Irenaeus, Joseph Smith, and God-Making Heresy

Adam Powell is assistant professor of religious studies and director of the Master of Arts in Religious Studies at Lenoir-Rhyne University’s Center for Graduate Studies of Asheville, NC.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionApproaching AnswersOutlinePart OneHeresy as Opposition: Debates and DefinitionsAvailable DefinitionsRelativity and HeresyThe Ideal TypeToward a Sociology of HeresyHeresy and Soteriology: The Process of InteractionThe Heretical Process: Its Assumptions and PredictionsThe Sociology of KnowledgeHans Mol’s Adaptation/Identity DialecticWhen Position becomes ConfessionFrom Opposition to SalvationPart TwoLocating Heresy: The Threefold AttackPagans, Jews, Gnostics, and Rome: The Irenaean AntecedentMinisters, Mobs, Apostates, and “Gentile” (Protestant) America: The Early Mormon ExampleFerment and FecundityResolving Heresy: Soteriological SchemasToward ResolutionOrder and SalvationGroup and Self in the Soteriological SchemaGod, Humanity, Resolution, and AdaptationConclusion: Salvation and SuccessGod-making HeresyFinaleBibliographyIndexAbout the Author

Adam J. Powell's work utilizes a robust theoretical framework to present the connection between the opposition faced by religious communities and the development of new doctrines, specifically deification.... This text offers an important contribution to the discussion of Mormon history and how doctrines form in light of exterior forces. This text is well researched and offers an important theoretical framework for the study of heresy's impact on religious movements.