Ether

Buy Print Buy Digital BYU Store Deseret Book

Following the destruction of the Nephite people, Moroni works in solitude to complete a long-promised translation of an ancient record: the Jaredite plates. Discovered amid the ruins of a lost civilization, this record had captivated Nephites’ imaginations for centuries. Now Moroni sees foreshadowed therein the spiritual wonders and historical tragedies of his own people.

In this brief theological introduction, literary scholar Rosalynde Frandsen Welch explores the book of Ether—a sweeping history in which Moroni, absorbed in the past, turns his heart to future readers whose spiritual fate will be at stake.

According to Welch, Moroni’s work as translator-prophet brilliantly reframes the nature of scripture itself. Like the brother of Jared’s luminous stones, Moroni’s offering glows with his powerful testimony of Christ. In faith, his record extends the promise of Christ’s saving power to people in every place and time.

mi.byu.edu/brief

About the Author

Rosalynde Frandsen Welch

Rosalynde Frandsen Welch is a senior research fellow at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. Her research focuses on Latter-day Saint scripture, theology, and literature. She holds a PhD in early modern English literature from the University of California, San Diego, and a BA in English from Brigham Young University. She is the author of Ether: a brief theological introduction, published by the Maxwell Institute, as well as numerous articles, book chapters and reviews on Latter-day Saint thought. Dr. Welch serves as associate director of the Institute, where she coordinates faculty engagement and co-leads a special research initiative.

Education

2004 - PhD, Literature, University of California, San Diego

Books

2020 - Ether: A Brief Theological Introduction. Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2020.

Edited Volumes

Given Thee by My Spirit: Reading Doctrine & Covenants 25. Co-edited with Joseph Spencer. Proceedings of the Latter-day Saint Theology Seminar. Salt Press. Forthcoming Are We Not All Beggars?: Reading Mosiah 4:4-25. Co-edited with Diana Brown. Proceedings of the Latter-day Saint Theology Seminar. Salt Press. Forthcoming

Articles and Review Essays

2022 “The Secular Syllabus and the Sacred Book: Literary Scholars Approach the Book of Mormon.” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 31 (2022). (Forthcoming) 2021     “On the Foreknowledge of God: Time, Knowledge, Reality, Agency.” Yet to be Revealed: Open Questions in Latter-day Saint Theology. Eds. Eric Eliason and Terryl Givens. BYU Studies Quarterly 60:3 [Special Issue] (2021). 2020 “Lehi’s Brass Ball: Astonishment and Inscription.” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 29 (2020). 2019 “How to Do Things with Doubt.” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 28 (2019). 2016 “The New Mormon Theology of Matter.” Mormon Studies Review 4, no. 1 (2016). 2015 “Affinities and Infinities: Joseph Smith and John Milton.” BYU Studies Quarterly 54, no. 3 (2015).

Book Chapters

“Epilogue.” Every Needful Thing: The Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Lives of Latter-day Saint Scholars. Eds. Melissa Wei-Tsing Inouye and Kate Holbrook. Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2022. Forthcoming “Lehi’s Parable of the Fruitful Tree.” Approaching the Tree: Interpreting 1 Nephi 8.  Eds. Benjamin Keogh, Joseph Spencer, and Jennifer Champoux. Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2022. Forthcoming “Emma as Church, Emma as Christ: Kingdom and Salvation in Section 25.” Given Thee by My Spirit: Reading Doctrine & Covenants 25. Eds. Joseph Spencer and Rosalynde Welch. Proceedings of the Latter-day Saint Theology Seminar. Salt Press. Forthcoming “Three Awakenings: Encounter, Exchange, and Salvation in Mosiah 2-4.” Are We Not All Beggars?: Reading Mosiah 4:4-25. Eds. Rosalynde Welch and Diana Brown. Proceedings of the Latter-day Saint Theology Seminar. Salt Press. Forthcoming 2020 “Local Zion: Nibley in Place and Space.” Reapproaching Zion. Eds. Nathan B. Oman and Samuel D. Brunson. By Common Consent Press, 2020. 2020     “Theology of the Family.” The Routledge Handbook of Mormonism and Gender. Eds. Taylor G. Petrey and Amy Hoyt. Routledge, 2020. 2019 “In Story, the Branch Buds.” A Place to Belong: Reflections from Modern Latter-day Saint Women. Eds. Hollie Rhees Fluhman and Camille Fronk Olson. Deseret Book, 2019.