After seven years in the position, Hollie and I have decided that I will step down as Maxwell Institute executive director, effective May 1, 2023. We will always treasure our association with so many remarkable scholars, advisory board members, staff, students, university colleagues, and readers. It has been a profound honor to be associated, however indirectly, with the name and legacy of Elder Neal A. Maxwell. Please accept our gratitude for what has been a rich education and fruitful collaboration. We have felt your love and support. We feel blessed to have known and associated with you all and trust you know how much we love you. You have helped us understand, again, what it means to love God and neighbor with all one’s mind and heart. 

Kristian Heal’s new book, Genesis 37 and 39 in the Early Syriac Tradition explores the Syriac reception of the story of Joseph and offers an unprecedented glimpse into late antique Syriac literary culture. The story of Joseph inspired the greatest narrative poem written in Syriac, as well as many other diverse and imaginative texts. Heal’s study discusses the retellings of the story of Joseph through a typological lens and how they became an important focus of Christian and Jewish rhetoric. To summarize Genesis 37 and 39 in the Early Syriac Tradition, Heal provided five answers to questions readers may have about his book. 

Brigham Young University’s Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship eagerly announces the appointment of Dr. Laurie Maffly-Kipp as a visiting Neal A. Maxwell Fellow. She will join our vibrant research community beginning in January until June of 2019.