Podcast Archives - Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU: Recent Episodes
Podcast Archives - Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU
Welcome to The Questions We Should Be Asking, a new season of the podcast from the Maxwell Institute that explores faith-building questions. In this episode, Rosalynde interviews Kimberly Matheson, a scholar at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religion. She asks the question: why do we pray? And what does prayer look like in our lives?
Kimberly Matheson is a Research Fellow at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, with current projects focusing on gender in the Book of Mormon, a materialist theology of prayer, and Moroni 7 as a theological response to modernity. Her research centers more broadly on the Book of Mormon, Christian contemplative practice, and the continental philosophy of religion. Kimberly holds a Ph.D. in theology from Loyola University Chicago, an MTS in philosophy of religion from Harvard Divinity School, and a BA in ancient near east studies from Brigham Young University. She is the author most recently of Helaman: A Brief Theological Introduction (Maxwell, 2020) and sits on the boards of the Book of Mormon Studies Association and the Latter-day Saint Theology Seminar.
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Meet Rosalynde Frandsen Welch, our new host for the MIPodcast. Rosalynde is the Associate Director of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, where she coordinates faculty engagement and co-leads a special research initiative. Her research focuses on Latter-day Saint scripture, theology, and literature. She holds a PhD in early modern English literature from the University of California, San Diego, and a BA in English from Brigham Young University. She is the author of Ether: a brief theological introduction, published by the Maxwell Institute, as well as numerous articles, book chapters and reviews on Latter-day Saint thought.
In this episode, Rosalynde introduces The Questions We Should Be Asking, a new season that explores questions that help build faith. The first full-length episode of the podcast will be posted on March 28, 2023.
The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #158: Introduction to The Questions We Should Be Asking with Rosalynde Welch appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
In the nineteenth century, a fascination with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints made Mormons and Mormonism a common trope in French journalism, art, literature, politics, and popular culture. Heather Belnap, Corry Cropper, and Daryl Lee bring to light French representations of Mormonism from the 1830s to 1914, arguing that these portrayals often critiqued and parodied French society. Mormonism became a pretext for reconsidering issues such as gender, colonialism, the family, and church-state relations while providing artists and authors with a means for working through the possibilities of their own evolving national identity.
The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #157: Latter-day Saints in the French Imagination, with Corry Cropper, Daryl Lee, and Heather Belnap appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
It’s Christmas! This may feel like an awkward lesson to have in the discussion of the Old Testament, it’s at least how I felt. But in considering the topic more deeply, I can’t think of a better way to prepare for celebrating the Savior’s birth. We’ve spent the year reading the scriptures that He read and recognizing the ways that ancient Israel expected a Savior to redeem them. We discuss the Old Testament in light of the Promised Lamb of God in this episode of “Abide: A Maxwell Institute Podcast.”
The post Abide: Christmas appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Finding Christ in the Covenant Path offers a fresh but faithful focus on the journey of covenants and discipleship through the double lens of ancient words and medieval images. The first part of the book helps us see Christ’s identity as our Redeemer by exploring the ancient words that connect covenants, redemption, worship, the presence of the Lord, and sitting down enthroned in God’s presence as his children and heirs.
The second part of the book reveals Christ as our ransom by exploring medieval images, particularly the image of Christ. With personal anecdotes, historical background, and scriptural analysis, this section uses devotional images and late medieval practices of contemplation as a strategy to come unto Christ. By using medieval images as a counterpoint to Restoration practices and ordinances, we can more fully appreciate the gift of God’s Son and see that gift with fresh eyes.
The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #156: Finding Christ in the Covenant Path, with Jennifer C. Lane appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
In 2007, the Museum at Eldridge Street opened at the site of a restored nineteenth-century synagogue originally built by some of the first Eastern European Jewish immigrants in New York City. Visitors to the museum are invited to stand along indentations on the floor where footprints of congregants past have worn down the soft pinewood. Here, many feel a palpable connection to the history surrounding them.
Beyond the Synagogue argues that nostalgic activities such as visiting the Museum at Eldridge Street or eating traditional Jewish foods should be understood as American Jewish religious practices. In making the case that these practices are not just cultural, but are actually religious, Rachel B. Gross asserts if one looked outside of traditional institutions and practices, such as attendance at synagogue or membership in Jewish Community Centers, they would see that the embrace of nostalgia provides evidence of an alternative, under-appreciated way of being Jewish and of maintaining Jewish continuity.
Tracing American Jews’ involvement in a broad array of ostensibly nonreligious activities, including conducting Jewish genealogical research, visiting Jewish historic sites, purchasing books and toys that teach Jewish nostalgia to children, and seeking out traditional Jewish foods, Gross argues that these practices illuminate how many American Jews are finding and making meaning within American Judaism today.
The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #155: Nostalgia as Jewish Religious Practice, with Rachel B. Gross appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
One of the most interesting days of my life took place a few years ago when I co-conducted a tour of the Jordan River Temple in Utah for non-Latter-day Saint specialists in American religion. As we walked from room to room, my co-tour guide, my second mission president, did his best to anticipate questions that my scholarly friends may have had. He did a great job! The most interesting part of the tour, though, came well after we left the temple’s doorways. My friend Bob asked “what does the temple DO for Latter-day Saints?” I answered about eternal kinship networks, the binding of families, and more. No, he said, pointedly, what does the temple DO for individuals like you? That questions took me back–as you can tell, I still reflect on it several years later. I think, if I were to think of how to describe what the temple does in the lives of everyday Latter-day Saints is flourishing. The flourishing of relationships, of personal peace and reflection, of revelatory capacity, and of my faith in Jesus Christ. As we discuss Haggai and Zechariah today, let’s keep that question in mind: what does the gospel DO for Latter-day Saints? Why are we so anxious to build temples and invite all we can to participate in their sacred rituals and spiritual splendor?
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In Adam S. Miller’s lecture, “The Necessity of God: First person, Present Tense, Imperative Mood” Miller talks about Tim Farnsworth, a man who cannot stop walking from the fictional book The Unnamed.
Miller said that everyone has different crosses to bear, and although we cannot change them, like Farnsworth cannot stop walking, we have to learn how to love and accept these challenges in order to connect to God.
