Terryl L. Givens
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195138184
- eISBN:
- 9780199834211
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019513818X.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Mormon Scholar Hugh Nibley ushered in a new era of Book of Mormon studies that emphasized congruencies between the record and the world of the Middle East. Focus shifted to textual, linguistic, and ...
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Mormon Scholar Hugh Nibley ushered in a new era of Book of Mormon studies that emphasized congruencies between the record and the world of the Middle East. Focus shifted to textual, linguistic, and cultural evidences for its authenticity. John Sorenson argued for geography and anthropology‐based approaches. In escalating debates, topics of dispute would include biblical plagiarism, the Isaiah problem, population numbers, Book of Mormon language and names, and anachronisms. In spite of a growing and impressive body of Book of Mormon apologetics, evangelicals and scholars remain largely dismissive, though with significant exceptions.Less
Mormon Scholar Hugh Nibley ushered in a new era of Book of Mormon studies that emphasized congruencies between the record and the world of the Middle East. Focus shifted to textual, linguistic, and cultural evidences for its authenticity. John Sorenson argued for geography and anthropology‐based approaches. In escalating debates, topics of dispute would include biblical plagiarism, the Isaiah problem, population numbers, Book of Mormon language and names, and anachronisms. In spite of a growing and impressive body of Book of Mormon apologetics, evangelicals and scholars remain largely dismissive, though with significant exceptions.
Grant Hardy
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199731701
- eISBN:
- 9780199777167
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199731701.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Literature, World Religions
While the significance of the Book of Mormon in American history and religion is universally acknowledged, its complicated narrative can be bewildering to outsiders. In addition, controversy over its ...
More
While the significance of the Book of Mormon in American history and religion is universally acknowledged, its complicated narrative can be bewildering to outsiders. In addition, controversy over its historical claims tends to overshadow its contents. This book argues that whether the Book of Mormon is approached as history, fiction, or scripture, focusing on its narrative structure, and in particular on the contributions of the major narrators, allows for more comprehensive, detailed readings. The Book of Mormon is nearly unique among recent world scriptures in that it is presented as a lengthy, integrated narrative rather than a series of doctrinal expositions, moral exhortations, or devotional hymns. Joseph Smith, whether regarded as an author or translator, never speaks in his own voice in the text; nearly everything is mediated through the narrators Nephi, Mormon, and Moroni. This study takes readers through the basic characters, events, and ideas in the Book of Mormon by focusing on each of the major narrators in turn and identifying their characteristic literary techniques. Critics and believers alike can agree that someone, sometime, decided how to tell the story—where to employ direct dialogue, embedded documents, parallel narratives, allusions, and so forth. This introduction sets aside questions of ultimate authorship in order to examine how the text operates, how it makes its points, and what its message is. Despite its sometimes awkward style, the Book of Mormon has more coherence and literary interest than is often assumed.Less
While the significance of the Book of Mormon in American history and religion is universally acknowledged, its complicated narrative can be bewildering to outsiders. In addition, controversy over its historical claims tends to overshadow its contents. This book argues that whether the Book of Mormon is approached as history, fiction, or scripture, focusing on its narrative structure, and in particular on the contributions of the major narrators, allows for more comprehensive, detailed readings. The Book of Mormon is nearly unique among recent world scriptures in that it is presented as a lengthy, integrated narrative rather than a series of doctrinal expositions, moral exhortations, or devotional hymns. Joseph Smith, whether regarded as an author or translator, never speaks in his own voice in the text; nearly everything is mediated through the narrators Nephi, Mormon, and Moroni. This study takes readers through the basic characters, events, and ideas in the Book of Mormon by focusing on each of the major narrators in turn and identifying their characteristic literary techniques. Critics and believers alike can agree that someone, sometime, decided how to tell the story—where to employ direct dialogue, embedded documents, parallel narratives, allusions, and so forth. This introduction sets aside questions of ultimate authorship in order to examine how the text operates, how it makes its points, and what its message is. Despite its sometimes awkward style, the Book of Mormon has more coherence and literary interest than is often assumed.
