Joseph Smith's American Bible: Radicalizing the Familiar

Terryl L. Givens, "Joseph Smith's American Bible: Radicalizing the Familiar"

The 2009 Laura F. Willes Book of Mormon Studies lecture, presented October 8, on the campus of Brigham Young University.

A transcript of the lecture is available at http://bit.ly/ZXZ3t2.

Terryl L. Givens is professor of literature and religion and occupant of the James Bostwick Chair of English at the University of Richmond in Virginia. He has authored several books on Mormonism, including "Viper on the Hearth: Mormons, Myths, and the Construction of Heresy," "By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture that Launched a New World Religion," "People of Paradox: A History of Mormon Culture," and a volume on the Book of Mormon in Oxford University Press's "Very Short Introduction" series.

Established in 2007, the Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies promotes a concentrated study of the Book of Mormon both as an ancient text and as an important publication in the modern world. As part of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, the Willes Center advances efforts to understand the historical and spiritual value of this significant ancient source.