Link to view the Annual Lecture here: https://youtu.be/N1L_ctSw2pk
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The Book of Mormon Art Catalog seeks to provide unprecedented access to visual imagery inspired by the Book of Mormon through a comprehensive, open access, and searchable digital database. In this role, the Book of Mormon Art Catalog supports research and education, aids scholarly and artistic work, promotes a greater knowledge of artists worldwide, provides […]
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The post Abide: Nahum; Habakkuk; Zephaniah appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
One of my favorite sermons in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is a sermon delivered by President Hugh B. Brown at BYU. It’s entitled God is the Gardner; I’m confident that many of you have heard this before. But I love the part at the end where, when dealing […]
The post Abide: Jonah and Micah appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Throughout the scriptures, the Lord and His prophets teach of covenants, the ability for us to bind ourselves to God through the power of the priesthood. Sometimes, though, we forget that we are also in covenant relationship to those we hold most dear. Indeed, that not only are we covenentally bound to our family members, […]
The post Abide: Hosea and Joel appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Andrew Jenson undertook a lifelong quest to render the LDS historical record complete and comprehensive. As Assistant Church Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Jenson tirelessly carried out his office’s archival mission and advocated for fixed record keeping to become a duty for Latter-day Saints. Reid L. Neilson and Scott D. […]
The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #152: Andrew Jenson and Latter-day Saint History, with Reid L. Neilson and Scott D. Marianno appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
We are blessed to live in a time of prophets. I define this in two ways. The first is that we are fortunate to live in a time where the priesthood has been restored and that the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints speaks for the Lord under priesthood authority. The […]
The post Abide: Ezekiel 1–3; 33–34; 36–37; 47 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Latter-day Saints recognize the Book of Mormon as the “keystone of our religion,” a book that will bring a person closer to Christ than by any other book. How do non-Latter-day Saints read the Book of Mormon, though, especially in their academic work? To answer that question, we’ll speak to Dr. Rosalynde Frandsen Welch, Research […]
The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #151: The Book of Mormon and Literature Studies, with Rosalynde Frandsen Welch appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
In last week’s episode, we discussed how Jeremiah introduces ideas about seemingly disparate events, including the apocalyptic here-and-now and the hope of a better future for all of humankind. As we continue into our second episode on Jeremiah, we take a turn to earthy practicalities. How do we commit ourselves to God’s work? How do […]
The post Abide: Jeremiah and Lamentations Part II appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
In June 2022, the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship and the David O. McKay Center for Intercultural Understanding hosted a conference based upon Patrick Mason’s and David Pulsipher’s new book Proclaim Peace: The Restoration’s Answer to an Age of Conflict. Participants–scholars and non-scholars alike–reflected together on the interpersonal, ethical, and social dimensions of Christian discipleship and the […]
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Today we are joined by Dr. Joseph Spencer, a philosopher, theologian and Assistant Professor of Ancient Scripture here at Brigham Young University. Dr. Spencer is the editor of the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies and a leading scholar of the Book of Mormon. He is a prolific author, and among his recent works are […]
The post Abide: Isaiah 58-66 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Listen to Pastor Derwin Gray and Vicki Gray speak on Derwin’s new book, Healing Our Racial Divide: What the Bible Says, and the First Christians Knew, About Racial Reconciliation!Link to book: Amazon
The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #149: Healing Our Racial Divide, with Derwin and Vicki Gray appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Jesus promises in the Gospel of John that he will not leave us comfortless, but that He will come to us. He promises in Matthew that he will give us rest when we are weary and heavy-laden. In my experience, though, that isn’t at the first instance of pain, whether it’s physical, mental, spiritual, or […]
The post Abide: Isaiah 40-49 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Richard Bushman once told me that “panic precedes revelation.” Dr. Bushman was discussing the process by which Joseph Smith received the First Vision (recall the line from the Pearl of Great Price that “at that moment of great alarm” that the Father and Son appeared to the boy prophet). While reading, Isaiah, though, I think […]
The post Abide: Isaiah 13-14; 24–30; 35 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Isaiah. Latter-day Saints have a special relationship to this Old Testament prophet. Not only do we recognize prophets across all dispensations, but his words were carried by Lehi’s family to the Americas. How do we think about Isaiah? What should we know about the construction of the book of Isaiah? We discuss this, and much […]
The post Abide: Isaiah 1-12 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs can fall by the wayside when we study them in Sunday School. They don’t always fit into the narratives that we understand about dispensations of authority or give us sustained treatises in the way that a theologian might consider during personal scripture study. However, in preparing for this […]
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Kate Holbrook, PhD (1972–2022) was a leading voice in the study of Latter-day Saintwomen and Latter-day Saint foodways. As managing historian of women’s history atthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints history department, she wrote, studied,and interpreted history full-time. Her major research interests were religion, gender,and food. Her primary professional activity was to discover, […]
The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #148: The Weight of Legacy, with Kate Holbrook appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
A book has many lives. It’s thought, it’s edited, it’s printed, it’s reprinted, it’s commentated on, and this repeats, if the book merits it, ad infinitum. This is certainly true for the Bible as a whole, but, I suggest, for the Psalms in particular. How do we think about Psalms as an ancient text conveyed […]
The post Abide: Psalms Part Three appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
In the decades before the Civil War, Americans appealed to the nation’s sacred religious and legal texts – the Bible and the Constitution – to address the slavery crisis. The ensuing political debates over slavery deepened interpreters’ emphasis on historical readings of the sacred texts, and in turn, these readings began to highlight the unbridgeable […]
The post (Reuploaded) Maxwell Institute Podcast #147: Slavery, Sacred Texts, and Historical Consciousness, with Jordan Watkins appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
One of the first things I tell my students, and that I repeat throughout a semester, is that texts do not interpret themselves. Every time a person reads scripture they see it with new eyes and with shifting perspectives. The words on the page may be the same, though, of course, with the Bible, those […]
The post Abide: Psalms Part Two appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Psalms! There’s over 150 of them marked in the book by the same name in the Old Testament. How can we read them? Are they more useful as a narrative thread, or as a spice to season our spiritual diet? We’ll discuss that and much more on today’s episode of “Abide: A Maxwell Institute Podcast.”
