Madsen's essential works, which have been collected into a single volume: Eternal Man, Four Essays on Love, Christ and the Inner Life, The Highest in Us, and The Radiant Life. These books treat vital gospel principles, such as man's divine nature, prayer, love, faith and forgiveness, with conviction and clarity.

    Shipping iron from St. Louis was expensive, and Young envisioned a regional iron works that would meet the community’s needs and make the Mormon Zion self-sufficient.The LDS Iron Mission was established in April of 1850 in southern Utah and, for the next decade, this colony of hard-working Saints tested a variety of smelting techniques, yielding objects such as pots, crank shafts, and bells. Despite sustained, even heroic, efforts, the iron missionaries did not succeed. Nature itself worked against them. Droughts, floods, and inferior raw materials challenged them at every turn. The iron works closed in 1858, but its legacy remains today in townships that have survived for over 150 years. A Trial Furnace chronicles the lives of the people who discovered an inner strength and resilience more durable than the iron they went south to find.Distributed for BYU Studies.

    The ideal introduction to Mormonism, this choice sampler provides a selective overview of what many historians consider the most innovative and successful religion to emerge during the spiritual ferment of antebellum America.   This volume explains how the earliest Mormons viewed their religion and suggests that the Book of Mormon appeared to them as an exciting document of social protest. Contributors consider the history of persecution of the Mormons, the church's relationship with the state of Utah and with other divisions of Christianity, and culture clashes in the church's missionary efforts. Mormons and Mormonism also places beliefs such as vicarious baptism for the dead in a larger context of community and religious ideals.   The founding of Mormonism and its rapid emergence as a new world religion are among the most intriguing aspects of American religious history and among the most neglected in the religion classroom. This much-needed volume lays the groundwork for a better understanding of the LDS Church and its historical and potential impact on the United States and the world.