ABSTRACT
More than twenty years ago I arrived at Nottingham University as a newly minted PhD to work with Douglas Davies in the Department of Theology. At the time the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) were the main focus of his work, a religious community of which I was aware but had never studied. His enthusiasm led me to begin to think about the Book of Mormon (BoM), utilizing the structuralist methodology that I had developed from my earlier research on the Old Testament.1 I soon became aware that the BoM seemed to have a consistent structure that was significantly different from either the Old or New Testament. This initial research culminated in a paper for a conference Douglas chaired on Mormon Studies at Nottingham and over the years in additional short pieces, particularly focusing on material from the BoM (Kunin 1996, 2003). This chapter brings together and extends my previous work and more consciously brings it into dialogue with Douglas’ work on LDS theology, particularly drawing on his distinction between salvation and exaltation.
