“Neither should they be dimmed any more by time”: the Book of Mormon, the Bible, and Joseph Smith’s prophetic presentism

Abstract

Joseph Smith ’ s early followers seemed to exhibit a dual historical consciousness that rendered sacred pasts both foreign and familiar. To make room for Smith ’ s new scriptural productions in the Bible culture of Protestant America, some among them insisted that historical di ff erences separated their present from the biblical pasts. In an 1832 letter, Reverend Benton Pixley recorded a sermon by “ Mormonite ” preacher Sidney Rigdon, in which Rigdon proclaimed that the New Testament “ epistles are not and were not given for our instruction, but for the instruction of a people of another age and country, far removed from ours, of di ff erent habits and manners. ” Rigdon thus con-tended “ that it is altogether inconsistent for us to take the Epistles written for that people at that age of the world, as containing suitable instruction for this people at this age of the world. ” Rigdon ’ s critique included the “ Gospels, ” which he described as “ so mutilated and altered as to convey little of the instruction which they should convey. ” These assertions about historical di ff erence and distance, and about time ’ s cor-rupting in fl uence, countered Protestant assumptions regarding the Bible ’ s enduring relevance. Rigdon ’ s reasoning rested on Smith ’ s revelatory claims. Rigdon declared that “ a new revelation is to be sought. – is to be expected, – indeed is coming forthwith ” (Pixley 1832, 177). In this way, the belief in new revelation could encourage a sense of distance from biblical pasts. 1