Richard is an exemplary historian. The Mormon Land newsletter posted excerpt from the new biography:
Six takeaways from the dean of LDS historians |
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(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) |
Richard Bushman, a patriarch in the church and the patriarch of Mormon historians, has left an indelible mark on Latter-day Saint scholarship.
Now comes “Richard Lyman Bushman: A Mormon Ambassador,” a concise and compelling biography of the 95-year-old historian, theologian and mentor.
Written by J.B. Haws, professor of church history and doctrine, the book shows how Bushman helped make academia more comfortable with his religion and, in turn, his religion more comfortable with academia.
Here are key passages and takeaways from the volume about this important, influential, impactful, even inspiring figure:
• Bushman’s “Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling” remains his opus.
His 2005 biography of the church founder made Bushman “a household name in Latter-day Saint circles,” Haws writes. “The importance of that book cannot be overstated. Bushman’s topic and especially his treatment made the book a bestseller — but so, too, did the book’s timing. … By the time ‘Rough Stone Rolling’ arrived, the church had embarked on the Joseph Smith Papers project, something that Bushman himself had pushed for.”
• As Bushman began writing “Rough Stone Rolling” in the mid-1990s, he asked for a formal blessing from, of all people, apostle Boyd Packer, whose criticisms of academics made headlines.
“Bushman was not seeking the church’s stamp of approval on the project; preserving his authorial independence was vital to Bushman,” Haws explains. “But he did want to signal to church authorities that he wanted to do this project in a way that would stay in line with … Bushman’s belief that all work can be ‘holy work,’ [and] his commitment to stay true to both the ‘part’ of him ‘that prays [and] that [part] which interprets documents.’”
• The “Mormon moment” of Mitt Romney also became a “Bushman moment.”
“In July of 2007,” Haws points out, “Dan Gilgoff of The New York Times gave Bushman a new moniker: the ‘chief explainer in a ‘Mormon moment.’ Gilgoff discerned that Bushman’s posture was, as Gilgoff put it, ‘Mormons can overcome prejudice only through vigorous dialogue with outsiders.’ This openness to dialogue was what made Bushman ‘an ambassador for Mormonism to the outside world’ — and it was what kept Bushman’s phone constantly ringing.” |
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(Amazon) |
• Bushman dodged one of bomber Mark Hofmann’s infamous forgeries.
As Bushman was reviewing proofs for his work “Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism,” rumors emerged of Hofmann’s find of the “Salamander Letter,” which contained Smith’s purported visionary encounter with a white salamander. Bushman wondered whether to include this startling discovery or pass on it. He opted for the latter and sent his book to press.
“The decision proved fortuitous,” Haws recounts. “Less than two years after Bushman’s book appeared, investigators confirmed that the Salamander Letter was a forgery.”
• Bushman remained committed to telling the truth about the church and its past — a stance that has proved even more prescient in this internet age.
“We do not need to conceal our history,” Bushman argued. “We believe it will be more convincing, more engaging, and more true if we tell it as it is.” Besides, he explained elsewhere, “if we are not candid and open, young Latter-day Saints doubt us when they hear negative stories from another source.”
• Bushman has stayed true to his academic rigor and his religious devotion.
“I want young Latter-day Saints to know that one historian has looked at all the evidence, suppresses none of it, and still believes in Joseph’s divine call. … After all these years of studying Joseph’s life, I believe more than ever.” |
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I've commented on Rough Stone Rolling here:
https://www.mobom.org/rsr-review
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