Mormon Literature

This study explores the influence of the King James Bible (KJV) on the Book of Mormon (BM) by examining how the BM appropriates and adapts the text of the J source of the Pentateuch–a narrative strand from Genesis to Deuteronomy–and weaves phrases, ideas, motifs, and characters into the text. I identify the full range of influence of the J source of the Pentateuch on the text of the BM in Part II, and then analyze the use of Gen. 2-4 in its own literary context, in ancient sources, and finally in the BM. Through close reading and analysis the study highlights the gaps between the meaning of Gen. 2-4 in its own literary context and the way that the BM interprets its themes and overall message. The BM employs a thoroughly 19th century American-Christian worldview in both its use of the J source and its interpretation of that important text.
This study has important implications for BM studies broadly and for historical-critical studies of the BM in particular. Moving forward, BM studies will need to grapple with the heavy influence that the KJV had on the composition of the BM. Past studies have identified limited influence of the KJV on the text for several reasons, but whatever the reasons it is clear that there are specific ways to move the field forward. Studies have focused on the block quotations of Isaiah in the BM, and some have explored the use of Sermon on the Mount in 3 Nephi and other portions of the text. Unfortunately, there are very few studies that have attempted to broaden the scope and look at the influence of a larger section of the KJV and its more subtle uses throughout the entire BM.
It is my hope that this study can be a stepping-stone of sorts for future work. I have looked specifically at how the BM uses parts of Genesis through Deuteronomy, but this leaves the door open to exploring the influence of any and all of the other parts of the KJV and their influence on the text of the BM.

Several verses in the Book of Mormon are dependent on the Book of Malachi, although the traditional and academic dating of Malachi agrees that Malachi was written after the time the Book of Mormon describes the Nephite people left Jerusalem, ca 600 BCE. Past studies have largely been centered around either attacking or defending the Book of Mormon, with no discussion of taking seriously the themes and verbal connections between the King James Bible of Malachi and the Book of Mormon. This essay offers a close look at forty verses throughout the Book of Mormon and discusses their textual dependence on the King James Bible.

One of the most significant additions to the Book of Genesis in Joseph Smith's inspired translation of the Bible is to the story of the prophet Enoch, who the biblical record briefly implies was taken up into heaven alive. In Joseph Smith's rendering of the story, however, not only Enoch, as an individual, ascends into heaven, but also his entire community. This article explores the notion of communal ascent in ancient Jewish and Christian literature and seeks to find affinities with the story of Enoch's Zion found in the LDS Book of Moses. Ancient narratives such as The History of the Rechabites provide some interesting parallels, however the idea of a group ascending into heaven is more strikingly presented in texts that are arguably designed for ritual purposes, as we see with the biblical Epistle to the Hebrews and the Hodayot and Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice texts from among the Dead Sea Scrolls. We can see in these texts a pattern that entails an individual being taken up into heaven and taught the celestial mysteries, then being appointed to return and teach others so that they can also, as a group, ascend into the heavenly realm.

A poetic essay on discipleship and creativity, "Savior, silver, psalms, and sighs" explores the difficulty in arriving at a poetics of belief, and the necessary compromises and promises made along the way. Though a poem, it engages with relevant scholarship and a range of scriptural and poetic texts that address its central question.

Digital religion seems like a brand new phenomenon but it is actually best conceptualized by historically grounding these mediated practices within technological and cultural practices. Digital ethnographic observations are used to investigate the role of digital rituals in developing religious techno-faith surrounding Mormon social media usage. This paper seeks to apply a transmediated religious framework to understanding how digital religion works in the daily lives of religious congregations. Digital rituals are offered as a sub-category of media rituals, which serve as a lynchpin to inter-animate digital and face-to-face religious practice as techno-faith. Techno-faith mediates the central authority of the Mormon Church with the publication of individual, personal worship. Live-tweeting during Mormon General Conference, LDSTech, and the ‘And I'm a Mormon' campaign are the major sites of inquiry. Three major themes are identified in the data on Mormon social media: the role of ritual in digital ethnography, the role of publication and exposure within religious identity, and the role of techno-faith.

Story of the life of a work of Mormon literature based on a small section of the Book of Mormon, which developed from a popular novella by B. H. Roberts published in 1886, to a stage play by Orestes U. Bean first presented in the Salt Lake Theater in 1902, to a stage play that appeared on Broadway in 1912, and finally to a film that premiered in Salt Lake City in 1931 and subsequently was lost for decades.

One of the most powerful and frequently cited Mormon feminist blog posts, Kiskilili’s “The Trouble With Chicken Patriarchy” on Zelophehad’s Daughters discusses the strange brand of patriarchy Mormons contend with in the modern LDS Church. On the one hand, Mormons are told that men are to preside over their wives, and on the other hand, husbands and wives are told to act as equal partners with one another. As Kiskilili shows in her post, this embracing of two seemingly contradictory stances towards the issue of male headship leaves many Mormon feminists frustrated.