PHILIP L. BARLOW
EDUCATION
Th.D. (1988) Harvard Divinity School, American Religious History & Culture M.T.S. (1980) Harvard, History of Christianity B.A. (1975) Weber State College, magna cum laude, History
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2017: Inaugural Neal A. Maxwell Fellow, Maxwell Institute for
Religious Scholarship, Brigham Young University (calendar year)
2007—present: inaugural Leonard J. Arrington Professor of Mormon History &
Culture, Dept. of History, Religious Studies Program, Utah State University
2011–2014: Director, Program in Religious Studies, Dept. of History, Utah State
University
2001—2007: Professor of Christian History, Hanover College, Dept. of
Theological Studies; (Associate Professor: 1994-2000; Dept. Chair: 1997-99; Assistant Professor: 1990-1994)
2006—2007: Associate Research Fellow, The Center for the Study of Religion &
American Culture (at Indiana University/Purdue University at Indianapolis)
1988—90: Mellon Post-doctoral Fellow, University of Rochester, Dept. of Religion
& Classics
1979–1985: Instructor, LDS Institute of Religion, Cambridge, MA
SELECTED SERVICE/ACTIVITIES/HONORS (see also honors under:
PUBLICATIONS/BOOKS) Periodic interviews in print and on camera in various media, including Associated Press, NBC News, CNN, CNN Online, CBS News, PBS/Frontline, National Public Radio, Utah Public Radio, the Boston Globe, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, USA Today/College, Washington Post, Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret News, Mormon Times, and others, and news outlets and journals internationally in England, Germany, Israel, Portugal, France, and Al Jazeera/English. Board of Advisors, Executive Committee, Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, Brigham Young University (2017–present). Co-Director, Summer Seminar on Mormon Culture: ““Mormonism Engages the World: How the LDS Church Has Responded to Developments in Science, Culture, and Religion.” Brigham Young University, June–August 2017. (With Terryl Givens) Board of Advisors: Oxford Mormon Studies Bible (in development with Oxford
University Press. Eds., Lincoln H. Blumell and Eric A. Eliason).
Board of Advisors, Mormon Studies Review (2013–present) National Juror, Evans Biography Award, Mountain West Center for Regional
Studies, Utah State University (2012-2015)
Board of Directors, Utah Humanities Council (July 2011– 2015) Associate, Foundation for Interreligious Diplomacy, Mormon Chapter (2009– present)
Board of Directors, Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology (2007—present) Board of Directors, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought (2007—2012) Faculty Member of the Year, Hanover College, presented by Lambda Chi
Alpha fraternity (2007)
Steering Committee for the Consultation in Mormon Studies,
American Academy of Religion (2006—2012)
President, Mormon History Association (2005—06) Board of Editors, “Religion in the Regions” series (General editor: Mark Silk)
(2001-2004)
New Historical Atlas of Religion in America named "Best Single-volume Reference
Book in the Humanities" for 2001 by the Association of American Publishers
Board of Directors, Mormon History Association (1995—97) Arthur and Ilene Baynham Award for Outstanding Teacher of the Year, Hanover
College (2001 & 1995)
Lilly Endowment Faculty Open Fellowship, granting nine months release from
Teaching duties for experimental scholarship on the psychology of evil (1995-96)
"Lilly Teaching Scholar in Religion" (designated jointly by the Lilly Endowment and the Midwest Region of the American Academy of Religion, June 1992)
Annual Dialogue Writing Award for best published essay, 1989 William Grover and Winnifred Foster Reese Best Dissertation Prize, awarded by the Mormon History Association for best dissertation on a Mormon subject, 1989
SCHOLARSHIP
BOOKS
Current project, under contract:
Mormonism: How Truth is Created (Columbia University Press, Contemporary American Religions Series); co-authored with Jan Shipps.
Current project (research and writing):
“The War in Heaven” in the history of ideas, music, and art.
