Advisory Board Alan L. Wilkins, chair James P. Bell Donna Lee Bowen Douglas M. Chabries R. Kelly Haws Robert L. Millet Involving Readers Noel B. Reynolds in the Latter-day Saint Editor in Chief John W. Welch Academic Experience 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 Gerrit van Dyk Church history Specialists Casualene Meyer poetry editor Thomas R. Wells photography editor Ashlee Whitaker cover art editor STUDIES QUARTERLY BYU Vol. 54 • No. 4 • 2015 ARTICLES 4 From the Editor 6 The Necessity of Political Parties and the Importance of Compromise David B. Magleby 119 Grace in the Book of Mormon Brent J. Schmidt 135 Dating the Death of Jesus Christ Jeffrey R. Chadwick DOCUMENT 24 The Prophets Have Spoken, but What Did They Say? Examining the Differences between George D. Watt’s Original Shorthand Notes and the Sermons Published in the Journal of Discourses Gerrit Dirkmaat and LaJean Purcell Carruth; Shorthand transcriptions by LaJean Purcell Carruth POETRY 192 Desert Sonnet Tayva Patch ESSAY 193 Blue Cindy Gritton BOOK REVIEWS 198 American Crucifixion: The Murder of Joseph Smith and the Fate of the Mormon Church by Alex Beam Reviewed by Alexander L. Baugh 203 Helen Andelin and the Fascinating Womanhood Movement by Julie Debra Neuffer Reviewed by Mary Jane Woodger BOOK NOTICES 207 Textual and Comparative Explorations in 1 and 2 Enoch Standing Apart: Mormon Historical Consciousness and the Concept of Apostasy From the Editor his issue of BYU Studies Quarterly proudly leads off with the 2015 TKarl G. Maeser Distinguished Faculty Lecture by political science professor David Magleby. I am confident that all current readers will enjoy and benefit from the timely insights that this speech offers regard- ing the persistent pressures on political parties to justify their existence and to seek opportunities for mutually beneficial accommodations and compromises. Magley’s Maeser Lecture stands in an illustrious tradition now reaching back over half a century at Brigham Young University. Fifty years ago, the second Maeser Lecture was given by Professor Hugh W. Nibley on March 17, 1965, when I was a freshman at BYU. Like many of these annual faculty lectures, Nibley’s was promptly published in BYU Studies, entitled “The Expanding Gospel.” Its opening lines read, “The expression ‘expanding Gospel’ is not a contradiction of terms.” While “no man may add to the scriptures, . that imposes no restriction on God.” “Where has God imposed any limits on His own prerogative of imparting His word to man?” (vol. 7, no. 1, p. 3; emphasis in original). For twenty-five pages, Nibley then goes on to show how the revealed details in the plan of salvation known distinctively to Latter-day Saints can be found by careful analysis of dozens of ancient sources that “follow along familiar grooves to the end and then continue onward into new territory” (4). Although these ancient sources are often only “shattered remnants of a forgotten structure,” behind them stands “a solid reality” (26–27). In many ways, Nibley’s quest for further light and knowledge 4 BYU Studies Quarterly 54, no. 1 (2015) From the Editor V 5 has been the guiding hermeneutic of BYU Studies, in search of those solid realities, as this current issue attests. Political applications of gospel principles such as unity, love, humility, shared objectives, reconciliation, unselfishness, and community well- being are boldly brought forward and expanded in David Magleby’s wise advice on politics and compromise. Second, as Nibley also laid out, in dealing with historical writings and gospel texts, “our first obligation is to inform ourselves” about what they actually teach (4). In this regard, the groundbreaking decipher- ment and analysis by LaJean Purcell Carruth and Gerrit Dirkmaat of shorthand transcriptions of early addresses by General Authorities that were eventually published in the Journal of Discourses expands our knowledge of the unfolding of Latter-day Saint doctrines and practices. The picture above shows me seated on a bench with a statue of William Tyndale in Bristol, England, which memorializes the impor- tance of translating scripture clearly and correctly. In this spirit of understanding scripture, linguistic research by Brent Schmidt into the ancient meanings of the Greek and Hebrew words that stand behind the vital gospel term grace expands the familiar understandings of that biblical term, showing that the authors who contributed to the Book of Mormon likely understood the original, but now usually overlooked, covenantal and relational dimensions of grace. And finally, the detailed examination by Jeffrey Chadwick of the chronology of the death of Jesus expands our