false 236609 1400077532 9781400077533 1124 366 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172985628m/236609.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/236609.Joseph_Smith_Rough_Stone_Rolling 138368 Richard L. Bushman 1622 477 0 2009-05-15T13:47:18-07:00 760496 530 2009-05-15T13:47:18-07:00 0 2009-05-04T19:46:41-07:00 714886 476 2009-05-04T19:46:41-07:00 0 2009-05-04T19:46:01-07:00 714881 405 2009-05-04T19:46:01-07:00 476 0 2009-05-04T19:45:47-07:00 714880 405 2009-05-04T19:45:47-07:00 0 2009-04-05T15:57:36-07:00 593576 405 2009-04-05T15:57:36-07:00 0 2009-03-29T08:26:03-07:00 563384 389 2009-03-29T08:26:03-07:00 0 2009-03-01T12:12:58-08:00 448634 297 2009-03-01T12:12:58-08:00 0 2009-02-22T20:24:18-08:00 419742 234 2009-02-22T20:24:18-08:00 0 2009-02-22T08:00:32-08:00 416919 225 2009-02-22T08:00:32-08:00 0 2009-02-20T10:10:28-08:00 410394 210 2009-02-20T10:10:28-08:00 0 2009-02-06T16:03:12-08:00 355563 200 2009-02-06T16:03:12-08:00 0 2009-02-06T16:02:50-08:00 355562 336 2009-02-06T16:02:50-08:00 5 0 false Sun May 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Feb 01 19:48:23 -0800 2009 Sun May 17 21:17:36 -0700 2009 Richard Bushman puts the history of Joseph Smith in the context of his times. He treats some of the hard questions surrounding the life of Joseph Smith. He tackles, for example, accusations of money-digging and the origin of the Book of Mormon, the uniqueness of some of Joseph's revelatory experiences, and the non-uniqueness of others.

It's eye-opening to see how the revelations from the Doctrine and Covenants fit in with the goings-on of the times. I wasn't aware how intense the persecution of the church was in New York, for example, precipitating a number of revelations instructing the Saints to move. Many of the statements about enemies in early sections of the Doctrine and Covenants that I had thought were referring to spiritual enemies were much more physically literal than I thought.

It's also interesting to me how little emphasis there was on Joseph in the early missionary activities of the church. The focus was more on restoration and the promise of Zion than the existence of a modern prophet. And yet some were offended by his imperfections.

The book has 561 pages of text, with almost 300 pages of notes, references, and index. This is definitely not your light and fluffy testimony of Joseph, neglecting his humanity and mistakes. This is a fairly deep treatise on Brother Joseph in the context of his times. It is not for the faint of heart or the constrained of time. You're not likely to make your way through it if you borrow it from the library. It took me more than six months to read, mostly on Sundays.]]>