LEADER 02789nam 2200193 a 4500
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020 $a9780195369311 (pbk.) :$cNT$480$
035 $a783875
040 $aDLC$cDLC$dBTCTA$dYDXCP$dC#P$dBWX$dE5G$dBWK$dSEO$dVP@$dFIN
082 00$a289.322$222
100 1 $aGivens, Terryl.
245 14$aThe book of mormon :$ba very short introduction /$cTerryl L. Givens.
260 $aOxford ;$aNew York :$bOxford University Press,$cc2009.
300 $ax, 140 p. :$bill. ;$c18 cm.
490 1 $aVery short introductions ;$v219
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. 131-135) and index.
505 00$gThe$tBook of Mormon speaks for itself --$tOrigins, narrators, and structure --$tThemes --$tStories and characters --$gThe$tBook of Mormon as literature --$tTeachings --$gThe$tcoming forth of the Book of Mormon --$gThe$tBook of Mormon and its audiences --$tJoseph Smith and the angel --$gThe$tlife and reception of the Book of Mormon --$gThe$tBook of Mormon in LDS faith and worship --$tBook of Mormon wars --$tConclusion: The Book of Mormon in the 21st century.
520 $aWith over 140 million copies in print, and serving as the principal proselytizing tool of one of the world's fastestgrowing faiths, the Book of Mormon is undoubtedly one of the most influential religious texts produced in the western world. Written by Terryl Givens, a leading authority on Mormonism, this compact volume offers the only concise, accessible introduction to this extraordinary work. Givens examines the Book of Mormon first and foremost in terms of the claims that its narrators make for its historical genesis, its purpose as a sacred text, and its meaning for an audience which shifts over the course of the history it unfolds. The author traces five governing themes in particular--revelation, Christ, Zion, scripture, and covenant--and analyzes the Book's central doctrines and teachings. Some of these resonate with familiar nineteenth-century religious preoccupations; others consist of radical and unexpected takes on topics from the fall of Man to Christ's mortal ministries and the meaning of atonement. Givens also provides samples of a cast of characters that number in the hundreds, and analyzes representative passages from a work that encompasses tragedy, poetry, sermons, visions, family histories and military chronicles. Finally, this introduction surveys the contested origins and production of a work held by millions to be scripture, and reviews the scholarly debates that address questions of the record's historicity. Here then is an accessible guide to what is, by any measure, an indispensable key to understanding Mormonism. But it is also an introduction to a compelling and complex text that is too often overshadowed by the controversies that surround it.
630 00$aBook of Mormon$vIntroductions.
830 0$aVery short introductions ;$v219.