History
The Maxwell Institute was established in 2006 as an umbrella organization for several of BYU's academic initiatives, including: the Middle Eastern Texts Initiative (METI), the Center for the Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts (CPART), the Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies, and the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS). [2] By 2013, FARMS had become fully absorbed into the institute's Willes Center.
In 2012, a debate was sparked when the Maxwell Institute's former director Gerald Bradford removed Daniel C. Peterson from a long-time editorship of the FARMS Review, shortly after it had been renamed the Mormon Studies Review . [3] Peterson retained his position as editor of the Middle Eastern Texts Initiative (METI) until resigning in September 2013. [4]
Under new leadership following Bradford's retirement in 2015, the Maxwell Institute underwent a series of internal and external reviews to determine its future direction. [5] J. Spencer Fluhman was appointed director in 2016, and the Maxwell Institute began restructuring. [6] Together with BYU administration and a new advisory board, Fluhman announced a new mission statement in March 2018. [7]
As part of this restructuring, METI was transferred to the international publisher Brill. [8] CPART completed its final project in 2017. [9] The institute also published the Mormon Studies Review from 2013 through 2018, when complete ownership was transferred to the University of Illinois Press. [10]
In November 2018, BYU announced plans to move the Maxwell Institute into the south wing of BYU's West View Building, taking place in 2020. [11] [12] [13]
Scholarship
The Maxwell Institute provides research positions for full-time faculty, visiting scholars, post-doctorate researchers, and other temporary research participants who study the LDS Church, as well as Christianity and other religions more broadly. Institute scholars occasionally publish in-house, but most of their work is placed in other venues. [14]
The Maxwell Institute also includes the Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies, which deals principally with studying the Book of Mormon in ancient and modern settings, in addition to other LDS scripture. [15]
The Maxwell Institute formerly hosted the William (Bill) Gay Research Chair, which focused on study directly related to the ancient world and LDS scripture, particularly the Book of Abraham. [16] [17] Egyptologist John Gee occupied the chair until 2018. [18] [17]
The Maxwell Institute frequently sponsors guest lectures at BYU, as well as symposia, workshops, and conferences on religious topics. [14] Wednesday Brown Bag discussions allow scholars to workshop current projects, prepare for conference presentations, discuss recently published works, and examine the dimensions of "disciple-scholarship." [19]
The Maxwell Institute also employs a small staff of office assistants, communications personnel, and a large number of student interns. [20]
Criticisms
Commentator Michael Austin, reflecting on the institute's status as an officially sanctioned venue for Latter-day Saint theological studies, opined that resources cited within the institute's 2019 Study Edition of the Book of Mormon are "carefully curated to include only official Church sources and scholarship that supports the [LDS] Church’s conclusions," adding that he believes that "the Church has produced and authorized a version of its signature scripture that is orders of magnitude more helpful, and more scholarly, than anything it has produced before. But being official comes at a cost. Official books must tell official stories, which means that honest discussions of controversies and pressure points—no matter how important they may be to the study and interpretation of the text—cannot become part of the apparatus." [21]
Commentator John H. Brumbaugh opined, "In a sense, New Mormon historians challenge the foundational beliefs of Mormonism in a quest for professional rigor. [...] Faithful historians never challenged foundational beliefs; instead they are intended to build the devotion of Church members. BYU Studies and Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship are prime examples of Faithful history outlets. Renouncing objectivity, these organization functioned to 'Describe and defend the Restoration through highest quality scholarship.'" [22] [23]
Some voices in Latter-day Saint apologetics have made opposite accusations. [24] [25] Speaking at the 2012 conference of FairMormon (now known as FAIR), BYU professor Daniel C. Peterson accused the Maxwell Institute of "forego[ing] explicit defense and advocacy of Mormonism" by being too academic and insufficiently faithful. [24] Former FARMS board member William J. Hamblin described the transition from FARMS to the Maxwell Institute as a "hostile takeover" that "destroyed ancient Book of Mormon Studies," and he called the Maxwell Institute a "Sunstone South," comparing it to Sunstone magazine, a Mormon studies publication perceived by some Latter-day Saints as "faith-eroding." [25] [26]
Hamblin's characterization of the Maxwell Institute has been disputed by Nathaniel Givens; he finds that most Maxwell Institute publications still aver, both explicitly and implicitly, that the Book of Mormon is an ancient document. [27]
Stephen Edward Robinson was a religious scholar and apologist, who was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) was an informal collaboration of academics devoted to Latter-day Saint historical scholarship. The organization was established in 1979 as a non-profit organization by John. W. Welch. In 1997, the group became a formal part of Brigham Young University (BYU), which is owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 2006, the group became a formal part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, formerly known as the Institute for the Study and Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts, BYU. FARMS has since been absorbed into the Maxwell Institute's Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies.
