This book was in many ways a first: first to provide a full collection of Joseph Smith’s Nauvoo discourses in the mature and climatic years of his life; first to reproduce them in exact fidelity to their original written sources in diaries and journals; first to cross-reference them to earlier sayings and discourses of Joseph Smith; first to index all the biblical and other scriptural verses discussed or alluded to; first to provide contextual settings for each discourse in proper chronological sequence; first to footnote the discourses in terms of their historical and doctrinal kinships; and first to interlace all these discourses with other fundamental teachings of this rich and formative period of Church history. ISBN 0-8849-4419-0

At the foundation of great religions lie holy books. Not all religious books have the sacredness of scripture, but few religions survive and thrive without creating a literature of belief. This book contains proceedings from an RSC symposium on such books. Seldom has the dialogue between the language of scholarship and the language of faith been so intense or sensitive. These proceedings reflect both the devotion believers feel for their scriptures and a rare respect that should mark each encounter with another’s sacred literature. ISBN 0-8849-4409-3

In this volume, nine Latter-day Saint scholars each address the question of Book of Mormon authorship from a different approach. The tests of authenticity they employ rely on analytical techniques borrowed from such diverse disciplines as history, literature, statistics, and ancient Near Eastern studies. For both layman and scholar, this book makes exciting reading. While ultimate acceptance of the Book of Mormon as the word of God is and will remain a spiritual matter, the reasoned analyses, comparisons, and examinations contained in these pages add to the swelling volume of evidence that supports Joseph Smith’s account of the authorship of that book. ISBN 0-8849-4469-7

Islam, the faith of the Muslims, is a major world religion. Its believers are found on all of the inhabited continents. Nearly one out of every six people on earth today is Muslim. In common with Christians generally, Mormons as a whole know little of Islam and its adherents. Yet the two religions have many interesting similarities and parallels. Examples include a firm belief in a living God and obedience to him; emphasis on the family; assistance to the poor and other social concerns; a sense of man’s obligation to testify of God; belief in a physical resurrection and a life thereafter; and a total commitment to values and lifestyle rather than a mere creedal recitation. Islam is considered a “biblical faith” in part because Muhammad, the Arabian prophet of the Muslim world, revered the teachings of Abraham and Moses and other Bible prophets. To this common ground between Muslims and Mormons is added the fact that both Muhammad and Joseph Smith are regarded by their respective adherents as instruments in the hand of God in revealing new scriptures, the Qur’an and the Book of Mormon—in each case under angelic direction. In bringing together papers from a symposium held at Brigham Young University in October 1981, this book on Mormons and Muslims presents some of the finest and ablest exponents and interpreters of the Muslim faith. As well as relationships between that faith and Christianity generally, the book offers a new dimension in that much of the focus centers for the first time on parallels, similarities, and contrasts with the religion of the Latter-day Saints. This can be both explicit and implicit, as in chapters on pre-Islamic and Arabian prophets, the idea of redemption in Christianity and Islam, the Muhammad-Joseph Smith comparison, and religious practices of women in Islamic countries. Many spontaneously arising questions about analogies between Mormonism and Islam find here an informed forum for discussion, especially by the Mormon participants who have lived among Muslims and studied their cultures and life-styles. As prophetic figures, how do Joseph Smith and Muhammad compare? What is the role of women in the Muslim faith? Could Hud, the Qur’an prophet, actually be the Book of Mormon Lehi? Is there really a relationship between Jesus Christ and the Mahdi, the redemptive figure in Islam? Not all the answers are here, but the concepts, experiences, and suggested conclusions will certainly inform and stimulate each reader’s thinking. For both critic and believer, for both scholar and general reader, for both Mormon and Muslim, as well as for all serious students of comparative religion, here is an intriguing and authentic exchange leading to a deepening understanding of “spiritual foundations and modern manifestations.” ISBN 0884944832

Prominent scholars of diverse backgrounds participated in a March 1980 symposium, “Scriptures in the Sesquicentennial,” and brought to it their unique insights into the world of records. This book, a compilation of the addresses, explores some of those records that evidence both the antiquity and the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. ISBN 0-8849-4538-3

The answer to “What is a temple?” is partially the answer to “What was the temple?” Here a distinguished array of scholars trests this theme. This collection of essays—which grew out of a BYU symposium of experts—presents recent findings on the temple in antiquity: historical, linguistic, and archaeological data which bear on the idea of the temple in Israelite, Jewish, and Christian traditions. The book includes an expansive introduction to temple traditions and a bibliography for further clarification and comparison. ISBN 0-8849-4518-9

