Description
Book SynopsisLike other Christian denominations, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) has been engaged in the battle for the Bible since challenges to biblical authority began to exert significant influence in America toward the end of the nineteenth century. Other believing communities have responded with various reevaluations of biblical text. Latter-day Saints have experimented with similar approaches, often taking liberal positions on biblical authority and conservative positions on history and authorship. However, Latter-day Saints accept additional scripture as well as embracing a theology notably distinct from traditional Christianity. Hence, Latter-day Saints relate to the Bible differently from other Christians, creating gaps with mainstream biblical studies. This volume bridges that gap.
From comparing the Book of Mormon to the Bible or the Dead Sea Scrolls, to Mormon feminists’ biblical studies approaches to the Gospels, this volume takes a comprehensive and inclusive approach to understanding Bible scholarship’s role in Mormon history and exploring these differences for both scholars and students. A diverse group of contributors presents an accessible resource to mediate between Latter-day Saint traditions and the broader context of biblical history, literature, and scholarship. Each essay provides a synopsis of relevant major scholarly views and delivers new insights into a wide variety of Bible receptions.
Trade Review “One of the great strengths of this collection is how it often offers different perspectives, offered by different scholars, to similar concerns or texts. In so doing, it adds a nice breadth of approach and depth of competing analyses.”—Paul C. Gutjahr, Indiana University
“The Sheer amount of information is impressive and makes the volume invaluable to scholars of many disciplines. Historians and biblical scholars, to be sure, but also scholars of literature, theologians, and religious studies academics will find worthy materials here.”—Mathew Bowman, Claremont Graduate University in
Nova ReligioTable of Contents
- Introduction: Latter-day Saints and Biblical Scholarship by Taylor G. Petrey
- Part I: The Ancient World of the Bible as Understood by Latter-day Saints: From Joseph Smith to Contemporary Scholarship
- 1. The Place of the Bible and Biblical Scholarship among Latter-day Saints in the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries by Philip L. Barlow and Stephen T. Betts
- 2. The King James Version and Modern Translations of the Bible by Thomas Wayment
- 3. Joseph Smith’s “New Translation” of the Bible by Grant Underwood
- 4. Temple and Priesthood in the Bible and in Mormonism by Cory Crawford
- 5. Dead Sea Scrolls by Dana M. Pike
- 6. The Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Periods by Matthew J. Grey
- Part II: Conceptions of Canon and Not Canon: The Bible(s) and Restoration Scripture
- 7. The Biblical Canon by Daniel Becerra
- 8. The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha by Jared W. Ludlow
- 9. How the Book of Mormon Responds to the Bible by Grant Hardy
- 10. The Biblical World in the Book of Mormon by David Calabro
- 11. The Bible in the Pearl of Great Price by Brian M. Hauglid
- Part III: A Variety of Critical Biblical Approaches and Their Relevance to Mormon Studies
- 12. Nineteenth-Century Biblical Interpretation in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Amy Easton-Flake
- 13. Historical Criticism of the Bible among the Latter-day Saints by Jason Robert Combs
- 14. Biblical Theology and the Latter-day Saint Tradition by Joseph M. Spencer
- 15. Textual Criticism by Lincoln H. Blumell
- 16. Biblical Archaeology in Latter-day Saint Perspective by George A. Pierce
- 17. Orality, Literacy, and the Cultural World of the Bible in Ancient Near Eastern Scholarship and Latter-day Saint Reception by Eric A. Eliason
- 18. Feminist Biblical Criticism by Deidre Nicole Green
- Part IV: Inheritance and Divergence: Latter-day Saints Read Others Reading the Bible
- 19. The Use of Jewish Scripture in the New Testament by Jared W. Ludlow
- 20. Early Christian Biblical Interpretation by Carl Griffin and Kristian S. Heal
- 21. Early Christian Literature by Grant Adamson
- 22. Medieval Bibles by Miranda Wilcox
- 23. Reformation and Early Modern Biblical Interpretation by Jason A. Kerr
- Part V: Latter-day Saint Approaches to the Bible’s Major Genres and Divisions
- 24. The Pentateuch by David Bokovoy
- 25. From Exodus to Exile by David Rolph Seely
- 26. Prophets and Prophetic Literature by David Bokovoy
- 27. Wisdom Literature and the Psalms by Ryan Conrad Davis
- 28. Jesus and the Gospels by Eric D. Huntsman
- 29. Paul’s Letters and Acts of the Apostles by Taylor G. Petrey
- 30. The Universal Epistles: James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1–3 John, Jude by Luke Drake
- 31. Apocalyptic Literature by Jill Kirby
- List of Contributors
- Index
