BYU Studies Quarterly Volume 59 Number 4 (2020)
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Editor in Chief Steven C. Harper Associate Editor Susan Elizabeth Howe Editorial Board Trevor Alvord media Scholarship Informed Richard E. Bennett Church history by the Restored Gospel Carter Charles history of Jesus Christ W. Justin Dyer social science Dirk A. Elzinga linguistics Sherilyn Farnes history James E. Faulconer philosophy/theology Kathleen Flake religious studies Ignacio M. Garcia history Daryl R. Hague translation Taylor Halvorson, scripture and innovation David F. Holland religious history Kent P. Jackson scripture Megan Sanborn Jones theater and media arts Ann Laemmlen Lewis independent scholar Kerry Muhlestein Egyptology Marjorie Newton history Josh E. Probert material culture Susan Sessions Rugh history Herman du Toit visual arts Lisa Olsen Tait history Greg Trimble, entrepreneurship, internet engineering John G. Turner history Gerrit van Dyk Church history John W. Welch law and scripture Frederick G. Williams cultural history Jed L. Woodworth history STUDIES QUARTERLY BYUVol. 59 • No. 4 • 2020 5 Editors’ Introduction James R. Kearl and Dana M. Pike 8 BYU Jerusalem Center Timeline 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BYU JERUSALEM CENTER 15 The Restored Church of Jesus Christ and the Holy Land: Beginnings David M. Whitchurch 37 Outside Perspectives Amber Taylor 49 The Lead-up to the Dedication of the Jerusalem Center David B. Galbraith 61 The Jerusalem Center in the Community: From Suspicion and Distrust to Acceptance and Respect Eran Hayet 69 Connections between the Jerusalem Center and the Local Israeli Academy Jeffrey R. Chadwick 83 “If I Forget Thee, O Jerusalem” Jeffrey R. Holland 97 Faculty Perspectives and Experiences at the Jerusalem Center Gaye Strathearn, Andrew C. Skinner, S. Kent Brown, Ed Stratford, Kent P. Jackson 111 Student Panel Discussion David Rolph Seely, moderator, April Giddings Cobb, Julie Jenkins Elcock, Heidi Hatch Gilbert, Christopher Meldrum, Raven Alard Ngatuvai, Richard Reber 137 The Jerusalem Center at Thirty James R. Kearl ESSAYS 161 Peace Offering Elena Jarvis Jube 173 The Road to Dallas Kimberly Webb Reid POETRY 160 Breeze Daniel Teichert BOOK REVIEWS 181 The Pearl of Greatest Price: Mormonism’s Most Controversial Scripture by Terryl Givens with Brian M. Hauglid Reviewed by Richard Lyman Bushman 186 Make Yourselves Gods: Mormons and the Unfinished Business of American Secularism by Peter Coviello Reviewed by Michael Hubbard MacKay 193 Documents, September 1839–January 1841, edited by Matthew C. Godfrey, Spencer W. McBride, Alex D. Smith, and Christopher James Blythe; Documents, February–November 1841, edited by Brent M. Rogers, Mason K. Allred, Gerrit J. Dirkmaat, and Brett D. Dowdle; and Documents, December 1841–April 1842, edited by Alex D. Smith, Christian K. Heimburger, and Christopher James Blythe Reviewed by Richard E. Bennett 203 Understanding Covenants and Communities: Jews and Latter-day Saints in Dialogue, edited by Mark S. Diamond and Andrew C. Reed Reviewed by Bradley J. Kramer BOOK NOTICE 208 The Annals of the Southern Mission: A Record of the History of the Settlement of Southern Utah The Jerusalem Center photographed by a drone. Photograph by George Alawi, August 2016. Cour- tesy BYU Jerusalem Center. Editors’ Introduction James R. Kearl and Dana M. Pike Guest Editors he Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern TStudies was dedicated on May 16, 1989. Located on Mount Scopus, the Center offers an amazing view of Jerusalem and puts the Center’s students in the heart of Jerusalem within easy walking distance of the Mount of Olives and the Old City. During the past thirty years, the Jeru- salem Center has made a significant impact on Jerusalem as well as on all those who have studied and worked there. Known locally as “The Mormon University,” this beautiful building with its many arches pro- vides an inspiring venue for studying history, culture, and scripture; for community outreach; and for promoting the concept that Israelis and Palestinians can work harmoniously together. The thirtieth anniversary of the Center’s dedication provided a good vantage point from which to assess and commemorate this wonder- ful building and the study-abroad and other programs it houses. As the anniversary neared, several individuals approached the Jerusalem Center Provo Office suggesting something be done to celebrate it. We express gratitude to them for their interest in the Center and particu- larly note the encouragement received from Grant Underwood, Amber Taylor, and Jeffrey R. Chadwick. With support from BYU professor James R. Kearl, assistant to the university president with administrative responsibility for the Jerusalem Center, a committee was formed to make arrangements for a commem- orative conference. The committee consisted of Jeffrey R. Chadwick and Dana M. Pike, BYU professors of religious education who have taught at the Jerusalem Center, and Professor Kearl. BYU