Description

From back cover:

“Michael Reed’s invaluable study shines new light on Mormons’ complex and ambiguous relationship with the cross. Reed’s research, the most exhaustive ever undertaken on this subject, should help other Christians understand the historic, cultural and religious context out of which Latter-day Saint attitudes toward the cross emerged—and it should help Latter-day Saints find greater spiritual meaning in this most poignant and profound of Christian symbols.”

—ROBERT A. REES
Author of The Reader’s Book of Mormon

“Michael G. Reed has written a book that deftly examines one aspect of Mormonism’s inconsistent overlaps with traditional Christianity and inconsistent departures therefrom.”

—D. MICHAEL QUINN
Author of The Mormon Hierarchy

“This is a fascinating study of a surprisingly misunderstood symbol. Reed’s well-researched history of the cross has much to teach modern readers across denominational lines.”

—RYAN K. SMITH
Author of Gothic Arches, Latin Crosses: Anti-Catholicism and American Church Designs in the Nineteenth Century

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Introduction

1. Early Mormonism in Context
2. The Cross in Early Nineteenth Century Catholic and Protestant America
3. Mormon Magic, Freemasonry, and the Cross
4. Pre-Columbian Crosses
5. Mormon Crosses before the Institutionalized Taboo
6. The Ensign Peak Proposal
7. The Emergence of the Mormon Cross Taboo
8. Opposition to the Cross Institutionalized
9. The Taboo Reinforced
10. Comparative Perceptions of the Cross
11. Conclusion

Appendix: Early Christians and the Cross
Bibliography
Index
About the Author