The 2006 BYU Church History Symposium Besides the Prophet, no one was more involved in the key events of the Restoration or mentioned more often in the Doctrine and Covenants than Oliver Cowdery. He was influential in the highest councils of the Church as well as in the councils of his community. While many are familiar with his contributions to the Restoration, few understand his personality and his deep spirituality. This book is a compilation of presentations selected from the annual BYU Church History Symposium hosted by BYU Religious Education and explores the life of Oliver Cowdery and the many roles he filled. This symposium was held to honor him and celebrate the two hundredth anniversary of his birth. ISBN 978-0-8425-2742-2

The 2007 BYU Church History Symposium Wilford Woodruff was different from his predecessors and successors in one particular way—he left an incredibly detailed handwritten record, spanning over sixty years, of nearly everything he did and experienced. He is arguably the third most important figure in all of LDS church history after Joseph Smith, who began Mormonism, and Brigham Young, who led the Saints to Utah and supervised the early colonization of the intermountain west. Through his skillful, inspired leadership and direction, Wilford Woodruff helped bring about accommodation and change, leading the Church into the social, cultural, and religious mainstream of American society. This book is a compilation of presentations selected from the annual BYU Church History Symposium hosted by BYU Religious Education to honor Wilford Woodruff, to explore his life and the many roles he filled, and to celebrate the two-hundredth anniversary of his birth. ISBN 978-0-8425-2776-7

The 2008 BYU Church History Symposium The road from being an obscure child born in England to a “champion of liberty” in America began with John Taylor’s baptism into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. From that time until his death, John Taylor was an unflinching and powerful advocate of the truths that had come into his life. His motto became “The kingdom of God or nothing.” When John Taylor became the leader of the Church, his administration was limited by exile, due to federal prosecution of polygamy. Forced to move from hideout to hideout, he was rarely in a safe enough position to meet with his counselors or to be among general Church membership. This book is a compilation of presentations from the 2008 annual BYU Church History Symposium. The purpose of this book is to remember the great legacy of John Taylor and the contributions he made to the Church during his lifetime. ISBN 978-0-8425-2736-1

The 2009 BYU Church History Symposium The pattern of keeping records dates back to the earliest days of the church, when Joseph Smith, the church’s founding prophet, announced the divine decree, “Behold, there shall be a record kept among you” (D&C 21:1). Leaders of the church have strived to obey that command. Contemporaneous records were kept of revelations received by the prophet, the calling and interaction of early leaders, missionary assignments, the building of temples, and much more. The Latter-day Saints continue to be a record-keeping people. In fact, there may be no other people on earth of comparable size who have a richer record-keeping tradition than the people nicknamed Mormons. It is a part of the church’s administrative system, reaching from small committees to the church’s general conferences and from new members to the most senior leaders. Because of this tradition, scholars can readily evaluate Latter-day Saint history from a wealth of primary documents. ISBN 978-0-8425-2777-4

The 2010 BYU Church History Symposium How did a church that started with just six official members blossom into a global organization of over fourteen million members? Authors such as Richard L. Bushman, John W. Welch, and Susan Easton Black show how Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and other leaders established the foundation upon which the Church was built. According to Welch, the Book of Mormon provides the foundational administrative principles of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, “not only its doctrines and instructions for personal living but also its many administrative guidelines.” He went on to say, “The administrative character and personality of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has indeed grown directly from the genetic material found in the Book of Mormon.” This book teaches how the individuals throughout Church history were inspired to restore and establish Christ’s Church in the latter days. ISBN 978-0-8425-2785-9

The 2011 BYU Church History Symposium This book features the winner of the Mormon History Association’s Best International Article Award, Ronald E. Bartholomew’s essay “The Role of Local Missionaries in Nineteenth-Century England.” Just as the risen Christ charged his Apostles, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature,” he also charged his latter-day followers to do likewise. Using the Prophet Joseph Smith as his instrument, the Lord created his missionary system early in the Restoration. The Prophet received many revelations regarding missionary work and its urgency. Over the years, policies and procedures of missionary work have varied and grown a great deal, but it is always done under the direction of the Lord. The missionary system today is founded on principles based on revelation. The Church has used every righteous means available to take the gospel to the world, and the ways and means continue to expand. The outreach of the Church through missionary work is nothing short of amazing. This volume focuses on the growth and development of Mormon missionary work since the early days of the Restoration. ISBN 978-0-8425-2821-4

The BYU 2012 Church History Symposium This book is a compilation of presentations from a BYU Church History Symposium. It features more than twenty messages about the life of Joseph F. Smith, including chapters by Elder M. Russell Ballard and Joseph Fielding McConkie. Elder Ballard, great-grandson of Joseph F. Smith, describes how the Lord prepared President Smith to lead the Church. Several scholars, historians, educators, and researchers highlight aspects of President Smith’s life, including his boyhood and adolescence, his family and personal relationships, his doctrinal contributions, Church government, and initiatives taken during his presidency in education, building construction, building the Laie Temple, creating the seminary program, and public outreach. ISBN 978-0-8425-2747-4

The 2013 BYU Church History Symposium This volume is a collection of essays by prominent LDS scholars–including keynote speakers Richard Bushman and David Holland–that discuss the interest in the ancient world shared by Joseph Smith and the early Latter-day Saints. Topics include Joseph Smith’s fascination with the ancient Americas, his interaction with the Bible, his study of Hebrew and Greek, his reading of Jewish and Christian apocryphal writings, and his work with the Book of Abraham in the context of nineteenth-century Egyptology. Together, these essays demonstrate that Joseph Smith’s interests in antiquity played an important role in his prophetic development as he sought to recover ancient scripture, restore the ancient Church, and bring the Latter-day Saints into fellowship with the sacred past. ISBN 978‐0‐8425‐2966‐2

The 2014 BYU Church History Symposium This volume is a compilation of scholarly papers prepared by presenters at the BYU Church History Symposium entitled The Worldwide Church: The Global Reach of Mormonism. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency, was the first keynote speaker. He emphasized the importance of learning our history. Quoting Michael Crichton he stated, “If you don’t know history, then you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree.” The second keynote speaker, Terryl Givens, highlighted the universal nature of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Seventeen other papers by notable historians, scholars, educators, and leaders are included in this volume. ISBN 978-0-8425-2973-0

The 2018 BYU Church History Symposium Historians have increasingly examined how economics and business have influenced religion and religious practices, and these examinations have provided better understandings of race, gender, and ethnicity within American religion. This volume highlights the research of fifteen presenters at a BYU Church History Symposium, including keynote addresses by Bishop Gérald Caussé and Sharon Ann Murphy. The remaining essays examine the prac­tice of consecration and cooperation by the Church, specific case studies of business and economics in Utah Territory, and financial issues pertaining to the institutional Church. These essays illuminate topics such as plural marriage, immigration, the Saints’ relation­ship to the federal government, and the creation and demise of Church programs. The BYU Church History Symposium highlighted that the field of economics and finance have much to offer to Latter-day Saint history. ISBN 978-1-9443-9482-0