The European Mormon Studies Association 2008 Conference

EMSA Conference 2008, Call for Papers
Date December 3, 2007 Kim

The European Mormon Studies Association
Annual Conference

Organized together with the Department of Comparative Religion
at Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland

21–22 August 2008

Keynote Address: Heikki Räisänen
Professor of New Testament Exegesis Emeritus, University of Helsinki

Call for Papers
"Mormonism and the Christian Tradition"

The relationship of Mormonism and the Christian tradition is hotly
contested, especially in religious circles. Whatever the precise
nature of that relationship is, it provides rich opportunities for
scholarly probing in domains such as sociology, history, theology,
anthropology and religious studies. Keynoter and acclaimed theologian
Heikki Räisänen, for example, will speak concerning his research on
Mormonism's founder Joseph Smith and the relationship of the Bible and
the Book of Mormon, two of the faith's central texts.

Other potential topics abound. Europe's religious landscape with its
national churches presents Mormonism with a very different situation
than does the United States, the movement's homeland. How has this
shaped Mormonism's European manifestations? How has the relationship
of Mormonism and the Christian tradition, with the attendant processes
of boundary negotiation, played out in Europe historically? Who are
Europe's Mormons? What are Mormonism's contributions to the wider
range of Christian thought?