Full Bibliography by Title

Let your family be filled with love as you honor the Sabbath all day long and experience its spiritual blessings throughout the week.

Russell M. Nelson teaches how we can make the Sabbath a delight through strengthening family ties, doing family history work, and serving others.

The ordinance of the sacrament needs to become more holy and sacred to each of us.

Consider five ways to increase the impact and power of our regular participation in the sacred ordinance of the sacrament.

The ordinance of the sacrament makes the sacrament meeting the most sacred and important meeting in the Church.

Discourse by Elder Joseph F. Smith, delivered in the 13th Ward Assembly Rooms, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, Feb. 9, 1873. Reported By: David W. Evans.

The Spirit heals and renews our souls. The promised blessing of the sacrament is that we will “always have his Spirit to be with [us].”

Remarks by Elder Joseph F. Smith, delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Jan. 10, 1869. Reported By: David W. Evans.

Remarks by President George A. Smith, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday, July 7, 1872. Reported By: David W. Evans.

Remarks by Elder George A. Smith, Delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, May 31, 1857. Reported By: G. D. Watt, J. V. Long.

Discourse by President George A. Smith, delivered in the Old Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Nov. 15, 1868. Reported By: David W. Evans.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, Delivered at a Special Conference held in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, August 29, 1852. Reported By: G. D. Watt.

Biblical prophecies fulfilled by the Book of Mormon and the lives and testimonies of the witnesses of the golden plates are reported and shown to support the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. The physical attributes, theological contents, and prophecies of the golden plates (Book of Mormon) are also discussed.

When an Indian’s house burned down and only the Book of Mormon was spared, she bears testimony of the Book of Mormon. “This book has gone through fire for me…Now I am willing to go through fire for it”

A polemical article against Mormonism wherein the writer views Mormon beliefs as being somewhat antiquated. It is asserted that few Mormons have ever read the Book of Mormon. [M. R.]

Briefly discusses the Book of Mormon and its history in a chapter entitled “Post-biblical Sacred Books in America” The author doubts the authenticity of the Book of Mormon and charges that “there is not the slightest shred of [anthropological] evidence” to support the Book of Mormon.

The performance of one’s duty brings a sense of happiness and peace.

Abstract: This article describes examples of the sacred embrace and the sacred handclasp in the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms of ancient Egypt, in ancient Mediterranean regions, and in the classical and early Christian world. It argues that these actions are an invitation and promise of entrance into the celestial realms. The sacred embrace may well have been a preparation, the sacred handclasp the culminating act of entrance into the divine presence.
[Editor’s Note: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original.See Stephen D. Ricks, “The Sacred Embrace and the Sacred Handclasp in Ancient Mediterranean Religions,” in Ancient Temple Worship: Proceedings of The Expound Symposium 14 May 2011, ed. Matthew B. Brown, Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, Stephen D. Ricks, and John S. Thompson (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2014), 159–70. Further information at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/ancient-temple-worship/.]The Sacred Embrace in Ancient Egypt: Introduction.

Well-meaning people may honestly disagree with my interpretation of how the universe is put together. Agency allows and requires this possibility. But for me, as I noted above, science is faith affirming because I choose to believe, and everything else follows.

Uses historical, linguistic, and archaeological evidence to prove the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. Basing his facts on research done by noted linguists and archaeologists of the time, the author writes concerning the god Quetzalcoatl, religious customs and ruins of advanced civilizations, comparisons between the Hebrew and Mayan languages, and the Egyptian hieroglyphic writings. Shreeve also tells of similarities in biblical beliefs between early people of both the western and eastern hemispheres and explains why Joseph Smith was incapable of writing the Book of Mormon without divine aid.

Understanding the eternal nature of the temple will draw you to your family; understanding the eternal nature of the family will draw you to the temple.

Review of Jeffrey Thayne and Nathan Richardson, Temples of the Imagination: AI-Generated Temples, Human-Generated Insights (Provo, UT: The Interpreter Foundation, Verdant Press, and Eborn Books, 2023). 140 pages, $24.99 (softcover). Abstract: We’re commanded to seek out of the best books words of wisdom, but how exactly do we seek? What are the best books? Temples of the Imagination uses cutting-edge technology to show its readers one futuristic way to incorporate this spiritual practice into their lives.

