This is the last in a series of seven author interviews with the writers of our new book series, “Themes in the Doctrine and Covenants.” I hope you’ve caught them all, but if not, make sure you listen to all seven.

Janiece is a terrific historian who has written about the religious experience of women converts to the Church and about how the earliest Saints understood the Book of Mormon and applied it in their lives. She brings all this historical expertise to her new book, titled simply Revelation.

Today I have a terrific interview with my colleague Philip A. Barlow on his new book Time, just out from the Maxwell Institute. Phil is a senior fellow and my colleague here at the Maxwell Institute.

You’ll notice his kindness and humor during the interview, and you’ll also notice his wisdom and creativity. Phil is a legendary teacher: he taught for many years at Hanover College, and then served for more than a decade as the Leonard J. Arrington Chair of Mormon History & Culture at Utah State University. He’s the author of an important book, Mormons and the Bible, and lots of other notable publications. He’s currently working on a fascinating study of the war in heaven.

I'm delighted to share with you an interview with Dr. Amy Easton, who authored the volume Divine Aid in our new Themes in the Doctrine and Covenants series. Amy is an associate professor of ancient scripture at BYU, where she also teaches in the global women's studies and American studies programs. Amy did her graduate work in literature, just like I did, and in addition to her work on the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants, she studies topics as diverse as 19th-century women's poetry and transatlantic travel literature.

At the time of this recording, Amy was directing a study abroad program in London and we're grateful that she could join us despite having only a laptop to record on. Amy's book, Divine Aid, is all about the relationship Jesus wants to build with each of us. The Doctrine and Covenants shows us the Savior working in real time to build a parent-child relationship with real individuals.

In this episode, we continue our streak of interviews with the authors of our new book series, Themes in the Doctrine and Covenants. And today we've got a fascinating conversation with Dr. Mason Allred about his volume, Seeing.

Dr. Allred is an Associate Professor of Communication, Media and Culture at Brigham Young University, Hawaii. He studied history with an emphasis on film and media studies, and he's published a number of books on visual culture. Basically, how everything from movies and TV to social media, art, print publications, and even advertising, shapes our lives and our society. So this made him the perfect person to write about spiritual sight in the Doctrine and Covenants. Not just the amazing visions of Joseph Smith, but how the ordinary act of looking can become a sacred practice for each one of us.

Today I'm joined by Dr. Amy Harris, a professor of family history in the Department of History at Brigham Young University. Amy studies families, women, and gender in early modern Britain. And she's written a number of books on some fascinating topics, including the dynamics of singleness and siblinghood in 18th century England. She's also an expert in the ethics, theology, and techniques of family history and genealogical research.

And so she was the perfect person to write Redeeming the Dead, her recent book for the Maxwell Institute, part of our Themes in the Doctrine and Covenants series. Amy had some great insights to share. I didn't realize, for instance, that the Church's focus on genealogy only began in 1894, 60 years after its founding, or that in the Doctrine and Covenants, baptism for the dead is the primary form of baptism, not just an optional extra.

Dr. Harris jokes that family history is not just a hobby, but a subversive power to bring on the revolution, because it can help us relate to all human beings as children of God, not objects to be used. She believes that even the most disturbing historical records can be redeemed through temple work, but only if we focus on relationships rather than just names and dates as we do family history. This discussion will change how you think about family history and its role in the Restoration. I hope you enjoy it.

Today, I'm joined by Dr. Justin Collings to discuss his new book, Divine Law, just out from the Maxwell Institute as part of its Themes in the Doctrine and Covenants series. This volume is one of seven and will be featuring interviews with each of the authors over the next few months.

Justin Collings is the academic vice president of Brigham Young University and a distinguished scholar in his own right. He graduated from BYU and earned a law degree and a PhD in history from Yale, and clerked on the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In addition to his administrative duties, he remains a professor of law at BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School, where he authored two books on constitutional law and history from Oxford University Press. Justin and his wife Lia live in Orem, Utah. And as you'll hear in our conversation, are the proud parents of eight children.

As Justin admits, the topic of divine law may not strike you as immediately compelling. It might even spark some deep-seated fear or dread. But I think you'll find that he brings this book to life with careful thinking, real life examples, and most of all, a bedrock conviction grounded in the revelations that God is loving, merciful, and full of grace. Divine law and divine love in this way of looking at things are one and the same. Justin was a good sport to field some tough questions about punishment versus consequences and a threat versus a warning. But if you're expecting dry legalese, you'll be glad to find that Justin is a lively and lyrical writer and his book is studded with poetry. In fact, our discussion of poetry's relationship to scripture and its role in a spiritual life is one of my favorite parts of the interview. I think you'll enjoy it too.

Purchase at the links below.

https://a.co/d/fQPtRdB

https://www.deseretbook.com/product/P6075136.html

Welcome back to the Maxwell Institute Podcast! We are thrilled to be back with you for another series of conversations on "The Questions We Should Be Asking." When–and only when–we ask the right questions can we find the answers we need.

In 2025, we'll return to a broader focus for our interviews–but never fear, we'll have plenty of discussion about the Doctrine and Covenants as we study it together in the global Church.

Today, I talk with Terryl Givens, author of Agency in our new series, Themes in the Doctrine and Covenants. We'll get into all the knotty questions about agency: what actually is it, does free will really exist, and what does it mean to say that agency is relational?

Purchase at the links below.

https://www.deseretbook.com/product/6075134.html?srsltid=AfmBOoo1ejtN94I-MqlDGGmGETf1eKBIrNwWcLaUQYnHnvx_Yg6ReZko

https://www.amazon.com/Agency-Doctrine-Covenants-Terryl-Givens/dp/0842501339

Thank you for listening to the Book of Mormon Studies Podcast this year. Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!