The post Abide: Psalms Part One appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Job, as a literary and biblical figure, gives us a lot to think about. He goes from riches to rags to riches again. He loses his family but begins another. He’s at the center of a contest between god and a devilish character. He relies on his friends but those same friends accuse him of […]
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In Original Grace, Adam S. Miller proposes an experiment in Restoration thinking: What if instead of implicitly affirming the traditional logic of original sin, we, as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, emphasized the deeper reality of God’s original grace? What if we broke entirely with the belief that suffering can sometimes be deserved and claimed that […]
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Can one be directed by God when one doesn’t know that one is being directed? The answer, of course, is yes. We learn about how God directed Esther in ways that may not have been recognizable to her, to ancient Israelites, and in ways that still surprise us today. We’ll discuss that, and more, in […]
The post Abide: Esther appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
If an eighteenth-century cleric told you that the difference between “civilization and heathenism is sky-high and star-far,” the words would hardly come as a shock. But that statement was written by an American missionary in 1971. In a sweeping historical narrative, Kathryn Gin Lum shows how the idea of the heathen has been maintained from the […]
The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #145: The Idea of the “Heathen” with Kathryn Gin Lum appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
How do we learn from failure? Especially the end of an organization as large as a kingdom? What if two kingdoms fall? Today, as we look at the end of both Kingdoms of Israel, I hope that we can explore what it means to understand a people’s historical failures and recognize that modern people are […]
The post Abide: 2 Kings 17-25 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Elijah and Elisha are well-known to Latter-day Saints. The prophecy that Elijah would return was foretold in each of the four books of the Latter-day Saint canon. Indeed, Elijah visited the Prophet Joseph Smith and his counselor, Sidney Rigdon, in the Kirtland Temple, restoring the keys of the sealing power to the earth. Elisha may […]
The post Abide: 2 Kings 2-7 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Solomon’s reign was glorious, but what he gained in wealth, wives and infrastructure he lost in spiritual standing. He had not been faithful to the God of Israel. Instead, he adopted a cosmopolitanism that accommodated the religious preferences of his wives. However, God kept faith with David and Solomon, and the kingdom was split in […]
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The post Abide: 2 Samuel 5-7; 11-12; 1 Kings 3; 8; 11 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Spiritual experiences are famously transformative. They sometimes inspire dramatic effects of conversion and healing, of vision and new life direction. But even in their more quotidian forms they expand our cognitive and emotional capacities, help cultivate virtues, and intensify our feelings of closeness to God, others, and things we deem ultimate. For Matthew Wickman, spiritual experience […]
The post Maxwell Podcast Episode #144: A Spiritual Life in Literature, with Matthew Wickman appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
In Mosiah 29, Mosiah says that “if it were possible that you could have bjust men to be your kings, who would establish the claws of God, and judge this people according to his commandments, yea, if ye could have men for your kings who would do even as my father dBenjamin did for this […]
The post Abide: 1 Samuel 8-10; 13; 15-18 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The Old Testament names more women, and has more books named for women, than any of the other texts in the Latter-day Saint canon. They fulfill their roles as disciples, family members, and in following their personal integrity with living up to their commitment within community relationships. How do they fulfill those roles? And how […]
The post Abide: Ruth; 1 Samuel 1-3 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
There’s a difficulty in reading the scriptures. I’m not referring to words on the page. I’m also not referring to the habit of scripture reading, though that could certainly apply, too. No, I’m referring to making the scriptures, whose figures and narratives are familiar to many Latter-day Saints, new and refreshing and insightful. In today’s […]
The post Abide: Judges 2-4; 6-8; 13-16 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
“This Church will stand, because it is upon a firm basis. … The Lord has shown it to us by the revealing principle of the Holy Spirit of light.” Lorenzo Snow, April 1900 That quotes embodies much of what is going on in the third volume of SAINTS, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day […]
The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #143: Saints in a Modernizing World, with Lisa Olsen Tait and Scott Hales appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Scholars spend entire careers debating texts, their origins, their impact, and the most valuable contributions they make to broader understanding. At the Maxwell Institute, we participate in these debates, but recognize that a text’s value cannot be narrowed down to observable fact–the long-lasting test of scripture is how it shapes the readers’ or hearers’ faith. […]
The post Abide: Joshua 1-8; 23-24 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Deuteronomy is the final book in the Pentateuch, containing Moses’ last sermons, as well as poetry regarding Israel’s future. Moses pleads with Israel not to repeat their past mistakes, such as falling into idolatry. They must keep their covenants and keep the law given by Yahweh, or else they will lose the Promised Land. What […]
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Elder Neal A. Maxwell once preached, “Faith also includes trust in God’s timing, for He has said, “All things must come to pass in their time.” (D&C 64:32.) Ironically, some who acknowledge God are tried by His timing, globally and personally!” We certainly see that in the Book of Numbers. The Israelites were thirsty but […]
The post Abide: Numbers 11-14; 20-24 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
When someone brings up Leviticus, my mind turns almost automatically to the Law of Moses. Which, I admit, doesn’t always seem like the most applicable thing to my life. However, when reframing it to think about the Atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ, I can’t think of anything more important for Latter-day Saints to know […]
The post Abide: Exodus 35-40; Leviticus 1; 16; 19 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Knowing how to transform conflict is critical in both our personal and professional lives. Yet, by and large, we are terrible at it. The reason, says longtime mediator Chad Ford, is fear. When conflict comes, our instincts are to run or fight. To transform conflict, Ford says we need to turn toward the people we […]
The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #141: Loving Dangerously, with Chad Ford appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Often, when we speak about matters of religion, we discuss belief. “I know the Church is true. I have received a witness for myself that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I have had these experiences and share them in Sunday school and other venues. For me, though, faith also takes place in the […]
The post Abide: Exodus 24; 31-34 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
President Spencer W. Kimball said in 1976 that “Few men have ever knowingly and deliberately chosen to reject God and his blessings. Rather, we learn from the scriptures that because the exercise of faith has always appeared to be more difficult than relying on things more immediately at hand, carnal man has tended to transfer […]
The post Abide: Exodus 18-20 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Easter. A time for Christians to consider the life, atoning sacrifice, and miraculous resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. How can we use our knowledge of the Old Testament to deepen our Easter experiences? And how can understanding how other religions approach Easter help us commit to being better Christians and Latter-day Saints.
The post Abide: Easter appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
“When we begin to see ourselves as the prodigal in that famed biblical parable, we are better able to minister to that prodigal daughter or that prodigal father. When we see them as in process and recognize the same in ourselves, we can forgive their wandering because we know we must.”
The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #140: Prodigals All, with Spencer Fluhman appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
In some ways, Israel has to be feeling pretty great in Exodus 14-17. They’re finally escaping enslavement and have been delivered by God through His prophet. On the other hand, they are also between Pharaoh’s army and the Red Sea. Spoilers: they escape. But they didn’t know that until the moment of deliverance–they had to […]
The post Abide: Exodus 14-17 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
God delivers us. That’s one of the central takeaways of Exodus’s story. But what do we do to ensure that we remember that takeaway? In this episode of Abide: A Maxwell Institute Podcast, we discuss what it means to hold on in the face of adversity, to remember the actions that ensure our temporal and […]
The post Abide: Exodus 7-13 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Exodus: a movement of the people. As we move into the second book of the Tanak, or Old Testament, we have more than a movement of people. We have a flurry of new people, ideas, and we see Jehovah’s miraculous work through ancient Israelite eyes. But how can we be moved? How can we learn […]
