Texts

While serving as a missionary for his church in the British Isles, Joseph Fielding Smith encountered a conundrum. He believed that the scriptures plainly taught the truth of Mormonism, yet many of the people he met were not persuaded. Chapter 2 uses the theoretical concept of “scripturalization” to reconcile the conundrum, arguing that “scripture” is not simply a text; it is the use that a community puts that text to. Fielding Smith believed scripture was clear, but he also believed that it required the inspired perception of the leaders of his church for proper interpretation.