BYU Studies
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No abstract available.

Mapping Mormonism brings together contributions from sixty experts in the fields of geography, history, Mormon history, and economics to produce the most monumental work of its kind. More than an atlas, this book also includes hundreds of timelines and charts, along with carefully researched descriptions, that track the Mormon movement from its humble beginnings to its worldwide expansion. A work of this magnitude rarely comes along. Mapping Mormonism’s first edition proved to be a landmark reference work in Mormon studies; now it is further improved and updated with the latest information in this second edition. This work covers the early Restoration, the settlement of the West, and the expanding Church, giving particular emphasis to recent developments in the modern Church throughout all regions of the world. Of all the books on Church history, Mapping Mormonism may be the single most effective work to date at giving an expansive vision of the rise of the LDS Church⿿a vision as vibrant as those who have led the way in building Zion. In 2012, Mapping Mormonism won the Mormon History Association Best Book Award and the Cartography and Geographic Information Society Best Atlas Award.

Martin Harris: Uncompromising Witness of the Book of Mormon reveals the compelling story of a man who had seen angels and knew Joseph Smith was a prophet but who nevertheless struggled to keep his faith in the prophetic calling of Joseph Smith and the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. His is a story of fascination with worldly honors, flirtations with apostasy, and pride that nearly cost him the joy of his later years in the West. It is the biography of a witness who clung tenaciously to his testimony of the Book of Mormon. Well-known historians Susan Black and Larry Porter have written a landmark biography of Martin Harris, one of the most important figures in early Church history. Joseph Smith relied on his generosity and goodwill to publish the Book of Mormon, of which he was one of the Three Witnesses. But Latter-day Saints in the twenty-first century know relatively little about him, especially the decades he spent away from the Restoration—until now. This biography deserves a place on the bookshelves of historians and other interested Church members. Strongly recommend. Reid L. Neilson Assistant Church Historian and Recorder The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints This deeply researched book examines the life of one of Joseph Smith’s closest associates in the Church’s early years. It tells us more about signifi­cant episodes, such as the printing of the Book of Mormon, than anyone has ever known. Most important, it helps us reassess the character of Martin Harris, a key contributor to the Restoration. Harris emerges as a man of substance and judgment, a fitting witness to the angel and the plates. The book explains how he fell away and then returned but at no time backed away from his testimony. Richard Lyman Bushman Author, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling As one of the earliest believers in Joseph Smith’s spiritual claims, Martin Harris figured prominently in the early events of the Restoration. He observed firsthand many of the sacred scenes associated with the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, assisted in its translation, was one of the book’s Three Witnesses, financed its publication, and was one of the first converts baptized into the Church of Christ. Authors Susan Easton Black and Larry C. Porter have produced an insightful, informative, well-­documented biography of Martin Harris’s lifelong religious sojourn—a life characterized by integrity, faith, and generosity, but most of all, testimony. This is solid, down-to-earth biographical history at its best. Alexander L. Baugh Professor, Church History and Doctrine, BYU

This compilation of groundbreaking articles about the Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith is selected from over fifty years of LDS scholarship published by BYU Studies. This volume features articles on Joseph’s meeting with John C. Calhoun Jr., a crime scene analysis of the Carthage Jail, the Joseph/Hyrum funeral sermon, mobocracy, the Martyrdom itself, and the aftermath of this tragic event. Contents “John C. Calhoun Jr. Meets the Prophet Joseph Smith Shortly before the Departure for Carthage” Brian Q. Cannon “The Martyrdom of Joseph Smith and His Brother Hyrum by Dan Jones introduced and translated” Ronald D. Dennis “Physical Evidence at Carthage Jail and What It Reveals about the Assassination of Joseph and Hyrum Smith” Joseph L. Lyon and David W. Lyon “The Joseph/Hyrum Smith Funeral Sermon” Richard S. Van Wagoner and Steven C. Walker “Life in Nauvoo, June 1844: Vilate Kimball’s Martyrdom Letters” Ronald K. Esplin “‘It Seems That All Nature Mourns’: Sally Randall’s Response to the Murder of Joseph and Hyrum Smith” Steven C. Harper and Jordan Watkins “A Little Known Account of the Murders of Joseph and Hyrum Smith” Jan Shipps “The Lynching of an American Prophet” Warren A. Jennings “Mobocracy and the Rule of Law: American Press Reaction to the Murder of Joseph Smith” Paul Ellsworth “Nauvoo’s Whistling and Whittling Brigade” Thurmon Dean Moody “‘Will the Murderers Be Hung?’ Albert Brown’s 1844 Letter and the Martyrdom of Joseph Smith” Timothy Merrill Review of Dallin H. Oaks and Marvin S. Hill, Carthage Conspiracy: The Trial of the Accused Assassins of Joseph Smith Reviewed by Klaus J. Hansen

