Foundational Texts of Mormonism

by Mark Ashurst-McGee (Editor), Robin M. Jensen (Editor), Sharalyn D. Howcroft (Editor)

Joseph Smith, founding prophet and martyr of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, personally wrote, dictated, or commissioned thousands of documents. Among these are several highly significant sources that scholars have used over and over again in their attempts to reconstruct the founding era of Mormonism, usually by focusing solely on content, without a deep appreciation for how and why a document was produced. This book offers case studies of the sources most often used by historians of the early Mormon experience. Each chapter takes a particular document as its primary subject, considering the production of a document as an historical event in itself, with its own background, purpose, circumstances, and consequences. The documents are examined not merely as sources of information but as artifacts that reflect aspects of the general culture and particular circumstances in which they were created. This book will help historians working in the founding era of Mormonism gain a more solid grounding in the period's documentary record by supplying important information on major primary sources.

Genres: Religion, Mormonism

445 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 16, 2018

About the author

Mark Roscoe Ashurst-McGee (born 1968) is an American historian of the Latter Day Saint movement and editor for the Joseph Smith Papers project.

Reviews

[Russell Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of essays on "the foundational texts of Mormonism" is a little misleadingly titled, I think, though I'm not sure what else they could have called it. The essays within it all focus on scriptural and other historically and/or theologically important texts that are unique to Mormonism, meaning that the Bible is left out entirely, save for Thomas Wayment's detailed examination of Joseph Smith's "Inspired Version" of the Bible, wherein he made hundreds of small (and sometimes not so small) changes to the Biblical text. Mostly the focus of this book is on those texts which Smith himself wrote, or caused to be written--or, if you are a believing Mormon committed to the historicity of the Book of Mormon, which he translated. Smith's letters, sermons, and editorial practices are presented and considered from a variety of different angles; along the way, the changing definitions of "revelation" in the Mormon community are considered, and the methods that church members (the leadership and others) employed in the early to mid-19th century to make those revelations understandable, consistent, and publishable are touched upon. Smith isn't always at the center here; different essays also look at the Nauvoo Relief Society's records and the diaries of Wilford Woodruff, the fourth president of the church. Overall though, this is a book for experts on the subject of Smith's writings, his use of scribes, his perspective on sharing, collaborating with others on, and editing for publication his own work. If one isn't deeply engaged in the mechanics of clarifying and preserving 19th-century texts, there's a limited amount of insight one can gleam from all this research. But for a believer, that little bit can go a long way.

[Christopher Angulo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall the book is really good if you are not already knee-deep in Mormon Studies. However, if you are, some of the essays are bit boring.

[Clair · Rating 3 out of 5]

The goal of the editors was “to provide a deeper level of understanding of these sources so historians and other scholars can use them more critically.” (p.2) I believe the editors succeeded in their objective. To them, the creation or production of a foundational document is considered itself an historic event. Through this unique approach, new light is shed that otherwise might go unnoticed.

A sampling of the essays includes:

• Grant Underwood looking at the process of revelation through Joseph Smith – from the moment of dictation, on to the process of compilation and correction, and finally to the canonization of the revelations. Regarding correction of the revelations, he includes statistics about how much text was added, deleted, or changed from the original dictation. Additionally, he includes percentages of changes that were stylistic, clarifying, presentational, grammatical, elaborative, or updates. This analysis is done for both the 1833 Book of Commandments, and the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants.

• Thomas Wayment discusses Joseph Smith’s harmonization objectives in Smith’s Bible “revision” (a term Wayment prefers over “translation”). Wayment views the revision as a method to bring the Bible more in line with Smith’s thought, particularly the perception that Christianity existed from Adam forward. Wayment’s careful analysis of changes to the multiple Book of Moses manuscripts, plus different translations of the same New Testament text, provides insights, and a greater sense of the revision process.

• Jennifer Reader analyzes the minutes of the Nauvoo Female Relief Society, noting that the presidency was a “living constitution”, a concept Joseph Smith would later incorporate into the Council of Fifty. She notes the masonic aspects of the Society, overviews characteristics of the meeting minutes, provides historical context of other female societies, and discusses the curious fact that most of the leadership were polygamously married to Joseph Smith.

In all, Foundational Texts of Mormonism stands as an excellent collection of essays, providing a new lens, or approach through which to view the rise of Mormonism by giving serious consideration to the foundational source material of early Mormon history.