Radical Origins: Early Mormon Converts and Their Colonial Ancestors - Hardcover

Rust, Val D.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0252029100 ISBN 13: 9780252029103

Publisher: University of Illinois Press, 2004

Synopsis

Val D. Rust's Radical Origins investigates whether the unconventional religious beliefs of their colonial ancestors predisposed early Mormon converts to embrace the (radical( message of Joseph Smith Jr. and his new church.
 
Utilizing a unique set of meticulously compiled genealogical data, Rust uncovers the ancestors of early church members throughout what we understand as the radical segment of the Protestant Reformation. Coming from backgrounds in the Antinomians, Seekers, Anabaptists, Quakers, and the Family of Love, many colonial ancestors of the church(s early members had been ostracized from their communities.  Expelled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, some were whipped, mutilated, or even hanged for their beliefs.
 
Rust shows how family traditions can be passed down through the generations, and can ultimately shape the outlook of future generations. This, he argues, extends the historical role of Mormons by giving their early story significant implications for understanding the larger context of American colonial history. Featuring a provocative thesis and stunning original research, Radical Origins is a remarkable contribution to our understanding of religion in the development of American culture and the field of Mormon history.
 

About this title

About the Author:

Val D. Rust is a professor of education at the University of California, Los Angeles and the author of Toward Education for the Twenty-first Century and other works.
 

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Illinois Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0252029100
• ISBN 13: 9780252029103
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 253