Contents:

This Generation Shall Have My Word Through You / Bruce R. McConkie
The Living Canon / Richard O. Cowan
In Search of the Sensational / James R. Christianson
Proving the Holy Scriptures / Rex C. Reeve, Jr.
Voting Within the Restored Church of Christ / Wilson K. Andersen
The Joseph Smith Translation: A Primary Source for the Doctrine and Covenants / Robert J. Matthews
Clothed with Bonds of Charity: The Law of Consecration and Stewardship in Ohio, 1830-1838 / Milton V. Backman, Jr.
Six Visions of Eternity: Section 76 / Monte S. Nyman
Latter-day Visions of the Savior / Donald Q. Cannon
What is Man? / LaMar E. Garrard
Restoring the Doctrine and the Covenants / Joseph F. McConkie
Thomas B. Marsh as President of the First Quorum of the Twelve, 1835-1838 / Ronald K. Esplin
More Treasures than One: Section 111 / Kenneth W. Godfrey
Tithing in Ancient and Modern Israel / Stephen D. Ricks
Letters from Liberty Jail / Robert J. Woodford
Items of Instruction: Sections 130 and 131 / Bruce A. Van Orden
The Vision of the Redemption of the Dead / Robert L. Millet
The Doctrine and Covenants and the Conversion Process / James R. Moss
The Doctrine and Covenants and Modern Revelation / James E. Faust

The Doctrine and Covenants is unique scripture. It records the words of God given through living prophets to a living Church. Such is the process of revelation that continues today. This is the basic promise of The Heavens Are Open. A compilation of talks from the twenty-first annual Sydney B. Sperry Symposium, this book includes topics ranging from historical insights on Zions Camp and the early mission of the Twelve Apostles to prophecies of the last days. The book shares many thoughts on specific revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants and the continual revelation we receive today.

Contents:

The Authentic Theology / Bruce C. Hafen
The Revelations of the Restoration: Window to the Past, Open Door to the Future / Robert L. Millett
Being Valiant By Following the Lord\'s Anointed / A. Gary Anderson
The Importance of the Individual in the Lord\'s Revelations / Susan Easton Black
Zion\'s Camp: A Study in Obedience, Then and Now / David F. Boone
Strengthening Marriage and Family Relationships - Lord\'s Way / Douglas E. Brinley
\"I Will Go Before Your Face\": Evidence of Divine Guidance During the Twentieth Century / Richard O. Cowan
\"Exalt Not Yourselves\": The Revelations and Thomas Marsh, an Object Lesson for Our Day / Ronald K. Esplin
Missionary Work: A View from the Doctrine & Covenants / H. Dean Garrett
\"Eternity Sketch\'d in a Vision\": The Poetic Version of Doctrine & Covenants 76 / Richard Neitzel Holzapfel
Prophecies of the Last Days in the Doctrine & Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price / Kent P. Jackson
\"My Disciples Shall Stand in Holy Places\": Jesus Christ in the Twenty-First Century / Clark V. Johnson
Official Declaration 2: Revelation on the Priesthood / E. Dale LeBaron
The \"Elect lady\" Revelation: The Historical and Doctrinal Context of Doctrine & Covenants 25 / Carol Cornwall Madsen
The Restoration of All Things: What the Doctrine & Covenants Says / Robert J. Matthews
Protection Against Deception / Leaun G. Otten
God Tailors Revelation to the Individual / Jerry Perkins
Trials and Tribulations in Our Spiritual Growth: Insights from Doctrine & Covenants 121 and 122 / Keith W. Perkins
From Kirtland to Computers: The Growth of Family History Record Keeping / Kip Sperry
The Weak Things of the World / Brett P. Thomas

The Book of Mormon and modern revelation reveal the true nature of messianic Old Testament passages

The 2016 and 2017 BYU Easter Conferences Christianity rises or falls based on the reality of the Resurrection. Christian religious leaders of all walks have commented on the importance of the Resurrection. Accordingly, this volume is organized to enhance our celebration of the miracle of the Resurrection. The essays published in this volume represent the talks presented at the annual Brigham Young University Easter Conferences in 2016 and 2017 by Sheri Dew, Eric D. Huntsman, Daniel K Judd, Camille Fronk Olson, Hank R. Smith, and Elder Kevin J Worthen. In this volume, readers will find the personal witnesses and testimonies of faithful disciples who have devoted their lives to understanding the Savior’s majesty and mission. May their careful, heartfelt, and inspired words take root in your heart and bring you to a deeper, more personal conviction of the central role Jesus Christ and his Resurrection have in the eternal welfare of all God’s children. ISBN 978-1-9443-9412-7

