The Book of Mormon Studies Association Ninth Annual Meeting
October 10-11, 2025
Utah State University Inn
Thursday, October 9th
Church History Library Event: Salt Lake City, 3:00 – 4:00 pm
Brian Passatino and Robin Jensen (Church History Library), “Orson Pratt’s Influence on the Book of Mormon”
Friday, October 10th
Plenary Session, Book Reviews, 9:00 – 10:00 am
Liz Fenton (University of Vermont), Joseph Smith: The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet, by John G. Turner
Jared Hickman (Johns Hopkins University), Moral Visions: Ethics and the Book of Mormon, edited by Courtney S. Campbell and Kelly Sorenson
Patrick Mason (Utah State University), This Great and Lasting War: Studies in Alma 45-63, edited by Joseph M. Spencer
Concurrent Sessions, 10:15 – 11:45 am
Room 1
Walter Reade (Independent Scholar), “Recovering the Text of the 1869 Deseret Alphabet Book of Mormon”
Fred Axelgard (Independent Scholar), “A Brief Introduction to the Title Page of the Book of Mormon”
Room 2
Jan Martin (Brigham Young University), “Moroni’s Lonely Life and His Creative Approaches to Surviving Social Isolation”
Michael Biggerstaff (Brigham Young University), “Reconstructing Book of Mormon Prophets”
Concurrent Sessions, 1:45 – 3:15 pm
Room 1
Rosalynde Welch (Neal A. Maxwell Institute), “‘The Way to Judge’: Epistemology and Political Theology in Moroni 7”
Kimberly Matheson (Neal A. Maxwell Institute), “‘God Gave Power’: Prophetic Status in Helaman 7-10”
Room 2
Adam Glover and Valerie Jepson (Winthrop University), “‘I Write It Not’: Incompleteness as Invitation in the Book of Mormon”
Jenny Webb (Bangor University), “Heaven and Earth: Once More, With Feeling”
Keynote Address, 3:30 – 4:30 pm
Jillian Sayre (Rutgers University Camden), “Media Ecology and the Book of Mormon”
Business Meeting, 4:30 – 5:00 pm
Saturday, October 11th
Concurrent Sessions, 8:30 – 10:00 am
Room 1
Noah Adams (Duke Divinity School), “Breathing Exaltation into the Text: A Mindful Reception History of 2 Nephi 25:23”
Daniel Becerra (Brigham Young University), “The Book of Mormon’s Theology of Sin”
Room 2
Sharon Harris (Brigham Young University), “Toward a Study of the Lehitic Book of Mormon Covenant: 1 Nephi 2”
Kylie Nielson Turley (Brigham Young University), “‘Are We Not All Children?’: Tangled Relationality in King Benjamin’s Speech”
Plenary Session: Book of Mormon Art, 10:15 – 11:30 am
Jenny Champoux, Moderator
J. Kirk Richards, Artist
Rose Datoc Dall, Artist
Michael Hall, Artist
Concurrent Sessions, 1:30 – 3:00 pm
Room 1
Jake Dayton (Independent Scholar), “‘Killed and Stoned the Prophets’: Nineteenth-Century Polemic in the Writings of Nephi and Jacob”
Benjamin Beckstrom (University of Maryland – Global Campus), “From ‘A’ to ‘The’: Lehi, the Fall, and the Concept of the Devil”
Room 2
Robert Messick (Independent Scholar), “The Good Seed, Gone. The Mystery of the Missing Text within Alma 32”
John Christopher Thomas (Pentecostal Theological Seminary, Bangor University), “The Significance of ‘Disciple/s’ and Capitalization in the Original Manuscript, the Printer’s Manuscript, and the 1830 Edition of the Book of Mormon”
Concurrent Sessions, 3:15 – 4:45 pm
Room 1
Makoto Hunter (UC Santa Barbara), “The Book of Mormon Studies that Wasn’t: Conservative Money, Academic Respectability, and the Boundaries of the New Right and ‘Judeo-Christian’ America at the Liberty Fund”
Janiece Johnson (Deseret Book), “Decentering American Scripture: Early Transatlantic and Transpacific Editions of the Book of Mormon”
Room 2
Joseph M. Spencer (Brigham Young University), “A Contribution to Book of Mormon Reception: On Joseph Smith’s ‘New Translation’ of the Bible”
Richard Saunders (Southern Utah University), “And Thus We See: Ethicism as a Book of Mormon Narrative Structure”
Keynote Address, 5:00 – 6:00 pm
Matthew Bowman (Claremont Graduate University), “Lost Tribes: Lamanites and Flying Saucers in New Age Arizona”