Bible Culture and Authority in the Early United States

Authors

Kent P. Jackson

Keywords

BYU Studies, review

Abstract

In his introduction to Bible Culture and Authority in the Early United States, author Seth Perry of Princeton University writes of “a shared set of symbols, types, behaviors, and vocabulary” that derive from or were influenced by the King James Bible (2). The book discusses the interaction of this shared set with early American society, asserting that the Bible and biblical language were resources that individuals in the nineteenth century used to create legitimacy—that is, authority in their relationships with others. Scripturalization is the term Perry employs to describe how people, language, rhetoric, and other aspects of society obtained this authority by drawing from the stories and texts of the Bible.

Recommended Citation

Jackson, Kent P. (2019) "Bible Culture and Authority in the Early United States," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 58: Iss. 4, Article 16.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol58/iss4/16