Terryl L. Givens
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195138184
- eISBN:
- 9780199834211
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019513818X.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
In the context of 19th‐century American millennialism, many early converts to Mormonism heralded the Book of Mormon as a sign of the end times. In an era of many prophets and visionaries, the Book of ...
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In the context of 19th‐century American millennialism, many early converts to Mormonism heralded the Book of Mormon as a sign of the end times. In an era of many prophets and visionaries, the Book of Mormon was offered as tangible proof that Joseph was an authentic prophet. Joseph Smith's emphatic literalism and appeal to physical and historical evidence made him both more threatening and more attractive than a Jacob Boehme or an Emanuel Swedenborg. The story of angels, seer stones, and gold plates, thus displaced a focus on the Book of Mormon's content, for both critics and believers.Less
In the context of 19th‐century American millennialism, many early converts to Mormonism heralded the Book of Mormon as a sign of the end times. In an era of many prophets and visionaries, the Book of Mormon was offered as tangible proof that Joseph was an authentic prophet. Joseph Smith's emphatic literalism and appeal to physical and historical evidence made him both more threatening and more attractive than a Jacob Boehme or an Emanuel Swedenborg. The story of angels, seer stones, and gold plates, thus displaced a focus on the Book of Mormon's content, for both critics and believers.
Terryl L. Givens
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195138184
- eISBN:
- 9780199834211
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019513818X.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This book assesses the tempestuous impact and reception history of the Book of Mormon, produced by Joseph Smith in 1830, and the primary scripture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‐day Saints. ...
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This book assesses the tempestuous impact and reception history of the Book of Mormon, produced by Joseph Smith in 1830, and the primary scripture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‐day Saints. Givens describes the book's role as a divine testament of the Last Days and as a sacred sign of Joseph Smith's status as a modern‐day prophet. He reviews its claims to be a history of the pre‐Columbian peopling of the Western Hemisphere, first by a small Old World group in the era of Babel, and later by Israelites from Jerusalem in the age of Jeremiah. Givens explores how the Book of Mormon has been defined as a cultural product of early nineteenth‐century America, and also investigates its status as a new American Bible or Fifth Gospel, displacing, supporting, or—in some views—perverting the canonical Word of God. Givens also probes the Book's shifting relationship to Mormon doctrine and its changing reputation among theologians and scholars. Finally, in exploring the Book of Mormon's “revelatory appeal,” Givens finds the key to the Book's role as the engine behind what may become the next world religion. The Book of Mormon describes and enacts a model of revelation that Givens calls “dialogic.” Ultimately, Givens argues, the Book of Mormon has exerted its influence primarily by virtue of what it points to, represents, and claims to be, rather than by virtue of any particular content.Less
This book assesses the tempestuous impact and reception history of the Book of Mormon, produced by Joseph Smith in 1830, and the primary scripture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‐day Saints. Givens describes the book's role as a divine testament of the Last Days and as a sacred sign of Joseph Smith's status as a modern‐day prophet. He reviews its claims to be a history of the pre‐Columbian peopling of the Western Hemisphere, first by a small Old World group in the era of Babel, and later by Israelites from Jerusalem in the age of Jeremiah. Givens explores how the Book of Mormon has been defined as a cultural product of early nineteenth‐century America, and also investigates its status as a new American Bible or Fifth Gospel, displacing, supporting, or—in some views—perverting the canonical Word of God. Givens also probes the Book's shifting relationship to Mormon doctrine and its changing reputation among theologians and scholars. Finally, in exploring the Book of Mormon's “revelatory appeal,” Givens finds the key to the Book's role as the engine behind what may become the next world religion. The Book of Mormon describes and enacts a model of revelation that Givens calls “dialogic.” Ultimately, Givens argues, the Book of Mormon has exerted its influence primarily by virtue of what it points to, represents, and claims to be, rather than by virtue of any particular content.
Terryl L. Givens
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195138184
- eISBN:
- 9780199834211
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019513818X.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
The Book of Mormon narrates how Lehi, a Jewish prophet, migrated to the Western Hemisphere with his clan and established a colony there, whose leaders maintained a history of their religious, ...
