Even before it was published, alternate stories were issued to compete with Joseph Smith’s explanation of the Book of Mormon’s origin. Five will be introduced and tracked chronologically: 1. The original manuscript of the Book of Mormon was written by Solomon Spaulding. 2. Collaborators helped Joseph Smith create the text. 3. Joseph Smith’s mental illness …
Speaker: Amylin Peterson
Culture Clash: Postmodern Religious Identity (re)Creation and Mormon Institutional Conservatism
This exploratory paper seeks to understand the impact of postmodernism on spiritual identity (re)creation through the lenses of sociological identity theory and critical social theory. The author argues that the emancipatory nature of postmodern epistemologies on person and group identity (re)creation render traditional religious institutions, such as the Mormon Church, ill-equipped to appeal to postmodern …