Several outstanding periodicals dealing with scripture, doctrine, and Church history are currently being published at Brigham Young University, such as BYU Studies and the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies. The Religious Educator, however, is designed to serve the interests and needs of those who study and teach the gospel on a regular basis. Although other journals cover topics of interest to our readers, the distinct focuses of The Religious Educator are on teaching the gospel, publishing studies on scripture, doctrine, and LDS Church history, and sharing messages of outstanding devotional essays. The contributions to each issue are carefully reviewed and edited by experienced teachers, writers, and scholars.

The primary intended audiences for the Religious Educator are serious students of the Restoration, early-morning seminary teachers, and full-time faculty in the Church Education System, including religion professors throughout the Brigham Young University educational system. In every issue, we plan a selection of articles that will be helpful and appealing to this diverse audience, In addition, we anticipate that articles we select will appeal to anyone interested in perspectives on the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

The delay between volume 1 and volume 2 of the Religious Educator resulted from our work in producing a new format, establishing workable procedures to ensure scholarly work of the highest quality, and identifying the unique service role we intend to provide readers.

We hope you will enjoy this initial volume under our new editorship, and we look forward to publishing articles that will be helpful to all readers. We invite readers’ suggestions and comments and look forward to receiving manuscripts for possible publication.

Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, Editor-in-Chief

Ted D. Stoddard, Associate Editor