Item Detail
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12730
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2
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0
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English
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The Bible in Mormonism
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Harvard Divinity School
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Ph.D. diss.
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"Despite the fact that Mormons are among the most studied religious groups in American history, scholarly disagreements persist concerning Mormonism's essential nature and its relation to the rest of American religion. This thesis contributes to the conversation by examining a neglected topic--the Mormon use of the Bible--and comparing Mormon usage to usage among other American religionists. The Mormons are Bible-believing Christians, but with a difference. Joseph Smith shared much common ground with the prevailing Protestantism from which he emerged, yet, early in his career, his use of the Bible laid the foundations of an enduring Mormon "difference." With his prophetic consciousness, Smith submitted to and yet restricted biblical authority, setting him apart from others. This difference continued until his death, and expanded among his successors and followers throughout the 19th century. Compared to other Christians, Mormons paradoxically both raised and lowered the Bible's status. The foundations laid in the 19th century assured that the Saints would remain a people apart in their 20th-century use of scripture. This singularity never disappeared, but it did grow more ambiguous. For example, the Mormon response to higher criticism, though somewhat tardy, was quite like that of earlier Northern Baptists. And by continuing to insist on the King James Version as their official Bible, the Saints, in part for reasons peculiar to themselves, became on this point even more conservative than many of their evangelical peers. Contemporary Mormonism, however, harbors both liberals and conservatives, whose basic religious attitudes have clear parallels in most other faiths, while the content of their theology and the specifics of their biblical views remain distinctive. Since 1830, Mormonism has combined a traditional faith in the Bible with more "conservative" elements, certain "liberal" components, and also some radical ingredients. This distinctive recipe constitutes the Mormon "difference" in the role assigned to the Bible--a difference that illuminates Mormonism's essential nature." [Author's abstract]