The post Abide: Exodus 1-6 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Throughout the Old Testament we learn much about the relationships of tribes, clans, and family groups. We began discussing Israel’s family in the last episode, focusing on Joseph, the favored son sold into Egypt whose meteoric rise in Egyptian politics through the spiritual gift of interpreting dreams ultimately provided a land inheritance that would keep […]
The post Abide: Genesis 42-50 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The version of Joseph in Egypt I got growing up was shaped heavily by Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Despite the delightful music and vivid color, there’s far more to the Joseph narrative than even Donny Osmond can share in 90 minutes. In today’s episode of Abide: A Maxwell Institute Podcast, we explore several […]
The post Genesis 37-41 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Volume 5 of the Revelations and Translations series from the Joseph Smith Papers Project presents all extant fragments of the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon. For the first time ever, researchers have access to a photograph and color-coded transcripts of each fragment of the manuscript, showing every change made and which scribe made […]
The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #139: The Original Manuscript of the Book of Mormon, with Robin Scott Jensen appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Readers of the Tanak or Old Testament see that The Lord marks Israel as a chosen people. Modern Latter-day Saints identify with being a “peculiar people.” But what does it mean to be a chosen people? And how does one’s peculiarity mark boundaries of values, identity, and peoplehood? Chosenness does not mean a life without […]
The post Abide: Genesis 28-33 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
As Genesis marches on we are introduced to new people, whose lives are in some ways different than our own, but in many ways are similar. In this episode of “Abide: A Maxwell Institute Podcast,” we meet Isaac and Rebekah, who push us to think about what our responsibilities are in our families, and how […]
The post Abide: Genesis 24-27 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Today, Dr. Elisa Eastwood Pulido joins us to discuss her book, The Spiritual Evolution of Margarito Bautista: Mexican Mormon Evangelizer, Polygamist Dissident, and Utopian Founder, 1878-1961 (Oxford University Press, 2020). Dr. Pulido’s book is the first full-length biography of Margarito Bautista (1878-1961), a celebrated Latino Mormon leader in the U.S. and Mexico in the early […]
The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #138: The Biography of Margarito Bautista, with Elisa Eastwood Pulido appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The Lectures on Faith teaches that, “…a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has the power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation.” But how much can we be asked to sacrifice? For Abraham, he seemed to have been asked to sacrifice in a myriad of ways. […]
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The post Abide: Genesis 12-17 and Abraham 1-2 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Have you ever had anyone ask you “what is scripture?” For such a short question it has the possibility to open up into thousands of answers. For Latter-day Saints, it can be defined as “whatsoever [God’s representatives] shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost.” This definition is somewhat broader than many other Christian […]
The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #137: BH Roberts, the Bible, and the Book of Mormon, with Matthew Bowman appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Introduction: The world of the Old Testament, like our own day, is swimming in violence. From the direct and intimate violence of person-to-person interaction to the structural violence that reinforce hunger, war, and inequality, each of us is affected by others’ use of force. Despite this reality, or perhaps because of it, the Lord commanded […]
The post Abide: Genesis 6-11 and Moses 8 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Moses 7 features Enoch, a figure that receives scant attention in Genesis, but has an overwhelming impact on the Pearl of Great Price. Importantly, Enoch’s experience with God also shapes how we view the Father, His relationship to us, and recognize his character and disposition. In today’s episode of Abide, we discuss Moses 7 and […]
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The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #136: Documenting a Relationship: Early Latter-day Saints and the Book of Mormon, with Janiece Johnson appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
A lot of time passes in Genesis 5. We see fathers and sons’ names and their ages when sons were sired. They lived a lot longer than we do now! In Moses 5 we receive far more detail about post-Eden life but without the connections to genealogy beyond Adam, Abel, Cain, and Lamech. What are […]
The post Abide: Genesis 5; Moses 6 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Please enjoy Dr. Jennifer Reeder’s 2021 Neal A. Maxwell Lecture! You can watch the address, with Dr. Reeder’s slides, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo7GR8ql_xY.
The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #135: The Stuff of Discipleship, with Jennifer Reeder appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
“Adam fell that men might be. And men are that they might have joy.” Lehi’s declaration in 2 Nephi 2 is transformative in Latter-day Saint theology, transforming an event portrayed often in negative terms throughout Abrahamic faiths into something fulfilling and meaningful. That isn’t the only way that Latter-day Saints understand the Fall differently than […]
The post Abide: Genesis 3–4 and Moses 4–5 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
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The post Abide: Moses 1 and Abraham 3 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #134: Proclaim Peace with Patrick Mason and David Pulsipher appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
In October 1995 at the General Relief Society meeting of LDS General Conference, then President Gordon B. Hinckley presented “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.” It was the 5th of 6 proclamations–we now have 7. the most recent being the Proclamation on the Restoration in 2020. Church communications come in a variety of modes. […]
The post Abide #25: The Family: A Proclamation to the World appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Spencer W. Kimball, his counselors, and their fellow apostles prayed about the revelation that Latter-day Saints have canonized as Official Declaration 2 in June 1978. They immediately let it be known that the Lord had told them that all worthy people, of any race, color, creed, or nationality, would be eligible for temple blessings and […]
The post Abide #24: Official Declaration Two appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
In September 1890, Wilford Woodruff, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, met with his counselors with a vexing problem. How could they, as prophets and the First Presidency of the Church, prevent their religion from being squashed by the federal government over the practice of plural marriage? They ultimately decided that […]
The post Abide #23: Official Declaration One appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Though raised as a Latter-day Saint in Utah, Samuel M. Brown was an atheist from an early age and proud of it. Yet, by his own account, God became an undeniable presence in his life. Now a faithful Latter-day Saint, this practicing research physician narrates some of the waypoints on his journey into believing and […]
The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #133: Where the Soul Hungers with Samuel M. Brown appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post Abide #22: Doctrine and Covenants 137-138 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The Constitution of the United States guarantees that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Despite that promise, Latter-day Saints in the nineteenth century sometimes found themselves as victims of legal and extralegal violence against their leaders and lay members alike. When Joseph Smith ran for President […]
The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #132: Joseph Smith for President with Spencer McBride appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post Abide #20: Doctrine and Covenants 133-134 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
In today’s episode of “Abide: A Maxwell Institute Podcast,” we are studying four of Joseph Smith’s revelations. Three of them, Sections 129-131 are written in Joseph Smith’s own style, you can hear him teaching the Saints. This makes sense; they are quite literally teachings from Joseph Smith in both personal and public settings, compiled and […]
The post Abide #19: Doctrine and Covenants 129-132 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Following the Latter-day Saints’ expulsion from Missouri and while they worked to make a new home in Nauvoo, IL, Joseph Smith received several revelations that brought divine insight into earthly problems. For instance, what to do for those who could not afford to live in Nauvoo, or who desired to live in small cities surrounding […]
The post Abide #18: Doctrine and Covenants 125-128 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
From acting as a scribe for the translation of the Book of Mormon to founding the Relief Society, Emma Hale Smith was a key figure in the Restoration. She was also her husband’s anchor and the love of his life. But how much do we really know about her role, teachings, and leadership? Drawing upon […]
The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #131: An Elect Lady, with Jennifer Reeder appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
