Advisory Board Noel B. Reynolds, chair James P. Bell Donna Lee Bowen Douglas M. Chabries George Handley R. Kelly Haws Involving Readers Robert L. Millet Alan L. Wilkins in the Latter-day Saint Academic Experience 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 Gerrit van Dyk Church history Specialists Casualene Meyer poetry editor Thomas R. Wells photography editor Ashlee Whitaker cover art editor STUDIES QUARTERLY BYU Vol. 55 • No. 3 • 2016 ARTICLES 4 From the Editor 6 Understanding the Council of Fifty and Its Minutes Ronald K. Esplin 35 Joseph Smith and Egyptian Artifacts: A Model for Evaluating the Prophetic Nature of the Prophet’s Ideas about the Ancient World Kerry Muhlestein 83 Anatomy of Invention Larry L. Howell 101 Theological Underpinnings of Baptism for the Dead David L. Paulsen, Roger D. Cook, and Brock M. Mason 117 On Criticism, Compassion, and Charity George Handley 134 “This Is Very Historic”: The Young Ambassadors 1979 Tour of China John Hilton III and Brady Liu DOCUMENT 23 Minutes of the Afternoon Meeting of the Council of Fifty, April 11, 1844 Matthew J. Grow, Ronald K. Esplin, Mark Ashurst-McGee, Gerrit J. Dirkmaat, and Jeffrey D. Mahas ESSAY 165 Quds Bentley Snow POETRY 34 The Cordwainer Terresa Wellborn 100 Silent Wednesday Mark Bennion BOOK REVIEWS 174 Joseph Smith Papers Documents Series Volume 1: July 1828–June 1831, edited by Michael Hubbard MacKay, Gerrit J. Dirkmaat, Grant Underwood, Robert J. Woodford, and William G. Hartley; Volume 2: July 1831–January 1833, edited by Matthew C. Godfrey, Mark Ashurst-McGee, Grant Underwood, Robert J. Woodford, and William G. Hartley; and Volume 3: February 1833–March 1834, edited by Gerrit J. Dirkmaat, Brent M. Rogers, Grant Underwood, Robert J. Woodford, and William G. Hartley Reviewed by James B. Allen 183 Schooling the Prophet: How the Book of Mormon Influenced Joseph Smith and the Early Restoration by Gerald E. Smith Reviewed by Mark L. Staker 187 Mormonism and American Politics, edited by Randall Balmer and Jana Riess Reviewed by J. B. Haws From the Editor n a revelation that has served as an educational handbook for the IChurch, Joseph Smith aimed for all learners to “be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient,” so that as they face the “perplexities of the nations,” they might “be prepared in all things” (D&C 88:78–80). In finalizing this issue of BYU Studies Quarterly, I am gratified to see how its helpful array of contents meets these aspirations of the Prophet. In helping to keep readers up to date on important historical dis- coveries pertaining to the kingdom of God, this issue continues a long- standing role of BYU Studies. Here not only is a review by James Allen of three volumes in the Joseph Smith Papers series, but also an excerpt from the soon-to-be-released minutes of the influential Council of Fifty in Nauvoo. We are privileged to have lead-editor Ronald Esplin explain the significance of the Council of Fifty and of its minute book. The excerpt is from a Council of Fifty meeting held on April 11, 1844. On that day, ten weeks before he was killed, Joseph Smith began by offering very helpful advice: admonishing all to guard themselves against every spirit of bigotry and intolerance toward the religious sentiments of others, and calling upon government leaders to administer justice without any deprivations on account of a person’s religious opinions. Next, examining numerous accounts of people who had heard, either first- or secondhand, Joseph Smith’s ideas about his Egyptian papyri, Kerry Muhlestein considers three models for dealing with Joseph’s impressive and yet puzzling explanations. In processing new 4 BYU Studies Quarterly 55, no. 3 (2016) From the Editor V 5 and conflicting evidence, Muhlestein helps people steer a middle path between two ends of a spectrum: on the one hand, the idea that Joseph Smith was not inspired at all; and on the other hand, the idea that he was completely inspired in everything. Muhlestein’s middle path helps in carefully explaining much about the book of Abraham as well as about other topics of current interest to Latter-day Saints. Larry Howell’s “Anatomy of Invention” helps readers appreciate three important principles of invention: inspiration, collaboration, and exploitation. In this Distinguished Faculty Lecture, Howell tells how his academic career has flourished by unexpectedly noticing new ways to apply old knowledge, by working