Keywords

typology, Book of Mormon, scripture analysis

Document Type

Book Review

Abstract

Typology has held a place of importance in the Christian tradition as a method of theology, scriptural exegesis, and history from the composition of the New Testament onward. In An Other Testament: On Typology, Joseph Spencer examines the place of typology within the Book of Mormon in order to understand the book’s theological complexity: “By theological complexity, I do not primarily mean that the ideas presented in the Book of Mormon are complex, though sometimes they are. Rather, I mean that it can be difficult to bring into focus some of the Book of Mormon’s overarching theological claims, given the book’s structural complexity” (xi; emphasis in original). In order to bring these theological claims into focus, Spencer embarks on a close and detailed reading of the structures and underlying theological viewpoints within the writings of Book of Mormon figures.