On January 19, 1841 Joseph Smith voiced a revelation that declared Nauvoo as the new gathering place for the Saints. Much had happened since we left Joseph in section 123. After the expulsion from Missouri, 5,000 Saints scattered traveling east across Missouri to safety in Illinois, 200 miles east of Far West, Missouri 1838, with […]
The post Abide #17: Doctrine and Covenants 124 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Everything changed for Joseph Smith and the Latter-day Saints in a few short months in 1838. 5000 Saints gathered in the burgeoning city of Far West, Missouri to celebrate the 4th of July. Confident and secure in their main settlement, Sidney Rigdon declared that if a mob came again, it would be a “war of […]
The post Abide #16: Doctrine and Covenants 121-123 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Eugene England was many things: a scholar, a theologian, an essayist, a husband, father, and teacher. But, above all, he defined himself as a disciple of Jesus Christ and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Today, we speak with Terryl Givens, a Senior Research Fellow at the Neal A. Maxwell […]
The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #130: Stretching the Heavens with Eugene England appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Sections 116-120 reveal a Church and prophet trying desperately to make the best of a bad situation. By the date of the last revelation a third of the Quorum of the Twelve would apostatize. The Lord directed that the Church move its headquarters from Ohio to Missouri. The Latter-day Saints changed their main county of […]
The post Abide #15: Doctrine and Covenants 116-120 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
In July of 1836 JS Hyrum Smith OC SR travelled to Salem, MA. They arrived on 5 August and rented a house on Union Street for the next 3 weeks. The revelation in section 111 might have been received there, BUT There is no contemporary evidence that tells us why they were there. THe contemporary […]
The post Abide #14: Doctrine and Covenants 111-115 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
How do we understand the lives of women who lived in ancient times? Where do historians and scholars go for evidence when there’s relatively little available in written records? In this episode of the Maxwell Institute Podcast, we will talk with Dr. Catherine Gines Taylor, a Nibley Postdoctoral Fellow at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute, […]
The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #129 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
We will be discussing each week’s block of reading from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ “Come, Follow Me” curriculum. We aren’t here to present a lesson, but rather to hit on a few key themes from the scripture block that we believe will help fulfill the Maxwell Institute’s mission to inspire and […]
The post Abide #13: Doctrine and Covenants 109-110 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
In early 1835 the first Quorum of the 12 of the Restored Church were called and that spring were tasked with travelling “through the Eastern States, to the Atlantic Ocean, and hold conferences in the vicinity of the several branches of the Church for the purpose of regulating all things necessary for their welfare.” As […]
The post Abide #12: Doctrine and Covenants 107 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have taken the Lord’s call to “have a record kept among [them]” since the commandment was given in the first days of the Church. One of the ways that the Church accomplishes this is through the Joseph Smith Papers Project. In this episode, we will […]
The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #128: Joseph Smith Papers, Documents Volume 12 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
We will be discussing each week’s block of reading from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ “Come, Follow Me” curriculum. We aren’t here to present a lesson, but rather to hit on a few key themes from the scripture block that we believe will help fulfill the Maxwell Institute’s mission to inspire and […]
The post Abide #11: Doctrine and Covenants Sections 102-106 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Charles Inouye writes, “I am Japanese but was born and raised in rural central Utah. At first, my parents were afraid that our involvement with the Church would weaken our grounding in Japanese tradition. As it turned out, it only reinforced my interest in animism, Buddhism, and other aspects of Japanese culture. As a scholar […]
The post MI Podcast #127: ZION EARTH ZEN SKY appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
We will be discussing each week’s block of reading from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ “Come, Follow Me” curriculum. We aren’t here to present a lesson, but rather to hit on a few key themes from the scripture block that we believe will help fulfill the Maxwell Institute’s mission to inspire and […]
The post Abide #10: Doctrine and Covenants 98-101 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
We will be discussing each week’s block of reading from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ “Come, Follow Me” curriculum. We aren’t here to present a lesson, but rather to hit on a few key themes from the scripture block that we believe will help fulfill the Maxwell Institute’s mission to inspire and […]
The post Abide #9: Doctrine and Covenants 94-97 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
We will be discussing each week’s block of reading from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ “Come, Follow Me” curriculum. We aren’t here to present a lesson, but rather to hit on a few key themes from the scripture block that we believe will help fulfill the Maxwell Institute’s mission to inspire and […]
The post Abide #8.2: Doctrine and Covenants 93 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
We will be discussing each week’s block of reading from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ “Come, Follow Me” curriculum. We aren’t here to present a lesson, but rather to hit on a few key themes from the scripture block that we believe will help fulfill the Maxwell Institute’s mission to inspire and […]
The post Abide #8: Doctrine and Covenants 90-92 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
We will be discussing each week’s block of reading from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ “Come, Follow Me” curriculum. We aren’t here to present a lesson, but rather to hit on a few key themes from the scripture block that we believe will help fulfill the Maxwell Institute’s mission to inspire and […]
The post Abide #7: Doctrine and Covenants 89 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
We will be discussing each week’s block of reading from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ “Come, Follow Me” curriculum. We aren’t here to present a lesson, but rather to hit on a few key themes from the scripture block that we believe will help fulfill the Maxwell Institute’s mission to inspire and […]
The post Abide #6: Doctrine and Covenants 88 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
We will be discussing each week’s block of reading from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ “Come, Follow Me” curriculum. We aren’t here to present a lesson, but rather to hit on a few key themes from the scripture block that we believe will help fulfill the Maxwell Institute’s mission to inspire and […]
The post Abide #5: Doctrine and Covenants 85-87 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
We will be discussing each week’s block of reading from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ “Come, Follow Me” curriculum. We aren’t here to present a lesson, but rather to hit on a few key themes from the scripture block that we believe will help fulfill the Maxwell Institute’s mission to inspire and […]
The post Abide #4: Doctrine and Covenants 84 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
We will be discussing each week’s block of reading from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ “Come, Follow Me” curriculum. We aren’t here to present a lesson, but rather to hit on a few key themes from the scripture block that we believe will help fulfill the Maxwell Institute’s mission to inspire and […]
The post Abide #3: Doctrine and Covenants 81-83 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
We will be discussing each week’s block of reading from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ “Come, Follow Me” curriculum. We aren’t here to present a lesson, but rather to hit on a few key themes from the scripture block that we believe will help fulfill the Maxwell Institute’s mission to inspire and […]
The post Abide #2: Doctrine and Covenants 77-80 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
On February 16, 1832, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon were working on the Prophet’s “translation” of the Bible. This wasn’t a translation in a linguistic sense, where someone takes a text from one language and presents it in another. No, this was a project about seeking out meanings and insights that had been lost over […]
The post Abide #1: Doctrine and Covenants Section 76 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
How did early Latter-day Saints read the Book of Mormon? And how did that book, which the Prophet Joseph Smith called “the most correct of any book on earth” and “the keystone of our religion,” help Latter-day Saints make sense of their lives? In this episode of the Maxwell Institute Podcast, Dr. Janiece Johnson, a Willes Center Research Fellow at […]
