Historical Dictionary of the Latter-day Saints

By (author) Thomas G. Alexander, Davis Bitton

Publication date:

08 October 2019

Length of book:

386 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Dimensions:

238x158mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781538120712

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a Christian church that was organized by six men in western New York in 1830 under the leadership of Joseph Smith, the church has grown to more than 16 million members today. A restoration of the primitive church organized by Jesus Christ in the first century C. E., the church’s membership was originally all Americans. The church is now, however, a worldwide church with more members who live outside the United States than inside.

The fourth edition of Historical Dictionary of the Latter-day Saints contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 400 cross-referenced entries on the important people, ideas, doctrine, and events during the hundred-ninety year history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Editor's Foreword (Jon Woronoff)

Preface

List of Acronyms and Abbreviations

Chronology

Introduction

THE DICTIONARY

Appendixes

1.Church Presidents

2.The Family: A Proclamation to the World

3.Temples Dedicated through February 2019

4.The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Bibliography

About the Authors

The title of the new edition of this dictionary (first published as Historical Dictionary of Mormonism, CH, Jul'94, 31-5756, under the single authorship of the late Bitton) illustrates the recent shift in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the term “Mormon” to “Latter-day Saints,” which the present volume uses throughout. The bulk of the dictionary’s 400-plus entries are Bitton’s work, with Alexander’s revisions in the third and now fourth editions. Alexander is a scholar, as was Bitton, and both served as president of the Mormon History Association. As one might expect, the dictionary has been updated to reflect the people and events that have shaped Latter-day Saint history since the publication of the third edition (2008). Some new entries are topical (RootsTech, Area Seventies), but most are people (these often reflect gender and ethnic diversity, e.g., Sagwitch Timbimboo and Jean B. Bingham). Existing entries have been updated, e.g.,Homosexuality (LGBTQ) and Familysearch.org. The introduction adds a paragraph defending the Latter-day Saints church as Christian rather than a cult. Overall, this fourth edition updates information about the church, and it should serve to alter public perception of an often-misunderstood religious movement. . . the dictionary is a good introduction to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates; professionals; general readers.