In this first volume of his magisterial study of the foundations of
Mormon thought and practice, Terryl L. Givens offers a sweeping account
of Mormon belief from its founding to the present day. Situating the
relatively new movement in the context of the Christian tradition, he
reveals that Mormonism continues to change and grow. Givens shows that
despite Mormonism's origins in a biblical culture strongly influenced by
19th-century Restorationist thought, which advocated a return to the
Christianity of the early Church, the new movement diverges radically
from the Christianity of the creeds.
Mormonism proposes its own cosmology and metaphysics, in which human
identity is rooted in a premortal world as eternal as God. Mormons view
mortal life as an enlightening ascent rather than a catastrophic fall,
and reject traditional Christian concepts of human depravity and
destiny. Popular fascination with Mormonism's social innovations, such
as polygamy and communalism, and its supernatural and esoteric
elements--angels, gold plates, seer stones, a New World Garden of Eden,
and sacred undergarments--have long overshadowed the fact that it is the
most enduring and even thriving product of the 19th century's religious
upheavals and innovations.
Wrestling the Angel traces the essential contours of Mormon thought
from the time of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young to the contemporary LDS
church, illuminating both the seminal influence of the founding
generation of Mormon thinkers and the significant developments in the
church over almost 200 years. The most comprehensive account of the
development of Mormon thought ever written, Wrestling the Angel will
be essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the Mormon faith.
