Home | Religious Studies Center

What's New at the RSC?

Raising the Standard of Truth

This volume explores events and teachings of the early years of the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Featuring scholars from Brigham Young University, the Church History Department, and the Joseph Smith Papers, the collection of prominent materials previously produced by the BYU Religious Studies Center is designed as a companion to personal and family study of the Doctrine and Covenants and Church history. Chapters explore Joseph Smith’s accounts of his First Vision, the translation of the Book of Mormon, and the restoration of priesthood power.

Click for more information

Storming the Nation: The Unknown Contributions of Joseph Smith’s Political Missionaries

This volume uncovers the significant but previously unknown contributions of the electioneers who advocated for Joseph Smith’s 1844 presidential campaign. The focus is the legion of more than six hundred political missionaries, their activities and experiences as electioneers, who they became and the contributions they made in the exodus from the United States and the building of Zion in the Great Basin.

Saints at War: The Gulf War, Afghanistan, and Iraq

Saints at War is filled with remarkable first-person accounts from Latter-day Saints who served in the Gulf War, the War in Afghanistan, and the Iraq War. These stories detail their trials, challenges, setbacks, faith, courage, and numerous victories overcoming extraordinary circumstances.

Illuminating the Jaredite Records

This volume explores the relationship between the Nephite and the Jaredite records culturally, politically, literarily, and theologically. The first approach is a cultural-historical lens, in which elements of Jaredite culture are discussed, including the impact of a Jaredite subculture on Nephite politics during the reign of the judges, and a Mesopotamia perspective as seership and divination, and the brother of Jared’s experience as a spiritual transition. The second grouping looks at the book of Ether through a narratological lens, all three papers exploring different aspects of Moroni’s construction of the book of Ether. The third grouping explores the book of Ether’s depiction of women,

Preserved in Translation

It should come as no surprise that the Book of Mormon reads like an ancient Hebrew book. After all, its story begins in the world of the Old Testament and its chroniclers were literate in some form of Hebrew. What is surprising is that there are so many Hebraisms in the book—and that they have survived translation into English! Many of these remnants that persist in the text make for odd English but are perfectly sound Biblical Hebrew.

Repicturing the Restoration

The purpose of this volume is to produce paintings of some of the underrepresented events in order to expand our understanding of the Restoration. Each image includes a richly researched historical background, some artistic insights into the painting’s composition, an application section providing one way this history may inform our present faith, and an analysis section offering potent questions that can be considered for further discussion. Through these new paintings, artist, author, and Professor Anthony Sweat takes readers through a timeline history of pivotal events and revelations of the early Restoration.

Click for more information

What Is the RSC?

The Religious Studies Center is the publishing arm of Religious Education at Brigham Young University. Our mission is to encourage, sponsor, and publish serious, faithful, gospel-related materials.

Articles in Other Languages

Español

Português