How the Book of Mormon Reads the Bible: A Theory of Types

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (2017) ◽  
pp. 48-81
Author(s):  
Michael Austin
Keyword(s):  
Book Of Mormon ◽  
The Bible

Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max Perry Mueller
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Religious History ◽  
Main Argument ◽  
Construction Sites ◽  
European Descent ◽  
Book Of Mormon ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Religious Writings

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.

Scriptures

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terryl Givens
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Book Of Mormon ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Patriarchal Narratives ◽  
The Church

The Book of Mormon What is the Book of Mormon? The Book of Mormon, which members of the Church of Jesus Christ accept as scripture alongside the Bible, begins as a clan history, like the patriarchal narratives of Genesis, set close to the year...

An American Book of Chronicles

2019 ◽  
pp. 136-158
Author(s):  
Eran Shalev
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual History ◽  
Cultural Landscape ◽  
Joseph Smith ◽  
Early American ◽  
Book Of Mormon ◽  
The Bible ◽  
History Of ◽  
Biblical Texts ◽  
The Republic ◽  
American Book

By the time Joseph Smith published The Book of Mormon, Americans had been producing and consuming faux biblical texts for close to a century. Imitating a practice that originated as a satirical literary genre in eighteenth-century Britain, Americans began producing pseudo-biblical texts during the Revolution. This essay demonstrates how the prism of pseudo-biblicism allows us to view The Book of Mormon as emerging from a larger biblico-American world. The genre demonstrates how pervasive the Bible was in the cultural landscape of the Republic and the ease with which Americans lapsed into biblical language. As this essay points out, however, pseudo-biblical discourse also sheds new light on The Book of Mormon. The similarities between The Book of Mormon and other pseudo-biblical texts provide a significant context to understanding the creation and reception of Smith’s text, the culture of biblicism in the nineteenth century, and the intellectual history of the early American Republic.

The Book of Mormon and the Bible

2019 ◽  
pp. 107-135
Author(s):  
Grant Hardy
Keyword(s):  
Political Culture ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
American History ◽  
Spiritual Gifts ◽  
Divine Providence ◽  
Conservative Christianity ◽  
Book Of Mormon ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Theological Perspective

The Book of Mormon appeared in American history at a time of religious turmoil. As it attempted to answer questions posed by Christians and skeptics alike, it did so through narrative rather than direct exegetical commentary or doctrinal exposition (though such genres were at times incorporated into its narrative). Moreover, Joseph Smith’s book was presented as a newly revealed ancient scripture, equal in authority to the Bible. Consequently, while it shared many characteristics with the emerging genre of biblical fiction and reflected shifts in political culture from Old Testament inflected nationalism to a New Testament emphasis on individual salvation, The Book of Mormon was nevertheless an unusual literary and religious work. From a theological perspective, it affirmed many elements of conservative Christianity, including angels, prophecy, divine providence, and spiritual gifts, yet its very existence as extra-biblical scripture challenged notions of the uniqueness and sufficiency of the Bible. The Book of Mormon was clearly intended to be a companion to the Bible, and the connections between the two include not only thematic elements, but also archaic diction, shared phrasing, allusions, and subtle modifications of familiar biblical expressions that recontextualize and explain theological concepts and ambiguities.

The Many Bibles of Joseph Smith

2018 ◽  
pp. 110-128
Author(s):  
Seth Perry
Keyword(s):  
Religious Authority ◽  
Joseph Smith ◽  
Book Of Mormon ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Early National ◽  
The Many

This chapter examines scripturalization in early national America by focusing on the scripturalized community that formed around Joseph Smith and his scriptural productions to extend and amplify a universe of biblical citations and performed roles. In contemporary Mormonism, the story of Smith's career begins with the First Vision. He published the Book of Mormon in 1830, using bibles for its composition. The chapter discusses the place of print-bible culture, citationality, performance, and the scripturalization of biblically resonant visionary texts in earliest Mormonism. It also considers how Smith's texts invited their readers and auditors to regard them as scriptures and therefore to regard him as a prophet. It shows that these texts functioned by citing the Bible, both implicitly and explicitly, and argues that the scripturalized community conjured by Smith and those around him as a classic example of the type of religious authority made possible by early national bible culture.

Scripture

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terryl L. Givens
Keyword(s):  
Spiritual Gifts ◽  
Book Of Mormon ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Further Development ◽  
The Church ◽  
Fixed Standard

If spiritual gifts signify the possibility of new revelation, scripture represents a fixed standard. However, Mormonism’s standard is expansive and open to further development. Mormons read the Bible with a limited literalism but consider it to be missing “plain and precious things” and in need of correction and supplement. Joseph provided a new “translation,” but it was not canonized in whole. The Book of Mormon functions more as a sign of Smith’s authority than as a reservoir of doctrine, though it was important in providing a template for the organization of the church, priesthood, and basic sacraments. The Doctrine and Covenants is a compendium of Smith’s revelations, and though it is open in principle, only a few revelations not of his authorship have been added. And the Pearl of Great Price canonized his visionary experiences and a tremendously important text of purported Mosaic origin, along with a problematic account attributed to Abraham.

