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Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

Maxwell Institute Initiatives

The Book of Mormon

The Maxwell Institute’s Book of Mormon initiative will continue our intensive attention on this foundational scripture of the Restoration. Together with President Russell M. Nelson, we affirm that the Book of Mormon “contains the answers to life’s most compelling questions. It teaches the doctrine of Christ” and has “the power to heal, comfort, restore, succor, strengthen, console, and cheer our souls.” The Book of Mormon undergirds essential, life-giving teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including prophetic revelation, the universal human family, and salvation in Christ. We are in a special season for this focus on the Book of Mormon, too. The bicentennial anniversaries of so many events connected with the coming forth of the Book of Mormon offer us opportunities in the coming years for public events and scholarship to bring even more attention to the miracle of the Book of Mormon and to celebrate this “keystone of our religion.”

The Bible

The Bible is, as Elder M. Russell Ballard taught, “the bedrock of all Christianity.” The Restoration begins with the Bible (James 1:5). Restoration scripture is a second witness to the Bible (Mormon 7:9), and the Bible is vital to understanding the depth and wonders of the Restoration. The Bible initiative at the Maxwell Institute emphasizes what Elder Ballard said well: “The more we read and study the Bible and its teachings, the more clearly we see the doctrinal underpinnings of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.” In our engagement with the Bible, we select topics and themes for our public programming to match our crucial focus on core Restoration questions and contributions. These could include the symbiotic relationship of the Bible and Restoration scripture; how the Book of Mormon and the New Testament teach us to see Christ in the Old Testament; how Joseph Smith's translation and interpretative work indicate a distinctive Latter-day Saint reading of the Bible; and explorations of the New Testament witness of Jesus Christ.

Interfaith Understanding

We are energized by the significant interfaith efforts currently underway at BYU, and we are interested in ways that we might join in as collaborators and partners with colleagues across campus, with the Maxwell Institute as a gathering place for, and convener of, important theological dialogues with key thinkers from other religions traditions and faith-based academic centers. The Aims of a BYU Education calls for “an awareness of other religious traditions,” and the Maxwell Institute wants to contribute to that important aim.

Latter-day Saint Discipleship

Elder Neal A. Maxwell characterized our time as “great days” but also a “Sinai of secularism,” characterized by “distress,” and “perplexity.” We seek to meet latter-day challenges like secularism, dogmatism, and materialism by providing models of wholehearted faith in Jesus Christ. We envision public events and the creation and promotion of resources that give shape to this kind of wholehearted faith, that amplify prophetic voices as sources of light and hope, and that speak powerfully to the blessings of such a life of faith in the here and now as well as in the hereafter. In this spirit, we embrace Elder Maxwell’s model of discipleship, both in removing obstacles to a deep-rooted faith and in reflecting the joy and abundance of a consecrated life.