Maxwell Institute Podcast

On this episode of the Maxwell Institute podcast, I talk with Rachael Johnson, a postdoctoral fellow at the Maxwell Institute, and a brilliant young scholar of early modern intellectual history. Dr. Johnson studies Christian theologies of embodiment -- the spiritual and religious significance of Christ’s body, and of our own bodies made in his image.Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught powerfully that “We simply must understand the revealed, restored Latter-day Saint doctrine of the soul, and the high and inextricable part the body plays in that doctrine.” Our bodies are the ever-present condition of our experience, so it’s easy to tune them out and ignore--or resent--their role in our spiritual life. But Dr. Johnson gave me a whole new understanding of how our bodies can connect and empower us in light of the teachings of the Restoration and the gospel of Christ. ReferencesCaroline Walker Bynum. "Why all the fuss about the body? A medievalist's perspective." Critical inquiry 22.1 (1995): 1-33.Jeffrey R. Holland.

President Nelson recently taught, “As we seek to be disciples of Jesus Christ, our efforts to hear Him need to be ever more intentional. It takes conscious and consistent effort to fill our daily lives with His words, His teachings, His truths.” The prophet has asked us how we “Hear Him”--but have you thought about how you “See Him”? Do you bring pictures or other artistic representations of Christ into your spiritual life? For today’s episode I interview Dr. Anthony Sweat, an oil painter himself and a professor of Church history and doctrine at BYU. Dr. Sweat has thought a lot about art and faith, in his creative and his scholarly pursuits. We discussed a fascinating article he co-authored analyzing Latter-day Saints’ preference for pictures of Christ praying in Gethsemane over Christ on the cross. We talk about why this might be the case, why we should make a point to include the crucifixion in our spiritual reflection, and how to incorporate art more deliberately into our faith lives. Instead of asking, “W

Today I’m speaking with Dr. Ryan Tobler, a scholar of American religious history. Dr. Tobler worked as a postdoctoral fellow here at the Maxwell Institute for a year, and now is off to a new position as a lecturer at the University of Heidelberg. We’ll miss him, but we’re thrilled for his success. Ryan and I discussed an article he wrote about the beginnings of the practice of baptism for the dead among the early Saints. He taught me that baptism for the dead doesn’t only answer questions about the afterlife. Baptism for the dead is also for the living: it’s profoundly empowering in modern life, changing our relationship to our own inevitable death and healing our troubled relationship with our bodies. President Nelson taught that “Jesus Christ is the reason we build temples.” Dr. Tobler shows us how baptism for the dead kickstarted the modern Restoration of temple work, and how it draws us to Christ in its symbolism, its ritual, and its real spiritual power. I was really inspired by this conversation, and I

This episode of the podcast is very close to my heart. I’m speaking with Dr. Miranda Wilcox, my friend and colleague, about a new book just out from the Maxwell Institute, written by the late Kate Holbrook and titled Both Things Are True. Miranda and I had the privilege of shepherding the book to completion after Kate died of cancer in 2022. Miranda, who is a professor of English at BYU, co-edits the Maxwell Institute’s book series we call “Living Faith,” a series now up to seventeen titles featuring scholars who write in a personal, conversational way from their professional expertise to strengthen faith. In that capacity, Dr. Wilcox served as lead editor for Both Things Are True, the latest book in the series. Kate Holbrook, who at the time of her death was the managing historian of women’s history at the Church History Department and a longtime friend and advisor to the Institute, spent her professional life discovering and amplifying the voices of other women, and mentoring other people in how to do the s

Life is a learning experience, they say. If so, what have you learned from life? Do you know it for sure? Absolutely sure? I’ll confess, this line of questioning leaves me feeling trapped in a mental corner. Is there a better question we should be asking?Today on the podcast I talk with Katie Paxman, associate professor of philosophy at BYU. Dr. Paxman studies the work of David Hume, and she’s thought a lot about certainty, humility, and the ambition to form true beliefs. Our conversation helped me to reframe my question in a more productive way. Rather than getting trapped in skepticism, I should ask: “what kind of person do I want to be when I encounter uncertainty?”Elder Richard G. Scott said, “I am convinced that there is no simple formula or technique that would immediately allow you to master the ability” to decide questions with absolute certainty. Instead, he goes on, “essential personal growth will come as you struggle to learn.“ Katie helped me approach that struggle with more humility, hope and fai

