Involving Readers in the Latter-Day Saint Academic
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Advisory Board Alan L. Wilkins, chair James P. Bell Donna Lee Bowen Douglas M. Chabries Doris R. Dant R. Kelly Haws Robert L. Millet Noel B. Reynolds Editor in Chief John W. Welch Church History Board Richard Bennett, chair 19th-century history Brian Q. Cannon 20th-century history Kathryn Daynes 19th-century history Gerrit J. Dirkmaat Joseph Smith, 19th-century Mormonism Steven C. Harper documents Frederick G. Williams cultural history Liberal Arts and Sciences Board Barry R. Bickmore, co-chair geochemistry Eric Eliason, co-chair English, folklore David C. Dollahite faith and family life Susan Howe English, poetry, drama Neal Kramer early British literature, Mormon studies Steven C. Walker Christian literature Reviews Board Eric Eliason, co-chair English, folklore John M. Murphy, co-chair Mormon and Western Trevor Alvord new media Herman du Toit art, museums Angela Hallstrom literature Greg Hansen music Emily Jensen new media Megan Sanborn Jones theater and media arts Gerrit van Dyk Church history Specialists Involving Readers Casualene Meyer poetry editor Thomas R. Wells photography editor in the Latter-day Saint Ashlee Whitaker cover art editor Academic Experience STUDIES QUARTERLY BYU Vol. 54 • No. 1 • 2015 ARTICLES 4 From the Editor 6 Discovering a Surgical First: Russell M. Nelson and Tricuspid Valve Annuloplasty Austin A. Robinson and Curtis T. Hunter 29 Narrative Atonement Theology in the Gospel of Mark Julie M. Smith 42 Santa Biblia: The Latter-day Saint Bible in Spanish Joshua M. Sears 85 Muslims among Mormons: Perspectives on Muslim Students Attending Brigham Young University Shon D. Hopkin and Ray L. Huntington 105 Viracocha: Christ among the Ancient Peruvians? Scott Hoyt ESSAYS 77 Magnitude Elizabeth Knight 135 Shaping the Earth Erika Price POETRY 76 Leaving Egypt Tyler Chadwick 140 Reprise Tyler Chadwick REVIEW ESSAY 141 Toward a Mormon Systematic Theology: Essay on Wrestling the Angel by Terryl L. Givens Stephen H. Webb THEATER REVIEW 149 “The Season of Eric” at Plan-B Theatre: A Milestone in Mormon Drama Callie Oppedisano BOOK REVIEWS 171 Histories, Volume 1: Joseph Smith Histories, 1832–1844 edited by Karen Lynn Davidson, David J. Whittaker, Mark Ashurst-McGee, and Richard L. Jensen; and Histories, Volume 2: Assigned Histories, 1831–1847 edited by Karen Lynn Davidson, Richard L. Jensen, and David J. Whittaker Reviewed by James B. Allen 190 Called to Teach: The Legacy of Karl G. Maeser by A. LeGrand Richards Reviewed by Heather M. Seferovich 197 Nels Anderson’s World War I Diary edited by Allan Kent Powell Reviewed by Kenneth L. Alford 201 The Mormon Image in the American Mind: Fifty Years of Public Perception by J. B. Haws Reviewed by Sherry Pack Baker 205 Kirtland Temple: The Biography of a Shared Mormon Sacred Space by David J. Howlett Reviewed by Elwin C. Robison 209 New Perspectives on 2 Enoch: No Longer Slavonic Only edited by Andrei Orlov and Gabriele Boccaccini Reviewed by David J. Larsen BOOK NOTICES 222 For Zion: A Mormon Theology of Hope Plain and Precious Things Nauvoo & Hancock County, Illinois: A Guide to Family History and Historical Sources From the Editor he motto on the title page in each issue of BYU Studies Quarterly Treads: “Involving readers in the Latter-day Saint academic experience.” As this issue goes to press and to you, our readers, all over the world, I am excited about all that our experienced authors bring to you. How do their articles and other materials involve you in an LDS academic experience? As the breadth and depth in the content of this issue represents, an LDS mind strives to embrace all truth found in a variety of disciplines and approaches while remaining grounded in the body of the canoni- cal works of LDS scripture. An academic approach utilizes exhaustive research, careful attention to detail, clear formulation of hypotheses, and responsible evaluation of evidence. Involvement results from embracing meaningful insights relevant to significant values of the full experience of life, intellectually and spiritually, individually and collectively, tem- porally and eternally, and so much more. Each of the items in this issue instantiates various facets of this experience. Austin Robinson and Curtis Hunter take you virtually into the oper- ating room to experience the drama and the inspiration involved in the landmark heart surgery performed by Russell Nelson, then surgeon and now Apostle, in 1960. Filled with rigorous professional insights and anatomical detail, this impressive documentary account brings to life Nelson’s experience in a manner that is accessible to all. Julie Smith uses narrative theology as a hermeneutical tool to harvest unexpected meaning from the Gospel of Mark about discipleship and atonement, subjects of central interest to Latter-day Saints. By exqui- sitely extracting understanding from three brief stories that follow the 4 BYU Studies Quarterly 54, no. 1 (2015) From the Editor V 5 