O’Dea’s The Mormons Part II: The Edited Volume Retrospective

The Mormon Social Science Association, under the direction of editors John Hoffman, Cardell Jacobsen, and Tim Heaton of BYU’s Department of Sociology, is currently putting together a volume of essays that retrospectively assess O’Dea’s 1957 classic The Mormons. The plan is that the book will come out in 2007, the fiftieth anniversary of O’Dea’s book.

The Spring 2006 issue of the MSSA’s Newsletter lists the proposed (still tentative, of course) chapters of the book:

1. Lynn England, “Thomas O’Dea: The New Spirit and Science of Mormon Studies.�
2. Douglas Davies, “Mastery and Mystery.�
3. O. Kendall White, Jr., “Thomas O’Dea on Mormon Intellectual Life.�
4. Melvyn Hammarberg, “Thomas O’Dea’s The Mormons: The Revitalization Movement.�
5. Danny L. Jorgensen, “Mormonism and Modernity: Thomas F. O’Dea’s Mormons.�
6. Terryl Givens, “On O’Dea’s Treatment of the Book of Mormon.�
7. Armand Mauss, “From Near-Nation to Worldwide Religion.�
8. Loren Marks and Brent D. Beal, “Preserving Peculiarity as a People: Mormon Distinctiveness in Values and Internal Structure.�
9. Timothy B. Smith, “Health and Wellbeing among Mormons: A Review of Recent Research.�
10. Armand Mauss, “O’Dea and the Race Issue in Mormonism.�
11. Melvyn Hammarberg, “LDS Sexual Ethics as a Source of Strain within Mormonism.�
12. Rick Phillips, “The Two Churches of Mormonism.�
13. Carrie Miles, “Conflicts Inherent in LDS ‘Family Ideals Versus Equality of Women.’�
14. Janet Bennion, “Mormon Women’s Issues in the 21st Century.�
15. Susan Ellis, “The Voices of Mormon Women.�
16. David G. Stewart, Jr., “Growth of the LDS Church: Retention, Internationalization, and Contextualization.�
17. Sarah Busse Spencer, “Mormons and Globalization in the 21st Century.�
18. David Clark Knowlton, “Go Ye to All the World: The LDS Church and the Organization of International Society.�
19. Henri Gooren, “The Mormons of the World: The Meaning of LDS Membership in Central America.�
20. Timothy Smith and Lynn Wilder, “Strangers and Foreigners: Toward the Integration of Cultures in an International Church.�
21. Barry Balleck and Michael Nielson, “Mormons and War.�

Is there anything in the book that is not listed but that you’d like to see included? Which chapter sounds most interesting? Which do you think will add the most to the book? Which do you think will have the most to say about the strengths or weaknesses of O’Dea’s book?

3 comments for “O’Dea’s The Mormons Part II: The Edited Volume Retrospective

  1. Well, seems like at least five articles on the international dimension of the Church (numbers 16 to 20). Now I am impressed!

  2. Yes, I agree that with you both. It looks like a great line-up, and it is great to see articles on in the int’l Church.

    I assume 11 includes discussion of the Church and homosexuality, which should be somewhere in the book.

    Based on comments from the Part I post, there doesn’t appear to be any chapter that addresses technology and the Church, like how the internet has made a difference if at all. Perhaps something on the topic will be mentioned in 3.

    Correlation deserves mention in many of the chapters: 5, 8, 16-18. Upon reflection, a chapter devoted to correlation might be good.

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