Today I’m speaking with Dr. Joseph Stuart, assistant professor of history at Brigham Young University. Dr. Stuart studies race and American religion, and we knew right away that we wanted to talk about Dr. Martin Luther King and the ongoing fight for civil rights and racial harmony in our society. Joseph had the great idea to pair one of Dr. King’s speech with a related talk by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf. Both of these deeply Christian men challenge us to wake up to the world around us and look for our individual places in God’s unfolding work of restoration. In his 2019 speech to the NAACP, President Nelson quoted 2 Nephi 26:33, “black and white, bond and free, male and female… all are alike unto God,” and then said: “You who are gathered here in this room strive to make this heavenly truth an earthly reality. I commend you for it. And yet we all realize that, as a society and as a country, we have not yet achieved the harmony and mutual respect that would allow every man and woman and every boy and girl to be

Today on the podcast I talk with Ryan Davis, associate professor of political science at BYU. Dr. Davis is a philosopher, a quick and humorous conversationalist, and a great storyteller. He suggested that there might be a better way to approach belief. What if we get curious not only about the content of the specific beliefs that we hold, but also about how we hold them? What if we attend to our ways of believing as much as to our articles of belief? Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said “The size of your faith or the degree of your knowledge is not the issue—it is the integrity you demonstrate toward the faith you do have and the truth you already know.” Christ commanded us to “be not afraid; only believe.” Could it be that believing, when undertaken with integrity and courage, is important in itself? Ryan and I swapped stories, bonded over our love of ice cream, and even shared a few riddles. I hope you enjoy listening in as much as I enjoyed the conversation.

What does it mean to be an objective judge of history--of personal history, family history, or shared human history? Are charity and objectivity opposites--or are they partners? Today on the podcast I talk to Jenny Hale Pulsipher, a professor of history at BYU and a contributor to the Maxwell Institute’s recent book Every Needful Thing: Essays on the Life of the Mind and the Heart. As an historian, Jenny specializes in finding the nuance in complex historical figures--never excusing wrongdoing, but never losing sight of the gospel’s witness that we are all children of God. In the October 2022 General Conference, Sister Anette Dennis, Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, asked, “How many wounded individuals do we have among us? How often do we judge others based on their outward appearance and actions, or lack of action, when, if we fully understood, we would instead react with compassion and a desire to help instead of adding to their burdens with our judgment?” Jenny and I talked about how to

How can we best care for the beautiful planet God has given us for our home? And why do our relationships with other humans matter so much in the work of stewardship and conservation? Today on the podcast, Rosalynde talks to Ben Abbott, a professor of Plant & Wildlife Sciences at BYU. As a scientist, Ben specializes in ecosystem ecology — the complex ways that living and non-living components interact in a given place. But he’s found that his work as a teacher and mentor has shaped his research as much — or more! — than his rugged fieldwork.

Welcome to The Questions We Should Be Asking, a new season of the podcast from the Maxwell Institute that explores faith-building questions. In this episode, Rosalynde interviews Kimberly Matheson, a scholar at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religion. She asks the question: why do we pray? And what does prayer look like in our lives?Kimberly Matheson is a Research Fellow at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, with current projects focusing on gender in the Book of Mormon, a materialist theology of prayer, and Moroni 7 as a theological response to modernity. Her research centers more broadly on the Book of Mormon, Christian contemplative practice, and the continental philosophy of religion. Kimberly holds a Ph.D. in theology from Loyola University Chicago, an MTS in philosophy of religion from Harvard Divinity School, and a BA in ancient near east studies from Brigham Young University. She is the author most recently of Helaman: A Brief Theological Introduction (Maxwell, 2020) and sits

Meet Rosalynde Frandsen Welch, our new host for the MIPodcast. Rosalynde is the Associate Director of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, where she coordinates faculty engagement and co-leads a special research initiative. 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.In this episode, Rosalynde introduces The Questions We Should Be Asking, a new season that explores questions that help build faith. The first full-length episode of the podcast will be posted on March 28, 2023.The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #158: Introduction to The Questions We Should Be Asking with Rosalynde Welch appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU

In the nineteenth century, a fascination with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints made Mormons and Mormonism a common trope in French journalism, art, literature, politics, and popular culture. Heather Belnap, Corry Cropper, and Daryl Lee bring to light French representations of Mormonism from the 1830s to 1914, arguing that these portrayals often critiqued and parodied French society. Mormonism became a pretext for reconsidering issues such as gender, colonialism, the family, and church-state relations while providing artists and authors with a means for working through the possibilities of their own evolving national identity. The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #157: Latter-day Saints in the French Imagination, with Corry Cropper, Daryl Lee, and Heather Belnap appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

