The Mormon Textual Atlas is not a copy of the text nor a substitute for reading it. It is an analytical map that helps trace the narrative structure, characters, concepts, religious claims, and relationship to the Bible and the modern American context. The atlas adopts neither a missionary nor a polemical stance; it engages the text as a religious and intellectual document open to reading, analysis, and comparison.
How to Read This Atlas
The atlas is built on the principle of multiple entry points: you can start from the narrative map to trace the grand story, from the characters to understand roles, from the concepts to examine governing ideas, or from the critical questions to interrogate the text. You are not required to follow a single order.
Entry Points
- Browse Analytical Content — atoms, narrative, and theology by book
- How to Read the Book of Mormon? — a general introduction to the text and its context
- Narrative Map — tracing the grand story from Jerusalem to the Americas
- Characters — index of major characters and their narrative and conceptual roles
- Concepts — governing concepts in the text
- Major Themes — cross-cutting themes across the entire text
- Relationship with the Bible — quotations, parallels, and differences
- Sacred Geography — how the text constructs a new sacred geography
- Devotional Reading and Critical Reading — a comparison table of two perspectives
- Internal Books — index of the books composing the text
- Reading Paths — suggested paths for analytical reading
About the Atlas
- Atlas Methodology — project charter, scope statement, product specification, editorial guide, content model, citation rules, and quality standards
- Reading Boundaries and Rights — what the atlas does and does not do, copyright notices
- Reading and Citation Tools — page tools: copy link, citation, reader mode
- Contact — how to reach the atlas compiler
Definition
This atlas is not a copy of the Book of Mormon nor a substitute for reading it. It is an analytical map that helps trace its narrative structure, characters, concepts, religious claims, and relationship to the Bible and the modern American context. The atlas adopts neither a missionary nor a polemical stance; it engages the text as a religious and intellectual document that can be read, analyzed, and compared.