Contemporary Mormonism is the first collection of sociological essays to focus exclusively on Mormons. Featuring the work of the major scholars conducting social science research on Mormons today, this volume offers refreshing new perspectives not only on Mormonism but also on the nature of successful religious movements, secularization and assimilation, church growth, patriarchy and gender roles, and other topics. This first paperback edition includes a new introduction assessing the current state of Mormon scholarship and the effect of the globalization of the LDS Church on scholarly research about Mormonism.

An inside look at the foundational sacred text of one of the world's youngest and fastest growing religions

The Book of Mormon stands alongside the Bible as the keystone of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church/Mormonism). Translated by the prophet Joseph Smith from ancient writings inscribed on golden plates, the Book of Mormon is an account of people living in the Western Hemisphere in a timeline that parallels that of the Bible. It covers a thousand years of loss, discovery, war, peace, and spiritual principles that focus on the teachings of Jesus Christ, outlining a plan for salvation and the responsibilities we must assume to attain it.

The Book of Mormon: Selections Annotated & Explained explores this sacred epic that is cherished by more than twelve million members of the LDS church as the keystone of their faith. Probing the principal themes and historical foundation of this controversial and provocative narrative, Jana Riess focuses on key selections that offer insight into contemporary Mormon beliefs and scriptural emphases, such as the atonement of Christ, the nature of human freedom, the purpose of baptism, and the need for repentance from sin. She clarifies the religious, political, and historical events that take place in the ancient communities of the Book of Mormon and their underlying contemporary teachings that serve as the framework for spiritual practices that lie at the core of Mormon life.

Now you can experience this foundational sacred text even if you have no previous knowledge of Mormonism. This SkyLight Illuminations edition presents the key teachings and essential concepts of the Mormon faith tradition with insightful yet unobtrusive commentary that helps to dispel many of the misconceptions that have surrounded the Book of Mormon since its publication in 1830.

From Sister Wives and Big Love to The Book of Mormon on Broadway, Mormons and Mormonism are pervasive throughout American popular media. In Latter-day Screens, Brenda R. Weber argues that mediated Mormonism contests and reconfigures collective notions of gender, sexuality, race, spirituality, capitalism, justice, and individualism. Focusing on Mormonism as both a meme and an analytic, Weber analyzes a wide range of contemporary media produced by those within and those outside of the mainstream and fundamentalist Mormon churches, from reality television to feature films, from blogs to YouTube videos, and from novels to memoirs by people who struggle to find agency and personhood in the shadow of the church's teachings. The broad archive of mediated Mormonism contains socially conservative values, often expressed through neoliberal strategies tied to egalitarianism, meritocracy, and self-actualization, but it also offers a passionate voice of contrast on behalf of plurality and inclusion. In this, mediated Mormonism and the conversations on social justice that it fosters create the pathway toward an inclusive, feminist-friendly, and queer-positive future for a broader culture that uses Mormonism as a gauge to calibrate its own values.

The world is full of evil men conspiring for total control. Composed of religious, financial, and political committees, this secret combination coordinates with other groups to accomplish its ultimate plana one-world government called the New World Order and a one-world religion led by the Anti-Christ. But if this is true, why do so few people know about it? Why isn't it broadcast by the media for all the world to see? One reason is that the media obscures the actions of this great conspiracy. But the greatest reason is that the conspiracy is taking place right before our eyes, staring at us so hard in the face that we can't see it.

With new evidence from various experts on the subject, this revised edition of Hiding in Plain Sight examines the combinations that seek to destroy us and exposes the reasoning they use to deceive us. This is a must-read for any Latter-day Saint who wants to outsmart the enemy and win the war against Satan.

Since its publication in 1989, "The Riddle of Amish Culture" has become recognized as a classic work on one of America's most distinctive religious communities. But many changes have occurred within Amish society over the past decade, from westward migrations and a greater familiarity with technology to the dramatic shift away from farming into small business which is transforming Amish culture. For this revised edition, Donald B. Kraybill has taken these recent changes into account, incorporating new demographic research and new interviews he has conducted among the Amish. In addition, he includes a new chapter describing Amish recreation and social gatherings, and he applies the concept of "social capital" to his sensitive and penetrating interpretation of how the Amish have preserved their social networks and the solidarity of their community.

