The Expanded Canon: Perspectives on Mormonism and Sacred Texts. Blair G. Van Dyke, Brian D. Birch, and Boyd J. Petersen, editors. Greg Kofford Books: 2018. Paperback. ISBN: 978-1589586383. $25.95

Cross-posted at Association for Mormon Letters blog, Dawning of a Brighter Fay

Reviewer’s Note: In the absence of interviewing the actual authors and editors of this book, I opted to interview myself and use that as my review.

Interviewer: This is an odd way to review a book, especially a serious book

Reviewer: Of course it is. I was struggling with how to write the review when the thought came to me to interview myself. Some of my best thoughts come out in dialogue, and my wife didn’t want to interview me for this review, so here we are.

Interviewer: What makes you qualified to write reviews, especially something serious, like this book about the extra-canonical works of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

Reviewer: Nothing, particularly, other than I love to read, and have enjoyed many hours with religious non-fiction, which certainly describes this book. I work in IT, am not an academic, but I have written a number of historical articles for the Journal of Mormon History and a couple of other publications. Besides, if Steven Peck, an evolutionary biologist, can write a fictional account of a particularly Mormon hell in A Short Stay in Hell, then I can probably write book reviews. By the way, now that we have used the full name of the Church, can we just say LDS or Mormon from now on?

Interviewer: Uh, okay then. What were your thoughts as you approached this book?

Reviewer: I was quite excited about it. I read the title as describing a discussion by various writers about the idea of having an open canon of Christian scriptures that extend beyond the traditional Protestant Christian view of the Bible as sola scriptura, meaning the Bible as written is complete and sufficient for delivering God’s word to his people. I find the idea fascinating. But this book is about more than that.

Interviewer: How so?

Reviewer: The first chapter in the book, by David Frank Holland, is about that idea. He uses the stability of a tripod, or three legs of a stool, as metaphor for how we define and relate to God’s communications to us. He points out that we revere our scriptural works as other Christian churches revere the Bible, but we also lean heavily on two other forms of communication from God, spiritual promptings as personal revelation, and prophetic leadership and utterances. We are reminded as members of the LDS Church to read the scriptures, pray for personal revelation, and listen to the guidance of our modern prophets as given in general conference.

Interviewer: Do we give equal credibility to all three of these sources?

Reviewer: Yes, we do. However, as Holland in the first chapter, and Brian Birch in the second point out, the different sources all have differences of sovereignty (authority) and scope. We are reminded that we are to gain our own spiritual confirmation of the truth of scriptures and the counsel of our leaders, but we also recognize the limits of each of these sources. Holland clearly identifies the tensions that result from such an approach, but also the harmony and security in doctrine and practice that can follow.

Interviewer: Does it work well for us as a church to take such an approach?

Reviewer: I believe so. The combination of scripture, prophetic leadership, and individual revelation provide a stability that has worked for almost 200 years now. Birch, in his chapter, writes about this threefold approach more directly in terms of authority, and compares it to the hierarchical authority of the Catholic Church. While the Pope can speak ex cathedra and be recognized as infallible, weight is also given to councils and bishops in what is called the “ordinary and universal magisterium,” as long as it draws on the depositum fidei, or reservoir of tradition and faith, handed down from the apostles and early church fathers. They are not creating new scripture, but drawing on centuries old tradition to clarify doctrine. There is also the sensus fidei.

Interviewer: Sensus fidei? What is that?

Reviewer: Essentially the body of the church faithful. God not only gives his word to the Pope and his councils, but also to the laity of the church, who faithfully act as witnesses for Christ, and perform Christian service for others, consistent with that deposit of faith. It compares somewhat with our LDS concept of “common consent.”

Interviewer: Can you give me an example?