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The Book of Mormon narrates how Lehi, a Jewish prophet, migrated to the Western Hemisphere with his clan and established a colony there, whose leaders maintained a history of their religious, political, and military history for the next thousand years. Eventually the followers of Christ, Nephites, were exterminated by their apostate brethren the Lamanites, while being led by Mormon and Moroni, great generals and final record keepers of the gold plates. The Book is structurally complex, and suffused with references to and teachings about Jesus Christ, even recording his visit to the Americas after his Jerusalem resurrection. Initial reception of the Book of Mormon was tepid.Less
The Book of Mormon narrates how Lehi, a Jewish prophet, migrated to the Western Hemisphere with his clan and established a colony there, whose leaders maintained a history of their religious, political, and military history for the next thousand years. Eventually the followers of Christ, Nephites, were exterminated by their apostate brethren the Lamanites, while being led by Mormon and Moroni, great generals and final record keepers of the gold plates. The Book is structurally complex, and suffused with references to and teachings about Jesus Christ, even recording his visit to the Americas after his Jerusalem resurrection. Initial reception of the Book of Mormon was tepid.
Max Perry Mueller
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781469636160
- eISBN:
- 9781469633770
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469636160.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This chapter examines the Book of Mormon's racial theology of “white universalism.” It explores the supposed pre-Columbian history that the Book of Mormon contains, notably the origins of Native ...
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This chapter examines the Book of Mormon's racial theology of “white universalism.” It explores the supposed pre-Columbian history that the Book of Mormon contains, notably the origins of Native Americans as a remnant of Israelites called the “Lamanites.” It also explores the future that the Book of Mormon prophesies in which the Lamanites unify with believing “Gentiles” to become one “white and a delightsome” people and together build a New Jerusalem in America before Christ’s return. The chapter also includes an examination of the Book of Mormon prophet, “Samuel, the Lamanite.” Samuel’s case, along with other marginalized early American religious leaders like William Apess and Jerana Lee, shows that non-white Americans have a “privileged sight” onto America and America’s religious communities that fail to live up to their own ideals of inclusion and equality. The views of marginalized figures are thus essential for an accurate accounting of America’s past.Less
This chapter examines the Book of Mormon's racial theology of “white universalism.” It explores the supposed pre-Columbian history that the Book of Mormon contains, notably the origins of Native Americans as a remnant of Israelites called the “Lamanites.” It also explores the future that the Book of Mormon prophesies in which the Lamanites unify with believing “Gentiles” to become one “white and a delightsome” people and together build a New Jerusalem in America before Christ’s return. The chapter also includes an examination of the Book of Mormon prophet, “Samuel, the Lamanite.” Samuel’s case, along with other marginalized early American religious leaders like William Apess and Jerana Lee, shows that non-white Americans have a “privileged sight” onto America and America’s religious communities that fail to live up to their own ideals of inclusion and equality. The views of marginalized figures are thus essential for an accurate accounting of America’s past.
Max Perry Mueller
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781469636160
- eISBN:
- 9781469633770
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469636160.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This chapter traces the different ways the Book of Mormon was marketed to “red,” “white,” and “black” Americans during the first three years after the church was founded in 1830. Because Native ...
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This chapter traces the different ways the Book of Mormon was marketed to “red,” “white,” and “black” Americans during the first three years after the church was founded in 1830. Because Native Americans (“Lamanites”) were seen as the Book of Mormon’s true heirs and the prophesied leaders of New Jerusalem, and because most American Indians did not belong to America’s English-language based print culture, Joseph Smith sent Mormonism’s first official mission to Delaware Indians on the frontier, west of Missouri where the Mormons hoped to build their New Jerusalem. Because most were literate in English, early Mormons attempted to reach white “Gentile” Americans of European descent through newspapers and other media produced and published through their own printing operations. Though the Book of Mormon’s past or future does not include people of African descent, early Mormons did allow, and even encouraged, some free black Americans to join the church.Less
This chapter traces the different ways the Book of Mormon was marketed to “red,” “white,” and “black” Americans during the first three years after the church was founded in 1830. Because Native Americans (“Lamanites”) were seen as the Book of Mormon’s true heirs and the prophesied leaders of New Jerusalem, and because most American Indians did not belong to America’s English-language based print culture, Joseph Smith sent Mormonism’s first official mission to Delaware Indians on the frontier, west of Missouri where the Mormons hoped to build their New Jerusalem. Because most were literate in English, early Mormons attempted to reach white “Gentile” Americans of European descent through newspapers and other media produced and published through their own printing operations. Though the Book of Mormon’s past or future does not include people of African descent, early Mormons did allow, and even encouraged, some free black Americans to join the church.
