Religious Studies Center
[7] Madsen became a professor emeritus in 1994, and the position was renamed the Richard L. Evans Chair of Religious Understanding, reflecting the hope that holders would extend the hand of friendship to all people, not just Christians.The RSC created a new advisory board with male and female members from diverse backgrounds with interest in ancient scripture and modern history and doctrine of the LDS Church.Holzapfel started a project to digitize past RSC content; initiated translation of selected articles into Spanish, Portuguese, and German; and launched the BYU Religious Education Review magazine.[1] In 1977, as Church Commissioner of Education, Holland told the center that he hoped it would bring dialogue with other cultures and religions, leading to greater understanding, brotherhood, and peace.[32] The following titles show the breadth of books published by the RSC (complete list): Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook, eds., The Words of Joseph Smith; Hugh W. Nibley, Nibley on the Timely and the Timeless; Kenneth L. Alford, ed., Civil War Saints; Roger P. Minert, In Harm's Way: East German Latter-day Saints in World War II; Mark L. Grover, A Land of Promise and Prophecy: Elder A. Theodore Tuttle in South America, 1960–1965; Laura Harris Hales, ed., A Reason for Faith: Navigating LDS Doctrine and Church History; and Michael Hubbard MacKay and Nicholas J. Frederick, Joseph Smith's Seer Stones.[4] In 2003 the Religious Education Administrative Council approved a proposal by Richard Holzapfel and Thomas Wayment to host a conference on the Saturday before Easter which would focus on Jesus's last twenty-four hours and Resurrection.[49] In 2000, Dean Robert L. Millet and others created the Religious Educator journal to focus on "teaching the gospel, publishing studies on scripture, doctrine, and LDS Church history, and sharing the messages of outstanding devotional essays.Holzapfel asked Ted D. Stoddard, a professor in the Marriott School of Business, to explore design and content issues and prepare guidelines that would enhance the scholarly basis of this new publication.Holzapfel clarified the purpose of this new venture: "Our hope is to provide readers with carefully prepared, inspirational, and information-packed writings on a wide range of subjects explicitly associated with the Restoration.