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American Proto-Zionism and the "Book of Lehi": Recontextualizing the Rise of Mormonism

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American Proto-Zionism and the Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 5-2018 American Proto-Zionism and the "Book of Lehi": Recontextualizing the Rise of Mormonism Don Bradley Utah State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Bradley, Don, "American Proto-Zionism and the "Book of Lehi": Recontextualizing the Rise of Mormonism" (2018). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 7060. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/7060 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. AMERICAN PROTO-ZIONISM AND THE “BOOK OF LEHI”: RECONTEXTUALIZING THE RISE OF MORMONISM by Don Bradley A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in History Approved: _________________________ _________________________ Philip L. Barlow, Ph.D. Richley H. Crapo, Ph.D. Major Professor Committee Member _________________________ _________________________ Norman L. Jones, Ph.D. Mark R. McLellan, Ph.D. Committee Member Vice President for Research and Dean of the School of Graduate Studies UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Logan, Utah 2018 ii Copyright © Don Bradley 2018 All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT American Proto-Zionism and the “Book of Lehi”: Recontextualizing the Rise of Mormonism by Don Bradley, Master of Arts Utah State University, 2018 Major Professor: Dr. Philip L. Barlow Department: History Mormonism is often understood in academia as primarily an expression of nineteenth-century Christian primitivism. In Jan Shipps’s comprehensive model of Mormon origins, Mormonism went through three developmental phases: an original, 1829-early 1830s Christian primitivist phase; a later-1830s Hebraic phase; and an 1840s esoteric phase. This thesis will complicate and expand Shipps’s model, arguing that before its familiar early Christian primitivist phase Mormonism went through a still earlier Judaic phase. This early Mormon Judaic phase is contextualized by a contemporaneous phenomenon I am terming “American proto-Zionism” and was expressed in Mormonism’s contemporaneous scripture, the “Book of Lehi.” “American proto-Zionism,” as conceptualized here, was an endeavor to make the New World a provisional Zion for Jewish colonization, preparatory to an ultimate return iv to Palestine. American proto-Zionism manifested in competing Christian and Jewish forms, with Christian proto-Zionists aiming to convert Jews while Jewish proto-Zionists aimed to enhance the prosperity of and protect the religious practice of fellow Jews. American proto-Zionism was centered primarily in New York state and confined almost entirely to the 1820s—the precise time and place of Mormonism’s emergence. The most ambitious American proto-Zionist project was that of Mordecai Noah, the United States’ first nationally prominent Jew, who endeavored to “gather” the world’s Jews to a “New Jerusalem” in western New York. Early (1827-28) reports about the Mormon movement describe it focusing, like Noah, on the gathering of the Jews and Native Americans to an American “New Jerusalem.” The now-missing first portion of the Book of Mormon, the Book of Lehi, or “lost 116 pages,” is Mormonism’s earliest scripture. Using internal evidence from the extant Book of Mormon text and external sources it is possible to reconstruct contents from this lost Mormon scripture. Doing so reveals it to have focused on Judaic aims, such as Jewish gathering, and to have implicitly provided a model for ending the Diaspora. Mormonism was shaped by its encounter, not only with biblical Judaism, but also by its encounter with living Judaism, in the form of Jewish American proto-Zionism, and by its brief encounter with its original scripture, the Book of Lehi. (222 pages) v PUBLIC ABSTRACT American Proto-Zionism and the “Book of Lehi”: Recontextualizing the Rise of Mormonism Don Bradley Although historians generally view early Mormonism as a movement focused on restoring Christianity to its pristine New Testament state, in the Mormon movement’s first phase (1827-28) it was actually focused on restoring Judaism to its pristine “Old Testament” state and reconstituting the Jewish nation as it had existed before the Exile. Mormonism’s first scripture, “the Book of Lehi” (the first part of the Book of Mormon), disappeared shortly after its manuscript was produced. But evidence about its contents shows it to have had restoring Judaism and the Jewish nation to their pre-Exilic condition to have been one of its major themes. And statements by early Mormons at the time the Book of Lehi manuscript was produced show they were focused on “confirming the Old Testament” and “gathering” the Jews to an American New Jerusalem. This Judaic emphasis in earliest