The Pearl of Greatest Price narrates the history of Mormonism's fourth volume of scripture, canonized in 1880. The authors track its predecessors, describe its several components, and assess their theological significance within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Four principal sections are discussed, along with attendant controversies associated with each. The Book of Moses purports to be a Mosaic narrative missing from the biblical version
of Genesis. Too little treated in the scholarship on Mormonism, these chapters, produced only months after the Book of Mormon was published, actually contain the theological nucleus of Latter-day Saint doctrines
as well as a virtual template for the Restoration Joseph Smith was to effect. In The Pearl of Greatest Price, the author covers three principal parts that are the focus of many of the controversies engulfing Mormonism today. These parts are The Book of Abraham, The Book of Moses, and The Joseph Smith History. Most controversial of all is the Book of Abraham, a production that arose out of a group of papyri Smith acquired, along with four mummies, in 1835. Most of
the papyri disappeared in the great Chicago Fire, but surviving fragments have been identified as Egyptian funerary documents. This has created one of the most serious challenges to Smith's prophetic claims
the LDS church has faced. LDS scholars, however, have developed several frameworks for vindicating the inspiration of the resulting narrative and Smith's calling as a prophet. The author attempts to make sense of Smith's several, at times divergent, accounts of his First Vision, one of which is canonized as scripture. He also assesses the creedal nature of Smith's "Articles of Faith," in the context of his professed anti-creedalism. In sum, this study chronicles the volume's historical legacy
and theological indispensability to the Latter-day Saint tradition, as well as the reasons for its resilience and future prospects in the face of daunting challenges.
The Pearl of Greatest Price narrates the history of Mormonism's fourth volume of scripture, canonized in 1880. The authors track its predecessors, describe its several components, and assess their theological significance within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Four principal sections are discussed, along with attendant controversies associated with each. The Book of Moses purports to be a Mosaic narrative missing from the biblical version
of Genesis. Too little treated in the scholarship on Mormonism, these chapters, produced only months after the Book of Mormon was published, actually contain the theological nucleus of Latter-day Saint doctrines
as well as a virtual template for the Restoration Joseph Smith was to effect. In The Pearl of Greatest Price, the author covers three principal parts that are the focus of many of the controversies engulfing Mormonism today. These parts are The Book of Abraham, The Book of Moses, and The Joseph Smith History. Most controversial of all is the Book of Abraham, a production that arose out of a group of papyri Smith acquired, along with four mummies, in 1835. Most of
the papyri disappeared in the great Chicago Fire, but surviving fragments have been identified as Egyptian funerary documents. This has created one of the most serious challenges to Smith's prophetic claims
the LDS church has faced. LDS scholars, however, have developed several frameworks for vindicating the inspiration of the resulting narrative and Smith's calling as a prophet. The author attempts to make sense of Smith's several, at times divergent, accounts of his First Vision, one of which is canonized as scripture. He also assesses the creedal nature of Smith's "Articles of Faith," in the context of his professed anti-creedalism. In sum, this study chronicles the volume's historical legacy
and theological indispensability to the Latter-day Saint tradition, as well as the reasons for its resilience and future prospects in the face of daunting challenges.
INTRODUCTION: CANONIZATION AND BACKGROUND
Canonization
Backgrounds and Precedents 1
Chapter 1. RE-VISIONING THE BIBLE: THE JOSEPH SMITH TRANSLATION
Chapter 2. "WRITTEN BY HIS OWN HAND": THE BOOK OF ABRAHAM
Chapter 3."OWING TO THE MANY REPORTS": HISTORICIZING MORMONISM
Chapter 4. "NOT TO BE TRAMMELED": TO CREED OR NOT TO CREED
EPILOGUE
Terryl Givens did graduate work in intellectual history at Cornell
and in comparative literature at the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill. He is the Jabez Bostwick Professor of Literature
and Religion Emeritus at the University of Richmond, and currently
works as a Senior Research Fellow at BYU's Neal A. Maxwell
Institute. His writings have been praised by the New York Times as
"provocative reading," and include most recently a
two-volume history of Mormon thought, Wrestling the Angel and
Feeding the Flock (Oxford 2014; 2017).
Brian M. Hauglid is Associate Professor and Visiting Scholar at the
Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, Brigham Young
University.
"Extraordinary commentary on this least likely of scriptures...
Givens's review of the response of Latter-day Saint scholars is the
best single account of the controversy I know." -- Richard Lyman
Bushman, BYU Studies Quarterly
"In this deeply researched study of the Pearl of Great Price,
Terryl Givens argues that the smallest of the Restoration's books
of scripture has had the most influence on doctrine. The Book of
Moses is a powerhouse of doctrinal generation, and Abraham is not
far behind. The authors' analyses put all of the books of the Pearl
of Great Price, some of them wrapped in controversy, in an entirely
new light." -- Richard Bushman, author of Joseph Smith: Rough
Stone Rolling
"This fascinating book delves deeply into the text and context of
the most revolutionary scripture in the LDS canon. Insiders and
outsiders to the church will alike profit from the authors'
exploration of Joseph Smith's re-workings of the Bible; of Smith's
understanding of Abraham in the context of Egypt; and above all of
the doctrine of theosis - the transformative belief that men may
become gods." -- Noah Feldman, Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law,
Harvard
University
"This book presents a searching and sustained analysis of The Pearl
of Great Price, one of the most controversial and under-examined
works in the LDS canon. It is at once interpretive and historical,
arguing for the centrality of Joseph Smith's later revelations to
an understanding of his church. Readers seeking explanation of both
the power and the vexations of Mormon theological claims should
begin with this elegant, insightful study." -- Laurie
Maffly-Kipp,
Archer Alexander Distinguished Professor in the Humanities,
Washington University in St. Louis
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