Maxwell Institute Podcast

It isn’t every day that a scholar publishes a book that changes the entire landscape of a field of study, but that’s exactly what Robert Alter did in 1981 with his book, The Art of biblical Narrative. For centuries and more, scholars had meticulously studied the Bible to tease out the voices those who compiled it, but Robert Alter paid attention to the finished product to see what the stories had to say in their completed form. It’s hard to overestimate Alter’s influence on literary studies of the Bible—looking at plot, genre, character, and more. And now Alter has finished his own complete translation of the Hebrew Bible—a mammoth task that took quarter of a century. In this episode, Robert Alter joins us to talk about the challenges and surprises of biblical translation. He visited the Maxwell Institute earlier this year to deliver a set of guest lectures which you can watch here. About the Guest Robert Alter is Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, where he has taught since 1967. He has written widely on the European novel from the eighteenth century to the present, on contemporary American fiction, and on modern Hebrew literature. He is especially well-known for his work on the literary aspects of the Bible. His twenty-two published books include two prize-winning volumes on biblical narrative and poetry, and award-winning translations of the Five Books of Moses. In 2019 he published The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary, and The Art of Biblical Translation. The post Robert Alter on translating the Hebrew Bible [MIPodcast #115] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

In this episode we introduce you to a story about a man who was seeking for the true church of Christ. A man who prayed and then reported miraculous visitations. He recorded revelations about the true nature of God and how the true church should be built up, ultimately inspiring a large body of converts. If all of this sounds familiar, here’s the surprising part: This man started this particular movement in China in 1917. Melissa Inouye joins us to talk about a restorationist Christian movement in China, which continues to exist today despite strict Chinese control of religion. We’re talking about her book, China and the True Jesus: Charisma and Organization in a Chinese Christian Church. About the Guest Melissa Wei-Tsing Inouye is author of the new book, China and the True Jesus: Charisma and Organization in a Chinese Christian Church, from Oxford University Press. She received her Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University in 2011 and served as a Senior Lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University of Auckland. She now works for the Church History Department with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The post China and the True Jesus Church, with Melissa Inouye [MIPodcast #114] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

The Book of Mormon prophet Alma was on the wrong path. But much like the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus, Alma experienced a shocking vision that changed everything. His sermons are the product of a person who understood what it meant to receive the grace of Christ and have a mighty change of heart. In this episode, Mark Wrathall joins us to talk about his brief theological introduction to the second half of the book of Alma. For more about the brief theological introductions series, go to mi.byu.edu/brief. About the Guest Mark Wrathall is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford, and Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy at Corpus Christi College. He works on the phenomenology of agency and religious life, and is interested in the temporality of human existence. He is the author of Phenomenology and Human Existence (forthcoming with Oxford University Press), Heidegger and Unconcealment (Cambridge University Press), and How to Read Heidegger (W. W. Norton). He has edited numerous volumes, including The Cambridge Heidegger Lexicon and Religion After Metaphysics. The post Briefly Alma 30–63, with Mark Wrathall [MIPodcast #113] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

Margaret Bendroth has spent a good deal of her life trying to remember the past, and trying to help others remember, too. To Bendroth, memory is more than sentimental and history is more than a list of dates and names. Bendroth says remembering is a religious and spiritual practice. In this episode, she joins us to discuss her short but stunning book, The Spiritual Practice of Remembering. About the Guest Margaret Bendroth is executive director of the Congregational Library in Boston, Massachusetts, and a historian of American religion. Her books include The Spiritual Practice of Remembering, The Last Puritans: Mainline Protestants and the Power of the Past, and Growing Up Protestant: Parents, Children and Mainline Churches. Watch Dr. Bendroth’s Maxwell Institute Guest Lecture here.   The post ‘The Spiritual Practice of Remembering,’ with Margaret Bendroth [MIPodcast #112] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

This episode features Melissa Inouye, a self-proclaimed “bald Asian American Latter-day Saint woman scholar,” talking all about her “ventures through life, death, cancer and motherhood (not necessarily in that order)”—which happens to be the subtitle of her latest book, Crossings. It’s part of the Maxwell Institute’s Living Faith book series. About the Guest Melissa Wei-Tsing Inouye received her Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University in 2011 and served as a Senior Lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University of Auckland. She previously served as an associate editor of the Mormon Studies Review and now works for the Church History Department with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She is author of two books: China and the True Jesus: Charisma and Organization in a Chinese Christian Church (Oxford University Press) and the imposibly-titled Crossings: A Bald Asian American Latter-day Saint Woman Scholar’s Ventures through Life, Death, Cancer & Motherhood (Not Necessarily in that Order). The post Latter-day Saint scholar Melissa Inouye reflects on her many crossings [MIPodcast #111] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