Margaret Barker and Kevin Christensen
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195369786
- eISBN:
- 9780199871292
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195369786.003.010
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter comes to Mormonism as something only tangentially related to this chapter's author's own work in radically reformulating our understanding of ancient Jewish religion. The author of this ...
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This chapter comes to Mormonism as something only tangentially related to this chapter's author's own work in radically reformulating our understanding of ancient Jewish religion. The author of this chapter has elsewhere assessed the Book of Mormon in the context of pre-exilic Israelite religion. Here, that interest is extended here by considering the temple world view of early Israel before the reforms of King Josiah. Noting the primacy of this same temple-dominated vision in the prophetic career of Joseph Smith, the first part of this chapter concentrates on that subject. From his translation of the Book of Mormon through the corpus of his own visions, Joseph established continuity with the Bible as text and Jerusalem as sacred space. Equally important is the pattern in Joseph Smith of both chronicling sacred theophanies and urging their possibility in contemporary religious practice. That is why it has been argued that Joseph Smith's restoration converges on the key time, place, institutions, and issues involved in this chapter's reconstruction.Less
This chapter comes to Mormonism as something only tangentially related to this chapter's author's own work in radically reformulating our understanding of ancient Jewish religion. The author of this chapter has elsewhere assessed the Book of Mormon in the context of pre-exilic Israelite religion. Here, that interest is extended here by considering the temple world view of early Israel before the reforms of King Josiah. Noting the primacy of this same temple-dominated vision in the prophetic career of Joseph Smith, the first part of this chapter concentrates on that subject. From his translation of the Book of Mormon through the corpus of his own visions, Joseph established continuity with the Bible as text and Jerusalem as sacred space. Equally important is the pattern in Joseph Smith of both chronicling sacred theophanies and urging their possibility in contemporary religious practice. That is why it has been argued that Joseph Smith's restoration converges on the key time, place, institutions, and issues involved in this chapter's reconstruction.
Laurie F. Maffly-Kipp
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195369786
- eISBN:
- 9780199871292
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195369786.003.011
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter furthers the project of an intellectually richer account of Mormonism by offering a critique of the centrality of sympathy in the polemics that have engulfed Mormon historical studies ...
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This chapter furthers the project of an intellectually richer account of Mormonism by offering a critique of the centrality of sympathy in the polemics that have engulfed Mormon historical studies from their inception, and proposing an alternative. The critique is situated in a largely postmodern, anti-essentialist conception of identity as a malleable and fluid concept. At the same time, it notes in Smith's own turn to ritual a validation of appearances over essence, doing over being. A focus on the epic of Mormonism's narrative rather than its characters, on popular rather than elite Mormon history, and on the geographical varieties with their correspondingly different accounts of Mormonism—all are presented here as powerful antidotes to the snares of an approach that links, and therefore reduces Joseph Smith and the religion he founded to an irresolvable debate over human motives.Less
This chapter furthers the project of an intellectually richer account of Mormonism by offering a critique of the centrality of sympathy in the polemics that have engulfed Mormon historical studies from their inception, and proposing an alternative. The critique is situated in a largely postmodern, anti-essentialist conception of identity as a malleable and fluid concept. At the same time, it notes in Smith's own turn to ritual a validation of appearances over essence, doing over being. A focus on the epic of Mormonism's narrative rather than its characters, on popular rather than elite Mormon history, and on the geographical varieties with their correspondingly different accounts of Mormonism—all are presented here as powerful antidotes to the snares of an approach that links, and therefore reduces Joseph Smith and the religion he founded to an irresolvable debate over human motives.