Gleaning from the expertise of an eminent array of Latter-day Saint scholars, a Brigham Young University symposium entitled “Isaiah and the Prophets” has brought to light a diversity of thought-provoking ideas relative to the Old Testament. This book contains ten of the addresses given at that symposium. Isaiah and the Prophets is rich in its outpouring of details. The book probes concepts that are pertinent to understanding the Old Testament as the Lord’s prophetic word and the gospel in its fullness. ISBN 0-8849-4522-7

This book zeroes in on thirteen of the less famous, behind-the-scenes Saints—supporting Saints. These pioneers were typical of the strength, courage, and faith that built the early Utah church as the base on which today’s worldwide church was founded. Their life stories are recounted here with a wealth of fascinating detail. Here, then, are supporting Saints, both men and women, in a variety of situations and occupations. Their stories, absorbing in themselves, bring us also much interesting detail about life in Utah and many other areas a hundred and more years ago. ISBN 0-8849-4565-0

Ten prominent Church scholars presented at the symposium on the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible. Their in-depth study of the Joseph Smith Translation and related scriptures clarifies the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and show how Joseph Smith restored many plain and precious truths to that holy book. This volume brings together those addresses, illuminating this inspired translation as perhaps no other book had done.

The Lord has told us that many things in the Apocrypha are true and many false. The fascination that apocryphal writings generally hold for Latter-day Saints was recognized in a 1983 BYU symposium on this topic addressed by fifteen scholars representing a wide range of expertise. Those addresses are collected in this book.

While some had previously made the journey individually, the first collective emigration of Utah-bound Welsh Latter-day Saints occurred in 1849. They were led by Dan Jones, a Welshman who had joined the Church in Nauvoo and was one of the last persons to see Joseph Smith alive. The three-hundred-plus emigrants in the two ships were part of the three thousand or so souls brought into the Church during this energetic and enthusiastic mission president’s first ministry in Wales. This book contains interesting detail, narrative, and journal entries of those Welsh Saints. ISBN 0-8849-4628-2

Contents:

Rooted and Built Up in Christ / Carlos E. Asay
The Old Testament: An Indispensable Foundation / George A. Horton
Noah, the Ark, the Flood: A Pondered Perspective / James R. Christianson
The Seed of Abraham in the Latter Days / Bruce A. Van Orden
Genesis 22: The Paradigm for True Sacrifice in Latter-day Israel / Andrew C. Skinner
Trust in the Lord: Exodus and Faith / S. Kent Brown
Kibroth-Hattaavah: The Graves of Lust / Jeff O’Driscoll
The Latter-day Significance of Ancient Temples / Richard O. Cowan
Joseph and Joseph: “He Shall Be Like Unto Me” (2 Nephi 3:15) / Ann N. Madsen, Susan Easton Black
“Has Thou Considered My Servant Job?” / John S. Tanner
Prophets: How Shall We Know Them? / Joseph F. McConkie
Jesus’ Commandment to Search the Words of Isaiah / L. LaMar Adams
A Latter-day Saint Reading of Isaiah in the Twentieth Century: The Example of Isaiah 6 / Paul Y. Hoskisson
Micah, the Second Witness with Isaiah / Monte S. Nyman
The Restoration of the Tribes of Israel in the Writings of Jeremiah and Ezekiel / Stephen D. Ricks
The Last Shall Be First and the First Shall Be Last / LaMar E. Garrard
Daniel: Ancient Prophet for the Latter Days / H. Dean Garrett
Your Daughters Shall Prophesy: A Latter-day Prophecy of Joel, Peter, and Moroni Examined / Alan K. Parrish
Malachi and the Latter Days / Rex C. Reeve Jr
Justification, Ancient and Modern / Chauncey C. Riddle
Ancient Hebrew “Psychology”: A Radical Option for Educators in the Latter Days / Neil J. Flinders, Paul Wangemann
The Restoration as Covenant Renewal / David Rolph Seely
Joseph Smith’s Use of the Old Testament / Grant Underwood
The Brass Plates: An Inspired and Expanded Version of the Old Testament / Robert L. Millet
The Old Testament: Voice from the Past and Witness for the Lord Jesus Christ / Robert J. Matthews

The First Annual Book of Mormon Symposium at BYU Joseph Smith called it “the most correct . . . book on earth” and “the keystone of our religion.” Both correctness and keystone are reflected in these papers presented at the Religious Studies Center’s first annual Book of Mormon Symposium at BYU. The foremost consideration is the book’s message about Jesus Christ and His mission and teachings. ISBN 0-8849-4637-1