Customer Reviews

Digging in Cumorah: Reclaiming Book of Mormon Narrative

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I enjoyed this book because it breaks new ground in terms of Book of Mormon scholarship. Most scholarly works pertaining to the Book of Mormon fall into two categories (1)those which support its historicity as an ancient document, versus (2)those which relegate it to religious fiction. This work focuses on the meaning of Book of Mormon passages by intrepeting the rhetorical forms and narratives found within the book. Skeptics who read this book may find themselves intrigued by the sophisticated narrative styles of the Book of Mormon as elucidated by Mr. Thomas. Believers, on the other hand, may find the resemblence of many of the narratives to King James Version counterparts unsettling. For those seeking a confirmation of their belief of disbelief, look elsewhere. This work shows that the Book of Mormon itself, whether historical or not, is a "good read". The Book of Mormon, like its originator, Joseph Smith, is difficult to "pigeon-hole" and those who read this book will understand why.

Thomas makes a solid case that the Book of Mormon (BoM) can be viewed as a document made of several complementary genres. Using this as his key to appreciating the BoM's complexity and "literary-ness". Reading the BoM according to its varying underlying generic structures opens up new ways of interacting with the work. "True believers" in the BoM could be disturbed by the work's deep structural dependence on early 19th-century narrative forms. "True skeptics" could be disturbed by the true narrative complexity of the BoM and may have to reappraise their presuppositions of its authorship. That being said, I would highly recommend this as a work of serious literary (form) criticism examining the BoM on its own terms as a message, as a work of (inspired) literature, written to an early 19th-century audience in early 19-century language and structures.

Mark D. Thomas ia a founder of the Mormon Studies Seminar, and has published in 'Dialogue,' 'Sunstone,' and the 'Journal of Higher Criticism.'

He wrote in the Introduction to this 2000 book, "I intend my work as part of the foundation for a new tradition in Book of Mormon studies. Such study begins with rigorous, critical scholarship. The Book of Mormon's divergent literary and religious perspectives leave it vulnerable to attack; it contains serious moral and textual shortcomings. Some Mormons may find my approach threatening. My advice is that it is better to face these difficulties honestly in the context of faith than to weaken faith by ignoring them. If we value our faith and respect the Book of Mormon, there is no substitute for honest, thorough, and serious scholarship."

Here are some quotations from the book:

"I believe that the origin of the Book of Mormon is not the most important question that it compels us to ask. The real question is: 'Is the Book of Mormon worth reading?' The focus of this present work is on meaning, not authority." (Pg. 2)
"Even the Book of Mormon's statement that it is written in reformed Egyptian (Morm 9:32) would have piqued the already lively interest of 1830s readers... The idea that a cryptic language would yield its secrets to the 'right' indivdiual would therefore have been a familiar idea as well." (Pg. 50)
"The Mormon church, in pondering future editions (of the BOM), can either entirely delete such outmoded language or retain it for the sake of textual accuracy. My personal hope is that the racist language will be retained as evidence that scripture can and does contain human understandings and imperfections." (Pg. 84)
"The recent work of Dan Vogel provides the best connections to date between secret combinations and Masonry. Still... I believe Vogel overemphasizes 'secret combinations' as an exclusive allusion to Masonry... however, Vogel is correct in showing that 'secret combinations' was frequently a code name for Masonry in western New York in the 1820s." (Pg. 201)

The book was here before I knew it. What speedy service...it was great. Thanks so much