Review: Charles R. Harrell, “This is my Doctrine”: the development of Mormon theology (Kofford, 2011)

Get a sneak peek at Matthew Bowman’s review of Charles R. Harrell’s “This is my Doctrine”: the development of Mormon theology that is upcoming in winter Dialogue Winter 2011 issue. Here is a snippet:
“The book is probably most useful as a reference tool, a handy encyclopedia for quickly assessing the key notions about, say, “Satan” or “the fall and nature of humanity,” or “the preexistence” in the Kirtland period or contemporary Mormonism. Harrell’s citations will be useful for other scholars seeking to get a quick sense of the primary sources, and his thumbnail sketches–all the space, likely, which such an expansive effort allowed–raise a number of questions they might pursue.
“But the book unfortunately suffers from a title that’s doubly a misnomer. Perhaps unintentionally, Harrell’s premises raise interesting questions about what “doctrine” may be. He does not sketch out epistemological issues with any great depth; but his very premise–that people Mormons regard as authorities believed different things at different times–carries with it theological implications about the nature of doctrine and belief that he never quite explores fully. Harrell is largely content to disrupt what we think we know rather than sketching out a new way of understanding Mormonism. Secondly, though the book claims to illustrate the “development” of ideas the firm lines of Harrell’s structure inhibit the natural growth of that sort of argument and complicate its status as a true work of history. Harrell seems overwhelmed by his own ambitions.”
Read more at The Juvenile Instructor.