The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

How should we read the story of Joseph in Genesis 37–41? This essay examines four distinct approaches—ancient Jewish narrative expansions, early Christian typology, Latter-day Saint restoration readings, and contemporary biblical scholarship—to reveal the richness and complexity of scripture across time.

Lisa DeLong examines creation as both cosmic act and everyday practice. Drawing on scripture (notably the Book of Moses), art, and personal practice, she argues that creation is a mutual process: texts and makers change as we return to them. Emphasizing craft, constraint, and the role of beauty, the talk connects divine patterns (golden ratio, temple geometry) with ordinary acts of creativity—painting, music, community-building, even crafting an elegant spreadsheet. The result is a theological and practical vision: human agency, exercised with skill and beauty, participates in God’s work of bringing about immortality and eternal life.