Mormonism appears to have been shaped by a set of movements in the same time and place (New York State in the 1820s) that I am calling “American proto-Zionism,” which aimed to colonize Jews in the United States. The early Mormon movement can be considered part of American proto-Zionism and was influenced by developments in early nineteenth century American Judaism. vi DEDICATION In giving the world this thesis on Mormonism’s lost sacred text, I dedicate it to those I have lost, my little brother Charles David McNamara Bradley and my parents Edward Francis Bradley, Sr. and Patricia Mae Thornhill Bradley, both of whom passed away while I was working on it; and to those I have found, my sons Donnie and Nicholas, whose very existence sustains me. vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Any work of scholarship emerges from a matrix of thousands of earlier works and countless personal relationships and interactions. The number and extent of my debts of gratitude can never be fully stated. But I will try to acknowledge a number of them here. I wish to thank my thesis advisor, Dr. Philip Barlow, for his generosity, perspective, and wisdom. Dr. Barlow has always made himself available and always given me more than the allotted time. And he has always believed in me. I want to also thank my other committee members, Dr. Norm Jones and Dr. Richley Crapo, who have been kind, patient, insightful, and tremendously encouraging. I owe a shout out to my undergraduate mentor Steven Epperson, whose History of Christian Doctrines of Jews and Judaism class first acquainted me with Mordecai Noah and with the uniqueness of Mormonism’s relationship with Judaism, which has been important in the genesis of this thesis. Dr. Epperson, your time at BYU was too short, but your legacy in the lives of your students will last long indeed. Thank you to my parents, Don Brown, Patricia Thornhill Bradley, and the late Ed Bradley. Because you made me who I am, everything I make is yours as well. Thank you especially to my mother, Patricia Thornhill Bradley, for teaching me by her example the essential elements of being an historian—to be curious, to think deeply, to exercise empathy, and to always ask “why.” Orceneth Fisher, of long ago, left a legacy that greatly enhances my life and that informs this work. viii I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude for the support of Nathan and Molly Hadfield, Jerry Grover, Randy Paul, Dr. Stephen and Janae Thomas, Marcus and Annice North, Steven and Judith Peterson, and Earl and Corrine Wunderli. Thank you so much. A number of friends have offered information that has improved this thesis. Thank you to Maxine Hanks, Trevor Luke, Mark Thomas, Clinton Bartholomew, Drew Sorber, Alex Criddle, Anita Wells, Joe Spencer, Claire McMahan, Jeffrey Mahas, and Neal Rappleye. Colby Townsend, you gave me feedback on the entire manuscript—thank you so much. And thank you, thank you, thank you, Marie Thatcher for all your help in this and other things. Hypatia was not a greater saint of scholarship than you. Allen Grover, Phil Brown, and Andrea Edwards - you helped me get started on the path that led here. Thank you for that, my friends. Through much of the time I was writing this thesis I suffered from severe sleep apnea, which led to a deep and protracted depression. There are caring people who were so helpful in overcoming that. Thank you, Adrienne Shaver, Dr. Kirt Beus, and Dr. Dan Daley. Several friends were also important in getting through those challenges and moving ahead in my work. For that, I am very grateful to Joe and Karen Spencer, Diana Brown, James Egan, Holly Huff, Edje Jeter, Sharon Harris, Bryant Smith, Carl Youngblood, Karl Hale, and Lincoln Cannon. Brian Hales has been an incomparable friend and supporter through this process, and so much else in my life. Thank you, Brian. My two greatest intellectual interlocutors over the years, who are also two of my very best friends, have influenced everything I do. This is for you, Trevor Luke and ix Maxine Hanks. I hope when you read this you see your fingerprints. During my depression, I experienced a near-total loss of belief in myself. But there were friends who showed so strongly that they never stopped believing in me. Thank you for that, Mark Thomas and Nathan Hadfield. Mark, you stepped in to help when things were at their darkest. And that is friendship I can never forget. Nathan, brother, I’m amazed at how fully you’ve believed in Don Bradley. And you’ve been an inverse Martin Harris for me. Without you, I’d have lost this manuscript more than once! Michaelann – the journey here has not been easy, and not what you thought you were signing up for. But we made it! Thank you for your patience and support through this journey, for your extra help in my final push at the end, and for growing with me.
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