Item Detail
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32520
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1
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14
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English
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Knowing the Book Better: Orson Pratt, George Reynolds, and Janne M. Sjödahl on the Book of Mormon
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Journal of Book of Mormon Studies
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2021
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30
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Champaign, IL
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University of Illinois Press
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41-61
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"A well-known idea in Book of Mormon studies is that the Bible, rather than the Book of Mormon, was the primary religious text for most members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints throughout the nineteenth century. Scholarship focused on the early years of the Church in the 1830s and 1840s and on the last twenty years of the nineteenth century reveals that references to the Book of Mormon account for only about 5 percent of the scripture references found in Church-printed periodicals. These findings are tempered, however, by a recognition that they capture public rather than personal use of the scripture and that no definite distinction can be made (when studying personal and public writings) between why and how Church members used and incorporated different works of scripture. Nineteenth-century Church members looked to all their canonical scriptures—the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price—to find timeless and universal truths, to praise God, to acquire instruction for daily living, to find comfort and solace, to encourage desired behaviors, and to establish an understanding of various faith tenets. Further, the Book of Mormon appears to have been a primer for some of Joseph Smith’s early efforts at Church organization and theology. So while it currently seems clear that the majority of nineteenth-century Church members—lay and leader alike—devoted more of their religious practice to studying and learning from the Bible than the Book of Mormon, there were significant exceptions. This article explores the work of three of the most notable: Orson Pratt, George Reynolds, and Janne M. Sjödahl. Each of these individuals devoted substantial portions of their lives to the study of the Book of Mormon, and their work laid the foundation for future Book of Mormon studies." [Author]
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https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/uip/jbms/article/doi/10.5406/jbookmormstud2.30.2021.0041/283555/Knowing-the-Book-Better-Orson-Pratt-George
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Americanist Approaches to the Book of Mormon
Becoming a People of the Books : Toward an Understanding of Early Mormon Converts and the New Word of the Lord
Book of Mormon Usage in Early LDS Theology
Dictionary of the Book of Mormon ; Comprising its Biographical, Geographical, and Other Proper Names
Introduction to the Study of the Book of Mormon
Mormons and the Bible : The Place of the Latter-day Saints in American Religion
Orson Pratt’s Enduring Influence on The Book of Mormon
Prisoner for Conscience' Sake : The Life of George Reynolds
Schooling the Prophet : How the Book of Mormon Influenced Joseph Smith and the Early Restoration
The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt
The Bible in the Millennial Star and the Woman’s Exponent : Biblical Use and Interpretation in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Late Nineteenth Century
The Book of Mormon : A Blueprint for Organizing the Church
The Ghost and the Machine : Plates and Paratext in The Book of Mormon
The Life and Thought of Orson Pratt