Recent Books

The epic story of the early Welsh Mormons was virtually unknown until Professor Dennis personally mastered nineteenth-century Welsh—a major challenge even for a linguist. After writing impressive books on Welsh immigration and literature, he focused for a dozen years on producing “facsimile translations,” or reproductions of early Welsh missionary texts and volumes of official Welsh Mormon periodicals produced during the great harvest of converts from that land. Virtually alone, Dennis continues to work to preserve the full story of how the early preaching of the restored gospel inspired both fiery debate and heroic sacrifice among the people of Wales. This volume is another important disclosure in this saga, part of Dennis’s continuing efforts to translate all early Welsh Mormon literature.

This volume explores some of the seminal articles that examine Joseph Smith’s First Vision, which were written by the foremost experts who have studied it for half a century. This book preserves and shares that work. Those who study the First Vision today depend very much on the works of the scholars that are reprinted in this volume. Moreover, much of the source material on which their articles are based and on which we depend, they discovered and published. The book includes articles by and interviews with James B. Allen, Richard L. Anderson, Milton V. Backman Jr., Richard L. Bushman, Steven C. Harper, Dean C. Jessee, Larry C. Porter, and John W. Welch. The past First Vision scholarship is indispensable to the present. We are beginning to explore further because we can see from their shoulders. For a review by the Association for Mormon Letters, click here. For video interviews with the authors, click here.

Do we as Latter-day Saint Christians really need to know about other faiths? Do we not know all we need to know? Sometimes we create our own skewed version of other faiths. If we are to be a world church, it is helpful to understand and appreciate all the good that God has given to persons beyond the Latter-day Saint pale and to represent it accurately. President George Albert Smith said to persons of other faiths:

We have come here as your brethren . . . and to say to you: 'Keep all the good that you have, and let us bring to you more good, in order that you may be happier and in order that you may be prepared to enter into the presence of our Heavenly Father.'

This book attempts to show the good that God has placed among his children and upon which the Restoration may build to bring more good. It is done in the spirit of seeking to appreciate all the good that each religion brings. At the same time, this book seeks to show what makes each religious tradition unique, for it is our unique qualities that make each of us who we are.

This volume continues the bibliography begun in volumes 1 and 2 of the same title. It covers the period 1853-57. The scope of the bibliography remains those books produced by Mormons in support of the Church, where the term book means any printed piece with one or more pages having text bearing on some Church issue. Excluded are individual newspaper or magazine articles, maps, prints, bank notes, and ephemeral pieces such as printed forms or elders' licenses.

The BYU Religious Studies Center, in cooperation with Deseret Book, has published a book by President Boyd K. Packer featuring a significant number of his paintings, drawings, and wood carvings. The book is titled The Earth Shall Teach Thee: The Lifework of an Amateur Artist.

President Packer is well known for his years of service as a teacher and leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Many would say that his greatest contribution has been that of a teacher. His ability to teach principles with simple everyday examples is a gift. This gift came as a natural ability but has been refined by years of study, practice, and prayer. But what most people don’t know is that President Packer has had a pastime of painting and carving. This hobby has been used to beautify his home, teach his children, and provide needed relaxation. While he was painting or carving, his mind was carving out a sermon. He has created what some describe as masterpieces. To him, they are simply an attempt to capture the beauty of nature. The whole collection of his art consists of nearly six hundred original carvings, paintings, sketches, and drawings. He has used oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastels, charcoal, crayon, ink, and pencil. The collection covers seventy-seven years of effort, beginning in 1933 at age nine.

President Packer’s artistic bent and love of nature are as integrally a part of him as his spirituality, compassion, steadiness, and humor. His carvings of life-size birds in natural habitats are perhaps the apex of his artistic creations. Of more enduring worth, however, are the valuable lessons taught through his art, illustrations, parables, and example. Above all, his art expresses reverence for life. Through artwork he has shared the lessons of life with his family and with members of the Church. President Packer once wrote, “During those hours working with my hands, I pondered on the marvels of creation, and inspiration would flow. As I carved wood, I carved out talks.” His book will be available soon wherever LDS and fine art books are sold.

