Elder Merrill J. Bateman, emeritus General Authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will be the keynote speaker at Brigham Young University's 44th annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium on Wed., Oct. 21 through Sat., Oct. 24.
This year?s symposium is built around the theme: "The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon: A Marvelous Work and a Wonder." Elder Bateman will deliever the keynote address on Fri., Oct. 23, at 6:30 p.m, in the Joseph Smith Building Auditorium at BYU.
Following the keynote address, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., additional lectures will continue in the Joseph Smith Building (JSB) and in the Martin Building (MARB), with three concurrent sessions being held each hour. On Sat., Oct. 24, concurrent sessions will beginning at 9 and 10 a.m., in the JSB Auditorium and the MARB.
Presenters include faculty from BYU?s departments of Ancient Scripture and Church History & Doctrine, instructors from Seminaries and Institutes and other Church scholars.
The closing session will be in the JSB Auditorium, at 11 a.m., on Saturday. Shon D. Hopkin, will speak about "To the Convincing of Jew and Gentile That Jesus is the Christ."
For the first time in many years, two additional sessions will be held during the week:
- Gerrit J. Dirkmaat on "Joseph Smith?s Negotiations to Publish the Book of Mormon" (Wed., Oct. 21,7 p.m., Varsity Theatre, Wilkinson Student Center)
- Steven C. Harper on "The Eleven Witnesses" (Thurs., Oct. 22, at 11 a.m., Varsity Theatre, Wilkinson Student Center)
These sessions will be repeated Friday evening or Saturday morning.
The symposium will increase gospel knowledge and strengthen individual testimonies. The material presented will be an important aid to the 2016 Gospel Doctrine curriculum. Addresses will be both informative and inspiring and should bless the lives of all participants.
A collection of papers from the symposium has been published in a book, The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon: A Marvelous Work and a Wonder, released by Deseret Book and the Religious Studies Center at BYU.
The symposium is free.
For more information or a copy of the symposium schedule, go to religion.byu.edu, or contact BYU Religious Education's Patty Smith (801-422-3611).