Studies Quarterly 59, no. 4 (2020) 5 6 v BYU Studies Quarterly This special issue of BYU Studies Quarterly contains the presenta- tions and other remarks delivered at the conference, held on the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, on October 11, 2019. The conference was sponsored by the BYU Jerusalem Center Provo Office in conjunction with the BYU College of Religious Education, BYU’s Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, BYU Studies, and the BYU History Department. The presentations published herein fol- low the order of their original presentation at the conference and have generally been edited somewhat for length. Due to the opposition directed against BYU and a Latter-day Saint presence in Jerusalem in the 1980s during the construction of the Cen- ter, a great deal of attention has already been given to the acquisition of a lease for the site where the Center was built, its construction, and the immediate aftermath. Although a few of the presentations at our conference touched on that period (for example, the remarks of Taylor, Galbraith, and Holland), we chose to give the majority of conference time to discussing what has happened with and at the Center since its dedication. Our conference included participation from former students who have studied at the Center and faculty who have taught there. After the conference concluded, each participant was invited to add comments to what they had said during the student and faculty panel discussions, respectively, and their remarks published here are an expansion of the discussions that occurred at the conference. Because this was a one-day conference, we were unable to give atten- tion to everything that could have been covered, including the impor- tant roles and contributions of the expatriate service couples and the local staff—security, maintenance, custodial, kitchen, music, and sec- retarial—all of whom work so well, often behind the scenes, to keep those in the Center safe, well fed, and living in an environment that fos- ters learning and interaction between students and faculty. Their efforts have made and continue to make a valuable contribution to the overall success of the Center and its programs. We thank them all. We invited Elder Jeffrey R. Holland to present the keynote address at our conference because he was the president of Brigham Young Uni- versity (1980–1989) when the Jerusalem Center was being constructed, and because during Elder Holland’s service as an Apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, his assignments have included the Church’s interests in the Center. We are grateful he was willing and able to join us. Editors’ Introduction V 7 We express appreciation to all who presented at and who attended the conference. We also thank the Provo staff of the Jerusalem Center, especially Debra Petersen and JanaLee Longhurst, for so ably handling arrangements for the conference and for assisting with many details involved in preparing the presentations for publication. And we express gratitude to Blair G. Van Dyke for his assistance with the “BYU Jerusa- lem Center Timeline.” We thank Professor Steven Harper, editor in chief of BYU Stud- ies Quarterly, for publishing the conference proceedings. We likewise thank the BYU Studies staff for their assistance in bringing this issue to fruition. We invite you to read and experience, whether for the first time or by way of happy memory, the miracles of BYU’s Jerusalem Center. The entrance gates. Photograph by Mark Philbrick. Courtesy BYU Jerusalem Center. BYU Jerusalem Center Timeline April 6, 1840 Joseph Smith calls Orson Hyde and John E. Page on a mission to the Holy Land. For reasons that are not entirely clear, Elder Page returns to Nau- voo and, as a consequence, Elder Hyde travels to Palestine alone. October 24, 1841 Elder Hyde ascends the Mount of Olives and offers a prayer dedicating the Holy Land for the gathering of the Jews. March 2, 1873 President George A. Smith and Elders Lorenzo Snow and Albert Carrington ascend the Mount of Olives and rededicate the Holy Land for the gathering of the Jews. 1886 President John Taylor directs that Jacob Spori, then serving in the Swiss German Mission, travel to Haifa to preach to the German-speaking Tem- plars who had established colonies in the Holy Land. On August 29, 1886, Spori baptizes Johan Georg Grau and, later, his wife Magdalena, who anchor the Church in Haifa for many years. May 8, 1898 Elder Anthon H. Lund rededicates the Holy Land. March 4, 1902 Elder Francis M. Lyman dedicates the land again on the Mount of Olives and at the Casa Nova Hostel in the Old City, and later (March 16) on Mount Carmel. November 3, 1921 During a world tour, Elder David O. McKay visits Jerusalem and offers a sacred prayer on the Mount 8 BYU Studies Quarterly 59, no. 4 (2020) BYU Jerusalem Center Timeline V 9 of Olives. (Elder McKay does not use dedicatory language in his prayer.) October 18, 1927 Elder James E. Talmage rededicates the Holy Land on Mount Carmel.