Terryl L. Givens and Matthew J. Grow
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195375732
- eISBN:
- 9780199918300
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195375732.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Parley Pratt’s Puritan ancestry prefigured his own life of religious conflict and independence, with Anne Hutchinson and John Lathrop among his forbears. His immediate background was impoverished and ...
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Parley Pratt’s Puritan ancestry prefigured his own life of religious conflict and independence, with Anne Hutchinson and John Lathrop among his forbears. His immediate background was impoverished and itinerant, as his father Jared Pratt traversed the state of New York trying to secure a living. He left home at a young age, first boarding out, then unsuccessfully seeking his fortune on the frontier. He fell in love with Thankful Halsey, began a religious quest, joined the Baptists, and built a cabin in the Ohio wilderness. Pratt then married, and joined the Reformed Baptists or Campbellite movement, under Sidney Rigdon’s influence, attracted to its millennialism and Primitivism. Forsaking his farm, he embarked on a freelance mission, happened upon a Book of Mormon, and was converted to the Latter-day Saints, or Mormons. Almost immediately, he was called by Joseph Smith as a missionary to the “Lamanites” (Native Americans) in the Indian Territory.Less
Parley Pratt’s Puritan ancestry prefigured his own life of religious conflict and independence, with Anne Hutchinson and John Lathrop among his forbears. His immediate background was impoverished and itinerant, as his father Jared Pratt traversed the state of New York trying to secure a living. He left home at a young age, first boarding out, then unsuccessfully seeking his fortune on the frontier. He fell in love with Thankful Halsey, began a religious quest, joined the Baptists, and built a cabin in the Ohio wilderness. Pratt then married, and joined the Reformed Baptists or Campbellite movement, under Sidney Rigdon’s influence, attracted to its millennialism and Primitivism. Forsaking his farm, he embarked on a freelance mission, happened upon a Book of Mormon, and was converted to the Latter-day Saints, or Mormons. Almost immediately, he was called by Joseph Smith as a missionary to the “Lamanites” (Native Americans) in the Indian Territory.
Max Perry Mueller
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781469636160
- eISBN:
- 9781469633770
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469636160.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This chapter introduces the book’s main argument: that the three original American races, “black,” “red,” and, “white,” were constructed first in the written archive before they were read onto human ...
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This chapter introduces the book’s main argument: that the three original American races, “black,” “red,” and, “white,” were constructed first in the written archive before they were read onto human bodies. It argues that because of America’s uniquely religious history, the racial construction sites of Americans of Native, African, and European descent were religious archives. The Mormon people’s relationship with race serves as a case unto itself and a case study of the larger relationship between religious writings and race. During the nineteenth century early Mormons taught a theology of “white universalism,” which held that even non-whites, whom the Bible and the Book of Mormon taught were cursed with dark skin because of their ancestors’ sin against their families, could become “white” through dedication to the restored Mormon gospel. But Mormons eventually abandoned this “white universalism,” and instead taught and practiced a theology of white supremacy.Less
This chapter introduces the book’s main argument: that the three original American races, “black,” “red,” and, “white,” were constructed first in the written archive before they were read onto human bodies. It argues that because of America’s uniquely religious history, the racial construction sites of Americans of Native, African, and European descent were religious archives. The Mormon people’s relationship with race serves as a case unto itself and a case study of the larger relationship between religious writings and race. During the nineteenth century early Mormons taught a theology of “white universalism,” which held that even non-whites, whom the Bible and the Book of Mormon taught were cursed with dark skin because of their ancestors’ sin against their families, could become “white” through dedication to the restored Mormon gospel. But Mormons eventually abandoned this “white universalism,” and instead taught and practiced a theology of white supremacy.
Terryl L. Givens
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195138184
- eISBN:
- 9780199834211
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019513818X.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Scripture is a function of the ways in which texts become sacred through their employment or status in a religious community. To understand a scripture, one must understand the ways in which that ...
