Misunderstanding Mormonism in The Mormonizing of America (original) (raw)

A Peculiar People: The Mystical and Pragmatic Appeal of Mormonism

2006

Abstract: This 1999 Los Angeles Times Book Review essay examines Richard and Joan Ostling's account of contemporary Mormonism in the United States. Richard Ostling, a reporter for Time Magazine, obtained extensive access to Mormon Church officials in the course of researching the book, and it gives the fullest account available currently of Mormon life in America.

Mormonism : Changes , Contradictions , and Errors

2018

John R. Farkas and David A. Reed. Mormonism: Changes, Contradictions, and Errors. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 1995. 256 pp., with bibliogra. phy and index. $11.98. Reviewed by Craig L. Foster With their latest combined effort , authors John R. Farkas and David A. Reed have undertaken an impress ive task. They have, as they explain in their preface, taken up Joseph Fielding Smith's challenge to detect errors and contradictions of Mormonism through the "accepted standards of measurement, the sc riptures."\ Such an undertaking would be impressive for any scholar. At the minimum, a writer or writers would need a thorough background of Latter-day Saint history and an understanding of the complex.ities of an open canon and evolving doctrine. Indeed , something of this magnitude would encompass numerous primary and secondary works discussing not only Latter-day Saint but primitive Christian history and theology. It would also have to be an honest, unbiased, scholarly wo...

America's Favorite Punching Bag: Mormonism as American Civic Religion

Examined here is the general cultural attitude towards Mormonism, namely that it is a silly religion for the simple-minded. Even within the theological academy, Mormonism is neglected and disenfranchised as either invalid or oppressive. Some of these criticisms are certainly worthy of attention, but if the academy is to be a democratic force, which it seems to wish of itself, it must relinquish its anti-conservative bias and allow Mormon voices to speak for themselves. This paper indicts both the theological academy as well as popular culture for allowing the marginalization of the LDS community with complacency and perpetuating false information and mischaracterizations about Mormons and their faith. Further, Mormonism is examined as not only valid within the marketplace of religious ideas, but also as a truly American civic religion – a faith that parallels American virtues and narratives with respect to its whiteness, economic practices, and general historical plot.

Book Review Mapping Mormonism: An Atlas of Latter-day Saint History

2014

Courtesy of BYU Studies B randon Plewe and his team of talented writers and designers have done an excellent job on this ambitious and expansive atlas. The team includes sixty experts in fields ranging from political science to geography to Church history and doctrine. Several scholars of other faiths are included-namely, Barbara Bernauer, William Russell, Steven Shields, and Gary Topping. This atlas would be extremely helpful to all readers interested in learning the history of Mormonism, regardless of their religious affiliation. This book replaces The Historical Atlas of Mormonism. What sets Mapping Mormonism above its predecessor is the quality of the detailed graphics. They are easily accessible yet also yield detailed information upon study and reflection. The introduction makes a bold assertion: "The average Mormon's understanding of Church history is often fraught with error, myth, and incompleteness" (p. 8). This is true. And, as Richard Bushman asserts in his foreword, "Even Latter-day Saints with a detailed knowledge of Church history will learn something on nearly every page" (p. 7). I agree. The book traces Mormonism from its humble roots into an expansive global religion. The book is organized into four sections of about equal