From Brigham Young University's Maxwell Institute, this is the Maxwell Institute,

Faith, Illuminating Scholarship.

Rosalind Welch.

We've got a great interview with Dr. Amy Harris just ahead, but before we get there, I wanted to let you know about a weekly lecture series sponsored by the Maxwell Institute, which we call the wonder of scripture.

Every Friday we hear from a scholar of religion who shares something wondrous about scripture,

from a new way of studying to an insight into a passage or a personal experience with the word.

You're welcome to attend in person on BYU campus if you happen to be in the neighborhood,

but we always post the recordings on our YouTube channel,

which you can find at YouTube.com slash at BYUu Maxwell.

We have lots of content on our YouTube channel, so check out our offerings there.

All the information and links are on our website,

m.bYU.edu.edu. With that, let's jump into the interview. Today I'm joined by

Dr. Amy Harris, a professor of family history in the Department of History at Brigham Young

University. Families, Women, and Gender in Early Modern Britain, and she's written a number of books

on some fascinating topics, including the dynamics of singleness and siblinghood in 18th century

England. She's also an expert in the ethics, theology, and techniques of family history and

genealogical research, and so she

to write, Redeeming the Dead, her recent book for the Maxwell Institute, part of our

themes in the Doctrine and Covenants series. Amy had some great insights to share. I didn't realize, for instance, that the church's focus on

genealogy only began in 1894, 60 years after its founding, or that in the doctrine in covenants,

baptism for the dead is the primary form of baptism, not just an optional extra.

Dr. Harris jokes that family history is not just a hobby, but a subversive power to bring on

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