The Apocalyptic Tradition in Early Mormonism

2020 ◽  
pp. 12-49
Author(s):  
Christopher James Blythe
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
The United States ◽  
Latter Day Saints ◽  
Master Narrative ◽  
New Jerusalem ◽  
The World ◽  
End Times

The first chapter presents Mormonism’s apocalyptic master narrative from September 1823 with Joseph Smith’s first apocalyptic-themed apparition, to the organization of a theocratic legislature that would govern the world in the coming millennium. Over this twenty-year period, a robust vision of the last days took shape. This vision included the gathering of the righteous to safety before the coming of end times destructions, warfare in the United States (both among citizens and against invading armies), the establishment of the New Jerusalem in Missouri, and the return of Jesus Christ. The chapter also examines how Latter-day Saints who were not part of the hierarchy responded to this narrative and thereby contributed to the apocalyptic worldview.

Aftermath

2021 ◽  
pp. 199-206
Author(s):  
Spencer W. McBride
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
The United States ◽  
Church Leaders ◽  
Latter Day Saints ◽  
Decision To Leave ◽  
Joseph Smith ◽  
The Church

This chapter describes the aftermath of the assassination of Joseph Smith. This aftermath includes mourning and a funeral in Nauvoo, debates over who should succeed Smith as the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who the Mormons should vote for in the election, and the decision to leave the United States altogether. The Mormons were contemplating leaving the United States before Smith’s murder, but the violent act seemed to make this departure the only way forward in the minds of many church leaders. They had come to realize that without significant reform, the United States was incapable of protecting them. This chapter also considers the result of the presidential election of 1844 and what became of each of the candidates in the years that followed.

Introduction: Vernacular Religion and Mormon Apocalypticism

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Christopher James Blythe
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Church Leadership ◽  
The United States ◽  
Latter Day Saints ◽  
Vernacular Religion ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Church

This introduction explains the book’s basic arguments and methodology. The book examines the place of apocalypticism in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a means of responding to what they perceived as persecution from the United States. It is particularly interested in how last days prophecies and visions have been told by those outside of church leadership. It defines the idea of apocalypticism and argues that Mormon Studies scholars have not sufficiently integrated their work with the field of lived or vernacular religion. This book seeks to remedy this neglect. A summary of each of the six chapters is provided.

The Mormons in Mexico, 1875–1901

2020 ◽  
pp. 26-43
Author(s):  
Elisa Eastwood Pulido
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Hierarchical Control ◽  
The United States ◽  
Latter Day Saints ◽  
Central Plateau ◽  
Mormon Church ◽  
The Church

This chapter summarizes the origins of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mexico, from the 1875 journey of the first missionaries to Mexico to the 1887 establishment of polygamous Mormon Colonies in the northern Mexican wilderness. The chapter argues that early converts to Mormonism in Mexico were attracted first to etiological narratives from Mormon scripture expounding on the chosen-ness of indigenous Americans and second to Mormon communalism. Early converts included Plotino Rhodakanaty, the father of Mexican anarchism, who sought to build a colony in collaboration with the Mormon Church. His aversion to hierarchical control soon separated him from Mormonism. Agrarian peasants from villages on Mexico’s Central Plateau found Mormon narratives regarding Mexico’s prophetic past and future compelling. In 1887, the Mormon Church turned its attention from proselytizing in order to build colonies in Mexico as safe havens for polygamists fleeing federal prosecution in the United States.

Hubbert’s Peak

2012 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler Priest
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Intellectual History ◽  
The United States ◽  
Resource Potential ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
End Times ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Cultural Movement ◽  
The U.S

This paper analyzes the major debates over future petroleum supply in the United States, in particular the long-running feud between the world-famous geologist, M. King Hubbert, and the director of the U.S. Geological Survey, Vincent E. McKelvey. The intellectual history of resource evaluation reveals that, by the mid-twentieth century, economists had come to control the discourse of defining a “natural resource.” Their assurances of abundance overturned earlier conceptions of petroleum supplies as fixed and finite in favor of a more flexible understanding of resource potential in a capitalist society and acceptance of the price elasticity of natural resources. In 1956, King Hubbert questioned these assurances by predicting that U.S. domestic oil production would peak around 1970, which drew him into a long-running debate with McKelvey and the so-called “Cornucopians.” When Hubbert’s Peak was validated in the mid-1970s, he became a prophet. The acceptance of Hubbert’s theory ensured the centrality of oil in almost all discourses about the future, and it even created a cultural movement of prophecy believers fixated on preparing for the oil end times. Although notions of resource cornucopia seem to be once again in ascendance in the United States, Hubbert’s Peak still haunts any consideration of humanity’s environmental future.

An Earth used with Judgment, not to Excess: Distilling a Mormon Approach to Environmental Law

2008 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 673-723
Author(s):  
Micah J.B. McOwen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Senate ◽  
Latter Day Saints ◽  
Great Success ◽  
Success Story ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Church

“[T]he fulness of the earth is yours, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air … and the herb, and the good things which come of the earth … [a]nd it pleaseth God that he hath given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment, not to excess, neither by extortion.”The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the “Church”) is the great success story of American religion. Members of the Church (“Mormons”) now constitute more than five percent of the populations of Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, and Wyoming, a far higher percentage of Idaho and Utah, and nearly two percent of the United States as a whole. Mormons fill five seats in the United States Senate (including the majority-leader chair) and about a dozen in the House. A Mormon recently completed a serious bid for the United States presidency. And their numbers are growing worldwide.

God (Sometimes) Loveth His Children

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 198-211
Author(s):  
Tessa Vaschel
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
The United States ◽  
Latter Day Saints ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Performative Writing ◽  
Same Sex Marriage ◽  
Conservative Christian ◽  
Mormon Church ◽  
The Church

One of the most staunchly conservative Christian sects in the United States, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or the “Mormon Church” as it is colloquially known, has led the charge in opposition to same-sex marriage for more than 20 years. In this article I use the tools of performative writing and autoethnography to examine how Mormonism and queerness as identities collide and how changing acts result in a changed identity.

Cultural Configurations of Mormon Fundamentalist Polygamous Communities

2004 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha Bradley
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Belief System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Latter Day Saints ◽  
Learned Behaviors ◽  
Lds Church ◽  
Plural Marriage ◽  
The Church

““The Principle”” or plural marriage, as practiced by the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) during the nineteenth century, evolved to encompass a culture of life practices, ideas and meanings for the fundamentalist Mormon polygamists who continue in the practice to the present day. For the modern-day polygamists, the culture that surrounds this doctrine includes a set of learned behaviors and strategies, symbols, and a compelling vision of an ideal community. This highly effective culture has helped plurality persist and grow in the intermountain western part of the United States, perpetuating a belief system but also a distinctive lifestyle wrapped around the doctrine of a plurality of wives. This article sketches out the parameters of the culture of polygamy, describes the key groups that continue in the practice, and discusses the connection between the fundamentalist polygamist groups and individuals and the LDS Church.

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