The Autobiography of Andrew Jenson, first published in 1938 by the Deseret News Press in Salt Lake City, Utah, tells the personal story of a Danish Mormon convert who eventually served as Assistant Church Historian of the LDS Church for over forty years. The author mined his voluminous personal journals and assembled Church records to tell the story of the Restoration of the gospel since the 1850s when he arrived in Utah as a European immigrant. Through his synthesized research, writing, and reflections, readers come away with deeper appreciation for the men and women whose lives constitute Mormon history. Jenson told their stories together with his life experiences, creating an important window into the Mormon past. ISBN 978-1-944394-00-4

The following is a transcription of the Book of Moses, Genesis 1:1–6:13, from Old Testament Manuscript 2 (OT2), Joseph Smith’s final draft of his New Translation of Genesis. It is found on pages 1–27 of that manuscript. The Prophet first dictated this part of Genesis between June 1830 and February 1831. Oliver Cowdery, John Whitmer, Emma Smith, and Sidney Rigdon assisted him as scribes. In the original dictated manuscript, Old Testament Manuscript 1 (OT1), the Book of Moses material is found on pages 1–21. The present manuscript (OT2) is a copy of the original, made by John Whitmer in March 1831. With very few exceptions, OT2 was the document on which Joseph Smith continued to refine the translation. He added to it numerous insertions and corrections, dictating them primarily to his scribe Sidney Rigdon. The present transcription preserves carefully the words of the manuscript, including words inserted after the original writing. Unless otherwise noted, the handwriting is that of John Whitmer.

Since the beginnings of the Church, those who participated in the Restoration were commanded to keep a history. Latter-day Saints have an abiding interest in the history of God’s dealings with this earth. Similarly, we reverence the history in scripture because our faith is grounded in events that have taken place in the time and space of this earth. Historicity is the study of the authenticity of recorded past events. This significant compilation addresses the issue of historicity as it relates to the scriptures that Latter-day Saints accept as the word of God. With articles from Elder Dallin H. Oaks, Robert J. Matthews, Robert L. Millet, and more, this book provides an inspiring and more complete picture of the necessity for the historical nature of the Latter-day Saint canon.

The issue of the historicity of the Book of Mormon highlights the difference between those who rely solely on scholarship and those who rely on revelation, faith, and scholarship. Those who rely solely on scholarship reject revelation and focus on a limited number of issues. But they can neither prove nor disprove the authenticity of the Book of Mormon through their secular evidence and methods. On the other hand, those who rely on a combination of revelation, faith, and scholarship can see and understand all of the complex issues of the Book of Mormon record, and it is only through that combination that the question of the historicity of the Book of Mormon can be answered.

Selections from the Book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price is the Joseph Smith Translation (JST) of Genesis 1:1–6:13, the beginning pages of the New Translation. The material in it was revealed between June 1830 and February 1831. In some ways, the Book of Moses can be considered the most significant part of the JST, because it has contributed more distinctive Latter-day Saint doctrine than any other part of that work. It has stood since the beginning of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as one of the doctrinal cornerstones of the Restoration and as an enduring testimony to the divinely inspired work of Joseph Smith.

In discussing home-centered worship, this volume explores both individual and family worship and draws from reports from a diverse sample of more than five hundred Latter-day Saints who have shared the challenges and barriers they have faced—and successes they have experienced. Individuals and families can establish and maintain a home-centered religious life and strengthen their conversion to the gospel by using these real-life experiences, quotes, and key findings in the social sciences. ISBN 978-1-9503-0432-5

The 51st Annual Brigham Young University Sidney B. Sperry Symposium The related themes of households and families figure prominently in the New Testament. On various occasions Jesus taught about marriage, divorce, and more general familial relations. Jesus, Peter, and Paul also taught about the important contributions single members and widows make in the kingdom and such household complexities as mixed-faith marriages or relationships between slaves and masters. Thus, the New Testament contains much counsel on household conduct, familial relationships, and belonging to “the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19). The Sperry Symposium, named in honor of pioneering Latter-day Saint scripture scholar Sidney B. Sperry and held on the campus of Brigham Young University, seeks each year to examine and illuminate an aspect of the religious and cultural heritage of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. ISBN 978-1-9503-0434-9

The 49th Annual Brigham Young University Sidney B. Sperry Symposium Section 93 of the Doctrine and Covenants deals with concepts that scholars term Christology and praxis. Christology has to do with the study of Christ’s nature, while praxis involves religious practice. That this revelation should insist on both the “how” and the “what” of worship indicates that knowledge and practice are inseparable. As this volume demonstrates, Joseph Smith’s revelations and teachings constitute a unique textual setting to analyze this relationship. This volume focuses on both the person of Christ and the practice of worshipping him as outlined in the revelations of Joseph Smith. More specifically, this volume seeks to understand Christ as revealed in the revelations and clarify the practices required of those who worship a being who grew “from grace to grace.” ISBN 978-1-9443-9499-8

The 49th Annual Brigham Young University Sidney B. Sperry Symposium Section 93 of the Doctrine and Covenants deals with concepts that scholars term Christology and praxis. Christology has to do with the study of Christ’s nature, while praxis involves religious practice. That this revelation should insist on both the “how” and the “what” of worship indicates that knowledge and practice are inseparable. As this volume demonstrates, Joseph Smith’s revelations and teachings constitute a unique textual setting to analyze this relationship. This volume focuses on both the person of Christ and the practice of worshipping him as outlined in the revelations of Joseph Smith. More specifically, this volume seeks to understand Christ as revealed in the revelations and clarify the practices required of those who worship a being who grew “from grace to grace.”

