Understanding the Book of Mormon on its own terms and through its two-way connection with the Bible

Like the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible, the Book of Mormon uses narratives to develop ideas and present instruction. Michael Austin reveals how the Book of Mormon connects itself to narratives in the Christian Bible with many of the same tools that the New Testament used to connect itself to the Hebrew Bible to create the Christian Bible. As Austin shows, the canonical context for interpreting the Book of Mormon includes the Christian Bible, the Book of Mormon itself, and other writings and revelations that hold scriptural status in most Restoration denominations. Austin pays particular attention to how the Book of Mormon connects itself to the Christian Bible both to form a new canon and to use the canonical relationship to reframe and reinterpret biblical narratives. This canonical context provides an important and fruitful method for interpreting the Book of Mormon.

Michael Austin is the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost at the University of Evansville. His eight books include Vardis Fisher, winner of the Association for Mormon Letters Award for Best Criticism. He is also a recipient of the Association of Mormon Letters Lifetime Achievement Award.

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. A Theory of Types
2. Stories of the Fall
3. Curses from God
4. Reimagining the Exodus
5. Divided Kingdoms
6. Prophets and Prophecy
7. “We Talk of Christ, We Rejoice in Christ”
8. Last Things
Notes

Index