News & Blog
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What Family History Is–and Is Not (Adapted from Redeeming the Dead by Amy Harris)
Prophets and apostles are clear about the ultimate goal of the Church’s genealogical efforts: to build one family tree where all people who can be identified are brought into one place. The project to preserve records and make them accessible will continue unabated for decades to come.
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“Murmur Not”
With all of you, I express my admiration to these wonderful men who are being released and whose status is being adjusted. They were exemplary at the time of their calls; they are even more so today. They are portable sermons for us all. My sermon was essentially prepared in June. It is for myself as well as for the members of the Church.
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2025 Book of Mormon Art Contest Winners Announced
Thank you to those who participated in the third year of the Book of Mormon Art Contest! The Book of Mormon Art Contest was created in 2022 to inspire students and strengthen their testimonies in the Book of Mormon, and to represent more people and stories from the ancient text in the Book of Mormon Art Catalog.
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Agency and the Hope of Futurity (Adapted from Agency by Terryl Givens)
We are creatures of time. We inherit its fruits, both sweet and bitter. We have the advantages our forebears have bequeathed us, from aspirin to the 40-hour work week, to whatever political and religious freedoms we enjoy. Examples like those enhance our modern possibilities for meaningful, freely chosen action.
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“The Constitution: The Wisest Ever Yet Delivered to Men”
This is a special time. I’m not sure it’s fair to you who are young beneficiaries of the work done two hundred years ago that you should be expected to appreciate all of it. I should like to try to weigh in on the scales for your consideration. Some of the reasons of that is in fact a very, very special blessing.
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The Lord's Grace: Inexhaustible Opportunities and Love Irrespective (Adapted from Divine Aid by Amy Easton)
“And now, behold, I say unto you, my servant James [Covel], I have looked upon thy works and I know thee. . . . I have prepared thee for a greater work” (Doctrine and Covenants 39:7, 11). . . . “And [James Covel] received the word with gladness, but straightway Satan tempted him; and the fear of persecution and the cares of the world caused him to reject the word.” (Doctrine and Covenants 40:2)
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New Full-Time Faculty Fellow for Fall 2025
BYU’s Academic Vice President Justin Collings has appointed Steven Harper as a Maxwell Institute Faculty Fellow, filling one of the Institute’s two-year rotating fellowships. His term will begin in September 2025.
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Church News: 'God with us'
In a world of competing voices, discerning the Lord’s voice can feel more difficult than ever. But Rosalynde Welch, associate director of BYU’s Neal A. Maxwell Institute, says one book of scripture is equipped to help: the Doctrine and Covenants.
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"Meek and Lowly"
Meekness ranks so low on the mortal scale of things, yet so high on God’s: “For none is acceptable before God, save the meek andlowly in heart” (Moroni 7:44). The rigorous requirements of Christian discipleship cannot be met without the tutoring facilitated by meekness: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly” (Matthew 11:29). Jesus, the carpenter, “undoubtedly had experience making yokes” with Joseph, and thus the Savior gave us that marvelous metaphor (see Matthew 11:20).
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Reminder to Submit Artwork
The deadline for the 2025 Book of Mormon Art Contest is fast approaching. Remember to submit your artwork by June 1 at 11:59 PM. You can find the form by clicking on the Book of Mormon Art Contest tab or by clicking this link.
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2024 Annual Report Available Now
The Maxwell Institute’s 2024 Annual Report is now available to read online. Thank you for your support of the Institute this past year.
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Prisoners of Time (Adapted from Time by Philip L. Barlow)
As part of a course I taught years ago on “religion and the concept of Time” at Hanover College in Indiana, a bright college sophomore conducted an informal survey among her peers around campus. Her initial question was: “What is the first thing that comes to mind when I say the word ‘time’?” The first twenty responses she received were: “stress,” “intense,” “hourglass,” “goes fast,” “schedules,” “stress,” “always going,” “never enough,” “calendar,” “wasted,” “stress,” “restriction,” “chases us,” “clock,” “goes fast,” “ahhh! Stressful,” “running out,” “in motion,” “time flies,” and “stressful.”
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Seeing through Sticks, Stones, and Screens (Adapted from Seeing, by Mason Kamana Allred)
The Doctrine and Covenants is one of many tools at our disposal to develop our vision. As we expand the ways the Lord is able to enlighten our eyes, we will experience more instances of epiphany, or sudden strokes of revelation and insight. But we can also have more instances of “hierophany.” As the influential historian of religion Mircea Eliade explains, these are moments when the divine manifests itself in the profane, which here just means the everyday.
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Joseph Smith: A Choice Seer
I am aware that my wise and gentle friend Elder David B. Haight spoke about the Prophet Joseph a month ago. Please bear with me, therefore, as I seek to place the spotlight on the Seer in yet a different way on this Easter Sunday, during which our rejoicing is made more resplendent by the revelations and translations concerning Jesus that came to us through Joseph.
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To Climb the Ladder of Law (Adapted from Divine Law, by Justin Collings)
His thoughts soared far beyond the stars, but he worried about the wind. He had, in a sense, waited his whole life to preach this sermon. “He lived his life in crescendo,” a later admirer wrote, and this was to be a kind of climax. He had a dazzling vision to unfold, a soaring theology to set forth. He had friends to comfort and eternity to hold before their gaze. If only the wind would cooperate. If only his lungs could hold up. If only his voice would carry. If only he could find the words to match his message.
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Wonder of Scripture Lecture Archive
The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship concluded the Wonder of Scripture Lecture series on April 11, 2025, with a concluding lecture from Rosalynde Welch, Associate Director of the Institute. These lectures, organized by Maxwell Research Fellows Kimberly Matheson and Kristian Heal, have explored different books of scripture from various religions and inspired hundreds of students and faculty across campus. 24 speakers spanned two semesters, each bringing a unique perspective to scripture in and outside of the Latter-day Saint canon.
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Divine Silence and Indirection (Adapted from Revelation, by Janiece Johnson)
If revelation is abundant in the Restoration, then why are there times when we feel as though silence reigns? (38:12). At times we cry out, “O God where are thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?” (121:1–2). Even a half hour of “silence in heaven” in God’s timeline can feel like an eternity to us (88:95).
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Holy Records, Unholy Record-keeping (Adapted from Redeeming the Dead, by Amy Harris)
Joseph Smith’s teachings and revelations uniquely connected the seemingly mundane tasks of record-keeping to the theological bedrock of the Atonement and its ability to save each priceless soul. On one hand, this is not particularly surprising, given that Joseph’s first major revelatory action was to produce the Book of Mormon—a sacred text that emphasizes the importance of record-keeping as a bulwark against spiritual decay.
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