The Mormon theology seminar is a rare thing on the American intellectual landscape: an opportunity to apply and to exercise the academic discipline that I’ve been trained in, and which I use to earn a living, but to do so also in ways which foster spiritual discipline. The sort of rigorous reflection upon Mormon texts […]

As a sociologist specializing in religion and congregational studies, I am always aware of the dynamics of community. I find that just as religion needs a community of believers to embody the sacred, scholarly inquiry needs an academic community to bring new life to our fields of study. I initially found the importance of an […]

Welcome to our first Podcast Potluck, an occasional blog series featuring a collection of podcast episodes that together make a nice meal for the mind. BYOE (bring your own ears). Here are a few episodes with food for thought about race and religion. Is race a social construct? What does that even mean? What is it like for […]

As a long-time “inside-outsider” to Mormon culture and studies, I’m always deeply impressed when I meet Mormons who actually believe in Mormonism. By that I do not mean Mormons who profess belief in Mormonism, because obviously plenty of people do that. In C. S. Lewis’ Till We Have Faces, the protagonist describes a priest of the […]

The Maxwell Institute wishes to thank David Calabro for his important contributions since joining our team in 2013. Calabro helped edit Arabic and Hebrew material in our Middle Eastern Text Initiative publications including the Medical Works of Moses Maimonides. Among other projects, he also assisted with Kristian Heal’s revised digital version of the Compendious Syriac Dictionary and helped Brian Hauglid on studies in […]

I’m very pleased to announce the appearance of an important new title in our Eastern Christian Texts series. Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq on His Galen Translations is the first Arabic work to appear in this series since our inaugural volume in 2002 (other titles have appeared in Syriac and Armenian). Edited and translated with consummate erudition […]

Yesterday morning, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke at BYU’s weekly devotional on being “Bound by Loving Ties.” His remarks focused on the idea of religion itself, a word which many scholars believe refers to being tied or bound to something, (Latin: religare), like a ligament.1 In addition to citing Elder Neal […]

I’ve thought a lot about the wrangling that so often happens over sacred text. There’s plenty of it within the scriptures themselves: Abinadi versus the priests of Noah, Stephen versus the Sanhedrin, Jacob versus Sherem, Jesus being challenged on the basis of scriptural interpretation by the scribes and Pharisees. Most of these stories end with the violent death […]

Sometimes the simplest things are the most valuable. A fire, a cool breeze, a short walk with a friend, a simple, delicious meal, or a good book are among the most simple and valuable things we might encounter. These simple things, alone, are sufficient to remind us what a joy it is to be alive. […]