The Maxwell Institute

This collection of new artworks was commissioned for "Approaching the Tree: Interpreting 1 Nephi 8." Published by the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University, this book is an invitation to view again one of the Book of Mormon's best-known texts. From the fresh interactions of an array of artists and scholars from Angola to Portugal and BYU to Oxford, the theological significance of Lehi's dream emerges anew. Together these able guides show, once again, both book and dream to be rich and deep, and worthy of repeated reflection. "Approaching the Tree: Interpreting 1 Neph 8" is co-edited by Jennifer Champoux, Benjamin Keogh, and Joseph M. Spencer.

Congratulations to Laurie Maffly-Kipp—a visiting scholar at the Maxwell Institute in 2019 and 2023—on her appointment as the Richard Lyman Bushman Chair of Mormon Studies at the University of Virginia!

I'm Rosalynde Welch, host of the new Maxwell Institute Book of Mormon Studies podcast. I've been on a lifelong journey not only to understand the meaning of the Book of Mormon, but to let its message change my heart. The words of prophets and the influence of the Spirit have lit the way.

A short Christmas message from J.B. Haws, the Executive Director of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. Merry Christmas!

Kate Holbrook (1972-2022) worked as a historian for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and spent her career highlighting women's stories. In her book, Both Things Are True, Kate says "I've written some books in Latter-day Saint women's history that I feel have been good contributions. I think I'll be remembered generally through favorite recipes that have come from me. I've decided that's maybe in some ways a richer and more lasting visceral experience that people will have of my having been on this earth."

In the summer of 2024, the Latter-day Saint Theology Seminar, with support from the Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies and the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University, will sponsor a summer seminar for graduate students and faculty devoted to reading 2 Nephi 2.

Wayfare Magazine, in conjunction with Faith Matters and Blair Hodges produced a series of podcast episodes each highlighting a different chapter of the Maxwell Institute’s award-winning book, Ancient Christians: An Introduction for Latter-day Saints. Listen now on Wayfare Magazine's website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts.

February 14, 2024 is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent for much of Western Christianity. Lent is the roughly 40-day period of Christian observance leading up to Easter, when Christians all over the world engage in fasting, reflection, introspection, and penitential practices in remembrance of Christ and in renewal of relationship with Him. Lent also follows the pattern of Jesus’s 40 days of fasting in the wilderness to draw near to God before beginning his public ministry.