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Playing to an Audience: A Review of Revelatory Events

TitlePlaying to an Audience: A Review of Revelatory Events
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2018
AuthorsChristensen, Kevin
JournalInterpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture
Volume28
Pagination65-114
Type of ArticleReview Essay
KeywordsEarly Church History; Prophet; Smith, Joseph, Jr.; Translation
Abstract

Ann Taves’s book offers a comparative look at the origins of three groups, among them Mormonism. While she does not address the issue of competing explanations by each group about their origins or how to best navigate among them in terms that are not self-referential, that crucial circumstance is modeled by Thomas Kuhn in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. So I, too, have a pattern that applies to my arguments just as much it does to those offered by Professor Taves. Where her book attempts to solve the puzzle of Joseph Smith, my review offers a test of her rules for puzzle solving. This includes comparisons with the standard approach to document testing cited by Hugh Nibley, looking at key aspects of her argument and treatment of sources, and by considering Richard L. Anderson’s crucially relevant study of imitation gospels compared to the Book of Mormon. My own response should be tested not just as secular or religious, but against standards that are dependent on neither secular nor religious grounds. That is, to be valid, my response should argue “Why us?” in comparison to her case, rather than just declare that what she offers is “Not us.”

URLhttps://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/playing-to-an-audience-a-review-of-revelatory-events/