Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Contributors
Abbreviations and Notes on Sources

Introduction, Miranda Wilcox and John D. Young

PART I CONTEXTUALIZING THE LDS GREAT APOSTASY NARRATIVE
Ch. 1 Historical Periodization in the LDS Great Apostasy Narrative, Eric R Dursteler
Ch. 2 "Except among that Portion of Mankind": Early Mormon Conceptions of the Apostasy, Christopher C. Jones and Stephen J. Fleming
Ch. 3 James Talmage, B.H. Roberts, and Confessional History in a Secular Age, Matthew Bowman
Ch. 4 Narrating Apostasy and the LDS Quest for Identity, Miranda Wilcox

PART II RE-NARRATING THE APOSTASY: NEW APPROACHES
Ch. 5 Competing Histories in the Hebrew Bible and in the Latter-day Saint Tradition, Cory D. Crawford
Ch. 6 Latter-day Saint Perceptions of Jewish Apostasy at the Time of Jesus, Matthew J. Grey
Ch. 7 Purity and Parallels: Constructing the Apostasy Narrative of Early Christianity, Taylor G. Petrey
Ch. 8 Rereading the Council of Nicaea and its Creed, Lincoln H. Blumell
Ch. 9 Apostasy's Ancestors: Anti-Arian and Anti-Mormon Discourse in the Struggle for Christianity, Ariel Bybee Laughton
Ch. 10 "Complexity and Richness": Re-envisioning the Middle Ages for Mormon Historical Narratives, Spencer E. Young
Ch. 11 King Ratbod's Dilemma: Apostasy and Restoration in the Sixteenth and Twenty-First Centuries, Jonathan Green
Ch. 12 Covenantal Pluralism in the Qur'an: Alternatives to the Binary Logic of Apostasy, David D. Peck
Ch. 13 Long Narratives: Towards a New Mormon Understanding of Apostasy, John D. Young

Epilogue: "We have only the Old Thing": Rethinking Mormon Restoration, Terryl Givens
Appendix: First Presidency Statement on God's Love for All Mankind
Index

About the Author

Miranda Wilcox is Assistant Professor of English at Brigham Young University where she teaches medieval literature.

John D. Young is Assistant Professor of History at Flagler College where he teaches medieval history.

Reviews

"Readers familiar with LDS theology will find each of the chapters in Standing Apart insightful and well researched. Scholars of early Christianity and Mormonism will likewise benefit from the academic treatment of this topic."--BYU Studies Quarterly
"In my estimation, Standing Apart is the most important Mormon studies book since Bushman s Rough Stone Rolling...It deserves to be engaged by Mormons but will also be of interest to scholars of religion more broadly who value sensitive but critical interreligious engagement. I give Standing Apart my highest recommendation."--Blair Hodges, Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship
"No religion has more consistently defined itself against a religious 'other' than the Latter-day Saints. Now Mormon intellectuals are asking what a 'Great Apostasy' from early Christianity means in light of current historical scholarship and growing Mormon respect for other religions. This is one of the most significant books on Mormon thought in this generation and relevant to all religions who define themselves against a religious 'other'." --Richard
Bushman, author of Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling
"This collection is ambitious and wonderfully readable... it reveals just how dynamic, vibrant, and contested the Latter-day Saints' understanding of the past and of apostasy has been from the start." --Mormon Studies Review
"Standing Apart: Mormon Historical Consciousness and the Concept of Apostasy is a useful contribution to historical theology, especially helpful to advanced students of American religious history."-Fides et Historia
"The volume is both a work of Mormon historical theology and Mormon constructive theology."-- David Howlett, Nova Religio