The Sunday School Supplement on the Rod of Aaron, an apocryphal account of Adam and the origin of sacrifice, cultural borrowing, and the Levitical Endowment

The Lord wants every Aaronic Priesthood holder to invite all to come unto Christ—beginning with his own family.

As we negotiate the challenging and dangerous paths of this life, we can draw on the power of the sacred, holy, divine, awe-inspiring, sanctified, and hallowed.

Refers to the discovery of “sacred stones” upon which are inscribed Hebrew characters, one of which reads “may the Lord have mercy upon me a Nephite” Scholars wonder where these people who spoke Hebrew came from, and the Book of Mormon provides the answers. The Nephites landed in Chile near the city of Valparaiso. Later Hagoth and others sailed to North America (Alma 63:4-12 and Helaman 3:3-16). The Nephites knew Hebrew and Egyptian and wrote in reformed Egyptian.

The sanctuaries and religious rituals of the Mayas and Quiche are investigated. The question of where and when Freemasonry originated is examined. Religious symbols of the New World are compared with symbolic representations of old Egypt, Greece, Rome, and elsewhere in the Old World.

Palmyra was the stage of the Restoration, where the Father’s voice would be heard after nearly two millennia.

The Reorganized Church will receive the remainder of the golden plates, and the “Utah Church” will not. When the Reorganized Church begins to receive these records, members in the “Utah Church” will start joining the Reorganized Church.

God will give you strength beyond your own as you strive daily to fulfill the most sacred mortal responsibility He gives to His children.

Explains sacred scripture found in various cultures with regard to the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon can be divided into four divisions: the plates of Nephi, Mormon, Ether, and the brass plates of Laban. Archaeological research supports the Book of Mormon.

Calls the Book of Mormon “the Stick of Joseph” and the Bible “the Stick of Judah” Examines Ezekiel 37 and Isaiah 29, finding that the Book of Mormon fits the descriptions found therein. The Urim and Thummim were a necessary part of the translation process due to the complex nature of the written text and the ignorance of the translator.

Winner of the Harvey B. and Susan Easton Black Outstanding Publication Award (Gospel Scholarship in Church History and Doctrine). Many Church members may not realize that the birthplace of Mormonism is not just a cut-and-dried bit of historical trivia. In fact, initial Church publications referring to the organizational meeting mistakenly claimed it happened in Manchester, New York. The authors of the book Inventing Mormonism challenged traditional Latter-day Saint history by pointing out inconsistencies concerning the Church’s birthplace. This book sorts through the complicated history of where the Church was established. Building on Dr. MacKay’s work for The Joseph Smith Papers, this volume examines what the existing historical documents really tell us. This book reestablishes the significance of Fayette as the true birthplace of Mormonism and illuminates what the sacredness of a place means for modern-day members. ISBN 978-0-8425-2979-2

Contains a brief description of a trip that the author took to Central America to visit possible Book of Mormon locations. The author concluded that the Pi disks (circular jade disks found in a tomb at Monte Alban) and doughnut shaped objects represented the 16 Jaredite stones used for lighting the barges.

“The Two Bibles” refers to the discovery of “sacred stones of Ohio,” upon which were inscribed Hebrew phrases (Millennial Star 28/41:641-43). This article analyzes the inscriptions further, showing that the decalogue was poorly written. It suggests the tribes of Dan, Reuben, Zebulun, or Joseph could have wandered to America and deposited the stones in Ohio.

Contains excerpts from sacred texts and scriptures of many of the world’s religions. The editors quote 3 Nephi 21 from the Book of Mormon as a representative scriptural text from Mormonism and state that it represents “the charter for Joseph’s foundation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the vision which drew the faithful in their drive to create a new society in the American West”

The temple is central to Latter-day Saint worship. Through modern revelation Joseph Smith restored the ancient tradition of temples and the ordinances performed therein. Studies of ancient temples can shed much light on latter-day temples and temple worship. Several years ago Latter-day Saint scholar Matthew Brown planned a conference entitled The Temple on Mount Zion and began to invite the participants. Matthew Brown loved the temple and temple worship and studied and published on ancient and modern temples. His interests and knowledge were vast. When Matthew passed away very unexpectedly in 2011, his friends decided to organize a series of conferences in his memory. This volume, the fourth in the series, contains proceedings from the third conference held in his memory 5 November 2016 and reflects many of the topics that Matthew loved, centered on the theme of sacred time, sacred space, and sacred meaning.