understanding of that key event in the Father’s eternal plan. Using scriptural, historical, astronom- ical, and archaeological evidence, Chadwick arrives at what he feels is a definite date for the crucifixion. In the process, he proposes a different interpretation of the timing of events in Jesus’s final week, an interpreta- tion that seeks to harmonize seeming discrepancies between the synop- tic Gospels and the Gospel of John. In Nibley’s words, “Israel escaped both pessimism and fatalism by being constantly reminded by the prophets of the great pre-existent plan that lies behind everything that happens. This we believe to be the most significant element in the expanding Gospel” (27). That Good News continues today to expand in ways that God has chosen to impart his knowledge and reassurance to all who will listen to and learn of him. David B. Magleby, BYU’s 2015 Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Faculty Lecturer, pre- senting the forum address on May 19, 2015, in the de Jong Concert Hall. Photo courtesy of Brigham Young University. The Necessity of Political Parties and the Importance of Compromise David B. Magleby BYU Studies has a long history of publishing the annual lecture given by the recipient of the Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Faculty Lecturer Award, BYU’s highest faculty honor. It is with great pleasure that BYU Studies Quarterly publishes this year’s lecture by Dr. David B. Magleby, a professor of political science. His speech was delivered as a forum address on May 19, 2015, at Brigham Young University. ice President Webb, other members of the administration, deans, Vcolleagues, friends, and students, I am honored and humbled to be recognized in this way. The occasion invites introspection and appreciation. I have been greatly blessed by the opportunity to study, teach, and write for now thirty-three years on the faculty at Brigham Young Univer- sity. There is a sense of mission about teaching at BYU, which for me is personified by you students and your predecessors—those I have known and taught in classes, those I have worked with as teaching or research assistants, and those who have been members of BYU wards or stakes in which I have served. You are smart and good. You have lifted me and my family. You motivate me to be a better person. You will do remarkable things in your families, church, community, and occupation. I hope my remarks today will encourage you to make civic engagement a part of who you are. I teach in a discipline whose name some find presumptuous: politi- cal science. Politics seems so disorganized, messy, personal, and some- times even evil that it can hardly be seen as science. Politics can be all BYU Studies Quarterly 54, no. 4 (2015) 7 8 v BYU Studies Quarterly of that, but as Alexander Hamilton put it in Federalist Paper no. 9, “The science of politics, however, like most other sciences, has received great improvement.”1 Similarly, James Madison wrote in Federalist no. 37 of “political science” and “science of government.”2 Or as John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail in 1780, “I must study Politicks and War that my sons may have liberty to study . Mathematicks and Philosophy, Geography, natural History, Naval Arichtecture, navigation, Commerce and Agriculture, in order to give their Children a right to study Paint- ing, Poetry, Musick, Architecture, Statuary, Tapestry and Porcelaine.”3 To Adams, Hamilton, Madison, Jay, and the other framers of our grand experiment with self-government, the data for their science came from their experience in colonial legislatures and the Continental Congress; and from their study of religion, history, and science. Think of the Con- stitution as an engineering blueprint for the design of a functioning and enduring government. By that standard, their blueprint has stood the test of time—and they were remarkable social scientists. Today, I would like to address two seemingly contradictory elements of politics that are relevant to our times; indeed, I would argue they will always be relevant: the necessity of political parties and the importance of compromise. The Necessity of Political Parties With respect to political parties I will argue an idea widely accepted in political science: that political parties are essential to modern democ- racy. This view runs counter to popular opinion, which is often anti- party. Concerns about parties include that they corrupt participants, foster contention, and turn their supporters into unthinking followers rather than informed citizens. Today, I hope to persuade you that par- ties serve important functions and that you should not only vote in 1.