Joseph Smith and the Bible

2009 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kent P. Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Joseph Smith ◽  
The Past ◽  
Book Of Mormon ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Religious System ◽  
Prophetic Authority ◽  
Newspaper Editorials

AbstractWith regard to sacred books, Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism (1805 – 1844), is best known for his publication of the Book of Mormon, as a history comparable to the Bible, and for other texts he put forth as divine revelations. These volumes established the unique beliefs of Mormonism and set it apart from other religions. What is less well known and often overlooked by historians is the fact that virtually every aspect of Joseph Smith's career involved the Bible, which was central to his theology and to the religious system that he established – but always in ways unique to him. Priesthoods of Aaron and Melchizedek, the building of temples and the establishment of communities in promised lands are all themes for which he invoked biblical precedents. He also produced, but never published in his lifetime, a revision of the Bible itself, the result of three years of adding to and editing the text. In addition, as he taught doctrine in his correspondence, newspaper editorials and sermons, he drew his texts and illustrations from the Bible and virtually never from the Book of Mormon or his own revelations. This article explores the role of the Bible in each of these enterprises and examines the ways Joseph Smith used it in the establishment of Mormon beliefs. The article proposes that, in his extensive use of the Bible, he was making a statement regarding his prophetic authority and his relationship to prophets and scriptures of the past.

scholarly journals Rasesynet hos mormonerne i det forrige århundre

1991 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johnnie Glad
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Latter Day Saints ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
Dark Skin ◽  
White Skin ◽  
Joseph Smith ◽  
Book Of Mormon ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Mormon Church ◽  
The Church

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (also known as the Mormon Church) was established on April 6, 1830, by Joseph Smith, Jr. in Fayette, New York. The Mormon Church claims to be not only a Christian church, but also the only true church here on earth. In addition to the Bible, this church has several authoritative sacred scriptures, such as the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price.One of the issues that has haunted the Mormon Church down through the years and caused considerable embarrassment and unrest, has been the race issue. Why were Negroes prohibited from entering the priesthood? Why were the Indians and the Negroes stigmatized? Why should a white skin be considered better and more favourable than a dark skin?The intention of this article is to throw some light on this issue and see how it developed during the previous century. It is important in this context to examine the Mormon scriptures. What did they have to say about this issue? And what about the church leaders? How did they look upon and tackle these problems? The leaders of the church had great authority and power. What they said and did had far-reaching consequences in the church and created a pattern for other to follow. The following century is a case in point.

The Development of Mormon Priesthood

2020 ◽  
pp. 71-84
Author(s):  
Michael Hubbard MacKay
Keyword(s):  
Garden Of Eden ◽  
Joseph Smith ◽  
Book Of Mormon ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Religious System ◽  
Prophetic Voice ◽  
System P

This chapter charts the emergence of Mormon priesthood through Smith’s restoration scripture and describes the institutional priesthood that defined Smith as the president of the high priesthood and ultimate appellate judge within a structure that came to include both a higher and a lower priesthood. The chapter explores Smith’s narrative of authority extending back in time before the garden of Eden and forward in time to Joseph Smith in the last dispensation. With the power of his prophetic voice, Smith recast the Bible and added the book of Moses, the Book of Mormon, and his own revelations to the revelatory foundation of his church. The chapter further charts the emergence of the term priesthood in Mormonism when Joseph Smith began to connect the Bible with his new restoration scripture that marked a genealogy of priesthood back to Adam. Through this lineage of power, Smith defined an authority traced from patriarch to patriarch, preceding hundreds of years of Catholic succession. Smith became the fountainhead of all things Mormon, distributing and sustaining all authority and power in a well-organized religious system.

scholarly journals The Earth as “Mother of Men” in Latter-Day Saint Theology

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1016
Author(s):  
Kevin L. Tolley
Keyword(s):  
First Year ◽  
Significant Information ◽  
Joseph Smith ◽  
Environmental Care ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Book Of Mormon ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Church ◽  
Theological Implication ◽  
Insight Into

Following the completion of work on the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith began his work on expanding the Bible’s scope. Unlike many of his contemporary Bible thinkers who were also working on translations of the Bible, Smith expanded the text in unique ways, breathing life into archaic and mysterious figures and developing themes far beyond the Biblical scope. Within the first year of the Church of Jesus Christ, Smith introduced significant information concerning a vision of the pseudepigraphical character of Enoch and additional information concerning the creation narrative. These additions give insight into Smith’s understanding of his theology and his views on the environment. These additional writings connect environmental care and social injustice. The unique theological implication is that the treatment of the marginalized and downtrodden is closely related to the environment.

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