Maxwell Institute Podcast

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 fortify Latter-day Saints in their testimonies of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and engages the world of religious ideas.” You can read a transcript of the episode at the PDF link below: Abide-77-80-TranscriptDownload 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 hundreds of years of Christian thought and practice. Smith sought to expand upon what he had learned as an American Christian by increasing his spiritual knowledge through a concentrated reading of the Bible, clarifying and expanding the Old and New Testaments from 1830-1833. Part of the Prophet’s translation process included asking questions—what does this verse mean? What else did the Lord have to tell him about figures like Melchizedek and Abraham? On February 16, 1832, Smith and Rigdon sought clarification on the text of John 5:29, where Jesus Christ speaks on the resurrection saying that those who “have done good” would receive the resurrection of life,” and those who had done evil, would reap “the resurrection of damnation.” As the Prophet and his scribe, Sidney Rigdon, pondered what the two resurrections might mean, they beheld a vision of what awaited humankind after death, what has been canonized by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as Doctrine and Covenants Section 76, or what contemporary Saints called “The Vision.” 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 Institute, shares from her research into early Latter-day Saint readings of the Book of Mormon. You can read a transcript of the interview at the link below (“People of the Books Transcript”) People of the Books TranscriptDownload The post MI Podcast #126: Becoming a people of the Books appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

In the book of Revelation, the Lord sits upon a throne overlooking creation and declares “Behold, I am making all things new.” Authors Fiona and Terryl Givens take up that theme in their latest book—a readable overview of Christian history, highlighting ways that Latter-day Saint scripture invites us to rethink the nature of sin, salvation, and everything in between. Spencer Fluhman is here to guest host this episode, talking all about it with Fiona and Terryl. The book is called All Things New from the Faith Matters Foundation. About the Guests Fiona Givens is a member of the Institute’s research staff. She earned degrees in French, German, and in European History while co-raising six children. In addition to co-writing The God Who Weeps and The God Who Heals, she is the joint author of The Crucible of Doubt: Reflections on the Quest for Faith, and the new book All Things New: Rethinking Sin, Salvation, and Everything in Between. Terryl L. Givens is a Neal A. Maxwell Senior Research Fellow. He formerly held the Jabez A. Bostwick Chair of English and was Professor of Literature and Religion at the University of Richmond. He is the author of many books about Latter-day Saint history and culture, including Wrestling the Angel: The Foundations of Mormon Thought, Feeding the Flock: The Foundations of Mormon Practice, and By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture That Launched a New World Religion.   The post MIPodcast #125— ‘All Things New,’ with Fiona and Terryl Givens and Spencer Fluhman appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

James E. Faulconer has spent his career enriching the scripture study of Latter-day Saints, offering powerful tools to improve engagement with the word of God. His latest book continues that project. Thinking Otherwise: Theological Explorations of Joseph Smith’s Revelations. It’s the latest volume in the Maxwell Institute’s Living Faith book series. Our guest host today is Dr. Morgan Davis, co-editor of the Living Faith series. About the Guest James E. Faulconer is a professor of philosophy at Brigham Young University and a senior research fellow at the Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. Faulconer’s area of expertise is twentieth-century and contemporary European philosophy, especially the philosophy of religion. In addition to writing scholarly books and articles, he is the author of the Made Harder series of scripture study questions and Scripture Study: Tools and Suggestions. The post GUEST HOST—‘Thinking Otherwise,’ with James E. Faulconer and Morgan Davis [MIPodcast #124] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

Dr. Ravi Gupta joins guest host Philip Barlow to talk about faith and scholarship. Dr. Gupta was a visiting scholar at the Maxwell Institute this semester, and a previous guest on the Maxwell Institute Podcast. He’s a practicing Hindu and also a scholar of Hinduism, and he’s become a close friend of the Institute over the past few years. He’s known Dr. Barlow for even longer, so you’ll hear two old friends talking about the benefits and drawbacks of being a believer and a scholar of one’s own religious tradition. About the Guest Ravi M. Gupta is the Charles Redd Professor of Religious Studies at Utah State University. He is the author or editor of four books, including an abridged translation (with Kenneth Valpey) of the Bhagavata Purana, one of India’s most beloved sacred texts in the Sanskrit language. Ravi holds a doctorate in Hindu Studies from Oxford University and has taught at the University of Florida, Centre College, and the College of William and Mary. His current interests have drawn him to religion and ecology. 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.

What a journey it’s been through the Book of Mormon over the past year, and what a year it’s been to take a journey through the Book of Mormon! David F. Holland joins us in this episode to talk about his brief theological introduction to the final book—the book of Moroni. Spencer Fluhman, executive director of the Maxwell Institute, returns as guest host. Learn more about the brief theological introduction series at mi.byu.edu/brief. Note: Dr. Holland refers to this article by Philip L. Barlow: “To Mend a Fractured Reality.”  About the Guest David Holland is the John Bartlett Professor of New England Church History at Harvard Divinity School and the Director of Graduate Studies in Religion at Harvard University. He is the author of Sacred Borders: Continuing Revelation and Canonical Restraint in Early America, published by Oxford University Press. The post GUEST HOST—Briefly Moroni, with David F. Holland & Spencer Fluhman [MIPodcast #122] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

Literary scholar Rosalynde Frandsen Welch explores the book of Ether as a sweeping history in which Moroni, absorbed in the past, turns his heart to future readers whose spiritual fate will be at stake. This latest episode in our series about the brief theological introductions to the Book of Mormon focuses on Welch’s Ether. James E. Faulconer takes the lead as guest host. About the guest Rosalynde Frandsen Welch is an independent scholar of Latter-day Saint literature and theology. She earned a PhD in early modern English literature from the University of California at San Diego. She is the author of numerous articles and book chapters on Latter-day Saint scripture, culture, and theology. She has served as a codirector of the Latter-day Saint Theology Seminary and as associate editor at the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies. The post GUEST HOST—Briefly Ether, with Rosalynde Welch & James E. Faulconer [MIPodcast #121] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

We’re continuing our series talking with authors of the brief theological introductions to the Book of Mormon. Adam Miller is here to talk about his volume on Mormon—a book that he calls “a beginner’s guide to the end of the world.” Mormon testifies of Christ even as everything he loves seems to be slipping through his fingers. For the last few episodes in this series we wanted to get series editors on the mic to talk to the authors. So this episode features guest host Spencer Fluhman, executive director of the Maxwell Institute and co-editor of the brief theological introductions to the Book of Mormon series. The post GUEST HOST—Briefly Mormon, with Adam Miller and Spencer Fluhman [MIPodcast #120] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

Christopher Blythe’s new book focuses on Latter-day Saint views of the end of the world, which might seem like it’s a little on the nose, but here we are! Blythe goes back to the beginning of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to find out how early church members thought about the apocalypse—the cataclysmic end of the world which would usher in a new peaceful era under the reign of Jesus Christ. The more tension Latter-day Saints felt with the United States where the church began, the more intense their ideas about how it would all turn out became. But Blythe says violent visions of end times destruction began to fade as the church became more mainstream in American culture. About the Guest Christopher James Blythe is a Research Associate at the Maxwell Institute’s Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies. In 2019 he was named co-editor of the Journal of Mormon History. He also is co-president of the Folklore Society of Utah. His new book is Terrible Revolution: Latter Day Saints and the American Apocalypse. He has coedited two volumes of the Joseph Smith Papers Documents series. 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.