Published books:
The Oxford Handbook of Mormonism (Oxford University Press, 2015); co-editor with Terryl Givens.
•Special Award for Scholarly Publishing, Association of Mormon Letters,
2016.
•Best Anthology Book Award, John Whitmer Historical Association,
2016.
Mormons and the Bible: The Place of the Latter-day Saints in American Religion
(N.Y.: Oxford University Press, Updated edition, 2013. Orig. 1991).
•The Mormon History Association awarded the original version of the
volume the Francis M. and Emily S. Chipman Award for Best First
Book,1992. Cited on various “best books” and “essential reading” on Mormonism lists.
Religion and Public Life in the Midwest: America’s Common Denominator?
(Alta Mira Press, 2004); co-edited with Mark Silk.
New Historical Atlas of Religion in America (Oxford University Press, 2001); coauthored with Edwin Scott Gaustad.
•Named by the Association of American Publishers: "Best Single-
volume Reference Book in the Humanities" for 2001.
•Included on numerous “best” or “outstanding” library lists, such as the
New York Public Library’s annual “Best of Reference” list, the American Library Association’s list of ”outstanding reference sources of the year,” the Library Journal’s “outstanding reference sources” list, and the Reference and User Services Association “outstanding reference sources for smalland medium-size libraries.”
[Religious, rather than Religious Studies/History, volume]: A Thoughtful Faith:
Essays on Belief by Mormon Scholars (Canon Press, 1986 & reprints), editor and contributor.
ARTICLES, ESSAYS, BOOK CHAPTERS
(book chapters preceded by “In”) Current book chapter project: “Shards of Combat: How to Destroy the Agency of Man” (provisional title), in Terryl Givens and Eric Eliason, eds., Unsettled
Questions in Mormon Thought.
Current book chapter project: “The Bible in 20th and 21st Century Mormonism.” In
Taylor Petrey and Matt Grey, eds., The Oxford Handbook to the Bible in Mormonism.
Forthcoming:
In The World of Mormonism. Eds., Richard Sherlock and Carl Mosser. “The World of the Bible in the Mormon Mind.” (Primary author; co-authored with Scott Marianno; Routlege 2017).
“Foreword” to Leonard J. Arrington, Faith and Intellect. Ed., Gary Bergera. (Signature Books, 2019).
Published works
In To Be Learned is Good: Faith and Scholarship Among the Latter-day Saints.
Eds. J. Spencer Fluhman, Kathleen Flake, and Jed Woodworth. “’We Gain Knowledge No Faster Than We are Saved’: the Epistemic Dimensions of Virtue.” (Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2017).
In Studies in the Bible and Antiquity 8 (2016). “Adam and Eve in the Twenty-First
Century: Navigating Conflicting Commandments in LDS Faith and Biblical Scholarship.”
In The Oxford Handbook of Mormonism. Eds., Terryl L. Givens & Philip L.
Barlow. “Mind and Spirit in Mormon Thought.” (Oxford Univ Press, 2015).
In Mormons and Politics. Eds. Jana Reiss & Randall Balmer. “Chosen Land,
Chosen People.” (Columbia University Press, 2015.) [This chapter is largely a
reprint of “Chosen Land, Chosen People” in The Review of Faith & International Affairs; see below.]
Studies in the Bible and Antiquity. “The BYU New Testament Commentary: It Doth
Not Yet Appear What It Shall Be.” Review essay of the series. (Vol. 6, 2015), pp. 67–86.
Religion in the News. “Marriage is Always Complicated in Utah.” Co-authored with Scott Marianno. (Vol. 15, no. 2 [Fall 2014]: 12–14).
Dialogue: a Journal of Mormon Thought. “Questions at the Veil.” (Vol. 46: 3, Fall
2013: 203–216).
In Cambridge History of Religions in America, Vol. II: 1790–1945. General Ed.,
Stephen Stein. “Expansion into the Transappalachian World.” (Cambridge University Press, 2012).
