BYU Studies

Adam Oliver Stokes reviews Life and Times of John Pierce Hawley: A Mormon Ulysses of the American West by Melvin C. Johnson.

A poem by Pamela Hamblin

Each of the major narrators/compilers of the Book of Mormon evince varying degrees of understanding that their work is destined for modern readers who would face a set of modern concerns. This essay by Luke Drake suggests that Mormon’s editorial hand—on display both in the redaction of the words of Samuel the Lamanite and in the narration of the events surrounding Samuel’s ministry—can be understo...

Linda Hoffman Kimball's lighthearted poem joyfully explores the mix of our ancestors that blend together to create a unique individual.

At one point several years ago, Deidre Nicole Green faced betrayal and deception which she said "crescendoed into blatant and dehumanizing cruelty" toward her. This resulted in her feeling "a deep need to understand forgiveness."

Not all expressions of gratitude are spoken. Susan Elizabeth Howe's poem gives voice to those whose praise is often overlooked. Listen to it today, just in time for Thanksgiving.

Much of classical philosophy can feel out-of-touch, given that the authors often lived lives of luxury. A more recent philosophy, called the ethics of care, stems from the human instinct to take care of each other. This article by Hinckley A. Jones-Sanpei suggests that the ethics of care works in harmony with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This poem received an honorable mention in our 2020 poetry contest.

Latter-day Saints believe that a restoration of Christ's church, teachings, and covenants was necessary due to what we call the "great apostasy." But what was the exact nature of that apostasy? Nicholas J. Frederick and Joseph M. Spencer use Nephi's vision in 1 Nephi 13 to describe it.

"So, was there anything you just couldn't find there?" I asked the newly returned missionary. He had been home from Guatemala for a few months, and I would be leaving for the same country soon. "Balloons," he said.  It was my turn to look puzzled. Why would a missionary need balloons?

Latter-day Saints have commonly abbreviated the narrative of the restoration of the priesthood by associating the Aaronic Priesthood with John the Baptist and the Melchizedek Priesthood with Peter, James, and John. Michael Hubbard MacKay proposes that we have good reason to return to the historical record, where we will find that priesthood restoration is much broader than these two events. If it...

"My dad was a contract killer, and my stepfather was a bank robber.” Billy Wilson used to enjoy the shock value of introducing his unusual family heritage. When he wonders if his stepfather, who was shot by police while robbing a bank, robbed that bank to have money to buy him a birthday present, his perspective on his unique family dynamics change.

Americans in the 1830s were very protective of their freedom to not be forcibly removed from the land on which they lived. Debates over who should belong or be expelled are captured in a document written by a clandestine and controversial group of early Latter-day Saints known as the Danites. The document was filled with republican language even as it subtly challenged existing democratic systems....

Amy Easton-Flake analyzes how Church members used the Old and New Testaments in publications during the 19th century. Doing so sheds light on what was on the minds of that generation of Latter-day Saints, many of whom were among the earliest converts to the newly-restored faith.

The artwork Star Stretching by Eva Koleva Timothy was inspired by a favorite saying of her mission president, Elder Ronald Rasband: “It is better to aim for the stars and drag your feet in the treetops than to aim for the treetops and drag your feet in the mud.” She learned growing up that even in poverty, oppression, and darkness, if you look for the light, it is always there. View the artwork on...

Volume 59:4 (2020) - I first “met” James E. Faust in June 1989, when, a month after the Jerusalem Center was dedicated, he called my home. BYU president Jeffrey R. Holland had appointed me an associate academic vice president in late February, with a portfolio that included the university’s international and undergraduate programs, but this assignment was set aside when he was called to the Sevent...

Volume 59:4 (2020) - Author James Godson Bleak (1829–1918) was a British convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and veteran of the Edward Martin handcart company. In the early 1860s, Bleak accepted President Brigham Young’s charge to be a clerk and historian for the Utah South Mission in St. George.  The Annals of the Southern Mission is the result of decades of Bleak...

Volume 59:4 (2020) - Students come to the Center with different ambitions. They come as young people to have fun. They come as travelers to find adventure, exploring the foreign and exotic places in the Holy Land. They come to learn about the ancient Near East and the history, culture, and religious beliefs of the Christians, Jews, and Muslims. They come as guests to encounter the gracious peoples...

Volume 59:4 (2020) - Organized topically, this book’s sixteen essays provide a wealth of information about Jewish and Latter-day Saint perspectives, scripture, experience, worship, culture, and politics. However, at least for me, the true treasure of these essays is not so much informational as it is relational. In my experience, interfaith meetings frequently bear an uncanny resemblance to middle...

Volume 59:4 (2020) - In 1985, my friend and I decided to backpack around the world. I said that if we were doing that, the first thing I wanted to do was get to the Holy Land. We were on a dime traveling, and we just had a Bible in one hand and a  Let’s Go Europe  in the other. That visit to the Holy Land started a fire within me, a love of that land. I was home about a year and a half w...

Volume 59:4 (2020) - Almost fifty years ago, my wife, Patricia, and I had the distinct privilege to work for incoming Church Historian Leonard J. Arrington in combing through the archives of the Church History Library in Salt Lake City for source materials long since shelved, considered lost, or otherwise off-limits. Along the way, we also enjoyed working with a team of other dedicated scholars br...

Volume 59:4 (2020) - Thank you for allowing me to be with you today. In some ways, what I say today could be a precursor to the sermon someone might give at my funeral. Funeral or not, I am going to have these words written on my tombstone: “He did not fight at Hawn’s Mill, he was never incarcerated at Liberty Jail, he never pulled a handcart, but he did work on the BYU Jerusalem Center.” I have a...

Volume 59:4 (2020) - When we first occupied the Center, construction of some of its facilities was not completed. For example, the dining area, which would come to be called the Oasis, was not finished in time for the summer term of 1987, and my students and I had to walk across the street to the Commodore Hotel for our meals. During the first week my student group was lodging at the Center, I was...

Volume 59:4 (2020) - Borrowing its title from Joseph Smith’s far-reaching Nauvoo theology,  Make Yourselves Gods  is somehow even more provocative than its title. The average Latter-day Saint reader will chafe under its vocabulary, struggle through its detailed contributions to the study of secularism, and be at odds with its use of queer critique. Furthermore, to the average reader’s di...

Volume 59:4 (2020) - The Pearl of Great Price is the least intentional of Latter-day Saint scriptures. When British mission president Franklin Richards pulled together a fifty-six-page assemblage of miscellaneous writings in 1851, he showed no signs of thinking that it prefigured an addition to the canon. He thought the items would be useful for instructing missionaries and members in gospel doctr...