Mormons and the Bible: The Place of the Latter-day Saints in American Religion

by Philip L. Barlow

Overview

Philip 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199739035
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	06/11/2013
Series:	Religion in America
Edition description:	Updated Edition
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.30(d)
Lexile:	1540L (what's this?)

About the Author

Philip L. Barlow is Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture at Utah State University. His books include The Oxford Handbook to Mormonism (co-edited with Terryl Givens, forthcoming, 2013), The New Historical Atlas of Religion in America (OUP 2000, co-authored with Edwin Scott Gaustad) and, as co-editor with Mark Silk, Religion and Public Life in the Midwest: America's Common Denominator? (2004). He is past president of the Mormon History Association.

Table of Contents

Preface (1991)
Preface (2013): Reinterpreting Joseph Smith and Pondering the Twenty-first Century
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
A Note on Mormon Organization and Nomenclature
Introduction: The Bible in Antebellum America
1. Before Mormonism: Joseph Smith and the Bible, 1820-1830
2. From the Birth of the Church to the Death of the Prophet
3. Diversity and Development: The Bible Moves West
4. The Mormon Response to Higher Criticism
5. Why the King James Version?
6. The Late Twentieth Century [will need to be corrected in chapter headings]
Summary: The Ambiguities of a New Religious Tradition
Select Bibliography
Select Bibliography since 1991
Index

Editorial Reviews

"Twenty-two years after it first appeared, Mormons and the Bible is as much a classic of American religious history broadly as of Mormonism narrowly." —The Juvenile Instructor

From the previous edition:

"A model of what other cultural studies of scripture might be....Goes well beyond existing literature in both its breadth of research into actual Mormon practice and its subtlety of interpretation about the place of Mormon scripturism in American cultural life....The book, in sum, is a treasure."—Modern Theology

"Gives non-Mormons a scholarly and incisively written look at the tradition Joseph Smith set in motion. Further, it creates for Latter-day Saint readers an opportunity for enlightened and enlightening self-analysis."—Journal of Mormon History

"It would be difficult to think of a better book for non-Mormons to read on Mormonism than Barlow's. He places Mormonism in a comparative context as few others have."—Religious Studies Review

"One of the most interesting books I have read on Mormonism in recent years....This is a persuasive and well-written book that offers a fresh approach to understanding the saints within a larger context of American religion."—American Historical Review

"An important seminal work, among the five or six most significant works examining Mormonism's rich and varied past to appear over the course of the past 20 years. As such, it is highly recommended as essential reading for all students of Mormon studies and the American West generally."—Journal of the West

"As both a former employee of the LDS church's religious educational system and a graduate of Harvard Divinity School, Barlow brings a sure-footed competence to his discussion of Mormonism, Biblical studies, and religion in America generally."—Pacific Historical Review

"There can be no question that as a work of Mormon intellectual history this is a seminal—and eminently readable—work....Mormons and the Bible has all the markings of a Mormon classic."—Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought

"Mormons and the Bible is one of the most stimulating books to come on the Mormon market for years—stimulating because it presents a fresh, delightful new path through the rut-worn field of Mormon history and doctrine. Disarmingly simple in its major thesis, yet profound in its insights and scholarly to the core, it is effortlessly readable."—Sunstone

"The book remains a classic, invaluable to Mormon studies specifically and American religious history broadly." —Religious Studies Review

From the Publisher