Alma is an idolatrous man in the Book of Mormon, a wicked man according to the text—until an angel’s rebuke leads to his repentance and then two decades of righteous service in realms both political and religious. But even then, Alma’s past haunts him. Kylie Nielson Turley talks about her brief theological introduction to the book of Alma, chapters 1 through 29, in this episode. For more about the brief theological introductions series, go to mi.byu.edu/brief. About the Guest Kylie Nielson Turley has taught writing, rhetoric, and literature classes since 1997 at Brigham Young University, where she emphasizes a literary approach to the Book of Mormon in her Literature of the LDS People course. She has published articles on Alma, LDS “home literature” fiction and poetry, and Utah and LDS women’s history. She is also the author of numerous personal essays. The post Briefly Alma 1–29, with Kylie Nielson Turley [MIPodcast #110] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

The Book of Mormon has important things to say about how we say important things, according to David Charles Gore. He’s author of The Voice of the People: Political Rhetoric in the Book of Mormon (Maxwell Institute, 2019). Gore says it’s not enough to be in possession of the truth. We also have to know how to share it in ways that actually reach other people’s hearts. The Book of Mormon seems to be a cautionary history in this regard, calling readers to develop what Gore calls an “ethic of mournful wakefulness.” Gore’s Maxwell Institute Guest Lecture is available here. About the Guest David Charles Gore (PhD, Texas A&M University) is associate professor and department head in the Department of Communication at the University of Minnesota in Duluth. Gore regularly teaches courses on the history and theory of rhetoric, including its application to globalization and Stoic philosophy. His work has appeared in Philosophy & Rhetoric, Argumentation & Advocacy, Dialogue: a Journal of Mormon Thought, and a variety of other venues. The post The Book of Mormon’s ethic of mournful wakefulness, with David Charles Gore [MIPodcast #109] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

When railroads started making their way across the western frontier of the United States in the 1800s, many Americans thought it would destroy the religion known as “Mormonism.” Brigham Young, then-president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, disagreed, declaring, “It must be a damned poor religion if it can’t stand one railroad!” Young turned out to be right. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints not only survived, but flourished in its mountain home. But it didn’t emerge from its railroad battles unchanged. In this episode, Dr. David Walker joins us to talk about his latest book Railroading Religion: Mormons, Tourists, and the Corporate Spirit of the West. It’s a more fascinating and more humorous story than you might expect, so stay with us. About the Guest David Walker is associate professor of religious studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His work focuses on intersections of religion, settlement policy, technology, and popular culture in the long nineteenth century (c. 1780-1920). His latest book is Railroading Religion: Mormons, Tourists, and the Corporate Spirit of the West. The post ‘Railroading Religion,’ with David Walker [MIPodcast #108] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

Jane Manning James stood out among early Latter-day Saints as one of few black converts. She was baptized into the Church as a free black woman in Connecticut and migrated to Nauvoo with her family, where she soon found herself working in the prophet Joseph Smith’s home. After his death, she traveled west with the Saints and lived the rest of her life as a faithful member—though she was denied participation in the Church’s most sacred practices. Through the years, Jane Manning James has been left out of books on African American history, women’s history, histories of the West, and until more recently, she was even left out of histories of her own church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Dr. Quincy Newell recently published the first scholarly biography of this remarkable Latter-day Saint. The book is called Your Sister in the Gospel: The Life of Jane Manning James, a Nineteenth-century Black Mormon. Dr. Newell joins us to talk about it in this episode. Images of Jane discussed in the episode are available in the transcript. About the Guest Quincy D. Newell is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Hamilton College. She is co-editor of the Mormon Studies Review and author of Your Sister in the Gospel: The Life of Jane Manning James, a Nineteenth-Century Black Mormon.   The post The life of Jane Manning James, with Quincy Newell [MIPodcast #107] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

This episode continues our special series of episodes on the Maxwell Institute’s brief theological introductions to the Book of Mormon. In his book on Mosiah, philosopher and theologian James E. Faulconer untangles a complicated narrative—a fragmentary history about a fragmented people, written by a record keeper obsessed with unity. Faulconer unpacks what King Benjamin had in mind in speaking of the “mysteries of God.” 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 Briefly Mosiah, with James E. Faulconer [MIPodcast #106] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.