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Dimensions of Faith: A Mormon Studies Reader
In the brief time between when the alarm clock rings and the start of the day, we usually cherish those few extra moments of warmth in the sheets. However, soon enough we’re happy to be up and about, exploring the world around us. Similarly with religious studies, we may cling to the comforts of the past—what we find familiar in our faith—but then curiosity and conscience pull us to new revelations and sources of knowledge.
In these seventeen articles on things Mormon—prominent people, religious experience, memory, media, literature, and investigative theory—there is an obvious respect for the past and simultaneous desire to get to the bottom of things, to test the boundaries of knowledge. For instance, Jonathan Stapley and Kristine Wright look at the history of ritual healing within Mormonism, including the use of magic handkerchiefs and blessings performed by women. Matthew Bowman’s essay on “A Mormon Bigfoot” looks at the story retold in Sunday school and elsewhere about an early Church apostle who saw the biblical Cain. Brian Stuy examines Church President Wilford Woodruff’s account of the American founding fathers reaching from beyond the grave—a summons the prophet responded favorably to—requesting temple baptisms on their behalf. Unknown to Woodruff, this ordinance had been performed the year before. And Kathleen Flake looks at how the First Vision and other founding narratives were not emphasized in the Church until the twentieth century.
Other contributors include Gary James Bergera, Martha Bradley, Newell Bringhurst, Samuel Brown, Claudia Bushman, Brian Cannon, Douglas Davies, Rebecca de Schweinitz, Lawrence Foster, Reinhold Hill, and Jacob Olmstead.
In these seventeen articles on things Mormon—prominent people, religious experience, memory, media, literature, and investigative theory—there is an obvious respect for the past and simultaneous desire to get to the bottom of things, to test the boundaries of knowledge. For instance, Jonathan Stapley and Kristine Wright look at the history of ritual healing within Mormonism, including the use of magic handkerchiefs and blessings performed by women. Matthew Bowman’s essay on “A Mormon Bigfoot” looks at the story retold in Sunday school and elsewhere about an early Church apostle who saw the biblical Cain. Brian Stuy examines Church President Wilford Woodruff’s account of the American founding fathers reaching from beyond the grave—a summons the prophet responded favorably to—requesting temple baptisms on their behalf. Unknown to Woodruff, this ordinance had been performed the year before. And Kathleen Flake looks at how the First Vision and other founding narratives were not emphasized in the Church until the twentieth century.
Other contributors include Gary James Bergera, Martha Bradley, Newell Bringhurst, Samuel Brown, Claudia Bushman, Brian Cannon, Douglas Davies, Rebecca de Schweinitz, Lawrence Foster, Reinhold Hill, and Jacob Olmstead.
- GenresLdsNonfiction
446 pages, Paperback
First published July 15, 2007
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December 19, 2012
The new Mormon Studies movement is highly touted. Whereas the "old" new Mormon history was all about an honest telling of the Mormon story, both large and small - the Mormon-Studies approach fits Mormonism within its American context.
The present volume is a sampler of Mormon-Studies scholarship. In spite of aspirations, its still mostly history. The scholars seem younger and better informed about American religious and cultural history.
Still, based on the sampled writing, I don't see it as earth-changing. Some writing blows me away - Kathleen Flake's Smoot Hearings book, or Matt Bowman's single-volume history of Mormonism. These are great examples of Mormon Studies. The chapters in this book varied in how they hit me, but overall it didn't hit me hard!
The present volume is a sampler of Mormon-Studies scholarship. In spite of aspirations, its still mostly history. The scholars seem younger and better informed about American religious and cultural history.
Still, based on the sampled writing, I don't see it as earth-changing. Some writing blows me away - Kathleen Flake's Smoot Hearings book, or Matt Bowman's single-volume history of Mormonism. These are great examples of Mormon Studies. The chapters in this book varied in how they hit me, but overall it didn't hit me hard!
Displaying 1 of 1 review