BYU ScholarsArchive

Article Title

Banishing the Cross: The Emergence of a Mormon Taboo

Authors

Michael G. Reed
Alonzo L. Gaskill

Keywords

Mormon studies, book review, Mormon myth, taboo, the Cross

Abstract

This first book by Michael G. Reed is a revamp of his 2009 master's thesis, "The Development of the LDS Church's Attitude toward the Cross" (California State University, Sacramento). In this current work, Reed beefs up his text with some additional sources and graphics, and he adds a chapter on the cross as a symbol in the Strangite and Community of Christ (RLDS) traditions.

The book's aim is to delineate the place of the cross as a symbol in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and in the two aforementioned Restoration churches, though the book largely focuses on the Utah Church's position. The text does offer a brief history of the cross in the ancient Christian Church, though it does so largely to compare ancient Christians' attitudes toward that symbol with the attitudes found in branches of the restored gospel.

Recommended Citation

Reed, Michael G. and Gaskill, Alonzo L. (2013) "Banishing the Cross: The Emergence of a Mormon Taboo," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 52: Iss. 4, Article 13.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol52/iss4/13