Description
Maureen Ursenbach Beecher and Lavina Fielding Anderson (Editors), Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1992, 6×9″ softbound, 304 pages.
This book, the first to bridge the gap between the separate fields of Mormon history and women’s history, probes the identity of Mormon women, both past and present-their history, doctrine, and current situations. Sisters in Spiritoffers nine thought-provoking essays and two poems on being female in the Mormon culture. These essays, all written by scholars who are themselves women, interpret contemporary Mormon practices as seen against 150 years of doctrinal and cultural development.
The authors include penetrating discussions on statements about motherhood, the doctrine of Mother in Heaven, the role of the temple and its ceremonies, the dynamics of Mormon sisterhood, power and decision-making in Mormon marriages, women’s “working definitions” of priesthood, interpretations of Eve, and the Mormon scriptures’ view of women.
Contents:
Foreward, Jan Shipps
Preface, Maureen Ursenbach Beecher
The Redemption of Eve, Jolene Edmunds Rockwood
Precedents for Mormon Women from Scriptures, Melodie Moench Charles
The Mormon Concept of a Mother in Heaven, Linda P. Wilcox
Oil upon Oil, Maryann MacMurray
Mormon Women and the Temple: Toward a New Understanding, Carol Cornwall Madsen
Gifts of the Spirit: Women’s Share, Linda King Newell
Full Circle, Maryann Macmurray
“Strength of Our Union”: The Making of Mormon Sisterhood, Jill Mulvay Derr
Mormon Motherhood: Official Images, Linda P. Wilcox
Mormon Marriages in an American Context, Marybeth Raynes
Priesthood and Latter-day Saint Women: Eight Contemporary Definitions, Grethe Ballif Peterson