The Pearl of Greatest Price narrates the history of Mormonism's fourth volume of scripture, canonized in 1880. The authors track its predecessors, describe its several components, and assess their theological significance within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Four principal sections are discussed, along with attendant controversies associated with each. The Book of Moses purports to be a Mosaic narrative missing from the biblical version of Genesis. Too little treated in the scholarship on Mormonism, these chapters, produced only months after the Book of Mormon was published, actually contain the theological nucleus of Latter-day Saint doctrines as well as a virtual template for the Restoration Joseph Smith was to effect. In The Pearl of Greatest Price, the author covers three principal parts that are the focus of many of the controversies engulfing Mormonism today. These parts are The Book of Abraham, The Book of Moses, and The Joseph Smith History. Most controversial of all is the Book of Abraham, a production that arose out of a group of papyri Smith acquired, along with four mummies, in 1835. Most of the papyri disappeared in the great Chicago Fire, but surviving fragments have been identified as Egyptian funerary documents. This has created one of the most serious challenges to Smith's prophetic claims the LDS church has faced. LDS scholars, however, have developed several frameworks for vindicating the inspiration of the resulting narrative and Smith's calling as a prophet. The author attempts to make sense of Smith's several, at times divergent, accounts of his First Vision, one of which is canonized as scripture. He also assesses the creedal nature of Smith's "Articles of Faith," in the context of his professed anti-creedalism. In sum, this study chronicles the volume's historical legacy and theological indispensability to the Latter-day Saint tradition, as well as the reasons for its resilience and future prospects in the face of daunting challenges.

About the Author
Terryl Givens did graduate work in intellectual history at Cornell and in comparative literature at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the Jabez Bostwick Professor of Literature and Religion Emeritus at the University of Richmond, and currently works as a Senior Research Fellow at BYU's Neal A. Maxwell Institute. His writings have been praised by the New York Times as "provocative reading," and include most recently a two-volume history of Mormon thought, Wrestling the Angel and Feeding the Flock (Oxford 2014; 2017). Brian M. Hauglid is Associate Professor and Visiting Scholar at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, Brigham Young University.

Reviews
Extraordinary commentary on this least likely of scriptures... Givens's review of the response of Latter-day Saint scholars is the best single account of the controversy I know. * Richard Lyman Bushman, BYU Studies Quarterly *
In this deeply researched study of the Pearl of Great Price, Terryl Givens argues that the smallest of the Restoration's books of scripture has had the most influence on doctrine. The Book of Moses is a powerhouse of doctrinal generation, and Abraham is not far behind. The authors' analyses put all of the books of the Pearl of Great Price, some of them wrapped in controversy, in an entirely new light. * Richard Bushman, author of Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling *
This fascinating book delves deeply into the text and context of the most revolutionary scripture in the LDS canon. Insiders and outsiders to the church will alike profit from the authors' exploration of Joseph Smith's re-workings of the Bible; of Smith's understanding of Abraham in the context of Egypt; and above all of the doctrine of theosis - the transformative belief that men may become gods. * Noah Feldman, Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Harvard University *
This book presents a searching and sustained analysis of The Pearl of Great Price, one of the most controversial and under-examined works in the LDS canon. It is at once interpretive and historical, arguing for the centrality of Joseph Smith's later revelations to an understanding of his church. Readers seeking explanation of both the power and the vexations of Mormon theological claims should begin with this elegant, insightful study. * Laurie Maffly-Kipp, Archer Alexander Distinguished Professorin the Humanities, Washington University in St. Louis *



Book Information
ISBN 9780190603861
Author Terryl Givens
Format Hardback
Page Count 296
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 544g
Dimensions(mm) 157mm * 236mm * 28mm