The Roots of Early Mormonism : An Exegetical Inquiry
University of Calgary
1990
Master's thesis
Two hypotheses are put forward. The first of these is that the Book of Mormon should be classified, or re-classified, as a commentary on the King James Version of the Bible: the term used in the thesis is 'biblical metaphrase'. The second hypothesis is that early Mormonism was interrogative in nature and began as a series of questions that mirrored nineteenth-century American thought. It was both a child of this dialectic and a response. In coming to terms with these tensions it came to embrace occult metaphysics, a development which takes Mormonism too far afield to be called Christian in the orthodox sense. This thesis concludes by suggesting that Mormons and non- Mormons alike should enter into a more serious scholarly study of Mormonism