Before Mormonism: Joseph Smith's Use of the Bible, 1820–1829

Abstract

M ORMON HISTORIOGRAPHY is coming of age. In the decades following World War II, scholarship on the Latter-day Saints increased so dramatically in quality and quantity that Moses Rischin, writing in 1969, concluded the great flow of works was unparalleled for any religious group except the Puritans (49). Whether Rischin was correct or not, the tide has risen sharply since he wrote.' There are good reasons for this interest. Mormonism is extraordinarily complex, inherently fascinating, has wielded disproportionate influence on national affairs, is rich in sources for study, and yields innumerable clues to the social and religious consciousness of the American people. Despite all this attention, however, puzzling idiosyncrasies exist in the scholarship. In particular, disagreements persist concerning Mormonism's very essence: What is Mormonism, and how does it relate to the rest of American religion? Although opponents and casual observers have easily pigeonholed the Latter-day Saints, more careful students have had a tougher time achieving consensus. Some scholars, such as Timothy Smith (1980), have played down Mormon peculiarities, arguing that the Saints were essentially part of the religious mainstream. Others, like Klaus Hansen (1981), feel that in the beginning Mormons really were dissenters who at the turn of the twentieth century underwent a transformation and became consummate conservative Americans. Mark Leone (1979) has gone further, asserting that cultural accommodation is the story of Mormonism. More recently, Laurence Moore (1986) has used the Mormons as a prime example of his contention that, in America, self-conscious outsiders have been in important ways insiders, that dissent itself can be seen as quintessentially American, and dissenters shown to wield