A Little-Known Periodical
By Davis Bitton

It is not “little-known” to the editors and staff who put in long hours to bring each issue to press.  And its several thousand devoted readers have no need to be convinced.  But how many Church members know that this periodical exists?  How many read it?   No, I don’t mean the Ensign.  I am thinking of BYU Studies.

If one subscribes to only one Church magazine, it should probably be the Ensign (or its equivalent in languages other than English).  And it is hard for me to believe that parents with children or teenagers would deprive themselves of The Friend and The New Era.  These official magazines contain the kind of articles needed to counteract the sleazy winds that blow through today’s society.

But many people thirst for additional nourishment.  You already know of what Meridian Magazine offers.  I read other magazines and quarterlies on a regular basis and often find important specific articles or reviews. But for a Latter-day Saint, or for anyone whose interest in the Church is more than casual, I don’t think you can go wrong with BYU Studies.  For what it tries to do, it is hard to beat.

Some people may be turned off by the name.  If you are a student, alumnus, or fan of the University of Utah or another institution of higher learning, or if you have no college affiliation at all, why would you support something put out by BYU?  If you live in South Africa or Australia, why would you pick up a magazine that, according to its title, might seem to be of primary interest to students and faculty of a school in Provo, Utah? Such are the questions that might discourage some people from even looking at a copy of BYU Studies.

Such thinking is simply mistaken.  It is, as my Texas friends say, flat-out wrong.  Would I be thinking straight or foolishly depriving myself if I said, “I can’t join you at that Italian restaurant because, you see, I’m an American.” 

I don’t become a supporter of BYU athletics by reading this journal.  I don’t abandon my identity. I simply take intelligent advantage of a publication that will stimulate and inform me.  Its range of interest is by no means limited to the campus of Brigham Young University, and those who contribute articles and reviews include scholars and writers from many different locations.

“BYU Studies is dedicated to the correlation of revealed and discovered truth and to the conviction that the spiritual and the intellectual can be complementary and fundamentally harmonious avenues of knowledge. This periodical strives to explore scholarly perspectives on Latter-day Saint topics.  It is committed to seeking truth ‘by study and also by faith’ (D&C 88:118) and recognizes that all knowledge without charity is nothing (1 Cor. 13:2).  It proceeds on the premise that faith and reason, revelation and scholarly learning, obedience and creativity are compatible; they are ‘many members, yet but one body’ (1 Cor. 12:20).”  This excerpt from the statement of purpose published in each issue gives a sense of the scope and spirit of the journal.           

Consider some of the treasures, some of the various types of material that come your way through this publication.

Documents.  Over the years many valuable primary source documents have appeared in BYU Studies.   A few examples: “Oliver Cowdery’s Kirtland, Ohio, ‘Sketch Book,’” “The Nauvoo Journal of Joseph Fielding,” “George Laub’s Nauvoo Journal,” “Eliza R. Snow’s Nauvoo Journal,” “Letters Home: The Immigrant View from Nauvoo,” “Vilate Kimball’s Martyrdom Letters,”  “The Iowa Journal of Lorenzo Snow,” “Howard Coray’s Recollection of Joseph Smith,” “Wilford Woodruff, Sportsman.”   The crucial meeting on 8 August 1844, when the congregation, after many witnessed his “transfiguration,” raised their hands to sustain Brigham Young and the Twelve as their leaders, is exhaustively documented in an article of nearly eighty pages.  Seventy primary documents on the restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood were published in 1996.          

Reviews.  One of the first sections I usually turn to is the reviews.  For books I already know about I can see how another reader has reacted.  For books I had not known about or had not yet managed to read, the review gives me a good idea of the book’s content and offers an evaluation of its quality.  Some of the best single reviews I have read are in BYU Studies.

Bibliographies. For the person who wants to keep up, or at least not miss a book or article of obvious interest, how valuable a current bibliography can be!   Entitled “Mormon Bibliography,” a systematic listing appeared year after year in BYU Studies.  Two extensive bibliographies, LDS Writings on Jesus Christ and the New Testament and LDS Writings on the Old Testament, list hundreds of titles.

Literature. Poetry and short stories appear regularly, as do book reviews of Mormon-related fiction.  And there are articles about Mormon literature, some narrow in focus like Richard Cracroft on “The Home Literature Novels of Nephi Anderson,” others broad surveys like  Eugene England’s  “The Dawning of a Brighter Day: Mormon Literature after 150 Years.”