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Scripture is a function of the ways in which texts become sacred through their employment or status in a religious community. To understand a scripture, one must understand the ways in which that work has exerted its authority over the lives of believers. The Book of Mormon has served in a variety of roles, for both detractors and believers, which have shifted over the years. Four principal roles have been: 1) sacred sign of the last days, and of Joseph Smith's divine calling; 2) a factual account of the pre‐Columbian peopling of the Western hemisphere by Israelite migrations around 600 bc; 3) the imaginative creation of a nineteenth‐century religion maker; and 4) a new American Bible. The unprecedented growth of this potentially new world religion is making an understanding of its core scripture increasingly imperative.Less
Scripture is a function of the ways in which texts become sacred through their employment or status in a religious community. To understand a scripture, one must understand the ways in which that work has exerted its authority over the lives of believers. The Book of Mormon has served in a variety of roles, for both detractors and believers, which have shifted over the years. Four principal roles have been: 1) sacred sign of the last days, and of Joseph Smith's divine calling; 2) a factual account of the pre‐Columbian peopling of the Western hemisphere by Israelite migrations around 600 bc; 3) the imaginative creation of a nineteenth‐century religion maker; and 4) a new American Bible. The unprecedented growth of this potentially new world religion is making an understanding of its core scripture increasingly imperative.
Grant Hardy
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- March 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190274375
- eISBN:
- 9780190274405
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190274375.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
The last several decades have seen the emergence of academically rigorous textual criticism of the Book of Mormon. This scholarly development has largely been based on a detailed analysis of the two ...
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The last several decades have seen the emergence of academically rigorous textual criticism of the Book of Mormon. This scholarly development has largely been based on a detailed analysis of the two earliest manuscripts and twenty of the most significant printed editions. Royal Skousen, a linguist at Brigham Young University, has been the driving force behind these efforts, which have culminated in the publication of multi-volume textual commentaries, photographical and typographical facsimiles of the manuscripts, and a reconstructed earliest version. Grant Hardy, in his “Textual Criticism and the Book of Mormon,” presents how these invaluable studies can be used by scholars to provide clues about the 1829 translation/dictation process of Joseph Smith and his scribes, the transmission of text, details of the narrative, and Smith’s attitudes toward the scripture he produced.Less
The last several decades have seen the emergence of academically rigorous textual criticism of the Book of Mormon. This scholarly development has largely been based on a detailed analysis of the two earliest manuscripts and twenty of the most significant printed editions. Royal Skousen, a linguist at Brigham Young University, has been the driving force behind these efforts, which have culminated in the publication of multi-volume textual commentaries, photographical and typographical facsimiles of the manuscripts, and a reconstructed earliest version. Grant Hardy, in his “Textual Criticism and the Book of Mormon,” presents how these invaluable studies can be used by scholars to provide clues about the 1829 translation/dictation process of Joseph Smith and his scribes, the transmission of text, details of the narrative, and Smith’s attitudes toward the scripture he produced.
Samuel Morris Brown
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199793570
- eISBN:
- 9780199932511
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199793570.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
This chapter discusses Joseph Smith's early participation in treasure seeking but considers it from the perspective of grave robbery and negotiations with the dead over their physical artifacts. This ...
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This chapter discusses Joseph Smith's early participation in treasure seeking but considers it from the perspective of grave robbery and negotiations with the dead over their physical artifacts. This approach to the problem makes clear the strength of the continuities between Smith's early treasure seeking and his later religious career. The Book of Mormon very clearly functions as a legacy or relic of America's dead, interred in an ancient mass grave at the Hill Cumorah in Western New York.Less
This chapter discusses Joseph Smith's early participation in treasure seeking but considers it from the perspective of grave robbery and negotiations with the dead over their physical artifacts. This approach to the problem makes clear the strength of the continuities between Smith's early treasure seeking and his later religious career. The Book of Mormon very clearly functions as a legacy or relic of America's dead, interred in an ancient mass grave at the Hill Cumorah in Western New York.
Larry E. Morris
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- February 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190699093
- eISBN:
- 9780190699123
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190699093.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity, Religious Studies
In June 1829, Joseph Smith and Martin Harris began contacting printers, including Thurlow Weed, who declined a contract, and Egbert B. Grandin, who eventually agreed to publish the Book of Mormon. ...
