The Bible and Polygamy: Does the Bible Sanction Polygamy?: Nineteenth-Century Biblical Arguments on Plural Marriage, Mormonism, and Religious Authority

The Bible and Polygamy: Does the Bible Sanction Polygamy? gathers a pointed nineteenth-century religious controversy around biblical interpretation, marriage, revelation, and ecclesiastical authority. Moving between sermon-like exhortation, scriptural exegesis, historical argument, and public apology, the volume exposes the competing methods by which readers enlisted the Bible in debates over plural marriage. Its significance lies in preserving not a single doctrinal verdict but an extended contest over patriarchal precedent, Christian ethics, and the limits of sacred text in modern social life. The contributors bring sharply different institutional and theological commitments to the question. John Philip Newman writes from a Protestant ministerial and anti-polygamy perspective, while Orson Pratt, George Albert Smith, and George Q. Cannon represent prominent Latter-day Saint efforts to articulate and defend plural marriage within a restorationist framework. Together, these voices locate the collection within the fraught culture of nineteenth-century American religious pluralism, when Mormon practice became a focal point for disputes concerning federal authority, family order, and religious liberty. Their opposing arguments illuminate both shared reverence for scripture and profound disagreement over its interpretation. This volume is recommended for students of Mormon history, biblical reception, American religious controversy, and marriage studies. It offers an unusually concentrated encounter with rival arguments and rhetorical styles, inviting readers to assess evidence, assumptions, and authority across a consequential public debate.

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E-bog: 25. november 2023