Visions in a Seer Stone
Regular price
€91.99
A01=William L. Davis
Author_William L. Davis
Baptist preaching
Book of Mormon
Burned-Over District
Category=DSB
Category=NHK
Category=QRR
Christian occultism
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Congregationalist preaching
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
exhortations
exhorters
First Great Awakening
folk magic
George Campbell
George Whitefield
gold plates
history of composition in America
history of evangelical preaching
Hugh Blair
John Walker
John Wesley
Joseph Smith
laying down heads
LDS Church
magic and religion
Methodist preaching
Mormon
Mormonism
Moroni
nineteenth-century preaching
nineteenth-century sermon culture
oral performance
orality
orality and literacy
plain style preaching
Presbyterian preaching
revelatory translation
Revival language
revivalism
Second Great Awakening
seer stones
sermon studies
Solomon Stoddard
translation of
Urim and Thummim
Product details
- ISBN 9781469655659
- Weight: 535g
- Dimensions: 155 x 233mm
- Publication Date: 25 May 2020
- Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
In this interdisciplinary work, William L. Davis examines Joseph Smith's 1829 creation of the Book of Mormon, the foundational text of the Latter-Day Saint movement. Positioning the text in the history of early American oratorical techniques, sermon culture, educational practices, and the passion for self-improvement, Davis elucidates both the fascinating cultural context for the creation of the Book of Mormon and the central role of oral culture in early nineteenth-century America.
Drawing on performance studies, religious studies, literary culture, and the history of early American education, Davis analyzes Smith's process of oral composition. How did he produce a history spanning a period of 1,000 years, filled with hundreds of distinct characters and episodes, all cohesively tied together in an overarching narrative? Eyewitnesses claimed that Smith never looked at notes, manuscripts, or books-he simply spoke the words of this American religious epic into existence. Judging the truth of this process is not Davis's interest. Rather, he reveals a kaleidoscope of practices and styles that converged around Smith's creation, with an emphasis on the evangelical preaching styles popularized by the renowned George Whitefield and John Wesley.
Drawing on performance studies, religious studies, literary culture, and the history of early American education, Davis analyzes Smith's process of oral composition. How did he produce a history spanning a period of 1,000 years, filled with hundreds of distinct characters and episodes, all cohesively tied together in an overarching narrative? Eyewitnesses claimed that Smith never looked at notes, manuscripts, or books-he simply spoke the words of this American religious epic into existence. Judging the truth of this process is not Davis's interest. Rather, he reveals a kaleidoscope of practices and styles that converged around Smith's creation, with an emphasis on the evangelical preaching styles popularized by the renowned George Whitefield and John Wesley.
William L. Davis, an independent scholar, holds a Ph.D. in theater and performance and has published in Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought; John Bunyan Studies: A Journal of Reformation and Nonconformist Culture; Leviathan: A Journal of Melville Studies; Style; Text and Performance Quarterly; and Textual Cultures.
