1. Frank Milton Bristol, The Ministry of Art (New York: Eaton and Mains, 1897), 54.

2. “Use Music, Stories, and Art to Teach Doctrine,” in Teaching in the Savior’s Way (Salt Lake City: Intellectual Reserve, 2016), 22.

3. See “Book of Mormon Translation,” Gospel Topics Essays, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/book-of-mormon-translation?lang=eng.

4. See Anthony Sweat, “The Role of Art in Teaching Latter-day Saint History and Doctrine,” Religious Educator 16, no. 3 (2016): 40–57. The first published image of Joseph Smith translating using a hat in an institutional Church magazine appeared in the Ensign 50, no. 1 (January 2020): 38–39.

5. Jennifer Champoux, “Wise or Foolish: Women in Mormon Biblical Narrative Art,” BYU Studies Quarterly 57, no. 2 (2018): 71.

6. Noel A. Carmack, “Images of Christ in Latter-day Saint Visual Culture, 1900–1999.” BYU Studies Quarterly 39, no. 3 (2000): 19.

7. “Principles and Guidelines for Meetinghouse Foyers and Entries,” Newsroom, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, May 11, 2020, https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/art-foyers-entryways-reverence-jesus-christ.

8. Kerry Freedman, Teaching Visual Culture: Curriculum, Aesthetics, and the Social Life of Art (New York: Teachers College Press, 2003), xii.

9. Passages counted as references to Christ suffering our sins during his Crucifixion include the following: John 3:14–15; 12:32; Romans 5:6, 8, 10; 1 Corinthians 5:7; 15:3; 2 Corinthians 5:15; Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 2:16; Colossians 1:20–22; 2:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:10; Hebrews 9:15, 26; 10:10, 12; 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18; Revelation 5:8–9; 1 Nephi 11:33; 2 Nephi 2:7–8; 9:5; 26:24; Mosiah 14:12; 15:7–9, 12; 18:2; Alma 21:9; 22:14; 30:26; 33:22; 34:15; Helaman 14:15–16; 3 Nephi 9:21–22; 11:14; 27:14; Ether 12:33; Doctrine and Covenants 18:11; 20:23–25; 21:9; 35:2; 46:13; 53:2; 54:1; 76:41; 138:2, 35, 57; and Moses 7:47, 55. The two verses that specify Christ atoned for our sins in Gethsemane are Mosiah 3:7 and Doctrine and Covenants 19:16–19. See John Hilton III, “Teaching the Scriptural Emphasis on the Crucifixion,” Religious Educator 20, no. 3 (2019): 133–53.

10. John Hilton III, “Joseph Smith, Gethsemane, and the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ,” in How and What We Worship: Christology and Praxis in the Revelations of Joseph Smith, ed. Rachel Cope, Carter Charles, and Jordan Watkins (Provo: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2020), 320.

11. John Hilton III, Emily K. Hyde, and McKenna Trussel, “The Use of ‘Crucifixion’ by Church Leaders: 1852–2018,” BYU Studies Quarterly 59, no. 1 (2020): 76.

12. We note that several scholars, both inside and outside the Church, have discussed this emphasis that members place on Gethsemane. For example, John G. Turner, a Protestant scholar, explained that for Latter-day Saints “the principal scene of Christ’s suffering and, thus, his atonement, was at Gethsemane rather than on the cross.” John G. Turner, The Mormon Jesus (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2016), 284. Robert Millet wrote, “It is probably the case that if one hundred Protestants were asked where the atonement of Christ took place, those one hundred persons would answer: At Golgotha, on the cross. It is also no doubt true that if one hundred Latter-day Saints were asked the same question, a large percentage would respond: In Gethsemane, in the garden.” Robert Millet, “This Is My Gospel,” in A Book of Mormon Treasury: Gospel Insights from General Authorities and Religious Educators (Provo: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2003), 401.

13. Other hypotheses for an emphasis on Gethsemane include the powerful prose Elder James E. Talmage wrote regarding Gethsemane in Jesus the Christ or Elder Bruce R. McConkie’s memorable final conference talk, “The Purifying Power of Gethsemane.” It may also come from past Church curricula that have emphasized Gethsemane over Calvary. See John Hilton III, Considering the Cross: How Calvary Connects Us with Christ (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2021), 96–100. Perhaps because the Latter-day Saint doctrinal teaching that Gethsemane played a part in the suffering for sin is unique in Christianity, it has been emphasized by some Church members.

14. “History,” University of Pikeville, accessed March 16, 2021, www.upike.edu/about/history.

15. The chi-square statistic is used to calculate whether there is a relationship between categorical variables. The results were (X2 (1, N = 953) = 152.3.9, p < .00001).