The post MI Podcast #126: Becoming a people of the Books appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post MIPodcast #125— ‘All Things New,’ with Fiona and Terryl Givens and Spencer Fluhman appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post GUEST HOST—‘Thinking Otherwise,’ with James E. Faulconer and Morgan Davis [MIPodcast #124] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post GUEST HOST—Pursuing the intellectual life from a place of commitment, with Ravi Gupta & Philip Barlow [MIPodcast #123] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post GUEST HOST—Briefly Moroni, with David F. Holland & Spencer Fluhman [MIPodcast #122] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post GUEST HOST—Briefly Ether, with Rosalynde Welch & James E. Faulconer [MIPodcast #121] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post GUEST HOST—Briefly Mormon, with Adam Miller and Spencer Fluhman [MIPodcast #120] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post The end of the world (Latter-day Saint style), with Christopher James Blythe [MIPodcast #119] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post Briefly 3rd and 4th Nephi, with Daniel Becerra [MIPodcast #118] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post Briefly Helaman, with Kimberly Matheson Berkey [MIPodcast #116] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post Robert Alter on translating the Hebrew Bible [MIPodcast #115] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post China and the True Jesus Church, with Melissa Inouye [MIPodcast #114] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post Briefly Alma 30–63, with Mark Wrathall [MIPodcast #113] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post ‘The Spiritual Practice of Remembering,’ with Margaret Bendroth [MIPodcast #112] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post Latter-day Saint scholar Melissa Inouye reflects on her many crossings [MIPodcast #111] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post Briefly Alma 1–29, with Kylie Nielson Turley [MIPodcast #110] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post The Book of Mormon’s ethic of mournful wakefulness, with David Charles Gore [MIPodcast #109] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post ‘Railroading Religion,’ with David Walker [MIPodcast #108] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post The life of Jane Manning James, with Quincy Newell [MIPodcast #107] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post Briefly Mosiah, with James E. Faulconer [MIPodcast #106] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post ‘If Truth Were a Child,’ with George Handley [MIPodcast #105] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post Briefly Enos, Jarom, & Omni, with Sharon J. Harris [MIPodcast #104] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post Celebrating women’s suffrage in Utah, with Katherine Kitterman, Rebekah Ryan Clark, and Neylan McBaine [MIPodcast #102] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post Rediscovering Mary, mother of God, with Catherine Taylor [MIPodcast #101] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post Celebrating 100 episodes of the Maxwell Institute Podcast, with Blair Hodges [MIPodcast #100] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post Briefly Second Nephi, with Terryl Givens [MIPodcast #99] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post Briefly First Nephi, with Joseph M. Spencer [MIPodcast #98] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post MIConversations #10—Terryl Givens with Rosaynde Welch, “Life on the road to Emmaus” appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post Our wild hope, with Reverend Dr. Andrew Teal [MIPodcast #97] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post The untold story of Lin Zhao, a martyr in Mao’s China, with Xi Lian [MIPodcast #96] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post “Answering sincere gospel questions,” with Spencer Fluhman [MIPodcast #95] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post People with disabilities in religious communities [MIPodcast #94] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post Women in the New Testament and beyond, with Carolyn Osiek [MIPodcast #93] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post MIConversations #9—Terryl Givens with Samuel Brown, “Confessions of an ‘Odd Intellectual’” appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Joseph Smith left a lot of documents behind when he died in 1844, from the mundane to the intriguing. Some of the more puzzling documents deal with a book of scripture in the Latter-day Saint canon called the Book of Abraham. Said to be translated from ancient papyrus, the scripture broadens the story of the […]
The post Joseph Smith’s Egyptian papers, with Robin Jensen & Brian Hauglid [MIPodcast #92] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post The contested history of religious freedom, with Tisa Wenger [MIPodcast #91] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post MIConversations #8—Terryl Givens with Thomas Wirthlin McConkie, “The spiritual journey” appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post Editing and illuminating the Book of Mormon, with Grant Hardy and Brian Kershisnik [MIPodcast #90] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post ‘Sister Saints,’ with Colleen McDannell [MIPodcast #89] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post The risks and rewards of interreligious dialogue, with Catherine Cornille [MIPodcast #88] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post MIConversations #7—Thomas Wayment with Terryl Givens, “Translating a new New Testament” appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post William Bickerton: Forgotten Latter Day Prophet, with Daniel P. Stone [MIPodcast #87] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post MIConversations #6—Terryl Givens with Margaret Blair Young, “The deep waters” appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post Danes, Lutherans, and Latter-day Saints, with Julie K. Allen [MIPodcast #86] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
This year marks forty years since The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began, once again, to ordain black members of African descent to its priesthood. Forty years since the church began administering it sacred temple ordinances to black women and men. Over the past forty years the body of scholarship on race and […]
The post Race and the Making of the Mormon People, with Max Mueller [MIPodcast #85] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Jane and Emma is a new film based on the historical relationship of Jane Manning—one of the few black converts to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during its infancy—and Emma Smith, who presided over the Church’s women’s organization, the Relief Society, and who was married to the prophet Joseph Smith. It’s an emotional film […]
The post The making of Jane and Emma, with Chantelle Squires and Melissa Leilani Larson [MIPodcast #84] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post MIConversations #5—Brian Kershisnik with Terryl Givens, “Surprising angels” appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post MIConversations #4—Thomas F. Rogers with Terryl Givens, “Risk-taking discipleship” appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
What comes to mind when you hear the term “American Christians”? Most people today think of the so-called Religious Right, a loosely knit group of conservative Christians who oppose legal abortion, favor gun rights, and hail Ronald Reagan as one like unto Moses. Matthew Bowman’s latest book is a wake-up call, reminding us that there’s […]
The post Christianity and American politics, with Matthew Bowman [MIPodcast #82] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post MIConversations #3—Kate Holbrook with Terryl Givens, “Extraordinary Women in Mormon History” appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post Forgiveness, with Mpho Tutu van Furth [MIPodcast #81] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post MIConversations #2—Steven Peck and Terryl Givens, “The God Who Marvels” appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
How can scholars of religion explain religious faith without explaining it away? Over the centuries many scholars have come to discuss religion as a purely human phenomenon, leaving no room for “special beings” like God, Jesus Christ, angels, or departed loved ones. Robert Orsi confronts such scholarship in his new book History and Presence, inviting scholars to […]
The post Robert Orsi on History and Presence [MIPodcast #80] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post MIConversations #1—George Handley and Terryl Givens, “Can creation heal us?” appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Americans in the early nineteenth century loved the writing of John Milton. Milton’s embrace of liberal individualism, meritocracy, and his championing of the right to free speech made him an easy sell to anti-British Americans. His epic poem Paradise Lost was a bestseller. Something like twenty editions of Paradise Lost were produced in America during the first half of […]
The post Milton and early Mormonism, with John Rogers [MIPodcast #79] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Latter-day Saint historians have long demonstrated that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was not established all at once, but that it has unfolded—line upon line, precept upon precept, to borrow a biblical phrase. Ideas about priesthood in Mormonism, for example, have developed in fascinating ways. In a new book from Oxford University Press, […]
The post The development of LDS liturgy and cosmology, with Jonathan Stapley [MIPodcast #78] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The Reverend Billy Graham rose to international prominence in the 1940s preaching an evangelical Christian gospel. Hailing from North Carolina, the charismatic preacher filled stadiums, counseled American presidents, and encouraged millions of people around the world to seek personal transformation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Historian Grant Wacker joins us to talk […]
The post Billy Graham and the shaping of a nation, with Grant Wacker [MIPodcast #77] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Adam Miller wrote Letters to a Young Mormon for thoughtful people yearning for a more thoughtful faith. It's a little book, but it packs a powerful punch. In this episode, Miller is talks about the new second expanded edition, which the Maxwell Institute recently published in partnership with Deseret Book. We also talk about the perils of Mormon quasi-celebrity, bad book reviews, apologetics, his future projects, and other things.
