Moving Beyond the Historicity Question, or a Manifesto for Future Book of Mormon Research

by Newell D. Wright

Overview

Review of Daniel Becerra, Amy Easton-Flake, Nicholas J. Frederick, and Joseph M. Spencer, Book of Mormon Studies: An Introduction and Guide (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2022). 184 pages. $19.99 (hardback), $15.99 (paperback).

Abstract: Book of Mormon Studies: An Introduction and Guide by four Brigham Young University religion professors reviews the field of Book of Mormon studies from the late nineteenth century to the current day. After the historical review of the field, the authors lay out a research agenda for the twenty-first century that, by and large, moves on from the Book of Mormon historicity question that so engaged twentieth-century scholars. This review examines the authors' claims and demonstrates that the scope of the book is not as broad as it could or should be. Absent perspectives, blind spots, incomplete twenty-first–century research trends, and a discussion of research tools should have been included in the book but were not included. This review ends with a discussion of "the gatekeeper problem" in Book of Mormon studies.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940186261971
Publisher:	Interpreter Foundation
Publication date:	03/23/2023
Series:	Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship , #55
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	958,074
File size:	359 KB

About the Author

Newell D. Wright is Professor of Marketing and International Business at North Dakota State University in Fargo, North Dakota. Born in Provo and raised in Orem, Utah, he holds a Ph.D. in marketing from Virginia Tech (1993) and an MBA (1987) and a BA (1985) in French literature from Brigham Young University. He is widely published in the marketing discipline and is currently the editor of the Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behavior. He has led or directed 57 study-abroad programs around the world since 1998 and has visited 51 countries, mostly with a group of students in tow. He is also a lifelong student of the Book of Mormon. He is married to the former Julie Gold of Abingdon, Virginia, and they are the parents of four children and the grandparents of six grandchildren.