Creating a Cursed and Sanctified Temple, 1965–1984

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Howlett
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Sacred Space ◽  
Latter Day Saints ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Sacred Spaces ◽  
The Creation ◽  
A Site ◽  
The Temple ◽  
Ambiguous Site

This chapter examines the transformation of the Kirtland Temple as a site of interest into a site of contagion, only then to be blessed along with the surrounding land as a place of promise. While the Kirtland Temple still remained an ambiguous site for many Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints pilgrims, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints agents on the ground in Cleveland worked out a story that could explain Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' possession of the temple while still embracing it as a holy site. This resanctification of sacred space offers several insights into the study of sacred space that may be “useful to think with.” First, this case study illustrates the power of middling agents in creating and sustaining sacred spaces. Second, it illustrates that the creation and maintenance of sacred space may be one strategy that religious groups use to answer theodical questions, or questions about the presence of evil.

The Destroyer and the Peacemakers, 1984–1990

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Howlett
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Latter Day Saints ◽  
Collective Memories ◽  
End Of History ◽  
History Of ◽  
The End Of History ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Temple

This chapter explores the 1980s Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' schism by the ways individuals mapped the Kirtland Temple within their sacred universes. Such mapping involved revelations about temples, conferences at or near the building, the construction of worship spaces near the temple, the creation of eschatological maps about the temple and its role in the end of history, and the creation of collective memories through commemorative rituals. In this, Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints members followed practices that had helped establish their church's collective identity in previous decades. What was different, of course, was the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' schism that allowed for an opening to extreme, even violent, mappings of the Kirtland Temple. The chapter then recounts the history of Jeffrey Lundgren, his apocalyptic group, and his violent mapping and actions.

Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Howlett
Keyword(s):  
Faith Community ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
Latter Day Saints ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Sacred Site ◽  
Community Of Christ ◽  
Religious Other ◽  
A Site

This introductory chapter provides an overview of “parallel pilgrimage”—the dynamics of cooperation and contestation by rival religious groups at a common pilgrimage site. Contestation, whether covert or overt, often charges the shared sacred site with a heightened importance since the shrine is seen as a scarce resource, in danger of appropriation by a religious other. In this way, a contested sacred site may become a supra-sacred site. The Kirtland Temple, a site owned by a minority—a moderately liberal faith community—and patronized mainly by a much larger, conservative religious community, serves as an opportune case study for parallel pilgrimage and its attendant rituals of cooperation and contestation. Beyond the relatively liberal Community of Christ and the more conservative Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, at least a half dozen smaller Mormon groups also currently patronize the sacred shrine.

Staging the Temple, 1972–2012

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Howlett
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Sacred Space ◽  
Latter Day Saints ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Temple ◽  
Alternative Space ◽  
The Way

This chapter examines the use of staged performances at pilgrimage sites to establish links between the past and the pilgrim. Since the late 1970s, the Kirtland Temple and its surrounding interpretative sites have served as venues for dramatic performances in which the shrine's past is resurrected and performed on stage. Plays about the Kirtland Temple have allowed audience members and actors to relate Kirtland's past to their present personal and institutional dilemmas and experiences, elevated the temple's status as sacred space, and shaped the way that individual groups socially construct the temple. Moreover, dramas provide an alternative space where the temple is interpreted and incorporated into a “useful past” that shapes the lives of pilgrims. They also further illustrate the process of parallel pilgrimage at the Kirtland Temple, as Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints members have constructed dramas drawing on common stories, with very different applications for those narratives.

A Pleasing Odour for Yahweh

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-24
Author(s):  
Anne Katrine De Hemmer Gudme
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Sacred Space ◽  
Ancient World ◽  
Hellenistic Period ◽  
The Sun ◽  
The West ◽  
Sense Of Smell ◽  
The Temple ◽  
Crucial Part

This article investigates the importance of smell in the sacrificial cults of the ancient Mediterranean, using the Yahweh temple on Mount Gerizim and the Hebrew Bible as a case-study. The material shows that smell was an important factor in delineating sacred space in the ancient world and that the sense of smell was a crucial part of the conceptualization of the meeting between the human and the divine.  In the Hebrew Bible, the temple cult is pervaded by smell. There is the sacred oil laced with spices and aromatics with which the sanctuary and the priests are anointed. There is the fragrant and luxurious incense, which is burnt every day in front of Yahweh and finally there are the sacrifices and offerings that are burnt on the altar as ‘gifts of fire’ and as ‘pleasing odors’ to Yahweh. The gifts that are given to Yahweh are explicitly described as pleasing to the deity’s sense of smell. On Mount Gerizim, which is close to present-day Nablus on the west bank, there once stood a temple dedicated to the god Yahweh, whom we also know from the Hebrew Bible. The temple was in use from the Persian to the Hellenistic period (ca. 450 – 110 BCE) and during this time thousands of animals (mostly goats, sheep, pigeons and cows) were slaughtered and burnt on the altar as gifts to Yahweh. The worshippers who came to the sanctuary – and we know some of them by name because they left inscriptions commemorating their visit to the temple – would have experienced an overwhelming combination of smells: the smell of spicy herbs baked by the sun that is carried by the wind, the smell of humans standing close together and the smell of animals, of dung and blood, and behind it all as a backdrop of scent the constant smell of the sacrificial smoke that rises to the sky.

