Item Detail
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26443
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3
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4
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English
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In Defense of Methodological Pluralism : Theology, Apologetics, and the Critical Study of Mormonism
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Mormon Studies Review
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2014
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1
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Provo, UT
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Brigham Young University
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53-62
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"I intend to explore questions in this essay related to issues and challenges in the development of Mormon studies. ... The remainder of this essay will attempt to explicate this thesis and to apply it to the debates surrounding Mormon studies at this pivotal moment in its development. My arguments will be aimed in two different directions. On the one hand, I seek to argue that Mormon studies absent theological and apologetic voices is artificially exclusionary and unproductive. On the other hand, I argue that the appeal to religious authority in deflecting critical arguments can be equally inappropriate and detrimental. To accomplish this, I will utilize the arguments of Robert Neville in his 1992 presidential address to the American Academy of Religion. The short space of this essay allows for a mere sketch of the arguments. I present them in the hope that they can inform a more sustained and rich dialogue on these issues." [Taken from background provided by author]