Mormons and the Bible: The Place of the Latter-day Saints in American ReligionPhilip L. Barlow offers an in-depth analysis of the approaches taken to the Bible by major Mormon leaders, from its beginnings to the present. He shows that Mormon attitudes toward the Bible comprise an extraordinary mix of conservative, liberal, and radical ingredients: an almost fundamentalist adherence to the King James Version co-exists with belief in the possibility of new revelation and surprising ideas about the limits of human language. Barlow's exploration takes important steps toward unraveling the mystery of this quintessential American religious phenomenon. This updated edition of Mormons and the Bible includes an extended bibliography and a new preface, casting Joseph Smith's mission into a new frame and treating evolutions in Mormonism's biblical usage in recent decades. |
Contents
Preface 1991 | ix |
Reinterpreting Joseph Smith and Pondering the TwentyFirst Century | xxv |
Acknowledgments | xlix |
Abbreviations | li |
A Note on Mormon Organization and Nomenclature | liii |
The Bible in Antebellum America | 1 |
Joseph Smith and the Bible 18201830 | 10 |
2 From the Birth of the Church to the Death of the Prophet | 46 |
4 The Mormon Response to Higher Criticism | 112 |
5 Why the King James Version? | 162 |
6 Mormons and the Bible in the Late Twentieth Century | 199 |
The Ambiguities of a New Religious Tradition | 235 |
| 251 | |
Select Bibliography since 1991 | 263 |
| 267 | |
The Bible Moves West | 80 |
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Common terms and phrases
ancient Apostle Authorized Version B. H. Roberts believed Bennion Bible in America Bible’s biblical criticism Biblical Scholarship biblical usage Book of Abraham Book of Mormon Bruce Bushman canon Chamberlin chap chapter Christ of Latter-day Christian Church Archives Church of Jesus contemporary context culture David divine Doctrine and Covenants Early Mormon edition evangelical example faith Fundamentalism fundamentalist Genesis God’s gospel Hatch and Noll Hebrew higher criticism Holy human inspiration intellectual interpretation Isaiah Israel Jesus Christ John Joseph Fielding Smith Joseph Smith King James Bible King James Version language Latter-day Saints literal Lord Marsden McConkie McConkie’s Mormon Doctrine Mormon history Mormon leaders Mormon scriptures Mormonism’s Moses Nephi nineteenth century notes Old Testament one’s Orson Pratt passages perspectives President prophecy Prophet Protestant religious restoration Reuben Clark revision scholarly scholars sermons Smith’s revelations thought tion tradition translation truth twentieth century understand Utah views words writing York