By Study and By Faith is a collection of articles and essays from past issues of the Religious Educator, which provides informative and inspirational peer-reviewed articles, focused on the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Since the first issue, hundreds of thoughtful, well-researched articles and essays have been published by dedicated scholars, teachers, and Church leaders, creating a remarkable library of historical, doctrinal, pedagogical, and devotional resources to inspire readers as they strive to understand and teach the things that matter most. Some of the articles included in By Study and By Faith have all been well received and might be considered some of the very best we have published—the ones that we go back to again and again because of their timeless message or the significant insights they provided when they were first published. Some of the notable authors include Elder D. Todd Christofferson, Elder Jay E. Jensen, Elder Neal A. Maxwell, Richard E. Bennett, Thomas A. Wayment, and several others.

(Reprinted in 2012)

The epic story of the early Welsh Mormons was virtually unknown until Professor Dennis personally mastered nineteenth-century Welsh—a major challenge even for a linguist. After writing impressive books on Welsh immigration and literature, he focused for a dozen years on producing “facsimile translations,” or reproductions of early Welsh missionary texts and volumes of official Welsh Mormon periodicals produced during the great harvest of converts from that land. Virtually alone, Dennis continues to work to preserve the full story of how the early preaching of the restored gospel inspired both fiery debate and heroic sacrifice among the people of Wales. This volume is another important disclosure in this saga, part of Dennis’s continuing efforts to translate all early Welsh Mormon literature. 

The King James translation of the Bible celebrated its four hundredth anniversary in 2011. This historic text, the product of many hands and many years, has had a greater impact on the world than any other book in the English language. It is still in print today, four centuries since it first came off the London presses. This is not a book solely about the history of the King James Bible and its contributions to the world in general. Its primary goal is to shed light on the intersection of the King James translation and Mormonism—hence the title, The King James Bible and the Restoration. In important ways, the King James Bible was one of the contributors to the founding of the Latter-day Saint faith, and it has continued to play a significant role in its history to the present time, even in lands where English is not the spoken language.

For more than 150 years, “Come, Come, Ye Saints,” the anthem of the pioneer journey, has praised Salt Lake City as “the place, which God for us prepared.”  This new book from Brigham Young University’s Religious Studies Center analyzes the fulfillment of that poetic longing.  The sixteenth in a series of regional studies on Latter-day Saint church history, it contains a collection of essays by faculty members in the Department of Church History and Doctrine discussing Salt Lake’s place in our sacred story.  Topics include histories of significant landmarks, stories from the city’s past, and discussions of Church organizations. The reader will see connections between the revelations of Joseph Smith and Salt Lake City as a modern city of Zion, the place, indeed, where the Saints have been blessed. 

Many great scientists such as Newton and Einstein spoke and wrote freely of their religious thoughts and feelings, seeing no fundamental conflict between them and their science. Today there is a tendency to emphasize conflict more than harmony. Sometimes people of faith are criticized as blind, naive, or shallow, while scientists are painted as arrogant, unfeeling, or deceived. Educated dialogue between these two camps has too often been reduced to shallow platitudes or, even worse, silence.

Truth is not in conflict with itself. Religious truth is established through revelation, and scientific inquiry has uncovered many facts that have thus far stood the test of time. It is incumbent upon us to seek insights into all truth to mesh together, where possible, its parts at their proper interface. We discover bridges between scientific and religious knowledge best if we pursue them through study, faith, and ongoing dialogue. The Summerhays lectures and this book are dedicated to discover and share insights on how the truths of revealed religion mesh with knowledge from the sciences.

How did a church that started with just six official members blossom into a global organization of over fourteen million members? Authors such as Richard L. Bushman, John W. Welch, and Susan Easton Black show how Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and other leaders established the foundation upon which the Church was built. According to Welch, the Book of Mormon provides the foundational administrative principles of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, “not only its doctrines and instructions for personal living but also its many administrative guidelines.” He went on to say, “The administrative character and personality of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has indeed grown directly from the genetic material found in the Book of Mormon.” This book teaches how the individuals throughout Church history were inspired to restore and establish Christ’s Church in the latter days.