Our Living Faith Discussions in 2022 will cover the powerful themes of the Old Testament as we learn more about the covenants we make and keep, the history of temples, and the House of Israel. BYU Professor Kerry Muhlestein taught our first Living Faith Discussion for 2022, teaching us about the Book of Abraham and the Abrahamic Covenant.
Dr. Muhlestein is an expert in Egyptology and professor at the Department of Ancient Scripture at BYU, as well as the director of the BYU Egypt Excavation Project. He and his wife, Julianne, are the parents of six children, and they have lived in Jerusalem on multiple occasions with Kerry taught there.
He started his discussion with a reminder about studying with both your mind and your heart and went on to explain the blessings and obligations of the Abrahamic covenant and our part in it.
This reminder is especially needed as we study the Book of Abraham and the Old Testament: “You need to be able to pursue things with both your mind and with your heart. … What I find happens too often, both with people who have questions … or may be having some faith struggles, or even with people who aren't having faith struggles but just get too busy, is that we start to pursue all sorts of other avenues of learning, and we forget to pursue learning from the Spirit.
Of course, the two most important elements to learning from the spirit are: 1) to continue to pray and 2) to continue to read the scriptures. I have found when I work with people who maybe have had some struggles or some challenges, is that if they will re-immerse themselves in the scriptures, if they will just start studying the text of the Book of Abraham, the Spirit ends up answering their questions.
It's only when they're pursuing all sorts of other ways of learning, and ignoring the scriptural text, or neglecting it, or forgetting it, that they start to struggle. So I would plead with you and I would ask you to plead with your youth … to increase their Book of Mormon study when they find that things are difficult. Because I believe that we'll find our answers when we are immersed in the scriptures and that the Lord will help us.” -Kerry Muhlestein
We are grateful to have had the chance to learn from Dr. Muhlestein and greatly appreciate the time he spent with us.
Resources to study:
Website: bookofabraham.org
Website: pearlofgreatpricecentral.org
Website: outofthedust.org
Podcast: The Scriptures are Real
Talk: “Covenants” by Russell M. Nelson, Oct 2011 General Conference