Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies
Encyclopedia
The Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) is an informal collaboration of academics devoted to Latter-day Saint historical scholarship. The group is formally part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, formerly known as the Institute for the Study and Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts at Brigham Young University
(BYU), which is operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).
FARMS supports and sponsors what it considers to be "faithful scholarship", which includes academic study and research in support of Christianity
and Mormonism
, and in particular, where possible, the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This research primarily concerns the Book of Mormon
, the Book of Abraham
, the Old Testament
, the New Testament
, early Christian history, ancient temples, and other related subjects. While the organization allows some degree of academic freedom within these topics, FARMS is committed to the conclusion that Latter-day Saint scriptures are authentic, historical texts written by prophets of God. FARMS has garnered criticism from other scholars and critics who consider it as an apologetic organization that operates under the auspices of the LDS Church, which fully funds and operates BYU, its parent organization.
after an invitation by Gordon B. Hinckley
, President of the LDS Church and chairman of the BYU Board of Trustees. In extending the invitation, Hinckley noted: "FARMS represents the efforts of sincere and dedicated scholars. It has grown to provide strong support and defense of the Church on a professional basis. I wish to express my strong congratulations and appreciation for those who started this effort and who have shepherded it to this point."
In 2001, Brigham Young University
consolidated FARMS with the Center for the Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts (CPART) and the Middle Eastern Texts Initiative (METI) to form the Institute for the Study and Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts (ISPART). ISPART was renamed as the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship in 2006. FARMS still existed as a nominal sub-unit of the Maxwell Institute, but without a distinctive cluster of BYU faculty and staff, and was largely replaced by the Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies.
As of September 2008, the new Director of the Willes Center and of FARMS is Paul Y. Hoskisson
, an American Assyriologist and former Associate Dean of Religious Education. The Director of the Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship is M. Gerald Bradford. He is Hoskisson's superior.
In late 2010 Daniel C. Peterson
, editor of the FARMS Review, announced the journal would be renamed Mormon Studies Review, reflecting "readjustments over the past several years in what is now known as the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship; the old title, FARMS, no longer reflects the way we're organized. ... We look forward to continuing under the new name." He also noted that the FARMS name had sometimes been mistaken for involvement with agriculture.
The head editor of the Middle Eastern Texts Inititative is Daniel C. Peterson
. D. Morgan Davis is the editor over the Islamic Translation Series Project and Carl W. Griffin is the directing editor of the Eastern Christian Texts project with Kristian S. Heal as associate editor. Muhammad S. Eissa
is the Editorial Consultant for the project.
Critic Matthew Paulson argues that the research activities of the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) are not subjected to peer review, that FARMS limits peer review only to members of the LDS Church, and that FARMS's primary goal is to defend the LDS faith rather than promote truthful scholarship. Molecular biologist Simon Southerton
, a former LDS Church bishop and author of Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church said, "I was amazed at the lengths that FARMS went to in order to prop up faith in the Book of Mormon. I felt that the only way I could be satisfied with FARMS explanations was to stop thinking.... The explanations of the FARMS researchers stretched the bounds of credibility to breaking point on almost every critical issue".
FARMS supports and sponsors what it considers to be 'faithful scholarship', which includes academic study and research in support of Christianity
and Mormonism
, and in particular, where possible, the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
After corresponding directly with Neal A. Maxwell
, former Mormon Steve Benson (grandson of Ezra Taft Benson
), quoted Maxwell as saying that "one of the purposes of F.A.R.M.S. was to prevent the General Authorities from being outflanked by the Church's critics."
FARMS states that the work it supports "conforms to established canons of scholarship, is peer reviewed, and reflects solely the views of individual authors and editors." John A. Tvedtnes, formerly with FARMS and now retired, claims that "the academic credentials of people who publish with FARMS are questioned only by the critics, never by bona fide scholars," noting that "[t]he list of articles and books published in non-LDS scholarly presses by FARMS authors is impressive indeed. If the critics do not accept FARMS authors as scholars, those authors are at least so acknowledged by the world's scholarly community."
Two evangelical Christian scholars, Carl Mosser and Paul Owen, closely examined the scholarship produced by FARMS. Their subsequent report at the April 25, 1997, Far West Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, lauded the high quality of FARMS' scholarship, concluding that their fellow evangelicals had lost the apologetic battle against the Mormons largely due to excellent research and publication by FARMS. The same conclusion was reached independently by Roman Catholic scholar Massimo Introvigne.
