Views of The Encyclopedia's Contents
In addition to established scholars like Hugh Nibley, many other LDS scholars less known at the time contributed, including John Gee, William Hamblin, Louis C. Midgley, Daniel C. Peterson, Noel B. Reynolds, Stephen D. Ricks, John L. Sorenson, Melvin J. Thorne, and John W. Welch.
Critics had mixed reviews. Sterling M. McMurrin said that "the articles on social issues and church structure and the biographies are the most useful" but he also felt that "the work is a carefully sanitized partisan affair that, while having many strengths, is quite uneven in quality and, though it appears to face many difficult issues head on, clearly omits, distorts, and compromises wherever necessary to advance and protect a positive image of Mormons, Mormonism, and the church." George D. Smith concluded his review of the Encyclopedia by saying, "As a 'religious encyclopedia' that addresses a goal of preserving a body of belief, the Encyclopedia of Mormonism impressively fulfills its mission. At the same time, the encyclopedia, like an iceberg, presents only a portion of important background and issues concerning the Book of Mormon. It is a brief for orthodoxy that lacks the scope and diversity necessary to qualify it as truly encyclopedic." The introduction to Sunstone's review of the Encyclopedia mentioned that Lavina Fielding Anderson "pointed out 'pitfalls in the treatment of women's issues, but revealed a few surprisingly positive moments that otherwise might have been overlooked-and probably were by some editors.'"
No article of so-called Mormon historical revisionism is found in the Encyclopedia. It has been noted that after the Encyclopedia's publication, several LDS scholars were excommunicated, including some members of the 1993 "September Six." George D. Smith criticized the Encyclopedia because it is not the promised comprehensive treatment of Book of Mormon scholarship; "it is a statement of LDS orthodoxy."
However, the Encyclopedia was designed to serve as a general reference, not as a primer of LDS polemics. Thus, the Encyclopedia of Mormonism remains a useful resource.
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