Description

"Despite being one of the most influential books of scripture since the Koran, the Book of Mormon remains largely an undiscovered text, according to Mark D. Thomas. In this interpretive primer, he provides an eclectic framework for understanding Mormonism's founding scripture, including textual, historical, and literary approaches. His honest scholarship will engage all serious students of religion." (From back cover.)

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Methodology and the Art of Nephite Narrative

Excursus:
An Example of a Cluster of Biblical Parallels
The Book of Mormon as Myth

2. Warning Prophets and Lehi's Migration Narrative

Excursus:
Visionary Language in the Early Nineteenth Century

3. Jaredites in the Wilderness

4. Captivity and Deliverance in the Zeniff Narratives

Excursus:
The Use of "Wilderness" in the Vocabulary of Joseph Smith

5. Lehi's Dream and Nephi's Visions: The American Apocalypse

Excursus:
Millennialism in the Early Nineteenth Century

6. Conversion Stories

7. Wars and Captivity: Aristocracy and the Monarchial Narrative Form in the Book of Mormon

8. Dying Heretics

9. The Visit of Christ to the Nephites

10. The "Final Destruction" Form: Secret Combinations as the Sword of Social Destruction

Excursus:
A Test for the Presence of the Phrase "Secret Combination" in Early Nineteenth-century Court Cases
The Refutation of Certain Claims to Allegorical Elements in Secret Combination Narratives

Scriptural Index
General Index