In 2013 this project received PROSE awards as the best published books in two categories: "Award for Excellence in Reference Works" and “"Multivolume Reference/Humanities & Social Sciences." [PROSE awards are judged by peer publishers, librarians, and medical professionals since 1976,
The Review of Faith & International Affairs (Institute for Global Engagement).
“Chosen Land, Chosen People: Religious and American Exceptionalism among the Mormons.” (Vol. 10, no. 2 [Summer 2012]).
Journal of Mormon History: “To Mend a Fractured Reality: Joseph Smith’s
Project” (Vol. 38, no. 3 [Summer 2012], pp. 28–50).
The Future of Religion in America: Traditions in Transition. Ed. Kathleen
Mulhern. “The Future Relation of Mormonism to the Bible.” Amazon ebook:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Future-Religion-Traditions- ebook/dp/B00852HZHG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338845115&sr=8-1
Religion and American Culture: A Journal of Interpretation: “Forum: American
Scriptures” (Vol. 21, no. 1 [Winter 2011]), pp. 1–10).
Encyclopedia of Religion in America; Eds. Peter Williams and Charles Lippy.
“Demographics” and “Geographical Approaches.” (CQ Press, 2010).
In Blackwell Companion to Religion in America. Ed. Philip Goff. “Regions.”
(Blackwell, 2010).
Patheos.com: “Studying Mormonism in the Academy.” October 1, 2009.
http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Studying- Mormonism-in-the-Academy.html
Also posted at “The Juvenile Instructor”: "Mormon Studies in Relation to the Liberal Arts" (September 14, 2009).
(http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/philip-barlow-on-mormon-studies-in- relation-to-the-liberal-arts/
Dialogue: a Journal of Mormon Thought: “Roundtable,” Massacre at Mountain
Meadows (Vol. 42, No. 1, Spring 2009: 114-127.
Religion in the News: “When Romney was a Bishop” (Winter 2008, Vol. 10, No. 3). Journal of Mormon History: “Toward a Mormon Sense of Time” (Mormon History
Association. Presidential Address; Vol. 33, No. 1, Spring 2007: 1—37).
The Encyclopedia of the Midwest: “Joseph Smith,” “James Strang,” “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism)” (University of Indiana Press, 2006).
Journal of the John Whitmer Historical Association: “Space Matters: A
Geographical Context for the Reorganization's Great Transformation” (Vol.
24, 2004): 21—39.
Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture: “Jan Shipps and the
Mainstreaming of Mormon Studies” (Review essay of Shipps, Sojourner in the Promised Land, in 73:2, June 2004: 412—426).
In Religion and Public Life in the Midwest. Philip Barlow and Mark Silk, eds.,
“Introduction: Not Oz” (with Becky Cantonwine) (Alta Mira Press, 2004, pp. 11—16).
In Religion and Public Life in the Midwest. Philip Barlow and Mark Silk, eds. “A
Demographic Portrait: America Writ Small?” in (Alta Mira Press, 2004, pp. 21—47).
Religion in the News: “The Indispensable Source” (Vol. 5, No. 1, Spring 2002):
11.
Sunstone: "The Public Thought of Elbert Peck." Issue 120 (November 2001):
10—13.
American National Biography. John A. Garraty, general ed.. "Charles Rich."
(Sponsored by the American Council of Learned Societies; published by Oxford University Press, 1999).
In Perspectives on American Religion and Culture. Peter W. Williams, ed.
“Shifting Ground and the Third Transformation of Mormonism” (Blackwell, 1999), pp. 140—153.
Dictionary of Biblical Interpretation. John H. Hayes, general editor. "Smith,
Joseph." (Abingdon Press, 1999): 2: 474—476.
The Oxford Companion to the Bible. Michael Coogan and Bruce M. Metzger, eds., "The Mormon Use of the Bible." (Oxford University Press, 1993).