' publication of Grant Palmer's book An Insider's View of Mormon Origins
. The publication of this book immediately resulted in five negative book reviews by FARMS. Ron Priddis of Signature Books responded to these reviews by stating: "Is nothing beyond the reach of sarcasm by FARMS polemicists?" Priddis refers to the book reviews by FARMS as "tabloid scholarship."
Some authors associated with FARMS have been accused of making ad hominem
attacks: attacking someone personally, rather than analyzing the merits of their ideas. FARMS has also been accused of labeling someone an "anti-Mormon
", and then discounting their works as biased, based largely on this pronouncement. In a speech offered before the Sunstone Symposium
(titled "Why I No Longer Trust the FARMS Review of Books"), John Hatch said, "After reading the (FARMS) reviews myself, it appears to me, and is my opinion, that FARMS is interested in making Mormonism's past appear as normal as possible to readers by attacking history books that discuss complex or difficult aspects of the church's past. As one who hopes to some day contribute to the body of the New Mormon History, I am deeply troubled by what I see as continued efforts to attack honest scholarly work."
published an essay in a FARMS publication entitled Review of Books on the Book of Mormon criticizing an essay by Brent Metcalfe, a writer who criticized the Book of Mormon
. The point of Hamblin's essay was that Metcalfe criticized the Book of Mormon using circular arguments and by applying uneven standards.
Hamblin's review included an "acrostic
" spelling out "Metcalfe is Butthead," a reference to one of the two title characters in the popular cartoon Beavis and Butt-head
that aired during the mid-1990s. (The acrostic was made up of the first letters of paragraphs spanning nine pages of the essay.) After the 1994 publication went to press and a few early issues were distributed, it was caught by a FARMS editor who stopped the press run, recalled the issues, and edited part of the acrostic out. Portions still remained, with the post-editing acrostic spelling out "METWHSFE IA BUTAHEAT."
Associated Press
writer Vern Anderson wrote an article concerning the matter which was published in the Deseret News:
Upon learning of the acrostic, Metcalfe responded, stating:
Those critical of FARMS use the incident as primary evidence of the mean-spirited nature of what FARMS produces. Those supportive of FARMS counter that the critics seem unable to look beyond the incident to address the actual scholarship in FARMS publications.
FARMS has been cited as representative of a new trend within Mormonism: the emergence of progressive forms of Mormon orthodoxy
. This trend is committed to the literal reality of Mormon faith claims, but is simultaneously willing to rethink traditional understandings of those claims. A prominent example of this trend is the work FARMS has produced supporting a limited geography model
for the Book of Mormon
: suggesting that the events chronicled in the Book of Mormon occurred in a much smaller region than the traditional understanding, which argues the same events occurred across the entire Western hemisphere
. Supporters of this limited geography idea—including some high-ranking church leaders—believe this model is consistent with anthropological, archaeological
and genetic
findings about ancient American peoples, as well as with the Book of Mormon text.
, including:
FARMS has also republished many of the writings of LDS scholar Hugh Nibley
in the 19-volume Collected Works of Hugh Nibley. Numerous other books and papers have been published by FARMS, as well as audio and video recordings.
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
(BYU), which is operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).
FARMS supports and sponsors what it considers to be "faithful scholarship", which includes academic study and research in support of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and Mormonism
Mormonism
Mormonism is the religion practiced by Mormons, and is the predominant religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement. This movement was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. beginning in the 1820s as a form of Christian primitivism. During the 1830s and 1840s, Mormonism gradually distinguished itself...
, and in particular, where possible, the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This research primarily concerns the Book of Mormon
Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement that adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2600 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr...
, the Book of Abraham
Book of Abraham
The Book of Abraham is a 1835 work by Joseph Smith, Jr. that he said was based on Egyptian papyri purchased from a traveling mummy exhibition. According to Smith, the book was "a translation of some ancient records....purporting to be the writings of Abraham, while he was in Egypt, called the Book...
, the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
, the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
, early Christian history, ancient temples, and other related subjects. While the organization allows some degree of academic freedom within these topics, FARMS is committed to the conclusion that Latter-day Saint scriptures are authentic, historical texts written by prophets of God. FARMS has garnered criticism from other scholars and critics who consider it as an apologetic organization that operates under the auspices of the LDS Church, which fully funds and operates BYU, its parent organization.
History
FARMS was organized in California in 1979 as a private not-for-profit educational organization. In 1997, FARMS became part of Brigham Young UniversityBrigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
after an invitation by Gordon B. Hinckley
Gordon B. Hinckley
Gordon Bitner Hinckley was an American religious leader and author who served as the 15th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from March 12, 1995 until his death...
