'New Discoveries' Topic of Religious Studies Presentation at USU

A Brigham Young University professor and the lead editor of the first two volumes in the Joseph Smith Papers Project is the guest speaker at a public lecture presented by Utah State University’s Religious Studies Program.

Grant Underwood presents “New Discoveries: Joseph Smith’s Revelation Texts – Versions, Variations and Revisions” Wednesday, March 18, at 4 p.m. in Old Main, Room 121. The lecture is free and open to all.

 

Philip Barlow, USU’s Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture in the Religious Studies Program, invited Underwood to campus. He said Underwood’s lecture offers a new look at the beginnings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and that Underwood will present and analyze new discoveries important to Mormonism’s origins. These discoveries include manuscripts that bring to light several of Joseph Smith’s revelations not previously known to exist. The collection also includes the earliest extant written versions of many revelations received by Smith, as well as the earliest revisions made to those revelations. These manuscripts will allow a richer portrait of the Mormon Prophet’s revelatory and transposing process that later culminated in the publication of the Doctrine and Covenants, Barlow said.

 

The study of religion is key to the understanding of human striving and human culture and is essential to a liberally educated citizenry, Barlow said. USU’s Religious Studies Program is designed to present opportunity for careful study of religions’ origins, development and nature — how religion works.

 

“Understanding Mormonism is crucial to understanding our regional culture,” Barlow said. “The new manuscript discovery and Dr. Underwood’s analysis of it will shed light on the earliest recordings of Joseph Smith’s revelations that gave rise to this new religion.”

 

Underwood is a professor of history at BYU. He has written or edited a number of books and articles on Mormon history, including the prize-winning Millenarian World of Early Mormonism and two volumes on LDS history in the Pacific. He serves as co-chair of the Mormon Studies Consultation for the American Academy of Religion.

 

 

Writer: Patrick Williams (435) 797-1354, patrick.williams@usu.edu
Contact: Religious Studies Program (435) 797-1300
Contact: Philip Barlow (435) 797-3406, philip.barlow@usu.edu