These studies offer solid information about the material culture of the first-century Judea. Even though the story of Masada itself has recently become significantly politicized and rightly reexamined in the scholarly literature, these developments do not diminish the importance of this archaeological site as a source of information about the world of the New Testament.

The past year intensified the study of the Prophet’s early life because of the release of two “treasure letters” seeming to illuminate the pre-Book of Mormon period. The questionable letter of Joseph Smith to Josiah Stowell in 1825 has a “clever spirit” guarding a treasure hoard. The questionable 1830 letter from Martin Harris to William W. Phelps claims that Joseph spoke of a salamander and “old spirit” at the hill in 1827, though Joseph’s real experience could be obscured by such a singular secondhand report. Publicity on these documents has stimulated research and reevaluation, some of it asserting a lifelong interest of the Prophet in paranormal discovery of riches. This paper examines the basis of such claims after 1827 and finds them wanting. Editor’s Note: The online version of this article was revised after it became public knowledge that the 1830 Martin Harris letter referred to in the article was a Mark Hofmann forgery.

Reprinted in Studies of the Books of Moses and Abraham: Articles from BYU Studies, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book.
Looks at several of the Kirtland Egyptian Papers and rumors surrounding them that may or may not be true based on the lack of evidence surrounding them.

Notwithstanding the frigid circumstances, a genuine warmth emanates from the Alaskan Saints. The match that lit this internal flame was the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, first striking the Alaskan borders at the turn of the twentieth century. They have subtly shaped Alaskan society, although composing less than five percent of the state’s population. Their influence on Alaskan communities can be seen through their family values, humanitarian service, community projects, and family history centers. This book tells the story of the rise and influence of Latter-day Saints as they joined hands on their journey of “melting the ice.” Melting the Ice was praised by the Alaska Historical Society in Volume 33, Number 2 of Alaska History. Read the review here. Companion Documentary

No abstract available.

Joseph Smith and his family had considerable contact with Methodism in the years surrounding his first vision, as Richard Bushman has described. Lucy and Joseph Sr. attended Methodist meetings while the family lived in Vermont. In Palmyra, Joseph Jr. reportedly attended Methodist camp meetings, where he experienced “a spark of Methodism,” and joined a class meeting of the Palmyra Methodist Church. Willard Chase, one of Joseph’s treasure-hunting associates in Palmyra, was also a Methodist class leader. Later, Chase hired a “conjuror,” and he and his sister Sally used her “green glass” in an attempt to find where Joseph had hidden the gold plates, which apparently did not violate his Methodist scruples. During the time that Joseph translated the plates into the Book of Mormon, he and his wife, Emma, attended Methodist meetings, and Joseph reportedly joined a class. Joining a class meeting was significant. It defined one as a member of a Methodist society. Anyone could attend public meetings, but joining a class implied a deeper level of commitment. Classes met once a week, usually in someone’s home. They were supposed to include about a dozen members, a size thought best to promote intimacy, openness, and discipline, though they often ballooned to two or three times that number. Class meetings were not preaching occasions. After singing and prayer, the leader would usually examine each member in turn, asking them to reveal their troubles and triumphs in front of their neighbors. The leader recorded attendance and contributions weekly. Attending a class meeting would have given Joseph Smith an inside look at all that it meant to be a Methodist.

A previously unknown oil sketch by Minerva Teichert (1888–1976), the pioneering LDS woman artist, was recently acquired by an art collector when it came up for sale in Salt Lake City. This small painting depicts the temptation of Corianton, a son of Alma in the Book of Mormon. The painting had been owned for many years by a Wyoming rancher who received it from Teichert as a birthday gift when he was a boy in the early 1950s. This article introduces The Seduction of Corianton, including a full-color scan of the painting.

