In this episode, we continue our streak of interviews with the authors of our new book series, Themes in the Doctrine and Covenants. And today we've got a fascinating conversation with Dr. Mason Allred about his volume, Seeing.

Dr. Allred is an Associate Professor of Communication, Media and Culture at Brigham Young University, Hawaii. He studied history with an emphasis on film and media studies, and he's published a number of books on visual culture. Basically, how everything from movies and TV to social media, art, print publications, and even advertising, shapes our lives and our society. So this made him the perfect person to write about spiritual sight in the Doctrine and Covenants. Not just the amazing visions of Joseph Smith, but how the ordinary act of looking can become a sacred practice for each one of us.

Today I'm joined by Dr. Amy Harris, a professor of family history in the Department of History at Brigham Young University. Amy studies families, women, and gender in early modern Britain. And she's written a number of books on some fascinating topics, including the dynamics of singleness and siblinghood in 18th century England. She's also an expert in the ethics, theology, and techniques of family history and genealogical research.

And so she was the perfect person to write Redeeming the Dead, her recent book for the Maxwell Institute, part of our Themes in the Doctrine and Covenants series. Amy had some great insights to share. I didn't realize, for instance, that the Church's focus on genealogy only began in 1894, 60 years after its founding, or that in the Doctrine and Covenants, baptism for the dead is the primary form of baptism, not just an optional extra.

Dr. Harris jokes that family history is not just a hobby, but a subversive power to bring on the revolution, because it can help us relate to all human beings as children of God, not objects to be used. She believes that even the most disturbing historical records can be redeemed through temple work, but only if we focus on relationships rather than just names and dates as we do family history. This discussion will change how you think about family history and its role in the Restoration. I hope you enjoy it.

Today, I'm joined by Dr. Justin Collings to discuss his new book, Divine Law, just out from the Maxwell Institute as part of its Themes in the Doctrine and Covenants series. This volume is one of seven and will be featuring interviews with each of the authors over the next few months.

Justin Collings is the academic vice president of Brigham Young University and a distinguished scholar in his own right. He graduated from BYU and earned a law degree and a PhD in history from Yale, and clerked on the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In addition to his administrative duties, he remains a professor of law at BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School, where he authored two books on constitutional law and history from Oxford University Press. Justin and his wife Lia live in Orem, Utah. And as you'll hear in our conversation, are the proud parents of eight children.

As Justin admits, the topic of divine law may not strike you as immediately compelling. It might even spark some deep-seated fear or dread. But I think you'll find that he brings this book to life with careful thinking, real life examples, and most of all, a bedrock conviction grounded in the revelations that God is loving, merciful, and full of grace. Divine law and divine love in this way of looking at things are one and the same. Justin was a good sport to field some tough questions about punishment versus consequences and a threat versus a warning. But if you're expecting dry legalese, you'll be glad to find that Justin is a lively and lyrical writer and his book is studded with poetry. In fact, our discussion of poetry's relationship to scripture and its role in a spiritual life is one of my favorite parts of the interview. I think you'll enjoy it too. 

Purchase at the links below.

https://a.co/d/fQPtRdB

https://www.deseretbook.com/product/P6075136.html

Welcome back to the Maxwell Institute Podcast! We are thrilled to be back with you for another series of conversations on "The Questions We Should Be Asking." When–and only when–we ask the right questions can we find the answers we need.

In 2025, we'll return to a broader focus for our interviews–but never fear, we'll have plenty of discussion about the Doctrine and Covenants as we study it together in the global Church.

Today, I talk with Terryl Givens, author of Agency in our new series, Themes in the Doctrine and Covenants. We'll get into all the knotty questions about agency: what actually is it, does free will really exist, and what does it mean to say that agency is relational?

Purchase at the links below.

https://www.deseretbook.com/product/6075134.html?srsltid=AfmBOoo1ejtN94I-MqlDGGmGETf1eKBIrNwWcLaUQYnHnvx_Yg6ReZko

https://www.amazon.com/Agency-Doctrine-Covenants-Terryl-Givens/dp/0842501339

Thank you for listening to the Book of Mormon Studies Podcast this year. Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Welcome to our last episode of the Book of Mormon Studies Podcast as we wrap up this Book of Mormon year. For this episode, Rosalynde Welch, Associate Director of the Maxwell Institute and Host of the podcast talks with Joseph Spencer, Associate Professor of Ancient Scripture at BYU.

In this episode, they discuss the scholarship of the book of Moroni, giving it context for readers of the Come, Follow Me curriculum for 2024.

Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Book of Mormon Studies Podcast as we wrap up this Book of Mormon year. For this episode, Rosalynde Welch, Associate Director of the Maxwell Institute and Host of the podcast talks with Christopher Blythe, Assistant Professor of Humanities at BYU.

In this episode, they discuss the text of the book of Moroni, giving it context for readers of the Come, Follow Me curriculum for 2024.

Welcome, and thanks for listening to another episode of the Book of Mormon Studies Podcast. In this episode, Rosalynde Welch, Associate Director of the Maxwell Institute and Host of the podcast talks with Morgan Davis, Neal A. Maxwell Research Fellow at the Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship.

In this episode, they talk about the scholarship of the book of Ether, giving it context for readers of the Come, Follow Me curriculum for 2024.

Hello, thanks for listening to another episode of the Book of Mormon Studies Podcast. In this episode, Rosalynde Welch, Associate Director of the Maxwell Institute and Host of the podcast talks with Rachael Johnson, Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Humanities, and former Postdoctoral Fellow for the Maxwell Institute.

In this episode, they talk about the text of the book of Ether, giving it context for readers of the Come, Follow Me curriculum for 2024.

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Book of Mormon Studies Podcast. For this episode, Rosalynde Welch, Associate Director of the Maxwell Institute and Host of the podcast talks with Terryl Givens, a Senior Research Fellow at the Maxwell Institute.

In this episode, they discuss the scholarship of the book of Mormon, giving it context for readers of the Come, Follow Me curriculum for 2024.