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In June 1829, Joseph Smith and Martin Harris began contacting printers, including Thurlow Weed, who declined a contract, and Egbert B. Grandin, who eventually agreed to publish the Book of Mormon. Oliver Cowdery prepared a printer’s copy of the manuscript, and printing began in late August or early September. Employees of the print shop, including Pomeroy Tucker, Albert Chandler, and John H. Gilbert, later described the process in detail. During this same period, Cornelius Blatchly published an early newspaper article about the Book of Mormon, Abner Cole began illegally publishing extracts from the Book of Mormon, and a controversial revelation dealing with the Canadian copyright was dictated. In March 1830, the Wayne Sentinel announced the publication of the Book of Mormon.Less
In June 1829, Joseph Smith and Martin Harris began contacting printers, including Thurlow Weed, who declined a contract, and Egbert B. Grandin, who eventually agreed to publish the Book of Mormon. Oliver Cowdery prepared a printer’s copy of the manuscript, and printing began in late August or early September. Employees of the print shop, including Pomeroy Tucker, Albert Chandler, and John H. Gilbert, later described the process in detail. During this same period, Cornelius Blatchly published an early newspaper article about the Book of Mormon, Abner Cole began illegally publishing extracts from the Book of Mormon, and a controversial revelation dealing with the Canadian copyright was dictated. In March 1830, the Wayne Sentinel announced the publication of the Book of Mormon.
Philip L. Barlow
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199739035
- eISBN:
- 9780199345021
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199739035.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter explains Joseph Smith's revision of the Bible. Smith made six basic types of changes. The first consists of long revealed additions that have little or no biblical parallel. A second ...
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This chapter explains Joseph Smith's revision of the Bible. Smith made six basic types of changes. The first consists of long revealed additions that have little or no biblical parallel. A second type, which overlaps other categories, is a “commonsense” change. A third category is “interpretive additions,” often signaled by the phrase “or in other words,” which the Prophet appended to a passage he wished to clarify. The fourth the fifth types of change are harmonizing the Bible internally and rendering it compatible with Smith's own experience and revelations, respectively. The final and by far most common type of change the Prophet made in the Bible includes grammatical improvements, technical clarifications, and modernization of terms.Less
This chapter explains Joseph Smith's revision of the Bible. Smith made six basic types of changes. The first consists of long revealed additions that have little or no biblical parallel. A second type, which overlaps other categories, is a “commonsense” change. A third category is “interpretive additions,” often signaled by the phrase “or in other words,” which the Prophet appended to a passage he wished to clarify. The fourth the fifth types of change are harmonizing the Bible internally and rendering it compatible with Smith's own experience and revelations, respectively. The final and by far most common type of change the Prophet made in the Bible includes grammatical improvements, technical clarifications, and modernization of terms.
John D. Young
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- June 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199348138
- eISBN:
- 9780199376735
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199348138.003.0013
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This chapter explores the potential in Mormon scripture and theology for a reformulation of the confessional narrative of the Great Apostasy: one that both remains true to the fundamental tenet of ...
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This chapter explores the potential in Mormon scripture and theology for a reformulation of the confessional narrative of the Great Apostasy: one that both remains true to the fundamental tenet of apostasy and appreciates the nuanced complexity of the historical record. Noting that LDS theology is heavily, and often unwittingly, reliant on theological formulations and institutions that emerged before Joseph Smith, it contends that Mormons should take a much longer view of providential history than their standard narrative permits. It models this new approach by looking at the historical development of the doctrine of Christ’s Atonement, showing that Mormons believe in doctrines that predate Joseph Smith by several centuries. From a providential viewpoint, examples like this may demonstrate for Mormons the persistence of God’s inspiration through centuries once considered dark and apostate.Less
This chapter explores the potential in Mormon scripture and theology for a reformulation of the confessional narrative of the Great Apostasy: one that both remains true to the fundamental tenet of apostasy and appreciates the nuanced complexity of the historical record. Noting that LDS theology is heavily, and often unwittingly, reliant on theological formulations and institutions that emerged before Joseph Smith, it contends that Mormons should take a much longer view of providential history than their standard narrative permits. It models this new approach by looking at the historical development of the doctrine of Christ’s Atonement, showing that Mormons believe in doctrines that predate Joseph Smith by several centuries. From a providential viewpoint, examples like this may demonstrate for Mormons the persistence of God’s inspiration through centuries once considered dark and apostate.
