In Standing Apart, fifteen Latter-day Saint scholars explore how the idea of a universal Christian apostasy has functioned as a category to mark, define, and set apart "the other" in the development of Mormon historical consciousness and in the construction of Mormon narrative identity.

Acknowledgements ; Contributors ; Abbreviations and Notes on Sources ; Introduction, Miranda Wilcox and John D. Young ; PART I CONTEXTUALIZING THE LDS GREAT APOSTASY NARRATIVE ; Ch. 1 Historical Periodization in the LDS Great Apostasy Narrative, Eric R Dursteler ; Ch. 2 "Except among that Portion of Mankind": Early Mormon Conceptions of the Apostasy, Christopher C. Jones and Stephen J. Fleming ; Ch. 3 James Talmage, B.H. Roberts, and Confessional History in a Secular Age, Matthew Bowman ; Ch. 4 Narrating Apostasy and the LDS Quest for Identity, Miranda Wilcox ; PART II RE-NARRATING THE APOSTASY: NEW APPROACHES ; Ch. 5 Competing Histories in the Hebrew Bible and in the Latter-day Saint Tradition, Cory D. Crawford ; Ch. 6 Latter-day Saint Perceptions of Jewish Apostasy at the Time of Jesus, Matthew J. Grey ; Ch. 7 Purity and Parallels: Constructing the Apostasy Narrative of Early Christianity, Taylor G. Petrey ; Ch. 8 Rereading the Council of Nicaea and its Creed, Lincoln H. Blumell ; Ch. 9 Apostasy's Ancestors: Anti-Arian and Anti-Mormon Discourse in the Struggle for Christianity, Ariel Bybee Laughton ; Ch. 10 "Complexity and Richness": Re-envisioning the Middle Ages for Mormon Historical Narratives, Spencer E. Young ; Ch. 11 King Ratbod's Dilemma: Apostasy and Restoration in the Sixteenth and Twenty-First Centuries, Jonathan Green ; Ch. 12 Covenantal Pluralism in the Qur'an: Alternatives to the Binary Logic of Apostasy, David D. Peck ; Ch. 13 Long Narratives: Towards a New Mormon Understanding of Apostasy, John D. Young ; Epilogue: "We have only the Old Thing": Rethinking Mormon Restoration, Terryl Givens ; Appendix: First Presidency Statement on God's Love for All Mankind ; Index

"Readers familiar with LDS theology will find each of the chapters in Standing Apart insightful and well researched. Scholars of early Christianity and Mormonism will likewise benefit from the academic treatment of this topic."--BYU Studies Quarterly "In my estimation, Standing Apart is the most important Mormon studies book since Bushman s Rough Stone Rolling...It deserves to be engaged by Mormons but will also be of interest to scholars of religion more broadly who value sensitive but critical interreligious engagement. I give Standing Apart my highest recommendation."--Blair Hodges, Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship "No religion has more consistently defined itself against a religious 'other' than the Latter-day Saints. Now Mormon intellectuals are asking what a 'Great Apostasy' from early Christianity means in light of current historical scholarship and growing Mormon respect for other religions. This is one of the most significant books on Mormon thought in this generation and relevant to all religions who define themselves against a religious 'other'." --Richard Bushman, author of Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling "This collection is ambitious and wonderfully readable... it reveals just how dynamic, vibrant, and contested the Latter-day Saints' understanding of the past and of apostasy has been from the start." --Mormon Studies Review "Standing Apart: Mormon Historical Consciousness and the Concept of Apostasy is a useful contribution to historical theology, especially helpful to advanced students of American religious history."-Fides et Historia "The volume is both a work of Mormon historical theology and Mormon constructive theology."-- David Howlett, Nova Religio

Miranda Wilcox is Assistant Professor of English at Brigham Young University where she teaches medieval literature. John D. Young is Assistant Professor of History at Flagler College where he teaches medieval history.