together with colleagues from various disciplines, and by finding ways to make the most of opportunities to solve problems and improve people’s lives. In the next article, David Paulsen, Roger Cook, and Brock Mason ask the question, Why did baptism for the dead fall out of use around the fifth century? As these three coauthors argue, the theological cause was the loss of three crucial doctrines: the necessity of baptism for the exaltation of all individuals; the efficacy of performing ordinances on behalf of others; and the belief that the gospel continues to be preached to the spirits of those who have died. Without these three theological legs, support for vicarious baptisms for the dead collapsed. Then, John Hilton documents with personal interviews and contem- porary correspondence the events that led up to breakthrough oppor- tunity for the BYU Young Ambassadors to perform in mainland China in 1979, only six months after diplomatic relations were established between the United States and communist China. Personal sacrifices, faith-filled leadership, and loving performances made this trip unfor- gettable, opening doors for twenty-seven other tours to China by BYU performing groups. Not to be missed is the moving speech by George Handley. It helps readers appreciate better how the trio of critical thinking, compassion, and charity can come together to produce both intellectual and spiritual growth. And the essay by Bentley Snow helps readers understand the good in other religions and in their faithful believers. We all need help, and with the guidance of the Lord, ideas in this issue can help all readers to rejoice in goodness and righteousness. As Joseph prayed: “Help thy servants to say, with thy grace assisting them: Thy will be done, O Lord, and not ours” (D&C 109:43–44). First pages of William Clayton’s first record book of the Council of Fifty, “Record of the Council of Fifty or Kingdom of God—1844.” The record begins, “This Council was organized on the strength of the contents of two letters from the brethren in the Pine Country which President Joseph Smith received by the hand of George Miller and Alexander Badlam on Sunday the 10th day of March A.D. 1844.” An index was later added to the title page. The books are preserved in the Church His- tory Library. Photograph by Welden C. Andersen. Courtesy Church History Library. © Intellectual Reserve, Inc. Understanding the Council of Fifty and Its Minutes Ronald K. Esplin tudents of early Mormon history have long known about the once- Ssecretive Council of Fifty in Nauvoo and learned much about it.1 However, the records of the council were never available for research until now. The closest I came to the records of the Council of Fifty before the First Presidency made them available for the Joseph Smith Papers was in about 1977. Elder Joseph Anderson of the Seventy, then serving as exec- utive director of the Historical Department, had served for decades as secretary to the First Presidency. When premeeting conversation around a conference table one day turned to the Council of Fifty, Elder Anderson asked what it was. That historians knew much about a council he knew 1. For some of the earliest scholarly work, see James R. Clark, “The Kingdom of God, the Council of Fifty, and the State of Deseret,” Utah Historical Quar- terly 26, no. 2 (1958): 132–48; and Alfred Bush and K[laus] J. Hansen, “Notes Towards a Definition of the Council of Fifty, 1957” (Special Collections, Univer- sity of Utah Marriott Library). Hansen went on to do the most extensive work, including his Quest for Empire: The Political Kingdom of God and the Council of Fifty in Mormon History (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1967), a book that helped imprint its subject on the Mormon historical landscape. Based on additional records, in the early 1980s seminal pieces in BYU Studies by Michael Quinn and Andrew Ehat detailed membership and shed new light on the rules and functioning of the council; see D. Michael Quinn, “The Coun- cil of Fifty and Its Members, 1844 to 1945,” BYU Studies 20, no. 2 (1980): 163–97; and Andrew F. Ehat, “‘It Seems Like Heaven Began on Earth’: Joseph Smith and the Constitution of the Kingdom of God,” BYU Studies 20, no. 3 (1980): 253–79. The most recent book-length treatment is Jedediah S. Rogers, ed.,The Council of Fifty: A Documentary History (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2014).