Reread Dialogue Article on Talmage and Postmodernism
 

The article contained within this version, http://www.dialoguejournal.com/store/?id=199 ,

Modernism and Mormonism: James E. Talmage's Jesus the Christ and Early Twentieth-Century Mormon Responses to Biblical Criticism, by Clyde D. Ford, pg. 96, is interesting in many respects.

It showed that Dr. Talmage was familiar with the arguments of higher and lower Biblical criticism, as well as the arguments of "believing" Christians when he cited to sources of non-Mormon authors such as Farrar.

In contrast to Talmage who was requested to write Jesus the Christ, what some call a Mormoninzation of Farrar's work, McConkie once again took it upon himself to write the Messiah series. And not surprisingly, McConkie's work represents a regression in terms of accepting the work of nonMormon scholars. Apparenly, McConkie was dismissive of some of Talmage's work even though in most respects it appears Talmage was more familiar with then current scholarship and possessed my scholarly skills than McConkie.

It actually saddened me that McConkie represents an academic regression in terms of Mormonism as compared with the hopeful works of Widtsoe and Talmage.

This quote about McConkie is interesting:

So many ironies there.

Jesus The Christ is far from a perfect work, but it is more insightful, is better written, and is in every way superior to the bloated, self-important, incoherent mess that is McConkie's Messiah series.

Next I'll tell you how I really feel!

I have only read selected quotes from McConkie's work, but I agree that Talmage's work was a first serious effort to confront the "Lives" works from a Mormon perspective. It appears McConkie's work was a work taking many steps backwards. If the reviews or excerpts I've read are representative, it almost appears McConkie was unaware of the thought and arguments he was addressing.