, President of the LDS Church and chairman of the BYU Board of Trustees. In extending the invitation, Hinckley noted: "FARMS represents the efforts of sincere and dedicated scholars. It has grown to provide strong support and defense of the Church on a professional basis. I wish to express my strong congratulations and appreciation for those who started this effort and who have shepherded it to this point."
In 2001, Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
consolidated FARMS with the Center for the Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts (CPART) and the Middle Eastern Texts Initiative (METI) to form the Institute for the Study and Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts (ISPART). ISPART was renamed as the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship in 2006. FARMS still existed as a nominal sub-unit of the Maxwell Institute, but without a distinctive cluster of BYU faculty and staff, and was largely replaced by the Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies.
As of September 2008, the new Director of the Willes Center and of FARMS is Paul Y. Hoskisson
Paul Y. Hoskisson
Paul Y. Hoskisson is an American professor of ancient scripture and former associate dean of Religious Education at Brigham Young University . In 2008, he was appointed director of the Laura F...
, an American Assyriologist and former Associate Dean of Religious Education. The Director of the Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship is M. Gerald Bradford. He is Hoskisson's superior.
In late 2010 Daniel C. Peterson
Daniel C. Peterson
Daniel C. Peterson is a professor of Islamic Studies and Arabic in the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages at Brigham Young University and currently serves as editor-in-chief of BYU's Middle Eastern Texts Initiative. He is a member of the executive council of the Neal A...
, editor of the FARMS Review, announced the journal would be renamed Mormon Studies Review, reflecting "readjustments over the past several years in what is now known as the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship; the old title, FARMS, no longer reflects the way we're organized. ... We look forward to continuing under the new name." He also noted that the FARMS name had sometimes been mistaken for involvement with agriculture.
Components
The Middle Eastern Texts Initiative consists of three sub-parts to date. These are the Islamic Translation Series, the Eastern Christian Texts and the Medical Works of Moses Maimonides.The head editor of the Middle Eastern Texts Inititative is Daniel C. Peterson
Daniel C. Peterson
Daniel C. Peterson is a professor of Islamic Studies and Arabic in the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages at Brigham Young University and currently serves as editor-in-chief of BYU's Middle Eastern Texts Initiative. He is a member of the executive council of the Neal A...
. D. Morgan Davis is the editor over the Islamic Translation Series Project and Carl W. Griffin is the directing editor of the Eastern Christian Texts project with Kristian S. Heal as associate editor. Muhammad S. Eissa
Muhammad S. Eissa
Muhammad S. Eissa is currently a Lecturer of Arabic at the University of Chicago, and prior to that was the Mellon Lecturer at the University of Michigan....
is the Editorial Consultant for the project.
Controversy
FARMS has also been a focus of some controversy from both within and outside the Mormon community.Critic Matthew Paulson argues that the research activities of the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) are not subjected to peer review, that FARMS limits peer review only to members of the LDS Church, and that FARMS's primary goal is to defend the LDS faith rather than promote truthful scholarship. Molecular biologist Simon Southerton
Simon Southerton
Simon Southerton is an Australian plant geneticist. Southerton published the book Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church. The book uses genetic evidence to examine the historical accuracy of The Book of Mormon. The book received heavy criticism from members of The...
, a former LDS Church bishop and author of Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church said, "I was amazed at the lengths that FARMS went to in order to prop up faith in the Book of Mormon. I felt that the only way I could be satisfied with FARMS explanations was to stop thinking.... The explanations of the FARMS researchers stretched the bounds of credibility to breaking point on almost every critical issue".
FARMS supports and sponsors what it considers to be 'faithful scholarship', which includes academic study and research in support of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and Mormonism
Mormonism
Mormonism is the religion practiced by Mormons, and is the predominant religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement. This movement was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. beginning in the 1820s as a form of Christian primitivism. During the 1830s and 1840s, Mormonism gradually distinguished itself...
, and in particular, where possible, the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
After corresponding directly with Neal A. Maxwell
Neal A. Maxwell
Neal Ash Maxwell was an apostle and a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1981 until his death.-Life:...
, former Mormon Steve Benson (grandson of Ezra Taft Benson
Ezra Taft Benson
Ezra Taft Benson was the thirteenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1985 until his death and was United States Secretary of Agriculture for both terms of the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower.-Biography:Born on a farm in Whitney, Idaho, Benson was the oldest of...
), quoted Maxwell as saying that "one of the purposes of F.A.R.M.S. was to prevent the General Authorities from being outflanked by the Church's critics."
