen, Alvin C. Rencher, and Tim Layton “On Verifying Wordprint Studies: Book of Mormon Authorship” John L. Hilton “Variations between Copies of the First Edition of the Book of Mormon” Janet Jenson “Towards a Critical Edition of the Book of Mormon” Royal Skousen

Gary A. Rendsburg, “Chiasmus in the Book of Genesis,” examines three sweeping chiastic structures in the following Ancestral Narratives of the text of Genesis—Abraham (Gen 11:27–22:24), Jacob (Gen 25:19‒35:22), and Joseph (Gen 37‒50). For each of the three structures, Rendsburg points out the various elements that constitute the chiasmus —the focal point and the mirrored elements that exist on each side of that focal point. Mirrored elements include both narrative themes and specific lexical items. The three chiastic structures are identified and developed in Rendsburg’s book The Redaction of Genesis. In this 2017 proceeding, Rendsburg presents new material, arguing that the major themes of the focal points of the three chiasms for the Ancestral Narratives are, respectively, the covenant (Abraham Cycle), the land of Caanan (Jacob Cycle), and the people of Israel (Joseph Cycle). The same three major themes, proffers Rendsburg, create the essential message of the Hebrew Bible.

In the last five years, dramatic advances in deciphering ancient Maya writing have unveiled the Classic Maya as, above all, a people of faith. The Maya gloried in their closeness to the supernatural. They worshiped many gods, built temples to house images of supernatural beings, developed complex theologies of spirit and matter, and envisioned a world permeated by living essences. Now many of these beliefs and practices lie open to our gaze. Decipherment of Maya hieroglyphic writing allows us to begin to understand the Classic Maya concept of the nature of human existence, their system of morality, and their religious practice and how such practices melded with political or dynastic concerns.

With the many branch, ward, and stake organizations which currently bedeck the international scene of Mormonism, it is understandable that the activities of a small branch of Saints at Colesville, Broome County, New York, could have been virtually forgotten with the passage of time. Yet, at the close of 1830, it was one of some five principal branches serving as focal points for the gathering of the faithful in the new Church. Fayette, Seneca County, New York, served as the headquarters of the Church, while other branches existed at Colesville; Kirtland and Mentor, Geauga County, Ohio; and Warrensville, Cayahoga County, Ohio. The Colesville Branch was personally inaugurated by the Prophet Joseph Smith and its membership played a significant role in the initial years of the new dispensation. Drawn by Joseph’s affirmation of communication with the heavens and the supportive evidences contained in the Book of Mormon, the Colesville Saints gave impetus to the missionary zeal of the Restoration and provided elements of needed leadership for the rapidly expanding faith. From the very inception of “Mormonism,” the Saints comprising the Colesville Branch linked their lives inexorably with the Restored Gospel and the volume which had inspired their conversion, the Book of Mormon. They relinquished family, friends, homes and material comforts in pursuit of their testimonies. The Prophet Joseph Smith was not unmindful of these sacrifices. On August 22, 1842, while making entries in the Book of the Law of the Lord, he paid tribute to certain of the Colesville membership, which might well be applied to them all.

David L. Paulsen, professor emeritus of the Brigham Young University Philosophy Department, is one of the most prominent LDS theologians. His writings span an impressive array of topics. BYU Studies has collected all his articles, book chapters, and reviews and arranged them by topic in three impressive ebooks, of which this is the first. In this first volume, readers will find a brief overview of Paulsen’s life; an account of a spiritual experience he had in Bellingham, Washington; and his writings on various theological topics: what it means to be Christian, Joseph Smith’s challenges to the theological world, a survey of teachings about Mother in Heaven, Trinitarianism, the problem of evil, the problem of the unevangelized, and redemption of the dead.

David L. Paulsen, professor emeritus of the Brigham Young University Philosophy Department, is one of the most prominent LDS theologians. His writings span an impressive array of topics. BYU Studies has collected all his articles, book chapters, and reviews and arranged them by topic in three impressive ebooks, of which this is the second. In this second volume, readers will find Paulsen’s writings on the nature of God, including early Mormon modalism and other myths, the social model of the Trinity in 3 Nephi, the corporeality of God, divine determinateness, and the logically and ontologically possible proofs of God’s existence.