Hugh Winder Nibley was an American scholar and member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who was a professor at Brigham Young University (BYU) for nearly 50 years. He was a prolific author, and wrote apologetic works supporting the archaeological, linguistic, and historical claims of Joseph Smith. He was a member of the LDS Church, and wrote and lectured on LDS scripture and doctrinal topics, publishing many articles in the LDS Church magazines.
The Encyclopedia of Mormonism is a semi-official English-language encyclopedia for topics relevant to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The encyclopedia's five volumes have been digitized and are available for free online via the Harold B. Lee Library's official website.
Signature Books is an American press specializing in subjects related to Utah, Mormonism, and Western Americana. The company was founded in 1980 by George D. Smith and Scott Kenney and is based in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is majority owned by the Smith-Pettit Foundation.
Philip Layton Barlow is a Harvard-trained scholar who specializes in American religious history, religious geography, and Mormonism. In 2019, Barlow was appointed associate director of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. Barlow was the first full-time professor of Mormon studies at a secular university as the inaugural Leonard J. Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture at Utah State University (USU), from 2007 to 2018.
Daniel Carl Peterson is a former professor of Islamic Studies and Arabic in the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages at Brigham Young University (BYU).
Terryl Lynn Givens is a senior research fellow at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute of Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University (BYU). Until 2019, he was a professor of literature and religion at the University of Richmond, where he held the James A. Bostwick Chair in English.
The Journal of Book of Mormon Studies is an annual peer-reviewed academic journal covering topics surrounding the Book of Mormon. It is published by the University of Illinois Press on behalf of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship with funding from the Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies.
Dean Cornell Jessee is a historian of the early Latter Day Saint movement and leading expert on the writings of Joseph Smith Jr.
William James Hamblin was a professor of history at Brigham Young University (BYU), and a former board member of the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) at BYU.
Paul Y. Hoskisson is an American professor of Ancient scripture and former associate dean of Religious Education at Brigham Young University (BYU). In 2008, he was appointed director of the Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Research.
Louis C. Midgley is a Mormon apologist and retired professor of political science at Brigham Young University. Since his retirement he has been closely involved with the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, writing many book reviews, articles, and book chapters defending the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from perceived critics.
Stephen David Ricks is a professor of Hebrew at Brigham Young University (BYU) and an author and co-author of several books and articles defending the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its teachings.
The Religious Studies Center (RSC) is the research and publishing arm of Religious Education at Brigham Young University (BYU), sponsoring scholarship on the culture, history, scripture, and doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The dean of Religious Education serves as the RSC's director, and an associate dean oversees the two branches of the RSC: research and publications.
Mormon studies is the interdisciplinary academic study of the beliefs, practices, history and culture of individuals and denominations belonging to the Latter Day Saint movement, a religious movement associated with the Book of Mormon, though not all churches and members of the Latter Day Saint movement identify with the terms Mormon or Mormonism. Denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement include the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by far the largest, as well as the Community of Christ (CoC) and other smaller groups, include some categorized under the umbrella term Mormon fundamentalism.
Mormon Studies Review is an annual academic journal covering Mormon studies published by the University of Illinois Press. Previously, until and including its 2018 issue, the journal was published by Brigham Young University's Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. In November 2018, ownership transferred to the University of Illinois Press, which continues to publish the journal.
J. Spencer Fluhman is a professor of history at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah.
Brian M. Hauglid is an emeritus professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University (BYU). From 2014 to 2017, he was the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, and he was the director of the Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies, a part of BYU's Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship.
Grant Hardy is professor of history and religious studies and former director of the humanities program at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. He earned his BA in ancient Greek in 1984 from Brigham Young University and his PhD in Chinese language and literature from Yale University in 1988. Having written, cowritten, or edited several books in the fields of history, humanities, and religious texts as literature, Hardy is known for literary studies of the Book of Mormon.