Peer review and scholarly credentials
Work produced under FARMS's auspices has been critiqued by Mormons, ex-Mormons, secular scholars, and evangelical Christians.FARMS states that the work it supports "conforms to established canons of scholarship, is peer reviewed, and reflects solely the views of individual authors and editors." John A. Tvedtnes, formerly with FARMS and now retired, claims that "the academic credentials of people who publish with FARMS are questioned only by the critics, never by bona fide scholars," noting that "[t]he list of articles and books published in non-LDS scholarly presses by FARMS authors is impressive indeed. If the critics do not accept FARMS authors as scholars, those authors are at least so acknowledged by the world's scholarly community."
Two evangelical Christian scholars, Carl Mosser and Paul Owen, closely examined the scholarship produced by FARMS. Their subsequent report at the April 25, 1997, Far West Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, lauded the high quality of FARMS' scholarship, concluding that their fellow evangelicals had lost the apologetic battle against the Mormons largely due to excellent research and publication by FARMS. The same conclusion was reached independently by Roman Catholic scholar Massimo Introvigne.
Polemics
Some have accused FARMS of engaging in mean-spirited polemics. One example of this occurred with Signature BooksSignature Books
Signature Books is a press specializing in subjects related to Utah, Mormonism, and Western Americana. The company was founded in 1980 by George D...
' publication of Grant Palmer's book An Insider's View of Mormon Origins
An Insider's View of Mormon Origins
An Insider's View of Mormon Origins is a 2003 book on the origins of Mormonism written by Grant H. Palmer, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who is a retired Church Educational System instructor and Institute director with a master's degree in history.Palmer's stated...
. The publication of this book immediately resulted in five negative book reviews by FARMS. Ron Priddis of Signature Books responded to these reviews by stating: "Is nothing beyond the reach of sarcasm by FARMS polemicists?" Priddis refers to the book reviews by FARMS as "tabloid scholarship."
Some authors associated with FARMS have been accused of making ad hominem
Ad hominem
An ad hominem , short for argumentum ad hominem, is an attempt to negate the truth of a claim by pointing out a negative characteristic or belief of the person supporting it...
attacks: attacking someone personally, rather than analyzing the merits of their ideas. FARMS has also been accused of labeling someone an "anti-Mormon
Anti-Mormon
Anti-Mormonism is discrimination, persecution, hostility or prejudice directed at members of the Latter Day Saint movement, particularly The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
", and then discounting their works as biased, based largely on this pronouncement. In a speech offered before the Sunstone Symposium
Sunstone Magazine
Sunstone is a magazine published by the Sunstone Education Foundation, Inc., a 501 nonprofit corporation, that discusses Mormonism through scholarship, art, short fiction, and poetry. The foundation began the publication in 1974 and considers it a vehicle for free and frank exchange in The Church...
(titled "Why I No Longer Trust the FARMS Review of Books"), John Hatch said, "After reading the (FARMS) reviews myself, it appears to me, and is my opinion, that FARMS is interested in making Mormonism's past appear as normal as possible to readers by attacking history books that discuss complex or difficult aspects of the church's past. As one who hopes to some day contribute to the body of the New Mormon History, I am deeply troubled by what I see as continued efforts to attack honest scholarly work."
"Metcalfe is Butthead"
William J. HamblinWilliam J. Hamblin
William James Hamblin is a Mormon apologist and associate professor of history at Brigham Young University . He is a former board member of the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies at BYU.- Biography :...
published an essay in a FARMS publication entitled Review of Books on the Book of Mormon criticizing an essay by Brent Metcalfe, a writer who criticized the Book of Mormon
Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement that adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2600 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr...
. The point of Hamblin's essay was that Metcalfe criticized the Book of Mormon using circular arguments and by applying uneven standards.
Hamblin's review included an "acrostic
Acrostic
An acrostic is a poem or other form of writing in which the first letter, syllable or word of each line, paragraph or other recurring feature in the text spells out a word or a message. As a form of constrained writing, an acrostic can be used as a mnemonic device to aid memory retrieval. A famous...
" spelling out "Metcalfe is Butthead," a reference to one of the two title characters in the popular cartoon Beavis and Butt-head
Beavis and Butt-Head
Beavis and Butt-head is an American animated television series created by Mike Judge. The series originated from Frog Baseball, a 1992 short film by Judge. After seeing the short, MTV signed Judge to develop the concept. Beavis and Butt-head originally aired from March 8, 1993 to November 28, 1997...
that aired during the mid-1990s. (The acrostic was made up of the first letters of paragraphs spanning nine pages of the essay.) After the 1994 publication went to press and a few early issues were distributed, it was caught by a FARMS editor who stopped the press run, recalled the issues, and edited part of the acrostic out. Portions still remained, with the post-editing acrostic spelling out "METWHSFE IA BUTAHEAT."
Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
writer Vern Anderson wrote an article concerning the matter which was published in the Deseret News:
"The salvos contained in the 566-page 'Review of Books on the Book of Mormon' come as no surprise, given the longstanding animus between scholars associated with FARMS, many of them professors at church-owned Brigham Young University, and those published by the independent Signature Books.... Recently a review by BYU history professor William Hamblin containing an encrypted message 'Metcalfe is butthead' — was hastily edited out after the 'Review' had gone to press."
Upon learning of the acrostic, Metcalfe responded, stating:
"When I heard rumors that William J. Hamblin, FARMS board member and BYU historian, had a caustic encryption in his review... I summarily dismissed them. Surely no legitimate scholar would stoop to such an inane level. However, it seems that I underestimated Hamblin's 'scholarly' prowess."
"Do Hamblin and Peterson's methods typify the brand of 'scholarship' FARMS, BYU Department of History, and BYU Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages cultivates and endorses? Evidently some have shifted from apologist to misologist."
Those critical of FARMS use the incident as primary evidence of the mean-spirited nature of what FARMS produces. Those supportive of FARMS counter that the critics seem unable to look beyond the incident to address the actual scholarship in FARMS publications.
Apologetics
While scholars associated with FARMS often resist being characterized as apologists because of that term's pejorative connotations, FARMS has been an important center for producing work that critiques claims by many, including amateur Mormon enthusiasts and antagonistic opposition movements of evangelical Christianity, especially through the organization's longest-running journal, the FARMS Review.FARMS has been cited as representative of a new trend within Mormonism: the emergence of progressive forms of Mormon orthodoxy
Orthodoxy
The word orthodox, from Greek orthos + doxa , is generally used to mean the adherence to accepted norms, more specifically to creeds, especially in religion...
. This trend is committed to the literal reality of Mormon faith claims, but is simultaneously willing to rethink traditional understandings of those claims. A prominent example of this trend is the work FARMS has produced supporting a limited geography model
Limited geography model (Book of Mormon)
A limited geography model for the Book of Mormon is one of several theories by Latter Day Saint movement scholars that the book's narrative was a historical record of people in a limited geographical region, rather than of the entire Western Hemisphere as believed by some early Latter Day Saints...
for the Book of Mormon
Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement that adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2600 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr...
: suggesting that the events chronicled in the Book of Mormon occurred in a much smaller region than the traditional understanding, which argues the same events occurred across the entire Western hemisphere
Western Hemisphere
The Western Hemisphere or western hemisphere is mainly used as a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian and east of the Antimeridian , the other half being called the Eastern Hemisphere.In this sense, the western hemisphere consists of the western portions...
. Supporters of this limited geography idea—including some high-ranking church leaders—believe this model is consistent with anthropological, archaeological
Archaeology and the Book of Mormon
Since the publication of the Book of Mormon in 1830, both Mormon and non-Mormon archaeologists have studied its claims in reference to known archaeological evidence...
and genetic
Genetics and the Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon, one of the four books of scripture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , is an account of three groups of people. Two of these groups supposedly originated from Israel...
findings about ancient American peoples, as well as with the Book of Mormon text.
Publications
A number of periodicals have been published under the FARMS imprintImprint
In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...
, including:
| Title | Started | Format | Purpose | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Insights | 1981 | bimonthly newsletter | latest FARMS research updates, current events, reports on symposia, scripture insights, and new publication announcements | Originally titled FARMS Newsletter. |
| Mormon Studies Review | 1989 | semiannual journal | reviews of books and articles written about Mormonism Mormonism Mormonism is the religion practiced by Mormons, and is the predominant religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement. This movement was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. beginning in the 1820s as a form of Christian primitivism. During the 1830s and 1840s, Mormonism gradually distinguished itself... and the Book of Mormon |
As the journal's purpose broadened over the years, so did the title: Review of Books on the Book of Mormon (1989–1995), FARMS Review of Books (1996–2002), FARMS Review (2003–2010). |
| Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture | 1992 | semiannual journal | the latest research on the Book of Mormon Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement that adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2600 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr... |
Was titled Journal of Book of Mormon Studies from 1992–2008. |
| Studies in the Bible and Antiquity | 2009 | annual journal | LDS research on the Bible and ancient religion | Published under the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, which had assumed other FARMS periodicals. |
FARMS has also republished many of the writings of LDS scholar Hugh Nibley
Hugh Nibley
Hugh Winder Nibley was an American author, Mormon apologist, and professor at Brigham Young University...
in the 19-volume Collected Works of Hugh Nibley. Numerous other books and papers have been published by FARMS, as well as audio and video recordings.