Richard Lyman Bushman
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- March 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190274375
- eISBN:
- 9780190274405
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190274375.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Richard Bushman’s “The Gold Plates as Foundational Text” focuses on the making of the Book of Mormon. In contrast to the controversies over the recovery and translation of the gold plates, the ...
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Richard Bushman’s “The Gold Plates as Foundational Text” focuses on the making of the Book of Mormon. In contrast to the controversies over the recovery and translation of the gold plates, the translated text is detailed and precise in explaining its own construction. Even the complicated insertion of the “small plates” into a narrative based on the “large plates” is explained and rationalized as a cultural and political force within the story. First, Nephi was clearly a political document created to justify the division of the family and the nation. Furthermore, its spiritual and prophetic emphasis made it a model for Mormon’s abridgment of the large plates. The Book of Mormon, Bushman argues, comes through as a human text pieced together by human hands out of many parts.Less
Richard Bushman’s “The Gold Plates as Foundational Text” focuses on the making of the Book of Mormon. In contrast to the controversies over the recovery and translation of the gold plates, the translated text is detailed and precise in explaining its own construction. Even the complicated insertion of the “small plates” into a narrative based on the “large plates” is explained and rationalized as a cultural and political force within the story. First, Nephi was clearly a political document created to justify the division of the family and the nation. Furthermore, its spiritual and prophetic emphasis made it a model for Mormon’s abridgment of the large plates. The Book of Mormon, Bushman argues, comes through as a human text pieced together by human hands out of many parts.
Larry E. Morris
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- February 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190699093
- eISBN:
- 9780190699123
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190699093.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity, Religious Studies
The documents in this chapter deal with the experience reported by Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris in June 1829. Both first-and secondhand accounts are included. The statement of ...
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The documents in this chapter deal with the experience reported by Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris in June 1829. Both first-and secondhand accounts are included. The statement of Cowdery, Whitmer, and Harris, titled “The Testimony of Three Witnesses,” states that “we, through the grace of God have seen the plates which contain this record, and we also know they have been translated by the gift and power of God, for his voice hath declared it unto us. And we declare with words of soberness than an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and the engravings thereon.”Less
The documents in this chapter deal with the experience reported by Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris in June 1829. Both first-and secondhand accounts are included. The statement of Cowdery, Whitmer, and Harris, titled “The Testimony of Three Witnesses,” states that “we, through the grace of God have seen the plates which contain this record, and we also know they have been translated by the gift and power of God, for his voice hath declared it unto us. And we declare with words of soberness than an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and the engravings thereon.”
Patrick Q. Mason
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780199358212
- eISBN:
- 9780199358250
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199358212.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Latter-day Saint apostle Ezra Taft Benson became Secretary of Agriculture in 1953 under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Especially in the 1960s, Benson both reflected and guided Mormonism’s embrace ...
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Latter-day Saint apostle Ezra Taft Benson became Secretary of Agriculture in 1953 under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Especially in the 1960s, Benson both reflected and guided Mormonism’s embrace of right-wing politics through his fervent anti-communism. He then became LDS Church president in 1985. As apostle and church president, Benson regularly preached from the Book of Mormon, and he encouraged church members to read it devotionally. Benson’s efforts helped bring the Book of Mormon to a greater position of prominence and familiarity within the church. Moreover, through his selective reading of the scripture, Benson highlighted particular passages and privileged certain themes that resonated with his own American exceptionalism, anti-communism, and arch-conservatism.Less
Latter-day Saint apostle Ezra Taft Benson became Secretary of Agriculture in 1953 under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Especially in the 1960s, Benson both reflected and guided Mormonism’s embrace of right-wing politics through his fervent anti-communism. He then became LDS Church president in 1985. As apostle and church president, Benson regularly preached from the Book of Mormon, and he encouraged church members to read it devotionally. Benson’s efforts helped bring the Book of Mormon to a greater position of prominence and familiarity within the church. Moreover, through his selective reading of the scripture, Benson highlighted particular passages and privileged certain themes that resonated with his own American exceptionalism, anti-communism, and arch-conservatism.
