{"product_id":"believing-history-latter-day-saint-essays-paperback","title":"Believing History: Latter-Day Saint Essays - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eRichard Lyman Bushman\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eReid Neilson\u003c\/b\u003e (Editor), \u003cb\u003eJed Woodworth\u003c\/b\u003e (Editor)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe eminent historian Richard Bushman here reflects on his faith and the history of his religion. By describing his own struggle to find a basis for belief in a skeptical world, Bushman poses the question of how scholars are to write about subjects in which they are personally invested. Does personal commitment make objectivity impossible? Bushman explicitly, and at points confessionally, explains his own commitments and then explores Joseph Smith and the \u003ci\u003eBook of Mormon\u003c\/i\u003e from the standpoint of belief. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJoseph Smith cannot be dismissed as a colorful fraud, Bushman argues, nor seen only as a restorer of religious truth. Entangled in nineteenth-century Yankee culture--including the skeptical Enlightenment--Smith was nevertheless an original who cut his own path. And while there are multiple contexts from which to draw an understanding of Joseph Smith (including magic, seekers, the Second Great Awakening, communitarianism, restorationism, and more), Bushman suggests that Smith stood at the cusp of modernity and presented the possibility of belief in a time of growing skepticism. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhen examined carefully, the \u003ci\u003eBook of Mormon\u003c\/i\u003e is found to have intricate subplots and peculiar cultural twists. Bushman discusses the book's ambivalence toward republican government, explores the culture of the Lamanites (the enemies of the favored people), and traces the book's fascination with records, translation, and history. Yet \u003ci\u003eBelieving History\u003c\/i\u003e also sheds light on the meaning of Joseph Smith and the \u003ci\u003eBook of Mormon\u003c\/i\u003e today. How do we situate Mormonism in American history? Is Mormonism relevant in the modern world? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eBelieving History\u003c\/i\u003e offers many surprises. Believers will learn that Joseph Smith is more than an icon, and non-believers will find that Mormonism cannot be summed up with a simple label. But wherever readers stand on Bushman's arguments, he provides us with a provocative and open look at a believing historian studying his own faith.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eRichard Lyman Bushman is Gouverneur Morris Professor of History emeritus at Columbia University. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eReid L. Neilson is assistant professor of church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJed Woodworth is a Ph.D. candidate in American history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 312\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.55 x 9.21 x 5.89 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e February 13, 2007\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52611034710323,"sku":"9780231130073","price":71.8,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0300\/5595\/6612\/files\/SHBxcGV6Ymlnd2VBWWgrajlva1BKdz09.webp?v=1761832366","url":"https:\/\/www.vysn.com\/products\/believing-history-latter-day-saint-essays-paperback","provider":"VYSN","version":"1.0","type":"link"}