Even among those of us who are convinced of the divinity of the Book of Mormon’s source and the primacy of its message, there is a tendency to find “the most perfect book ever written” prolix. However, when compared with the King James Version of the Bible the Book of Mormon offers some very important additions. Take, for example, the Book of Mormon Beatitudes—3 Nephi 12:3–11, which parallels Matthew 5:3–11. Though the ands and alls and yea and again of the Nephi version are clearly superfluous, at least a third of the eighteen percent additional words used by Nephi enrich the passage; they are no more redundant than the “and thirst” in “hunger and thirst after righteousness.” “Blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” while using more words than the original, makes it clear that the Sermon was directed to those who had come unto the Savior in the waters of baptism. And verse 6—”Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled”—is made specific with the addition of “with the Holy Ghost.” Verse 10’s alteration of “righteousness’ sake” to “my name’s sake” serves a similar focusing function, distinguishing between suffering for any good cause and enduring persecution specifically for devotion to Christ.

Between the first Mormon missionary visit to central Europe in 1888 and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the Church made only a few advances in this region. But in a mere decade, that all changed. By the end of the twentieth century, nineteen missions existed in central and eastern Europe and thousands of missionaries labored where only a handful had served before.

Famine and hard times in Utah in the mid-1850s convinced Church leaders that God was not pleased with the state of the Kingdom. Consequently, they initiated a program of rebaptism, rededication, and retrenchment among the Saints between 1856 and 1857. Jedediah Grant exerted much influence during this period, helping to convince members to change and repent. Over time, however, the fervor subsided and was replaced by a more moderate and reasoned approach to reform. This short-lived but somewhat controversial period saw excommunications and heavy-handed rhetoric, but also spiritual rejuvenation, forgiveness, and recommitment. Paul H. Peterson’s 1981 dissertation paints a clear and fascinating picture of the Mormon Reformation.

Mormonism and the Temple: Examining an Ancient Religious Tradition contains the proceedings of the Academy for Temple Studies conference held under the same title on the campus of Utah State University on 29 October 2012, and includes the following presentations: • Restoring Solomon’s Temple by Margaret Barker • Chapel, Church, Temple, Cathedral: Lost Parallels in Mormon and Catholic Worship by Laurence Paul Hemming • Questions and Answers with Margaret Barker and Laurence Hemming • The Temple, the Sermon on the Mount, and the Gospel of Matthew by John W. Welch • A Divine Mother in the Book of Mormon? by Daniel C. Peterson • Temples—Bridges of Eternity by LeGrande Davies • The Temple, the Book of Revelation, and Joseph Smith by John L. Fowles

This compilation of fascinating articles on the U.S. Constitution and Mormonism is selected from over fifty years of LDS scholarship published by BYU Studies. This volume features articles on the history of the Constitution, the unique LDS view of the Constitution as an inspired document, and various issues related to the Constitution, such as philosophical liberalism, terrorism, and individual rights and liberties.

One of the strangest and most extensive archaeological hoaxes in American history was perpetrated around the turn of the twentieth century in Michigan. Hundreds of objects known as the Michigan Relics were made to appear as the remains of a lost civilization. The artifacts were produced, buried, “discovered,” and marketed by James O. Scotford and Daniel E. Soper. For three decades these artifacts were secretly planted in earthen mounds, publicly removed, and lauded as wonderful discoveries. Because the Michigan Relics allegedly evidence a Near Eastern presence in ancient America, they have drawn interest from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This article traces the intriguing history of this elaborate affair and Mormonism’s encounter with it. At the center of this history lies the investigation of the artifacts by Latter-day Saint intellectual and scientist James E. Talmage.

One does not long study Mormon beginnings without realizing that the Bible held a special place in the hearts of the early Saints. Latter-day Saints use of its accounts and teachings greatly influenced the formulation of Mormon theology, and, in addition, helped the Saints find their personal and group identity in God’s Kingdom. The deep commitment of early Mormon intellectuals to the ancient scriptures is suggested by the frequency and nature of biblical references in their writings. Three Church periodicals published between 1832 and 1838, The Evening and the Morning Star (Independence, Missouri, 1832–33, and Kirtland, Ohio, 1833–34), the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate (Kirtland, 1834–47), and the Elders’ Journal (Kirtland, 1837, and Far West, Missouri, 1838) are the most important representative samples of the written expression of early Mormon thought, and serve in this investigation as indicators of the attitudes of the Saints towards the Bible, and their uses of its contents. Let us begin by identifying two leading assumptions which governed Mormon biblical interpretation.