Standing Apart
Mormon Historical Consciousness and the Concept of Apostasy
Published on 29. May 2014
Book
Paperback/Softback
384 pages
978-0-19-934814-5 (ISBN)
Description
Latter-day Saints have a paradoxical relationship to the past; even as they invest their own history with sacred meaning, celebrating the restoration of ancient truths and the fulfillment of biblical prophecies, they repudiate the eighteen centuries of Christianity that preceded the founding of their church as apostate distortions of the truth. Since the early days of Mormonism, Latter-day Saints have used the paradigm of apostasy and restoration in their narratives about the origin of their church. This has generated a powerful and enduring binary of categorization that has profoundly impacted Mormon self-perception and relations with others. Standing Apart explores how the idea of apostasy has functioned as a category to mark, define, and set apart "the other" in Mormon historical consciousness and in the construction of Mormon narrative identity. The volume's fifteen contributors trace the development of LDS narratives of apostasy within the context of both Mormon history and American Protestant historiography. They suggest ways in which these narratives might be reformulated to engage with the past, as well as offering new models for interfaith relations. This volume provides a novel approach for understanding and resolving some of the challenges faced by the LDS church in the twenty-first century.
Reviews / Votes
No religion has more consistently defined itself against a religious other than the Latter-day Saints. Now Mormon intellectuals are asking what a Great Apostasy from early Christianity means in light of current historical scholarship and growing Mormon respect for other religions. This is one of the most significant books on Mormon thought in this generation and relevant to all religions who define themselves against a religious other. * Richard Bushman, author of Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
4 illus.
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
652 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-934814-5 (9780199348145)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Miranda Wilcox | John D. Young
Standing Apart
Mormon Historical Consciousness and the Concept of Apostasy
Book
06/2014
Oxford University Press Inc
€226.40
Shipment within 15-20 days
Miranda Wilcox | John D. Young
Standing Apart
Mormon Historical Consciousness and the Concept of Apostasy
E-Book
04/2014
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€29.49
Available for download
Persons
Miranda Wilcox is Assistant Professor of English at Brigham Young University where she teaches medieval literature.
John D. Young is Assistant Professor of History at Flagler College where he teaches medieval history.
John D. Young is Assistant Professor of History at Flagler College where he teaches medieval history.
Content
Acknowledgements ; Contributors ; Abbreviations and Notes on Sources ; Introduction, Miranda Wilcox and John D. Young ; PART I CONTEXTUALIZING THE LDS GREAT APOSTASY NARRATIVE ; Ch. 1 Historical Periodization in the LDS Great Apostasy Narrative, Eric R Dursteler ; Ch. 2 "Except among that Portion of Mankind": Early Mormon Conceptions of the Apostasy, Christopher C. Jones and Stephen J. Fleming ; Ch. 3 James Talmage, B.H. Roberts, and Confessional History in a Secular Age, Matthew Bowman ; Ch. 4 Narrating Apostasy and the LDS Quest for Identity, Miranda Wilcox ; PART II RE-NARRATING THE APOSTASY: NEW APPROACHES ; Ch. 5 Competing Histories in the Hebrew Bible and in the Latter-day Saint Tradition, Cory D. Crawford ; Ch. 6 Latter-day Saint Perceptions of Jewish Apostasy at the Time of Jesus, Matthew J. Grey ; Ch. 7 Purity and Parallels: Constructing the Apostasy Narrative of Early Christianity, Taylor G. Petrey ; Ch. 8 Rereading the Council of Nicaea and its Creed, Lincoln H. Blumell ; Ch. 9 Apostasy's Ancestors: Anti-Arian and Anti-Mormon Discourse in the Struggle for Christianity, Ariel Bybee Laughton ; Ch. 10 "Complexity and Richness": Re-envisioning the Middle Ages for Mormon Historical Narratives, Spencer E. Young ; Ch. 11 King Ratbod's Dilemma: Apostasy and Restoration in the Sixteenth and Twenty-First Centuries, Jonathan Green ; Ch. 12 Covenantal Pluralism in the Qur'an: Alternatives to the Binary Logic of Apostasy, David D. Peck ; Ch. 13 Long Narratives: Towards a New Mormon Understanding of Apostasy, John D. Young ; Epilogue: "We have only the Old Thing": Rethinking Mormon Restoration, Terryl Givens ; Appendix: First Presidency Statement on God's Love for All Mankind ; Index