It’s Christmas! This may feel like an awkward lesson to have in the discussion of the Old Testament, it’s at least how I felt. But in considering the topic more deeply, I can’t think of a better way to prepare for celebrating the Savior’s birth. We’ve spent the year reading the scriptures that He read and recognizing the ways that ancient Israel expected a Savior to redeem them. We discuss the Old Testament in light of the Promised Lamb of God in this episode of “Abide: A Maxwell Institute Podcast.” The post Abide: Christmas appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

Finding Christ in the Covenant Path offers a fresh but faithful focus on the journey of covenants and discipleship through the double lens of ancient words and medieval images. The first part of the book helps us see Christ’s identity as our Redeemer by exploring the ancient words that connect covenants, redemption, worship, the presence of the Lord, and sitting down enthroned in God’s presence as his children and heirs. The second part of the book reveals Christ as our ransom by exploring medieval images, particularly the image of Christ. With personal anecdotes, historical background, and scriptural analysis, this section uses devotional images and late medieval practices of contemplation as a strategy to come unto Christ. By using medieval images as a counterpoint to Restoration practices and ordinances, we can more fully appreciate the gift of God’s Son and see that gift with fresh eyes. The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #156: Finding Christ in the Covenant Path, with Jennifer C. Lane appeared first o

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In 2007, the Museum at Eldridge Street opened at the site of a restored nineteenth-century synagogue originally built by some of the first Eastern European Jewish immigrants in New York City. Visitors to the museum are invited to stand along indentations on the floor where footprints of congregants past have worn down the soft pinewood. Here, many feel a palpable connection to the history surrounding them. Beyond the Synagogue argues that nostalgic activities such as visiting the Museum at Eldridge Street or eating traditional Jewish foods should be understood as American Jewish religious practices. In making the case that these practices are not just cultural, but are actually religious, Rachel B. Gross asserts if one looked outside of traditional institutions and practices, such as attendance at synagogue or membership in Jewish Community Centers, they would see that the embrace of nostalgia provides evidence of an alternative, under-appreciated way of being Jewish and of maintaining Jewish continuity.

One of the most interesting days of my life took place a few years ago when I co-conducted a tour of the Jordan River Temple in Utah for non-Latter-day Saint specialists in American religion. As we walked from room to room, my co-tour guide, my second mission president, did his best to anticipate questions that my scholarly friends may have had. He did a great job! The most interesting part of the tour, though, came well after we left the temple’s doorways. My friend Bob asked “what does the temple DO for Latter-day Saints?” I answered about eternal kinship networks, the binding of families, and more. No, he said, pointedly, what does the temple DO for individuals like you? That questions took me back–as you can tell, I still reflect on it several years later. I think, if I were to think of how to describe what the temple does in the lives of everyday Latter-day Saints is flourishing. The flourishing of relationships, of personal peace and reflection, of revelatory capacity, and of my faith in Jesus Christ. A

In Adam S. Miller’s lecture, “The Necessity of God: First person, Present Tense, Imperative Mood” Miller talks about Tim Farnsworth, a man who cannot stop walking from the fictional book The Unnamed. Miller said that everyone has different crosses to bear, and although we cannot change them, like Farnsworth cannot stop walking, we have to learn how to love and accept these challenges in order to connect to God. Link to view the Annual Lecture here: https://youtu.be/N1L_ctSw2pk The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #154: The Necessity of God, with Adam S. Miller (2022 Neal A. Maxwell Lecture) appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

The Book of Mormon Art Catalog seeks to provide unprecedented access to visual imagery inspired by the Book of Mormon through a comprehensive, open access, and searchable digital database. In this role, the Book of Mormon Art Catalog supports research and education, aids scholarly and artistic work, promotes a greater knowledge of artists worldwide, provides a study and devotional resource for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other interested individuals, and creates opportunities for increased understanding and collaboration. You can view Jenny’s lecture introducing the catalog on the Maxwell Institute’s YouTube channel HERE: https://youtu.be/c1m_JnFrGXo The post Maxwell Institute Podcast #153: The Book of Mormon Art Catalog with Jennifer Champoux appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

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