The Earth Will Appear as the Garden of Eden: Essays on Mormon Environmental History [Paperback]

Although scholars have increasingly investigated the impact of religion and religious movements on nature, studies of the interactions between Mormons and the natural environment are few. This volume applies the perspectives of environmental history to Mormonism, providing both a scholarly introduction to Mormon environmental history and a spur for historians to consider the role of nature in the Mormon past.
     Since Joseph Smith’s revelations, Mormons have interacted with nature in significant ways—whether perceiving it as a place to find God, uncorrupted spaces in which to build communities to usher in the Second Coming, wildness needing domestication and control, or a world brimming with natural resources to ensure economic well-being. The essays in this volume—written by leading scholars in both environmental history and Mormon history—explore how nature has influenced Mormon beliefs and how these beliefs inform Mormons’ encounters with nature. Introducing overarching environmental ideas, contributors examine specific aspects of nature and Mormon theology to glean new insights into the Mormon experience.

Illuminates Mormon intellectual history through the lens of environmental history.
 

“The Earth Will Appear as the Garden of Edenmakes a compelling argument for expanding Mormon studies and environmental history. It calls for scholars and even Latter-day Saints themselves to reevaluate the critical historical environmental ethic of Latter-day Saints and how it had a profound effect on the settlement of the American West. The benefit to those who find themselves squarely situated in Mormon studies is to provide a fresh new lens through which to examine traditional topics anew. For environmental scholars, Mormon studies affords fertile ground for further intellectual cultivation.”—Journal of Mormon History

“A sl_