The 35th Annual Brigham Young University Sidney B. Sperry Symposium This newest addition to the Sperry Symposium series celebrates the writing of the New Testament and the faithful service of those who brought that book of sacred scripture into existence. The chapters of this volume, presented on the Brigham Young University campus on October 27–28, 2006, explore the New Testament’s origin and examine ancient scriptural evidence on a variety of topics, ranging from the earliest ancient manuscripts to the contributions of Joseph Smith to our understanding of the New Testament. A great deal of interest has been generated lately in the origin, early history, and reliability of the documents that make up the New Testament. Books and motion pictures have exposed us to many new ideas relating to New Testament studies. This volume, although not responding directly to any of those works, puts into print the research of faithful Latter-day Saint scholars who have explored the earliest evidence for the New Testament and have asked hard questions concerning it. Indeed, the New Testament presents us with many questions. We do not know, for example, when and under what circumstances many of the documents were written. We do know that “plain and precious things” were removed from the scriptural text (1 Nephi 13:28), but because the original manuscripts do not exist, how can we find out what those things were and when they were lost? What can we say about the traditional attributions of the Gospels to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? What can we say about how those and other books were collected to form the New Testament? Do the ancient manuscripts provide answers? What does modern revelation teach us? How the New Testament Came to Be deals with these and other questions as it explores the writing and compilation of the New Testament. The authors, though they may not always interpret the evidence in the same way, have in common a strong commitment to the centrality of the sacred mission of Jesus Christ and a belief that modern revelation is an indispensable guide for reading and understanding the New Testament. ISBN 9-7815-9038-6279

The 35th Annual Brigham Young University Sidney B. Sperry Symposium This newest addition to the Sperry Symposium series celebrates the writing of the New Testament and the faithful service of those who brought that book of sacred scripture into existence. The chapters of this volume, presented on the Brigham Young University campus on October 27–28, 2006, explore the New Testament’s origin and examine ancient scriptural evidence on a variety of topics, ranging from the earliest ancient manuscripts to the contributions of Joseph Smith to our understanding of the New Testament. A great deal of interest has been generated lately in the origin, early history, and reliability of the documents that make up the New Testament. Books and motion pictures have exposed us to many new ideas relating to New Testament studies. This volume, although not responding directly to any of those works, puts into print the research of faithful Latter-day Saint scholars who have explored the earliest evidence for the New Testament and have asked hard questions concerning it. Indeed, the New Testament presents us with many questions. We do not know, for example, when and under what circumstances many of the documents were written. We do know that “plain and precious things” were removed from the scriptural text (1 Nephi 13:28), but because the original manuscripts do not exist, how can we find out what those things were and when they were lost? What can we say about the traditional attributions of the Gospels to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? What can we say about how those and other books were collected to form the New Testament? Do the ancient manuscripts provide answers? What does modern revelation teach us? How the New Testament Came to Be deals with these and other questions as it explores the writing and compilation of the New Testament. The authors, though they may not always interpret the evidence in the same way, have in common a strong commitment to the centrality of the sacred mission of Jesus Christ and a belief that modern revelation is an indispensable guide for reading and understanding the New Testament.

When Alma the Younger returned to Zarahemla following his mission to the Zoramites, “he caused that his sons should be gathered together, that he might give unto them every one his charge, separately, concerning the things pertaining to righteousness” (Alma 35:16). The Book of Mormon contains a significantly larger amount of counsel from Alma to his wayward son Corianton than to Helaman and Shiblon.
Within Alma’s teachings, we discover a concise explanation of the Fall of Adam and three elements necessary to reclaim each individual from the Fall, namely, death, the Atonement, and the Resurrection. This chapter will discuss the Fall of Adam and these three elements in Alma’s teachings to Corianton and also in the inspired teachings of modern apostles and prophets. This chapter will conclude that we can control only one of the three elements necessary to reclaim mankind from the Fall: whether we use the Atonement to repent of our sins and forgive others.

This volume represents some of the more compelling articles on the Book of Mormon that have appeared in Religious Studies Center publications. Each has advanced the field of Book of Mormon studies in unique and innovative ways and has provided insights into the doctrine, history, and message of the Book of Mormon.