But fields undermined by the loss of theological topsoil tilled from the revolutionary ideas of its founding prophet. In doing so, Joseph Smith-quite inadvertently-created rich, new fields of possibility in Christian narrative fiction-fields that have shown particular promise in the science fiction and fantasy genres. At the same time, he daringly attempted to mend the 16th century Catholic-Protestant rupture and bridge the long-buried 4th century Augustinian/Pelagian divide. The obvious exceptions are those Manichean contests in which a theologically-untroubled protagonist, in Hamlet's words, 'takes up arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing ends them.' Hence the travails of the Willie and Martin handcart companies are depicted not as the product of human failure (which might problematically identify God as an unindicted co-conspirator), but as a heroic battle against cruel and insentient nature.Д¬oupled with the impulse to mollify an established set of authoritative truths is the growing rejection of what I call the 'neo-Pelagian' theology that Joseph Smith restored, summed up in the proposition: 'By grace we are saved, after all we can do.' This challenge to 'work out our own salvation' should be embraced, not as a challenge to divine providence, but as an invitation to play God's fools.ДЄ 19th century transcendentalist who belongs alongside Emerson and Thoreau, (1) Joseph Smith resurrected the Puritan ideal of the 'city on the hill,' (2) paralleling utopian movements such as Brook Farm. Our fate is in the cards, and God always holds the winning hand. This missing 'second act' also hints at a Calvinist mindset taking over Mormon letters: there is no need to wrestle with angels (as does Jacob in Genesis) or to protest bitterly to God (as does Job), because the proper resolution of our struggles has already been determined. In other words, when the prophet speaks, the quest is over. Even the need for a journey suggests a rejection of the answers the gospel has provided. One explanation is that the hero's journey (as defined by the Campbellian monomyth) and the struggles he encounters present an unacceptable challenge to authority.

Principal among these is the negation or diminution of the 'second act.' These stories skip from the first act (the set up) to the third act (the reassuring resolution), leaving out the struggle in between.

We propose that narrative fiction constructed in a Mormon context and for Mormon audiences often strays from conventional storytelling in several ways.

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