Sociological Analysis: A Journal in the Sociology of Religion. "Church, Sect, and
Scripture." (Vol. 53, December, 1991); (co-authored with Armand Mauss).
Harvard Theological Review. "Joseph Smith's Revision of the Bible: Fraudulent,
Pathologic, or Prophetic?" (83:1 [1990]).
The Journal of the American Academy of Religion. "Before Mormonism: Joseph
Smith's Use of the Bible, 1820-1829." (VII/4 [1989]).
Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. "Why the King James Version?: From the Common to the Official Version of Mormonism.". (Vol. 22, no. 2 [Summer 1989]: 19-42).
Sunstone. "Unorthodox Orthodoxy: The Idea of Deification in Christian History."
(8:5 [Sept.-Oct. 1983].
BOOK REVIEWS
Brandon S. Plewe, et al, eds., Mapping Mormonism: An Atlas of Latter-day Saint
History (BYU Press, 2nd ed., 2014) in Mormon Studies Review Vol. 3, 2015.
David Bigler and Will Bagley, eds., Innocent Blood: Essential Narratives of the
Mountain Meadows Massacre. Kingdom in the West series (Arthur H. Clark, 2008) in the Western Historical Quarterly (Autumn 2010).
Ferenc Szasz, Religion in the Modern American West (University of Arizona
Press) in the Journal of Mormon History, Vol. 31, No. 2, Summer 2005: 263—264.
Armand Mauss, All Abraham’s Children: Changing Mormon Conceptions of
Race and Lineage (University of Illinois Press, 2003) in The Journal of Religion, Vol. 85, No. 2, April 2005: 313—314.
Kathleen Flake, “The Politics of American Religious Identity: The Seating of
Senator Reed Smoot, Mormon Apostle University of North Carolina Press, 2004) in the American Historical Review, Vol. 110, No. 3, June 2005: 811— 812.
Historical Atlas of Mormonism (Simon and Schuster, 1994). In The John
Whitmer Historical Association Journal (Vol. 17, 1997): 151—155..
"Decoding Mormonism." Review of John L. Brooke, The Refiner's Fire: The
Making of Mormon Cosmology, 1644-1844 (Cambridge University Press, 1994) and Jan Shipps and John W. Welch, eds., The Journals of William E. McLellin: 1831—1836. (BYU Studies and University of Illinois Press, 1994). In the Christian Century Vol. 113, No. 2, Jan. 17, 1996.
Full review essay of Brooke & Shipps/Welsh (above) in The John Whitmer
Historical Association Journal (Vol. 16, 1996, pp. 123-131).
D. Michael Quinn, The New Mormon History (Signature Books). For
Critical Review of Books in Religion (date?): 382—384.
“Wanted: Mormon Theologians. No Pay, Great Benefits.” Commissioned review essay of Daniel Ludlow, general ed., The Encyclopedia of Mormonism (Macmillan). (16:6 [November 1993]) for Sunstone.
Roger Anderson, Joseph Smith's New York Reputation Reappraised
(Signature Books). For Church History (Vol. 62, No. 1, March, 1993).
Sandra Sizer Frankiel, California's Spiritual Frontiers: Religious Alternation in
Anglo-Protestantism, 1850-1910 (University of California Press). For The Western Historical Quarterly (November 1989).
Jae R. Ballif, In Search of Truth and Love (Bookcraft). For Sunstone 12:2 (March
1988).
PRESENTATIONS
Accepted invitations include venues at Brigham Young University, Claremont Graduate School of Religion, Columbia University, Harvard University, Historical Department of the LDS Church, Indiana University, Mormon History Association annual meetings, Princeton University, Salt Lake City Public Library, Society of Biblical Literature annual meeting, Springville Art Museum (Utah), the University of Notre Dame, University of Southern California, University of Utah, Utah State University, Utah Valley University, University of Wyoming, Wesley Theological Seminary (Washington DC), and Yale University.