Abbreviated title (ISO 4) Mormon Stud. Rev. Language English | Discipline Mormon studies Edited by J. Spencer Fluhman | |
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Former names Review of Books on the Book of Mormon, FARMS Review of Books, FARMS Review Publisher Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship (United States) | ||
Mormon Studies Review is an annual academic journal covering Mormon studies published by the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University.
Contents
History
The Review of Books on the Book of Mormon was established in 1989 by the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS), with Daniel C. Peterson as founding editor-in-chief. It was renamed to FARMS Review of Books in 1996, to FARMS Review in 2003, and finally to Mormon Studies Review in 2011, as the FARMS brand had been phased out after being absorbed into the Maxwell Institute in 2006.
Under Peterson's editorship, the journal specialized in LDS apologetics. When FARMS joined with BYU in 1997, Peterson said to the Salt Lake Tribune, "FARMS has often had a polemical edge and we are curious to see how or whether that will be accommodated."
Reboot
In 2012, Peterson was removed as editor and the journal entered hiatus as it sought to become more mainstream to Mormon studies. In March 2013, the Maxwell Institute announced the journal would relaunch as a new religious studies review journal, without a primary focus on apologetics. J. Spencer Fluhman, from BYU's department of history, was appointed editor-in-chief with a new broad-based advisory board. The new Review changed from biannual to annual publication, and restarted its numbering, beginning at volume 1 in 2014, signifying its change in editorial direction as a new publication.
Selected apologia of note
A review of Christopher Hitchens's God Is Not Great, published in FARMS Review by William J. Hamblin in 2009, was highlighted in a more extensive criticism of Hitchens by atheistic American philosopher and social critic Curtis White in 2013.