Monthly Archives: September 2021

Abide #14: Doctrine and Covenants 111-115

September 30, 2021PodcastMaxwell Institute

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 evidence we do have, included in the JOseph Smith Papers, is a letter from Oliver to his brother Warren and a letter from Joseph to Emma, they talk of preaching and visiting historic places, of their financial worries for the church, but little else. And this was a long trip for little else. Finishing the Kirtland temple (known as the House of the Lord) and buying up land in Ohio left the church in a precarious financial situation.

There are two late accounts of individuals who were not on the trip that suggested they went to Salem to find hidden money.

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Maxwell Institute Podcast #129

September 28, 2021PodcastMaxwell Institute

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, and Dr. Mark Ellison, an Associate Professor of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University, to learn more

*about the lives of Christian women in antiquity
*how to uncover or unearth the religious lives of women
*and discuss how the material record or historical “stuff” reveals religious meaning and practice.

You can purchase their book Material Culture and Women’s Religious Experience in Antiquity, co-edited with Carolyn Osiek, wherever books are sold, including from Amazon and the Rowman and Littlefield website.

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Abide #13: Doctrine and Covenants 109-110

September 23, 2021PodcastMaxwell Institute

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 engage the world of religious ideas.”

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Abide #12: Doctrine and Covenants 107

September 16, 2021Podcast, UncategorizedMaxwell Institute

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 they prepared to approach their first mission, they requested revelatory instruction from Joseph. This revelation came in response to that request, though the last part of the revelation had actually been received 4 years earlier.

This revelation demonstrates the continuing process of revealing understanding of priesthood particularly building on some of the ideas introduced in section 84. This expanded administrative offices within the church including deacons, teachers, priests, and elders. As the JSP details, the first individuals were ordained to the high priesthood in June of 1831. It likewise opened the way for multiple bishops and a president of the high priesthood. In late 1831 Newell K. Whitney was appointed Bishop of Kirtland and in early 1832 JS became the president of the high priesthood–on the day the church was organized his position had been that of first elder. The ecclesial structure of the church would continue to expand.

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 to engage the world of religious ideas.”

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Maxwell Institute Podcast #128: Joseph Smith Papers, Documents Volume 12

September 14, 2021Podcast, UncategorizedMaxwell Institute

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 hear from Robin Scott Jensen, David Grua, and Jessica Nelson about the work of the Joseph Smith Papers Project, what was going on during Joseph Smith’s life in March-July 1843 (including the reception of what was later canonized as Doctrine and Covenants 132), and much more!

The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #128: Joseph Smith Papers, Documents Volume 12 appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

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Abide #11: Doctrine and Covenants Sections 102-106

September 9, 2021PodcastMaxwell Institute

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MI Podcast #127: ZION EARTH ZEN SKY

September 7, 2021PodcastMaxwell Institute

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 of Japanese culture, I have discovered that Latter-day Saint culture and Mahayana Buddhist culture are similar in many ways, and that the paths to the building up of Zion, on the one hand, and to Zen enlightenment, on the other, are one and the same. The genius of both faith traditions lies in how they push the abstract ideas of salvation down into the world of material practice. Raking sand in a Zen garden reminds us that mortality is similarly a “high maintenance” situation, where constant service is required if we are to grasp our purpose here on earth.”

Come learn more about Charles’ life, work, and what Latter-day Saints can learn from a life of faith, service, and “raking”: the slow and steady daily practices that promotes spirituality and humility.

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