Mormon Identities in Transition [Hardcover]

This collection of interdisciplinary essays explores the prime concern of Mormon Studies  the relationship between knowledge and spirituality  and how that relationship has been defined and reinterpreted over time. Beginning with an examination of the international prospects for Mormonism at the turn of the century, the volume's overarching theme, from sociological, anthropological and theological approaches, is the examination of changing Mormon identities.

The contributors review the expansion of Mormonism, the emotional and social contexts of its historic and contemporary manifestations, the distinction between 'Utah' Mormons and the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and issues in Mormon feminism, concluding with a valuable review of the sources and documents available for studying Mormonism.

Introduction: Scholars, Saints and MormonismDouglas J. Davies
Part I  Dimensions of Identity
1. Identity and Boundary Maintenance: International Prospects for Mormonism at the Dawn of the Twenty-First CenturyArmand L. Mauss
2. Modernity, History and Latter-Day Saint FaithL. C. Midgley
3. The Book of Mormon Wars: A Non-Mormon PerspectiveMassimo Introvigne
4. Coffee, Tea and the Ultra-Protestant and Jewish Nature of the Boundaries of MormonismChristie Davies
5. Latter-Day Saint Exceptionalism and Membership GrowthJames T. Duke
6. Neither Mormon Nor Protestant? The Reorganized Church and the Challenge of IdentityRoger D. Launius
Part II  The Expansion of Mormonism
7. Ethnic American Mormons: The Development of a CommunityJessie L. Embry
8. Mormonism in ChileDavid Clark Knowlton
9. Mormonism in Black AfricaE. Dale LeBaron
10. India: A Synopsis of Cultural ChallengesRoger R. Keller