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"Inspiring" but Not True: An Added Glimpse of the RLDS Stance on the Book of Mormon

Title"Inspiring" but Not True: An Added Glimpse of the RLDS Stance on the Book of Mormon
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication1997
AuthorsMidgley, Louis C.
JournalJournal of Book of Mormon Studies
Volume6
Issue2
Pagination218-228
KeywordsBook of Mormon; Community of Christ; Historicity; Inspired Fiction; Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; RLDS; Theology
Abstract

Since the late 1960s RLDS “liberals” have argued that the Book of Mormon should not be read as an authentic ancient history. This novel reading of the Book of Mormon has been part of a sustained effort by the RLDS hierarchy to make the Reorganization conform more closely with Protestant liberal approaches to the Bible. I demonstrate that the RLDS hierarchy has encouraged changes in the way the Book of Mormon is read by RLDS intellectuals. I then examine the arguments of Roger Launius, currently the foremost RLDS historian, who has recently insisted that the Book of Mormon ought to be read as “inspiring” frontier fiction. I also describe and criticize his claim that any concern with the historical authenticity of the Book of Mormon is not serious historical scholarship, which he wants focused on issues currently fashionable among secularized historians.

URLhttps://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms/vol6/iss2/10