Review
Title: The Anatomy of Book of Mormon Theology, Vol. 1 & 2
Author: Joseph Spencer
Publisher: Kofford Books
Genre: Theology
Year Published: 2021
Number of Pages: Vol 1: 298; Vol 2: 321
Binding: Paper; Cloth; eBook
ISBN: Vol 1 – Paper 978-1-58958-780-9; Cloth 978-1-58958-781-6; Vol 2 – Paper, 978-1-58958-783-0; Hardcover, 978-1-58958-784-7
Price: Paper, 29.99; Cloth, 39.99 (Each Volume)
Reviewed by Conor Hilton for the Association of Mormon Letters
Joseph Spencer’s The Anatomy of Book of Mormon Theology, Vol. 1 & 2 is a truly remarkable collection. Each of the two volumes contains 19 essays, divided into four and five sections, respectively. The essays presented here are gathered from articles Spencer published, talks or presentations that he gave, and a variety of other papers that were never published or presented. This collection of essays spans Spencer’s work from 2008-2018, a decade which Spencer sees as important to the theological study of the Book of Mormon, with his contributions to that field tracing some of the larger developments and interests of it.
I have known of Spencer as an astute reader of the Book of Mormon for years, but only relatively recently started reading his work closely (notably his contribution to the Maxwell Institute’s brief theological introductions series, the excellent volume on First Nephi). These two volumes are incredible and contain a wealth of insight about what the Book of Mormon says and what the Book of Mormon means, particularly when examined through a lens of theology. The essays collected here vary in terms of accessibility, with some leaning more into Spencer’s own training as a philosopher (and becoming somewhat more difficult to follow, especially if you are unfamiliar with the philosophical texts and ideas that Spencer is working with), while others are more conversational, with clear and straightforward arguments and structures.
Typically, I would highlight a few specific essays that were particularly insightful to me, but I can’t choose! So, instead, I’ll mention a couple of common threads and then talk briefly about the final essay.
Throughout both volumes, and especially in Volume One, Spencer grapples with the role of Isaiah in the Book of Mormon. He thinks about what studying Isaiah more closely may reveal about the Book of Mormon’s theology, what the way Nephi, and others, engage with Isaiah reveals about prophecy and the Book of Mormon’s approach to other scripture, and even what the changes and differences between Isaiah as found in the King James Version and in the Book of Mormon may suggest, theologically. Repeatedly, I found myself astounded at the insights that Spencer had, and the observations that drove them. I have read the Book of Mormon my entire life (dozens of times!) and like to think of myself as a fairly close reader, but Spencer found things that I had never even considered. And then, he makes meaning out of them!
Towards the end of Volume Two, Spencer includes a series of essays that all share a larger argument—that Adam Miller’s thinking and writing is grounded deeply in the Book of Mormon. Spencer engages with a variety of Miller’s own texts to make this argument, focusing on different specific iterations of it in each essay. As a longtime fan and reader of Miller’s work, I found these essays fascinating and illuminating (about Miller, Spencer, and the Book of Mormon).
The essay that closes the two volumes is entitled “Mormons, Films, Scriptures” and is in the section “An Epilogue of Sorts.” Naturally, I couldn’t not talk about the one essay that talks about film (given my own contribution to the recent essay collection Mormonism and the Movies). Spencer offers a fascinating reading of the role of scripture in two Mormon films—States of Grace and The Book of Mormon Movie: Volume One, The Journey. He gestures towards Napoleon Dynamite as offering a different, better theological alternative but doesn’t delve into that here (though I hope he will elsewhere soon). Spencer’s focus on what scripture seems to mean in and to these two films leads to some interesting conclusions about the films’ theological Mormonness (though I am personally interested in complicating some of Spencer’s assertions about States of Grace given my sense that it is quite Mormon in some other ways, even if it does seem to have a complicated, somewhat derogatory relationship with scripture as Spencer describes here). Regardless, a fascinating essay that does the sort of work that I would love to see more of!
I love these two volumes. I will absolutely be referencing them again as I study the Book of Mormon throughout my life, and hope to continue to find the insight and enlightening provocations that I found as I read them this time. I can’t recommend them enough for anyone who values a close, careful reading of scripture and who really wants to think deeply about what small textual details as well as large, macro trends in scripture have to say about the theology of the Book of Mormon. Incredible work.