David L. Paulsen, professor emeritus of the Brigham Young University Philosophy Department, is one of the most prominent LDS theologians. His writings span an impressive array of topics. BYU Studies has collected all his articles, book chapters, and reviews and arranged them by topic in three impressive ebooks, of which this is the third. In this third volume, readers will find dialogues, reviews, and rejoinders by Paulsen and others regarding his work. It includes dialogues with Christian theologian Clark Pinnock, a review of Mormonism in Dialogue with Contemporary Christian Theologies, Paulsen’s replies to various reviews of his works, and Paulsen’s reviews of the work of others.

A son of a prominent Philadelphia judge, Thomas L. Kane came from a family that was well connected to the political and aristocratic powers of east-coast America. In 1846, the governor commissioned Kane as a lieutenant colonel in the state militia, and he carried this title until he became a brigadier general during the Civil War. Although not a member of any organized religion, Kane honorably defended the Latter-day Saints on the national stage for nearly four decades and throughout his life remained a confidant of Young and other Latter-day Saint leaders. As one of the most influential friends of the Mormons, Kane holds an unprecedented place in their history, and his patriarchal blessing promises that his name will be held “in honorable remembrance” among the Saints. For example, after reading newspapers accounts of the Saints’ 1946 forced exile from Illinois, Kane sought out LDS leaders in Philadelphia and soon headed west. In Nebraska Territory at the camp know as Winter Quarters, he assisted with the call of the Mormon Battalion and began his lifelong friendship with Brigham Young and other notable Latter-day Saints. This richly illustrated volume examines the relationship Thomas L. Kane and his wife, Elizabeth W. Kane, had with the Saints from social, political, and religious perspectives. Authors include Thomas G. Alexander, Richard E. Bennett, Lowell C. (Ben) Bennion, Thomas R. Carter, Edward A. Geary, Matthew J. Grow, William P. MacKinnon, and David J. Whittaker.

This compilation of groundbreaking Book of Mormon articles is selected from over fifty years of LDS scholarship published by BYU Studies. This volume features articles on Moroni’s visits, the Anthon transcript, the original Book of Mormon manuscript, the Dogberry Papers, copyright law in 1830, and more. Contents “A Survey of Pre-1830 Historical Sources Relating to the Book of Mormon” David A. Palmer “Where Were the Moroni Visits?” Russell R. Rich “The Anthon Transcript: People, Primary Sources, and Problems” Stanley B. Kimball “The Colesville Branch and the Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon” Larry C. Porter “The Original Book of Mormon Manuscript” Dean C. Jessee “The Dogberry Papers and the Book of Mormon” Russell R. Rich “Copyright Laws and the 1830 Book of Mormon” Nathaniel Hinckley Wadsworth “‘Securing’ the Prophet’s Copyright in the Book of Mormon: Historical and Legal Context for the So-called Canadian Copyright Revelation” Stephen Kent Ehat “‘Entered At Stationers’ Hall’: The British Copyright Registrations for the Book of Mormon in 1841 and the Doctrine and Covenants in 1845” Edward L. Carter “The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon in the Twentieth Century” Noel B. Reynolds

In his landmark conference addresses in 1986, President Benson repeatedly cited the Doctrine and Covenants and reiterated his long-standing belief that the Church was under condemnation for taking the Book of Mormon too lightly. He also announced that “the Lord has revealed the need to reemphasize the Book of Mormon.” Latter-day Saints responded with an enormous and passionate effort to fully utilize the Nephite record. Such fervor did not always exist.

No abstract available.

Ancient world civilizations believed that the perceived order of territorial environment, in its “natural” and built-up features, revealed the structure of a sacred universe. The epitome of this symbolic order was a capital city or ceremonial center. “In those religions which held that human order was brought into being at the creation of the world there was a pervasive tendency to dramatize the cosmogony by constructing on earth a reduced version of the cosmos, usually in the form of a state capital.” Characteristic of complex societies throughout the ancient world, this phenomenon is referred to as cosmic urban symbolism. The principles of cosmic urban symbolism account for many ideas and events in the Book of Mormon which are otherwise unexplained within a nineteenth-century American context.