16. Additional student statements were categorized as miscellaneous.

17. It is not surprising that most Christians do not identify Gethsemane as a location of the Savior’s Atonement—a reasonable position from their perspective, since the Bible also does not do so.

18. The other three main reasons students reported for choosing a Crucifixion image were that it looked realistic (23%); it evoked powerful feelings (20%); and aesthetics (17%).

19. Douglas J. Davies, Mormon Culture of Salvation (London: Routledge, 2018), 46.

20. See “Artwork,” Policies on Using Church Buildings and Other Property, in General Handbook: Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City: Intellectual Reserve, 2020), 35.4.1.

21. “Artwork.”

22. “Guidelines,” Church Facilities Artwork, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, accessed March 16, 2021, https://churchfacilitiesartwork.churchofjesuschrist.org/guidelines.

23. In response to a question about the fundamental aspects of his religion, Joseph Smith said, “The fundamental principles of our religion is the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets concerning Jesus Christ, ‘that he died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven;’ and all other things are only appendages to these, which pertain to our religion.” “Elders’ Journal, July 1838,” p. [44], the Joseph Smith Papers, accessed March 16, 2021, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/elders-journal-july-1838/12, emphasis added.

24. See “Principles and Guidelines for Meetinghouse Foyers and Entries.”

25. Turner, Mormon Jesus, 259.

26. “Death by Crucifying,” Juvenile Instructor 1, no. 1 (January 1, 1866): 2.

27. The periodicals we searched include the following: The Evening and the Morning Star, Messenger and Advocate, Elders’ Journal, Times and Seasons, Millennial Star, Gospel Reflector, The Wasp, Nauvoo Neighbor, Gospel Light, The Prophet, The New-York Messenger, People’s Organ, The Frontier Guardian, Deseret News, Deseret Almanac, The Seer, Zion’s Watchman, The Mormon, St. Louis Luminary, and Western Standard.

28. The periodicals we searched include the following: Prophwyd y Jubili, Udgorn Seion, Étoile du Déséret, Skandinaviens Stjerne, Zion’s Panier, Der Darsteller der Heiligen der letzten Tage, and Die Reform.

29. The periodicals we searched include the following: Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate, Voree Herald, Star in the East, Zion’s Reveille, Ensign of Liberty, Gospel Herald, Melchisedek and Aaronic Herald, Northern Islander, Zion’s Messenger, and True Latter Day Saints’ Herald.

30. “Death by Crucifying,” 2.

31. “Death by Crucifying,” 2.

32. Millennial Star 110, no. 12 (December 1948): 361.

33. Millennial Star 115, no. 4 (April 1953): 73.

34. Millennial Star 119, no. 4 (April 1957): 112–13.

35. Millennial Star 130, no. 4 (April 1968): 15, 22.

36. Improvement Era 43, no. 11 (November 1940): 653.

37. There are small differences between our data set and that of Noel A. Carmack in his article “Images of Christ in Latter-day Saint Visual Culture, 1900–1999.” Carmack’s study appears to have included images of the crown of thorns and zoomed-in pictures of Christ’s hands on the Christus statue as being Crucifixion images, whereas we excluded them.

38. See Byron R. Merrill, “They Wrote to Us As If We Were Present,” Ensign 30, no. 1 (January 2000), 12.

39. Scholars estimate that crosses most frequently consisted of a six-to-eight-foot vertical beam and a five-to-six-foot horizontal beam. Thus, contrary to many modern artistic depictions, the victim would have been suspended only one or two feet off the ground. See Roger W. Byard, “Forensic and Historical Aspects of Crucifixion,” Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology 12 (2016): 206.

40. The use of the word Gethsemane dramatically increased in usage in LDS general conference beginning in the 1980s and continuing through today. For example, in the decade of 2010–19, the word Gethsemane was mentioned in general conference 86 times (or 69 occurrences per million words), compared to 9 times (or 5 occurrences per million words) one hundred years earlier, from 1910 to 1919.

41. Hilton, Hyde, and Trussel, “Use of ‘Crucifixion’ by Church Leaders,” 49–80.

42. Elliott Wise, interview with John Hilton III, December 17, 2019.

43. For example, see Gordon B. Hinckley, “The Symbol of Christ,” Ensign 5, no. 4 (April 1975): 92–94; Gerrit W. Gong, “Hosanna and Hallelujah—the Living Jesus Christ: The Heart of Restoration and Easter,” Ensign 50, no. 5 (May 2020): 52–55.

44. Deidre Green, Jacob: A Brief Theological Introduction (Provo, Utah: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2020), 22.

45. American Dictionary of the English Language, s.v. “behold,” accessed March 17, 2021, http://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/behold.

Joshua R. Stratford

BYU Studies Publications