Rev. Andrew Teal’s relationship with Jeffrey R. Holland led him to Utah as a Visiting Scholar at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Studies. He intended to study the life of Joseph Smith, but plans changed when he severely burned his feet. The Oxford scholar discusses his background, his friendship with Elder Holland, and the way suffering has refined his relationship with the Savior.
What is polygamy? Did Joseph Smith have more than one wife? Did Latter-day Saints love or hate plural marriage? Historian Brittany Chapman Nash tackles these questions and more in a candid interview.
Sharon J. Harris is an assistant professor of English at Brigham Young University. She is also the author of a volume in the Maxwell Institute’s Brief Theological Introductions series about Enos, Jarom, and Omni.
Biographer Kristine Haglund describes the context behind the correspondence of Elder Bruce R. McConkie and Eugene England. Her new book, Eugene England: A Mormon Liberal, is the second installment in the Introductions to Mormon Thought series (University of Illinois Press, 2021).
Terryl Givens is the second scholar to publish a book about the life of Eugene England this year. His biography, Stretching the Heavens: The Life of Eugene England and the Crisis of Modern Mormonism complements Kristine Haglund’s intellectual history that includes an account of the correspondence between Eugene England and Bruce R. McConkie.
We can learn a lot about the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith by studying the history of his parents, Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith. Mark Staker, a Master Curator for the Church History Department’s Historic Sites Division, has done precisely that. His landmark new volume is Joseph and Lucy Smith’s Tunbridge Farm: An Archaeology and Landscape Study (John Whitmer Historical Association, 2021).
Casey Paul Griffiths is the author of Truth Seeker: The Life of Joseph F. Merrill, Scientist, Educator, and Apostle (BYU Religious Studies Center, 2021). His contribution stands alongside apostolic histories such recent biographies of Henry B. Eyring and Dallin H. Oaks.
Joseph Smith had a grand view of the ultimate relationship between politics and religion. He and the early Latter-day Saints also suffered greatly from political persecution. With no obvious path for recourse, Joseph Smith launched a presidential campaign in 1844. In this interview, historian Spencer McBride explains what happened.
A new book includes more than 800 pages about the life of Latter-day Saint Scholar Hugh Nibley, including contributions from Dallin H. Oaks, Richard Bushman, and Truman G. Madsen. Hugh Nibley Observed also includes an emotional story about Nibley’s final weeks. In this interview, editor Jeffrey Bradshaw discusses the landmark Hugh Nibley book.
Frank J. Cannon is an overlooked—and often misunderstood—figure in Latter-day Saint history. As the son of George Q. Cannon, Frank was religious royalty of his time, but often rebelled. He was eventually excommunicated, but not before being relied up to negotiate on behalf of the Church and ghostwrite a faith-promoting biography of Joseph Smith. In this interview, independent historian Val Holley discusses his biography of Frank Cannon.