The post Adam Miller on more Letters to a Young Mormon [MIPodcast #76] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The Book of Mormon warns against mistaking intelligence for wisdom, but adds a crucial caveat: “to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God” (2 Nephi 9:29). Where LDS founding prophet Joseph Smith declared that a person is saved no faster than they get knowledge, historian Richard Bushman adds a corollary: A person gains knowledge no faster than they are saved. Bushman […]
The post “To be learned is good,” with Richard Bushman [MIPodcast #75] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Latter-day Saint scholar Terryl L. Givens is back with us again. Dr. Givens spent the summer here at the Institute as a Neal A. Maxwell fellow. It was a real treat to have Terryl here in the building, and he sat down with MIPodcast host Blair Hodges to talk about the second and final book […]
The post Feeding the Flock, with Terryl L. Givens [MIPodcast #74] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
If you’re familiar with African American religious history, you know that black women outnumber black men in the church. There are a lot of theories about why, too. Author Zora Neale Hurston, for example, said that black women were “the mules of the world,” and that the church gave them a place to lay their […]
The post Women and power in the Church of God in Christ, with Anthea Butler [MIPodcast #73] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
When the Qur’an was revealed to the prophet Muhammad, it arrived in the language of his place and time—Arabic. To this day, for virtually all Muslims whether Arab or not, the Qur’an only truly exists in Arabic. You can read an English translation, there are many to choose from, but the Qur’an is said to […]
The post The Koran in English, with Bruce Lawrence and David Peck [MIPodcast #72] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post Mormon exorcism lore, with Stephen Taysom [MIPodcast #71] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Who owns religion? Who gets to say what is right or wrong, fact or fiction about any religious tradition? Religious believers and scholars of religion don’t always see eye to eye on this question. In this episode, Dr. Ravi Gupta joins us to talk about where the academic study of religion meets the practice of […]
The post A Hindu perspective on being a disciple-scholar, with Ravi Gupta [MIPodcast #70] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
An estimated twelve million Africans were forced into slavery from the seventeenth century until Emancipation. Torn from their land, separated from family and kin, their bodies were stolen and their very identities were at risk of annihilation. So Africans became African Americans. Years before Reconstruction, they began reconstructing their own past. Many of them combined […]
The post Setting down the sacred past of African Americans, with Laurie Maffly-Kipp [MIPodcast #69] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Martin Luther believed the Bible proved that the Catholic Church had gone astray. His efforts to bring reform to the church wound up leading to his excommunication and the Reformation was off and running. In the previous two episodes we heard from Craig Harline and Brad Gregory, talking about Martin Luther’s life and the Reformation […]
The post Reforming the sacraments, with Jennifer Powell McNutt [MIPodcast #68] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
When Martin Luther published his 95 Theses in October of 1517 he had no intention of starting a revolution. But he became a rebel and the Reformation took off. And then the Reformation rebelled against Luther, and we’re still dealing with consequences that would have horrified the reformer five hundred years later. That’s how historian […]
The post How the Reformation rebelled against Luther, with Brad S. Gregory [MIPodcast #67] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
What was Martin Luther trying to accomplish when he nailed his ninety-five theses to the Wittenburg church door? Would you believe he didn’t intend to start a new religious movement at all? Down the centuries Martin Luther has been lauded by some, lambasted by others. Was he an amazing hero or an arch heretic, or perhaps […]
The post Martin Luther and the birth of the Reformation, with Craig Harline [MIPodcast #66] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
When you think about your religious beliefs, your theology, how much consideration have you given to your race? How has the color of your skin affected your understanding of God, of Jesus Christ, or of your religious community? Maybe you’ve never thought much about it. If you’re a black Latter-day Saint in America, you virtually […]
The post Womanist theology and Mormonism, with Janan Graham-Russell [MIPodcast #65] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Joseph Smith, the founding prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died at the hands of an angry mob in June of 1844. Shortly before his death he is reported to have made this bold declaration: “I should be like a fish out of water, if I were out of persecutions…the Lord […]
The post Heresy, opposition, and becoming gods, with Adam J. Powell [MIPodcast #64] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
In the late nineteenth century, a newspaper written and published by women and for women sprung up in what most Americans thought was the unlikeliest of locations: Utah, the home of the Mormons. Along the top of the newspaper the masthead proudly declared its concern: “The Rights of the Women of Zion, and the Rights […]
The post Laurel Thatcher Ulrich and “A House Full of Females” [MIPodcast #62] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
There’s a famous passage from First Corinthians: “Let your women keep silence in the churches, for it is not permitted into them to speak. But they are commanded to be under obedience, as also say the law. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husband at home. For it is a shame […]
The post Women at the Latter-day Saint pulpit, with Jennifer Reeder and Kate Holbrook [MIPodcast #61] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
When the Lotus Sutra arrived in Boston in 1844 the few people who could read it were intrigued by its parables that reminded them of the Bible. For these westerners, the Lotus was like a gateway into a mysterious and profound culture from across the world. But it took a long time to get there, from […]
The post The life of the Lotus Sutra, with Donald S. Lopez, Jr. [MIPodcast #60] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Are you familiar with the New Atheists? The late Christopher Hitchens wrote biting books about religion as “poison,” Richard Dawkins champions a sort of scientism as a replacement for faith, and people like Bill Maher spend time each evening poking fun at the pious. Despite their unofficial “New Atheist” title, they’re perhaps not actually all […]
The post Village atheists, with Leigh Eric Schmidt [MIPodcast #59] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
People are usually more comfortable talking about their strengths rather than their weaknesses. It’s human nature. The same can be said about religious studies. When scholars talk about it, you can expect them to emphasize the positive. But like many academic fields, religious studies also faces challenges. Some come from the outside—say, when schools and […]
The post Some challenges of religious studies, with Thomas Tweed [MIPodcast #58] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
One Hundred Birds Taught Me to Fly is the latest book in the Maxwell Institute's Living Faith series. In this episode, author Ashley Mae Hoiland joins Blair Hodges, co-editor of the series, to talk about the revelatory nature of writing.
The book is for restless souls who [...]
The post One Hundred Birds Taught Me to Fly, with Ashley Mae Hoiland [MIPodcast #57] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The deep red state of Utah is surprising pundits as the 2016 presidential election approaches. For the first time in over fifty years, the state is poised to vote for someone other than the Republican nominee. Mormons within the Republican party have been singled out as a significant reason Utah is looking elsewhere. It’s useful to […]
The post Mormons and American politics, with David E. Campbell and J. Quin Monson [MIPodcast #56] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
As the twentieth century dawned, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints remained at odds with the United States, a country that had provided fertile soil for the growth of their faith, but also a country they felt alienated from. Some of the things Mormons did to keep themselves separate from the outside world ended […]
The post American Universities and the Birth of Modern Mormonism, with Thomas W. Simpson [MIPodcast #55] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Perhaps you’ve experienced moments of doubt about your religious faith. Or maybe you’re one of the people who find doubt to be a more frequent companion in your spiritual life. Either way, doubt can be unsettling and uncomfortable. Biblical scholar Peter Enns suggests that part of the problem is that many Christians have come to […]
The post The Sin of Certainty, with Peter Enns [MIPodcast #54] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
James L. Kugel is one of the foremost scholars of the Hebrew Bible of our time. Kugel recently visited BYU’s Neal A. Maxwell Institute to talk about his work and about the relationship between religious faith and scholarship about scripture. Kugel is an orthodox Jew and biblical scholar who became somewhat legendary for revisiting ancient paradigms. […]
The post James L. Kugel on how to read the Bible [MIPodcast #53] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
“Be fruitful and multiply.” According to the book of Genesis, these are the first words God speaks to humanity. People have understood these words over the centuries as a commandment to procreate, and the ability to bear and raise children has been understood as a divine blessing. But what about people who can’t bear children due […]
The post Reconceiving infertility in the Bible, with Candida Moss and Joel Baden [MIPodcast #52] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
What good is a dead body? How have humans cared for dead bodies through the ages and why do we do it? What do dead bodies tell us about the things we value most and about the things we’re afraid of? All of us will be dead bodies someday, so these questions are relevant for everyone. […]
The post The Work of the Dead, with Thomas W. Laqueur [MIPodcast #51] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
In some ways it’s been a lonelier than usual summer at the Maxwell Institute. Since it was founded in 2006 we’ve had the privilege of hosting the Summer Seminar on Mormon Culture, a remarkable research opportunity that is somewhat legendary for the people that have passed through it, like Reid Neilson of the Church History Library, […]
The post The Summer Seminar on Mormon Culture, 2015 [MIPodcast #50] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
When the Protestant Reformer John Calvin published his book Institutes of the Christian Religion in the 1500s, he couldn't have anticipated the incredibly different purposes his book would come to serve long after he died and was buried somewhere in an unmarked grave by his own request. The Institutes was a blockbuster[...]