crucifixion of Jesus, all people—Jew and Gentile, men and women—find themselves experientially drawn into a closer relationship with God. The down-in-the-details article by Joshua Sears about the new Span- ish LDS edition of the Bible helps readers appreciate the monumental importance of this international scriptural publication. Each page of this meticulous article helps English speakers comprehend this gigantic step forward advancing the unity of faith among the large Spanish- speaking population of the Church. Shon Hopkin and Ray Huntington allow all to walk a few miles on the BYU campus in the shoes of the Muslim students at Brigham Young University. Aided by objective sociological surveying, these authors give readers reliable information about meaningful religious experiences of non-LDS students in an LDS academic setting. Scott Hoyt’s passion for marshalling detailed information about the Inca god Viracocha and his legendary visit in ancient Peru will be an eye-opener to many. His examination of early Spanish records with their archaeological and academic substantiations offers captivating information relevant in testing a potential relationship with the Book of Mormon’s report that Jesus would show himself to many people besides those gathered at the temple in Bountiful (3 Ne. 17:4). In addition to presenting two personal essays and a poem, this issue raises the curtain on what Callie Oppedisano’s theatre essay calls “a mile- stone in Mormon drama.” Celebrating a full season of five stage produc- tions of plays by playwright and former BYU professor Eric Samuelsen, this expert assessment of these dramatizations of subjects of interest to Latter-day Saints makes readers into more than merely amused observers. Insightful reviews of a batch of new publications will help keep read- ers up to date on subjects of interest to teachers, citizens, historians, and scriptorians. Stephen Webb’s theologically engaging review of Wrestling the Angel applauds and pushes forward Terryl Givens’s presentation of foundational LDS concepts. James Allen’s review of two more volumes in the Joseph Smith Papers introduces readers to important early Church historical documents that many people have never heard of before. These are pages you can get involved with. They bring you research and insights into topics of deep interest to Latter-day Saints. Like most academic pursuits, these studies add new information to our reservoirs of knowledge, while at the same time raising fascinating riddles yet to puzzle over. And that too is typical of a true academic experience, in which new things are found, forgotten things are remembered, and familiar things take on added significance. So, enjoy the experience! Dr. Russell M. Nelson examines a model of the human heart. As a surgeon, he was instrumental in creating the first heart-lung machine and performed many open- heart operations, including one of the first successful tricuspid valve repairs. Courtesy Church History Library. Discovering a Surgical First Russell M. Nelson and Tricuspid Valve Annuloplasty Austin A. Robinson and Curtis T. Hunter n an April 2003 general conference address, Elder Russell M. Nelson Iof the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles recounted an experience of receiving sudden inspiration on how to perform surgery during his medical career. The epiphanic image that came to the young surgeon in 1960 led to the repair of a previously inoperable valve defect in the heart of E. L., a Latter-day Saint stake patriarch. As a novel surgical approach, the case is remarkable. However, Nelson did not publish a report of the experience in the medical literature at the time, and, as a result, its place in surgical history of the twentieth century has not been fully described. The primary purposes of this article are to: (1) document the circum- stances surrounding that operation, (2) describe in detail the operative technique, and (3) place the surgery in its proper medical and historical context. In addition to his public comments on the topic, Nelson has gener- ously supplied additional information to make this publication possible. In exploring the historical and secular context of the experience, this article attempts to foster wider appreciation for an event that carried great surgical as well as personal and spiritual meaning for Nelson. In doing so, we follow the approach of LeRoy S. Wirthlin, whose influential article in this journal first identified nineteenth-century doctor Nathan Smith as the surgeon behind Joseph Smith’s boyhood operation.1 Wirth- lin’s work illuminated our understanding of Joseph Smith’s life story 1. LeRoy S. Wirthlin, “Nathan Smith (1762–1828) Surgical Consultant to Joseph Smith,” BYU Studies 17, no. 3 (1977): 319–37. BYU Studies Quarterly 54, no. 1 (2015) 7 8 v BYU Studies Quarterly as well as the career of Nathan Smith, who went on to found medical schools at both Dartmouth and Yale.2 Nelson’s operation on E. L. is similarly situated at the intersection of faith and medicine.