Sacred trees, representing the power of life to grow from the underworld realm of the dead, are a common motif in the art and literature of the ancient Maya of Mesoamerica. Such trees are similar in concept to the tree of life described in the Book of Mormon, as well as to the mythic traditions of many other contemporary world cultures. Hieroglyphic inscriptions and sixteenth-century highland Maya texts describe a great world tree that was erected at the dawn of the present age to stand as the axis point of the cosmos. In its fruit-laden form, it personified the god of creation who fathered the progenitors of the Maya royal dynasty.

This precious gift of priesthood power brings with it not only solemn responsibilities but also special blessings for ourselves and for others.

Reprinted in Temple and Cosmos: Beyond This Ignorant Present.
This lecture was originally accompanied by slides. It was circulated in two different editions in 1986 and 1987 and was available in a much expanded version, including illustrations, in 1988.

In Temple and Cosmos, Brother Nibley explains the relationship of the House of the Lord to the cosmos. In Temple, the first part of the volume, he focuses on the nature, meaning, and history of the temple, discussing such topics as sacred vestments, the circle and the square, and the symbolism of the temple and its ordinances. In the second part, Cosmos, he discusses the cosmic context of the temple-the expanding gospel, apocryphal writings, religion and history, the genesis of the written word, cultural diversity in the universal church, and the terrible questions: Where did we come from? Why are we here? and Where are we going?
This lecture was originally accompanied by slides. It was circulated in two different editions in 1986 and 1987 and was available in a much expanded version, including illustrations, in 1988.

Significant evidence reveals that bronze and other metals were historically used for writing sacred texts. This article uses that information to demonstrate the plausibility that the Book of Mormon prophet Lehi would have followed the same practice.

One chapter of this work is dedicated to the sacred writings of Mormonism. Provides a brief history of the discovery and translation of the Book of Mormon, followed by a brief synopsis of each individual book. Reprints scriptural passages from the Book of Mormon.

Our lives of service and sacrifice are the most appropriate expressions of our commitment to serve the Master and our fellowmen.

If we are caring, if we are charitable, if we are obedient to God and follow His prophets, our sacrifices will bring forth the blessings of heaven.

I pray that we will all become Saints willing to sacrifice and become eligible for the Lord’s special blessings.

The Book of Abraham, one of the canonized works of Latter-day Saint scripture brought forth by the Prophet Joseph Smith, has been attacked by critics since its publication in 1842. In Abraham in Egypt, LDS scholar Hugh Nibley draws on his erudition in ancient languages, literature, and history to defend the book on historical and doctrinal grounds. Nibley examines the Book of Abraham’s striking connections with ancient texts and Egyptian religion and culture. He discusses the book’s many nonbiblical themes that are found in apocryphal literature not known or available in Smith’s day. In opening up many other lines of inquiry, Nibley lays an essential foundation for further research on the biblical patriarch Abraham. This enlarged, second edition of Nibley’s classic 1981 work of the same title updates the endnotes, includes many illustrations, and adds several chapters taken from a series of articles in the Improvement Era entitled “A Look at the Pearl of Great Price,” which Nibley wrote between 1968 and 1970.

