Becoming a People of the Books: Early Converts and the Book of Mormon

Title

Becoming a People of the Books: Early Converts and the Book of Mormon

Publication Type

Video

Year of Publication

2018

Authors

Publisher

Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

Place Published

Provo, UT

Citation Key

4838

Abstract

As Joseph Smith’s translation of the Book of Mormon neared completion, he assured close associates that “a great call for our books” had already commenced. Fresh leather-bound copies of the first edition were published and sold beginning March 26, 1830, before the translator had become prophet, before a new church had been founded. How did its initial readers respond to this “Golden Bible”? Was it counterfeit or divine? Was it the “greatest piece of superstition” or a “revelation from God”? What would it be to them, personally? How did early Latter-day Saints develop a relationship with this new scriptural text?

Subject Keywords

Early Church History
Translation
Revelation
Conversion
Missionary Work
Book of Mormon
Smith, Joseph, Jr.

Bibliographic Citation

Terms of use

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