The post #49—The unexpected life of Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, with Bruce Gordon [MIPodcast] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
BLAIR HODGES: That takes us to the topic of black theology. In your book Down In the Valley you talk little bit about James Cone, who is a prominent theologian, and you also talked a little bit about Jeremiah Wright. People might remember that name from when Barack Obama was campaigning in the 2008 presidential election. Jeremiah Wright was […]
The post “How can I be Christian if it doesn’t have any impact on what’s going to happen for African Americans?” (MIPodcast Moments) appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
What do you know about African American religious history? Julius H. Bailey joins us in this episode to talk about his new overview, Down in the Valley: An Introduction to African American History. Bailey’s book operates on a few different levels. The ground floor contains a general story beginning with African traditional religions. It moves through slavery and […]
The post #48—(Almost) all about African American religious history, with Julius H. Bailey [MIPodcast] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
If you surveyed Americans, asking them to identify themselves as:
A) Catholic
B) Muslim
C) Evangelical
D) Mormon
...and so on, an increasing number will select the very last option—none of the above. [...]
The post #47—The spiritual lives of America’s “Nones,” with Elizabeth Drescher [MIPodcast] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The New York Times Review of Books says Marilynne Robinson “is not like any other writer. She has created a small, rich, and fearless body of work in which religion exists unashamedly, as does doubt, unashamedly.” Robinson is perhaps best known for her Pulitzer Prize winning novel Gilead (2004). This year she received the Library of […]
The post #46—Marilynne Robinson on The Givenness of Things [MIPodcast] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The post #45— How (Not) to Be Secular, with James K. A. Smith [MIPodcast] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Even if you’ve never heard of a Christian movement scholars call “the prosperity gospel,” chances are you know some of its most famous proponents, like Joel Osteen or Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. “The prosperity gospel” is not officially associated with any particular denomination. It’s more a style of Christianity, one that emphasizes God’s desire to […]
The post #44—Kate Bowler’s history of the prosperity gospel movement [MIPodcast] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The episode with Julia Watts Belser offers a great primer on Judaism shortly after the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE., answering questions like Who were the rabbis, where did they come from, and what are their writings all about? We focus especially on one particular text, the Bavli Ta’anit, which is a tractate on fasting and […]
The post Rabbis who taught “you can’t actually judge by looking” (MIPodcast Moments) appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
C. S. Lewis died in 1963 on the same day John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Before the decade was over, few expected his works to last. “We think Lewis’s star has risen and is about to set,” said one Catholic publisher. “His day is over. No one will be reading C. S. Lewis twenty years […]
The post #43—The life of C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity, with George Marsden [MIPodcast] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
In the land of Israel, rain falls during a single, crucial, season of the year beginning in October or November and continuing through the spring. Lives depended on successful harvests which depended on healthy rainfall. According to the Hebrew scriptures, weather proved God's blessing or cursing the people of Israel:
"From the rain of the heavens, you will drink water—
a land that the Lord your God seeks out perpetually;
the eyes of the Lord your God are upon it" [...]
The post #42—The rabbis and the rain, with Julia Watts Belser [MIPodcast] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Today is Good Friday, when many Christians throughout the world commemorate the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. The New Testament records seven phrases Jesus uttered as he hung on the cross and these “seven last words” form a central part of Good Friday worship services for Catholics. Jesuit priest James Martin discusses each phrase in his book Seven Last Words: […]
The post Something to ponder on Good Friday (MIPodcast Moments) appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
In the last episode we heard from three editors of a new book of Relief Society documents published by the LDS Church. Jill Mulvay Derr, Kate Holbrook, and Matt Grow talked about the origins of the Relief Society and why its activities were suspended in 1844. Today is the Relief Society’s 174th anniversary. In this episode […]
The post #41—The First Fifty Years of Relief Society, with Jill Mulvay Derr, Kate Holbrook, and Matthew Grow (2 of 2) [MIPodcast] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The Church Historian’s Press just released a landmark book of documents all about the Relief Society, the women’s organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was organized in 1842 with high hopes for benevolent service and holiness, and it was suspended in 1844 in the midst of conflict and controversy. Thursday, […]
The post #40—The First Fifty Years of Relief Society, with Jill Mulvay Derr, Kate Holbrook, and Matthew Grow (1 of 2) [MIPodcast] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
The New Testament records seven phrases Jesus uttered as he hung on the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 23.34) “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23.43) “Woman, behold your son. Son, behold your mother.” (John 19.26–27) “My God, My […]
The post #39—The seven last words of Jesus, with James Martin, SJ [MIPodcast] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
When N.T. Wright was composing a massive 1600+ page treatment of the apostle Paul he wanted to begin with an overview of how scholars have interpreted Paul over the years. It quickly became apparent that the topic could fill its own book, and Paul and His Recent Interpreters was born. In this episode Wright explains how various historical figures understood Paul. Along the way we see how [...]
The post #38—N.T. Wright on Paul and His Recent Interpreters [MIPodcast] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
Willis Jenkins wanted to inspire Christians to exercise faith in God as well as in contemporary science—science which suggests humans are damaging the earth God created. So he did like any good academic does; he wrote a book called Ecologies of Grace, which explores how being saved [...]
The post #37—Climate change and Christianity, with Willis Jenkins [MIPodcast] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
There’s an old saying that goes “the essence of tyranny is the denial of complexity.” Sometimes scholars bring clarity by making things less clear. This is true in most academic pursuits, but it matters especially in biblical scholarship which deals with sacred texts. Peter Martens explores the task of Bible interpreters, religious, scholarly, and scholarly-religious, […]
The post #36—Part 2: Early Christian interpreters of the Bible and the scholars who interpret them, with Peter Martens [MIPodcast] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
For centuries Christians have gathered to worship God and study the Bible. But this same text that has unified the faithful has also been the source of much discord. One of the most exciting—though by no means uncontroversial—academic developments during the past century has been the renaissance of interest in early Christian biblical scholarship. Earlier this year […]
The post #35—Part 1: Early Christian interpreters of the Bible and the scholars who interpret them, with Peter Martens [MIPodcast] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.
On October 27, the third book in the Maxwell Institute's Living Faith series was released—Steven L. Peck's Evolving Faith: Wanderings of a Mormon Biologist. We celebrated by hosting a panel discussion at Writ & Vision in Provo, Utah. Three panelists shared their thoughts about[...]
The post #34—An ‘Evolving Faith’ panel discussion [MIPodcast] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.