Art.  C.C.A. Christensen, Minerva Teichert, Lee Greene Richards, Mahonri Young, Dennis Smith, James C. Christensen, Wulf E. Barsch, Richard Burde, Gary Ernest Smith–these are but a few artists whose works appear. There is often art on the cover, and drawings, paintings, and photographs appear in conjunction with articles.  Some articles are devoted to specific artists or groups.  Richard Oman, of the Church Museum of History and Art, has written several times of Native American Latter-day Saint artists.

Essays   Examples of personal essays include Arthur Henry King, “The Child is Father of the Man,” Thomas F. Rogers, “Reflections from the Ganges,” Emma Lou Thayne, “What Time Is It?”, Dennis Rasmussen, “An Elder among the Rabbis,” “Karl Young, “Winter Feast at San Ildefonso.”

Articles.  Perhaps three-fourths or more of each issue  consists of articles.   I can do more than list a few tantalizing examples. Let’s start with LeRoy S. Wirthlin, “Joseph Smith’s Boyhood Operation: An 1813 Surgical Success”; William Hartley, “The Priesthood Reorganization of 1877"; Jill Mulvay, “Eliza R. Snow and the Woman Question”; and Richard L. Bushman, “The Character of Joseph Smith.”

Studies of great importance to understanding the scriptures include  John W. Welch, “Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon”; Noel B. Reynolds, “The Political Dimension in Nephi’s Small Plates”; John L. Sorenson, “The Mulekites”; and S. Kent Brown, “The Exodus Pattern in the Book of Mormon.”

Some articles are essentially short biographies, covering a portion of the life if not all of it.  Among persons thus treated are Edward Partridge, Newel K. Whitney, Lewis C. Bidamon, Lula Greene Richards, Henry William Bigler, Robert Lang Campbell, Isaac Galland, Lyman Sherman, William Law, Mischa Markow, George W. Bean, Sidney Rigdon, Charles W. Penrose, Emmeline B. Wells, Karl G. Maeser, Heber J. Grant, John Tullidge, and George D. Watt.

Articles discuss the present as well as the past.  Examples include Steven C. Harper,  “The First Decade of Mormonism in Mongolia.”  And there are such articles as Howard M. Bahr, “The Declining Distinctiveness of Utah’s Working Women” and Allen E. Bergin and Mark H. Butler, “Love and Intimacy in Family, Kinship, Friendship, and Community.”

In 1991 BYU Studies published a landmark issue.  After reflective statements by its four successive editors--Clinton F. Larson, Charles D. Tate, Jr., Edward A. Geary, and John W. Welch–we find a cumulative index of the periodical from its beginning in 1959 to 1991.  Obviously, much has been published since that index volume.

Special issues.  Not regularly but every so often an entire issue, or most of it, will be devoted to a specific topic.  There have been special issues on Kirtland, Nauvoo, and Brigham Young.  One entire issue was filled with the history of the Genealogical Society.   In 2001, an entire issue was devoted to Islam, including thoughtful articles on intersections and comparisons with Mormonism.

Most volumes of BYU Studies are available on disk.  Using the GospeLink disk or the older LDS Collectors Library, you will find tons of material, including many years coverage of BYU Studies.  An under-appreciated resource containing valuable answers to many “frequently asked questions” compiled by the BYU Studies staff is ldsfaq.byu.edu.

For recent and current issues you need to subscribe.  The cost of a subscription is about that of a single book, quite a bit less than for some books.  Or the price of one or two movie tickets.  Why not give a subscription as a birthday or Christmas gift — a gift that stretches out and evokes gratitude each time it arrives in the mail?  Why not give yourself this same gift?

If my description sounds like an advertising testimonial, let me assure you that I receive no pay.  Don’t take my word for it; find out for yourself.  Information and back issues, downloadable articles, indices, and books can be obtained by visiting byustudies.byu.edu on the web.  Or write to BYU Studies at 403 CB, BYU, Provo, Utah 84602. Email to byu_studies@byu.edu or webeditor_byustudies@byu.edu

Obtain an issue of BYU Studies, and read what interests you.  Better still, read several issues in sequence. You will both learn and enjoy — not a bad combination.

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Davis Bitton, a long-time contributor to Meridian, passed away in early 2007. In memory and tribute to his fine work, we are reprinting his columns. He was a University of Utah history professor. After serving a mission in France, he graduated from BYU and then received M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Princeton University. For ten years he was assistant Church historian. His most recent books are "Images of the Prophet Joseph Smith" and "George Q. Cannon: A Biography."