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With over 100 million copies in print, the Book of Mormon has spawned a vast religious movement, but it remains little discussed outside Mormon circles. Now Terryl Givens offers a full-length treatment of this highly influential work, illuminating many facets of this uniquely American scripture. Givens examines the Book of Mormon's role as a divine testament of the Last Days and as a sacred sign of Joseph Smith's status as a modern-day prophet. He assesses its claim to be a history of the pre-Columbian peopling of the Western Hemisphere, first by a small Old World group in the era of Babel, and later by tribes from Jerusalem in the age of Jeremiah. Givens explores how the Book of Mormon has been defined as a cultural product, the imaginative ravings of a rustic religion-maker more inspired by the winds of culture than the breath of God. He also investigates its status as a new American Bible or Fifth Gospel, displacing, supporting, or--in some views--perverting the canonical Word of God. Givens also probes the Book's shifting relationship to Mormon doctrine and its changing reputation among theologians and scholars. Finally, in exploring what Martin Marty refers to as the Book of Mormon's ''revelatory appeal,'' Givens highlights the Book's role as the engine behind what may become the next world religion. The most wide-ranging study on the subject outside Mormon presses, By the Hand of Mormon will fascinate anyone curious about a religious people who, despite their numbers, remain very much strangers in our midst.
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BY THE HAND OF MORMON
By the Hand of M ormon The American Scripture that Launched a New World Religion
Terryl L. Givens
2002
Oxford New York Auckland Bangkok Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi São Paulo Shanghai Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto
and associated companies in Berlin
Copyright © 2002 by Terryl L. Givens Published by Oxford University Press, Inc., 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Givens, Terryl. By the hand of Mormon : the American scripture that launched a new world religion / Terryl L. Givens. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-19-513818-X (alk. paper) 1. Book of Mormon. I. Title. BX8627 .G58 2002 289.3´22--dc21 2001053118
987654321 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
To Nathaniel, Jonathan, Rebecca, Rachael, Elisabeth, Andrew
And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust. —Isaiah 29:4
Acknowledgements he University of Richmond has generously funded travel and research related to this project, for which I am grateful. In a study as wide-ranging as this one, I have necessarily relied on the knowledge and good will of a number of colleagues, forging and renewing some wonderful friendships in the process. William Slaughter at the Archives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as usual, went beyond the call of duty in making suggestions and helping me obtain photographs. David Whittaker’s command of Mormon history and its sources is immense, and he gave me especially useful guidance and advice. Richard Rust, a kind and outstanding scholar of the Book of Mormon, provided sound