The essays in this volume, including four on today’s world, were selected by a panel of Hugh Nibley’s colleagues. They are singular in their penetration, their originality, and their vitality. Reaching from the apocalyptic visions of original “treasures in heaven” down to the climax of history, they are more than mind-stretching. The delight of Nibley’s brilliant and sometimes biting prose style imparts a sense of the agelessness of what he calls the “three-act play” of human existence. Written specially for this book, the author’s own “intellectual autobiography,” together with his introductory paragraphs for the various chapters, complete the work of making the book a fitting and permanent record of one of the past outstanding historians
When I was in high school, everybody was being very smart and emancipated, and we always cheered the news that some scholar had discovered the original story of Samson or the Flood or the Garden of Eden in some ancient nonbiblical writing or tradition. It never occurred to anybody that these parallels might confirm rather than confound the scripture. For us the explanation was always perfectly obvious: the Bible was just a clumsy compilation of old borrowed superstitions. As comparative studies broke into the open field, parallels began piling up until they positively became an embarrassment. Everywhere one looked, there were literary and mythological parallels. Trying to laugh them off as “parallelomania” left altogether too much unexplained. In the 1930s, English scholars started spreading out an overall pattern that would fit almost all ancient religions. Finally, men like Graves and Santillana confront us with huge agglomerations of somehow connected matter that sticks together in one loose, gooey mass, compacted of countless resemblances that are hard to explain but equally hard to deny. Where is this taking us? Will the sheer weight and charge of the stuff finally cause it to collapse on itself in a black hole, leaving us none the wiser? We could forego the obligation of explaining it and content ourselves with contemplating and admiring the awesome phenomenon for its own sake were it not for one thing: Joseph Smith spoils everything. A century of bound periodicals in the stacks will tell the enquiring student when scholars first became aware of the various elements that make up the superpattern, but Joseph Smith knew about them all, and before the search ever began, he showed how they are interrelated. In the documents he has left us, you will find the central position of the Coronation, the tension between matriarchy and patriarchy, the arcane discipline for transmitting holy books through the ages, the pattern of cycles and dispensations, the nature of the mysteries, the great tradition of the Rekhabites or sectaries of the desert, the fertility rites and sacrifices of the New Year with the humiliation of the kind and the role of substitute, and so forth. Where did he get the stuff? It would have been convenient for some mysterious rabbi to drop in on the penniless young farmer when he needs some high-class research, but George Foote Moore informs us that “so far as evidence goes, apocalyptic things of that sort were without countenance from the exponents of what we may call normal Judaism.” Take, for example, the tradition that the sacrifice of Isaac merely followed the scenario of an earlier sacrifice of Abraham himself. Nobody has heard of that today until you tell them about it, when, of course, they shrug their shoulders and tell you that they knew about it all along. Which prompts me to recommend a simple rule for the ingenuous investigator: always ask the expert to tell you the story first. I have never found anyone who could tell me the Joseph Smith Abraham story, and the apocrypha records which report it have all been published since his day. Today the story of Abraham casts a new light on the story of Isaac. Here is some of it.

The Book of Abraham, one of the canonized works of Latter-day Saint scripture brought forth by the Prophet Joseph Smith, has been attacked by critics since its publication in 1842. In Abraham in Egypt, LDS scholar Hugh Nibley draws on his erudition in ancient languages, literature, and history to defend the book on historical and doctrinal grounds. Nibley examines the Book of Abraham’s striking connections with ancient texts and Egyptian religion and culture. He discusses the book’s many nonbiblical themes that are found in apocryphal literature not known or available in Smith’s day. In opening up many other lines of inquiry, Nibley lays an essential foundation for further research on the biblical patriarch Abraham. This enlarged, second edition of Nibley’s classic 1981 work of the same title updates the endnotes, includes many illustrations, and adds several chapters taken from a series of articles in the Improvement Era entitled “A Look at the Pearl of Great Price,” which Nibley wrote between 1968 and 1970.
A study of the story of how Sarah ended up at the royal palace

Hartman Rector, Jr. - All too often when we hear the word sacrifice we think of burnt offerings or one man laying down his life for another as the Master did for us all. These are valid examples, but surely there are some very modern sacrifices that the Lord has instituted to bless his children today.

Sacrifice is an amazing principle. … It can develop within us a profound love for each other and our Savior, Jesus Christ.

The BYU mission statement emphasizes the importance of clear communication. It states that a BYU education should “help students . . . communicate effectively.” My New Year’s plea for you is that you emphasize this part of your education this year.

We are in a unique position to gather Israel on both sides of the veil as never before under the Father’s plan.