When Mike got his dream job as an FBI agent, he never thought he would also be called as an LDS bishopfour times! Follow Mike as he recalls his adventures as an FBI agent and inspiration as a bishop. As Mike "fought crime and Satan with a pistol in one hand and scriptures in the other," he learned the importance of obedience in both jobs. Filled with surprises and unexpected thrills, and told with humor and ease, Agent Bishop: True Stories from an FBI Agent Moonlighting as a Mormon Bishop is the perfect memoir for the FBI agent in all of us!

Did God call the Church to be an institution? The Reformation gave Europe national churches, but these came to disappoint enthusiastic believers as lacking commitment. Was the right exit policy simply to join 'free' presbyterian or congregational-type churches, as found say in America? By the 1820s, the more strategic thinkers felt not. Some followed Newman into Catholicism: other pre-charismatics advocate an ongoing apostolate that would recapture prophetic gifts: J N Darby was led to the fierce conclusion that all churches, as man-made institutions, were bound to fail. The believer's true hope was the return of Jesus Christ. With others, Darby pioneered a less formal association of believers, free of clergy and founded on radical holiness. Darby was a tireless traveler, talented linguist and Bible translator. His influence is still felt in systematic theology, missionary societies, para- and house-church movements, possibly even in US foreign policy towards the state of Israel.

Judy Robertson shares her unique insider's viewpoint as a woman in the Mormon church. After she and her husband rediscovered God's truth, they faced torment and persecution upon leaving the LDS church. This reader-friendly book is one of the few Christian books that focuses first on an individual's journey from Mormonism rather than on theology or Christian doctrines. The revised edition includes testimonies of others who have left the Mormon church and what God is doing today through Concerned Christians. Readers will find Out of Mormonism a useful resource for understanding and witnessing to friends and family in the LDS church.

The five-volume Oxford History of Dissenting Protestant Traditions series is governed by a motif of migration ('out-of-England'). It first traces organized church traditions that arose in England as Dissenters distanced themselves from a state church defined by diocesan episcopacy, the Book of Common Prayer, the Thirty-Nine Articles, and royal supremacy, but then follows those traditions as they spread beyond England -and also traces newer traditions that emerged downstream in other parts of the world from earlier forms of Dissent. Secondly, it does the same for the doctrines, church practices, stances toward state and society, attitudes toward Scripture, and characteristic patterns of organization that also originated in earlier English Dissent, but that have often defined a trajectory of influence independent ecclesiastical organizations. The Oxford History of Protestant Dissenting Traditions, Volume II charts the development of protestant Dissent between the passing of the Toleration Act (1689) and the repealing of the Test and Corporation Acts (1828). The long eighteenth century was a period in which Dissenters slowly moved from a position of being a persecuted minority to achieving a degree of acceptance and, eventually, full political rights. The first part of the volume considers the history of various dissenting traditions inside England. There are separate chapters devoted to Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Baptists and Quakers-the denominations that traced their history before this period-and also to Methodists, who emerged as one of the denominations of 'New Dissent' during the eighteenth century. The second part explores that ways in which these traditions developed outside England. It considers the complexities of being a Dissenter in Wales and Ireland, where the state church was Episcopalian, as well as in Scotland, where it was Presbyterian. It also looks at the development of Dissent across the Atlantic, where the relationship between church and state was rather looser. Part three is devoted to revivalist movements and their impact, with a particular emphasis on the importance of missionary societies for spreading protestant Christianity from the late eighteenth century onwards. The fourth part looks at Dissenters' relationship to the British state and their involvement in the campaigns to abolish the slave trade. The final part discusses how Dissenters lived: the theology they developed and their attitudes towards scripture; the importance of both sermons and singing; their involvement in education and print culture and the ways in which they expressed their faith materially through their buildings.