Reviewer: Here’s one. In October of 1918, President Joseph F. Smith, while preparing for General Conference, was pondering the scriptures, and received what we called for many years the “Vision of the Redemption of the Dead,” now canonized in the Doctrine and Covenants as Section 138. The text that President Smith wrote was accepted as an official revelation by the 1st Presidency and Quorum of Twelve in November of that year, and was published in a couple of church periodicals in the next year or two. However, no effort was made at the time to canonize the revelation and include it in our published scriptures. It was republished both in Joseph Fielding Smith’s biography of his father, and in the three-volume series Gospel Doctrine, a compilation of the sermons and writings of Joseph F. Smith, edited again by his son, but still not canonized. It was not regularly referred to by other general authorities in general conference until some forty years later, and then in 1975, was presented to the general church membership for a sustaining vote to include it as scripture. In other words, the body of the Church had the final say. By the way, that account of the canonization of D&C 138 is not in this book. You will need to look at an essay by Mary Jane Woodger to get the whole story ((Mary Jane Woodger, “From Obscurity to Scripture: The Historical Process of Joseph F. Smith’s Vision of the Redemption of the Dead,” in You Shall Have My Word: Exploring the Text of the Doctrine and Covenants, ed. Scott C. Esplin, Richard O. Cowan, and Rachel Cope (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2012), 234-54.)).

Interviewer: So that story truly represents all three legs of that stool. Does the book continue in this vein?

Reviewer: Not always. This is the tricky part of being a reviewer. When you read a collection of chapters written by various authors on a similar theme, you are going to get differences. For example, some chapters are about particular characteristics of some of our extended canon, without reference to the significant departure from traditional Christianity of our “extra-canonical works.” Others are of a more imaginative nature.

Interviewer: Imaginative?

Reviewer: Claudia Bushman points out the obvious lack of scripture in the Church written by women. She makes a list of particular items written by our sister saints that might be considered scripture. Lucy Mack Smith’s Biographical Sketches of the Prophet, Joseph Smith, is one. It is an important primary source of historical information about our founding prophet, and the beginnings of the LDS Church. She also suggests some of the poetry of Eliza R. Snow, especially the poem-turned-hymn “Oh My Father,” that contains most of what we know about the reality of our Heavenly Mother. It is only imaginative in the sense that she is imagining what such a volume would look like. But she also is asking for additional ideas for what should be included in that work. If the Book of Mormon starts with a narrative about a family, how is that different than a narrative account of the founding prophet of our church and his family by his mother? The idea carries considerable weight.

Interviewer: It sounds like perhaps you were not as impressed with some chapters as much as others.

Reviewer: Unfortunately, that is true. Part of that is what you as a reader bring to the reading. Some topics are going to interest you more than others. That is certainly the case here. There is also the tough task of the editors of this kind of work. You can pick and choose from various submissions, but you can’t necessarily control the consistency of the submissions beyond accepting some essays, and not accepting others. In other words, you can only control the overall quality, but not the particular aspects of some chapters. The discussion on problems in the Book of Abraham came across to me as skimming the surface, rather than a deep dive. But part of that again comes from what I bring to the experience as a reader. I have read quite a bit about that particular topic, and felt the overview in this book was not as detailed as I would have liked.

Interviewer: Anything else that you thought was particularly interesting?

Reviewer: Here are two more. Richard Bushman articulates an idea that I had not seriously considered previously. He writes, “The fabulous gold plates, so unlike anything else in recorded history, so unlikely to fall into the hands of Joseph Smith, cast doubts on the whole enterprise.” In other words, the materiality of the gold plates becomes problematic in the eyes of church critics when we say we no longer have them. Also, Ann Taves attempts to bridge the gap between faithful narratives about the gold plates, and the academic narratives that reject such supernatural experiences. She provides a potential middle way that calls on academic treatments to recognize that the circle of closest family and friends of Joseph Smith who witnessed to the materiality of the gold plates were sincere in their belief. I may not agree with all her conclusions, but they are solidly advanced and fascinating to read.

Interviewer: Any final thoughts?

Reviewer: Overall, I liked the book, and recommend it for readers who are interested in what it means for the LDS Church to publish and promote as scripture additional texts that supplement, but not supersede, the Bible. It is not a unique idea, but certainly no other major Christian denomination makes such claims. Also, I always feel like I need to write something quoteworthy as part of my reviews, so here goes. “This volume is a timely and thoughtful exploration of both the perils and the rewards of extending the Christian canon beyond the Bible, and the role that such extended scripture plays in the beliefs and lives of its readers.” How’s that?

Interviewer: Steven Peck you are not, but this has been a helpful conversation. Thank you.