American Zion: A New History of Mormonism
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2024-01-19 13:22:30
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Benjamin E. Park
- ISBN：1631498657
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Conor Hilton
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Ben Park’s American Zion: A New History of Mormonism is a monumental achievement。 Park weaves together a remarkable amount of American political and religious context with Mormon histories， creating a deeply researched， readable narrative of the many Mormonism’s that have been present since the Church’s founding and persist in various ways to today。Reading American Zion had me cheering， fist raised in celebration， and then bowing my head in shame and frustration， both proud of and disappointed i Ben Park’s American Zion: A New History of Mormonism is a monumental achievement。 Park weaves together a remarkable amount of American political and religious context with Mormon histories， creating a deeply researched， readable narrative of the many Mormonism’s that have been present since the Church’s founding and persist in various ways to today。Reading American Zion had me cheering， fist raised in celebration， and then bowing my head in shame and frustration， both proud of and disappointed in my people’s past。 The book is truly impressive in terms of scope， presenting ten chapters， along with a prologue and epilogue， each chapter covering roughly 20 years or so， taking readers from 1775 to the present。 The dating of the book demonstrates the ways that Park leverages his training as a historian of American political and religious culture to delve into the ways that the United States’ history is intertwined with the history of Mormonism。 The increasingly global nature of the church may lead future historians to identify different meaningful contexts to place Mormonism in， but for now， Park’s choice leads to rich and informative results。Park packed the book from start to finish with interesting anecdotes and historical tidbits， drawing on a vast array of sources and historical research。 Many of the individual narratives were familiar to me in some form， but there were still countless surprises seeing the way that Park put the entire narrative together。 I was often caught off guard by the relationship between different events or people that for whatever reason I had categorized as separate in my mind， but Park draws together to shape his narrative of the many Mormonisms and the institutional church’s arc towards assimilation （and repeated wrestling’s with the implications of that arc， including movement away from）。（note: i read an ARC last year， to review for the Association of Mormon Letters， this is an excerpt from that review， which you can read in its entirety here: https://www。associationmormonletters。。。。） 。。。more
Jeremy Booty
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This is an extensive and fair treatment of the history of the Mormon religion。 It begins with the revelations claimed by Joseph Smith and the explosive growth experienced by the new sect right from the start。 It continues on through the Saint's trials in Navoo MS， including the violence perpetrated by both sides， the beginnings of plural marriage and the long journey to Utah。 It ends in the present， bringing in the Mormon world's collision with racism， sexism and homophobia。 Among the very inter This is an extensive and fair treatment of the history of the Mormon religion。 It begins with the revelations claimed by Joseph Smith and the explosive growth experienced by the new sect right from the start。 It continues on through the Saint's trials in Navoo MS， including the violence perpetrated by both sides， the beginnings of plural marriage and the long journey to Utah。 It ends in the present， bringing in the Mormon world's collision with racism， sexism and homophobia。 Among the very interesting aspects of Mormon history is how， in many respects， its beginnings were truly radical。 Women had a prominent ， powerful and independent role in running the Relief organization as well as independent sacramental functions in healing ceremonies。 Mormon women played a prominent role nationally in the suffrage movement and women in Utah had the vote early on。Black men were ordained priests。 It was only as Utah moved toward statehood and the Federal government moved against plural marriage that the Mormon leadership began to change Mormonism to more closely reflect the US as it then existed。 Ordination of Black men was covered up， women lost the vote， the independent roles women had been able to take were closed to them。 One criticism on what is otherwise a very interesting book: little is revealed as to what various rituals are and how much they mean。 For instance， the significance of "sealing a marriage" was not clear to me。 I did not know what an "endowment" was or what was meant by a "Quorum of the Priesthood"。 Since these things meant a lot to the Saints it would have been helpful for the reader to know。 。。。more
Sarah Stewart
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A really interesting read on the Mormon faith from their origins to today。 Really helpful for teaching the creation in class。
Walter Swingle
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An excellent history of the LDS/Mormon church that pays particular attention to its complicated relationship with US culture and politics。 The book draws heavily from secondary scholarship and newly available sources。 The writing is great and the insights plentiful。 Park is an expert on the Nauvoo period（his previous book on the topic is also excellent！） but my favorite parts of this book were the chapters on the twentieth century。 These are central to understanding the evolution of the church f An excellent history of the LDS/Mormon church that pays particular attention to its complicated relationship with US culture and politics。 The book draws heavily from secondary scholarship and newly available sources。 The writing is great and the insights plentiful。 Park is an expert on the Nauvoo period（his previous book on the topic is also excellent！） but my favorite parts of this book were the chapters on the twentieth century。 These are central to understanding the evolution of the church from its early nineteenth century origins to today。 Highly recommend！ 。。。more
Cindy
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This is a history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints。 It is， of course， a very abbreviated history since the Church has roots going back over 200 years and there are millions of members all over the world。 It is also a history focused on the controversies and in-fighting among Church leaders。 I understand why this is the case。 The controversial stuff makes a history interesting and I did find this history very interesting。 Park is a good writer and I learned some things I didn't This is a history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints。 It is， of course， a very abbreviated history since the Church has roots going back over 200 years and there are millions of members all over the world。 It is also a history focused on the controversies and in-fighting among Church leaders。 I understand why this is the case。 The controversial stuff makes a history interesting and I did find this history very interesting。 Park is a good writer and I learned some things I didn't know， even though I have read quite a bit of Church history。 Be aware that this is not a devotional history。 If you're a member and tend to be defensive about criticisms of the Church this probably isn't for you。 As a general history though， I thought this was an interesting and well-written read。 。。。more
Mags
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