Each one of us has the opportunity to join a winning team by being full of integrity, following the promptings of the Holy Ghost, and persevering through the rough waters of life. I am grateful for the Savior and testify that He lives!

I want it absolutely clear when I stand before the judgment bar of God that I declared to the world … that the Book of Mormon is true.

Discourse by Elder John Taylor, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 28, 1861. Reported By: J. V. Long.

“What we need from everyone, from those of you solidly in the Church as well as those struggling to hold on, is always the same: powerful faith, faith that sustains us here and now, not just on the day of judgment or somewhere in celestial glory.”

Remarks by Elder Brigham Young, Jun., delivered in the Old Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, November 17, 1867. Reported By: G. D. Watt.

Discourse by President George Q. Cannon, delivered at the General Conference, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Morning, Oct. 9, 1881. Reported By: John Irvine.

Joseph Smith taught, “Don’t let a single corner of the earth go without a mission.” In response to the Prophet’s counsel, years later, Brigham Young and his counselors in the First Presidency planned a special missionary conference in 1852. At this conference, one hundred Latter-day Saint men were called to proselytize in distant lands—the largest cohort of full-time elders in the church’s three-decade history. This book tells the stories and adventures of eight men called to Wales, Prussia, Gibraltar, the Cape of Good Hope, the Sandwich Islands, China, Siam, and Australia. These faithful missionaries left their families, possessions, and newly settled homes in the West to “seek to fulfill the initial obligation given to that church in the very opening of the New Dispensation, namely, to preach the gospel of the kingdom to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” ISBN 978-1-9443-9472-1

An attempt to explain Joseph Smith and the Three Witnesses on the basis of current pop psychology. Links Smith’s reputed early practices to the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. “The Book of Mormon reads like a mixture of Old Testament, Arabian Nights and Gulliver’s Travels, with a literary quality decidedly inferior to any of these” Suggests that the Three Witnesses suffered a hallucination.

Discourse by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Feb. 20, 1870. Reported By: David W. Evans.

Remarks by Elder Wilford Woodruff, delivered at the Semi-Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in The New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Friday Morning, October 9, 1874. Reported By: David W. Evans.

Discourse by Elder Brigham Young, Jun., delivered at the Semi-Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Tuesday Morning, October 6, 1874. Reported By: David W. Evans.

Discourse by Elder George Q. Cannon, delivered at the Adjourned Semi-Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Afternoon, October 11, 1874. Reported By: David W. Evans.

This volume is a compilation of inspirational stories shared by Latter-day Saints who served on the front lines in several recent military conflicts. These stories detail their trials, challenges, setbacks, faith, courage, and numerous victories in overcoming extraordinary circumstances. This book is filled with remarkable first-person accounts from Latter-day Saint soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen, and civilians who served in the Gulf War, the War in Afghanistan, and the Iraq War. Their amazing stories—published together for the first time—chronicle the sacrifice, dedication, and humor of day-to-day life in modern combat zones. This book also shares the story of how fully functioning districts of the Church were organized and operated in the war-torn countries of Afghanistan and Iraq to meet the spiritual needs of the Church members there. Richly illustrated with photographs from the participants, this book will introduce you to a new generation of Latter-day Saint heroes. ISBN 978-1-9443-9487-5

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were among US soldiers in World War II who endured the atrocities of the Bataan Death March in the Philippines and the brutality of Japanese POW camps. This is the story, largely told through their personal accounts, of a group of twenty-nine Latter-day Saint POWs in the Philippines, the events that brought them together to form an informal branch of the Church in an infamous POW camp, a remarkable event in the history of the Church, and the events that would later pull them apart—twelve to their liberation and seventeen to their death. ISBN 978-1-9503-0413-4

Discourse by Elder Wilford Woodruff, delivered at the General Conference, Sunday Morning, April 3, 1881. Reported By: Geo. F. Gibbs.

A Discourse by Elder Lorenzo Snow, Delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, January 4, 1857. Reported By: J. V. Long.

Discourse by President Daniel H. Wells, delivered at the Forty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, on Tuesday Morning, April 6, 1875. Reported By: David W. Evans.

Remarks by President Brigham Young, delivered in the Old Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, December 29, 1867. Reported By: G. D. Watt.