Item Detail
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25138
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0
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0
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English
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"A Truly American Spirit of Writing" : Pseudobiblicism, the Early Republic, and the Cultural Origins of the Book of Mormon
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American Zion : The Old Testament as a political text from the Revolution to the Civil War
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New Haven
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Yale University Press
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84-117
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An analysis of biblical language and its varied uses throughout early American history. The author defines pseudobiblicism as the use of the language of the King James Bible in texts narrating American accounts and histories. America's fascination with pseudobiblicism paved the way for the Book of Mormon to take hold as an American text. Americans had been publishing pseudobiblical texts for close to a century when the Book of Mormon was published in 1830. By viewing the Book of Mormon as part of the pseudobiblical movement, we may better understand the literary cosmos in which it was written as well as gain insight into what made it appealing or understandable to contemporaries.