Beyond the Catholic Church

2020 ◽  
pp. 170-194
Author(s):  
Dominica Pradere ◽  
Theron N. Ford ◽  
Blanche J. Glimps
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
North America ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Orthodox Judaism ◽  
Latter Day Saints ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Catholic Church

Since the early 1980s, allegations of the sexual abuse of children by members of the clergy and other representatives of religious organizations have been reported in the media with alarming frequency. In North America, the majority of reports highlight the Catholic Church. Many of these allegations refer to incidents, which took place many years previously. This chapter explores three specific examples of other religious groups, that are not the Catholic Church, involved with the sexual abuse of children. These include the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), Moravians, and Orthodox Judaism (Haredi).

scholarly journals The Meaning of Sacred Space on the Architecture of the Historic Mosque Case Study of Masjid Jami 'Al Mukarromah Kampung Bandan North Jakarta

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 105
Author(s):  
Ashadi Ashadi ◽  
Anisa Anisa ◽  
Finta Lissimia
Keyword(s):  
Sacred Space ◽  
Original Form ◽  
Field Observations ◽  
Clear Definition ◽  
Sacred Spaces ◽  
Physical Form ◽  
Interpretive Method ◽  
Original Part

The building of worship is a building that has sacred spaces as a container of its activities. The case study taken in this research is the historic mosque which is often referred to as a sacred mosque because of the tomb of Habib Islamic syiar carrier. The existence of the tomb inside the mosque is what makes the mosque visited by pilgrims and pilgrims and has various activities related to worship and pilgrimage. The purpose of this research is to get a conclusion about the sacred space and its meaning in Masjid Jami 'AlMukarromah Kampung Bandan. This research uses descriptive interpretive method. Field observations were conducted by, first, observation of study subjects, ie by observing the activities undertaken at Masjid Jami 'Al Mukarromah Kampung Bandan. From activity observation can be found sacred activity and profane activity. Second, observing the spaces used sacred activities that are done in the mosque. Interviews were conducted with the main sources and direct descendants of Habib Alwi bin Ali As-Syatiri. The result of this study is that the sacred space of the Jami 'AlMukarromah mosque has a clear definition and is reflected in its physical form. The sacred space used is the main prayer room as the sacred space which has the highest hierarchy. The main prayer room is part of the expansion building. Sacred space of pilgrimage is on the part adjacent to the tomb and the original part of the mosque which is often called the Nine pillars. The area adjacent to the tomb is an important area so the expansion or renovation of the mosque does not change the original form. The sacred space used for the haul activity is the same as the sacred space for pilgrimage, that is, in the section adjacent to the tomb and pillar of nine

Reforming Identities, Reframing Pilgrimage, 1900–1965

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Howlett
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
The Other ◽  
Latter Day Saints ◽  
Tourist Industry ◽  
Early Twentieth Century ◽  
The Temple

This chapter narrates Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' interactions at the sacred shrine from 1900 to 1964. The sometimes awkward early twentieth-century meetings between these two groups set the patterns for later interactions at the temple. A rich folklore about the temple was generated by the two competing denominations, and they shared in disseminating tales to one another. In the process, they reconstructed the Kirtland Temple's history to meet their present denomination's needs. In many ways, the Kirtland Temple proved to be a mirror for these groups, reflecting the image of the beholder. That the other group could not see the same image proved an obvious point of contention. At the same time, the temple began to be more physically accessible to members of both churches as an American tourist industry arose that would transform pilgrimage to the temple.

scholarly journals Phantasmagorical Buddhism: Dreams and Imagination in the Creation of Burmese Sacred Space

Religions ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Patton
Keyword(s):  
Sacred Space ◽  
Popular Literature ◽  
Sacred Places ◽  
Sacred Sites ◽  
Sacred Spaces ◽  
The Creation

Despite the growing research done on sacred spaces in Buddhist Myanmar, no attention has yet been given to the role dreams play in the selection and development of such spaces. This article will address this lacuna by exploring how dreams are regarded by 20th–21st centuries Buddhists in Myanmar, as evidenced in autobiographies, ethnographic work, and popular literature in relation to the creation and evolution of sacred places. Although there are many kinds of sacred sites in Myanmar, this article will look specifically at Buddhist stupas, commonly referred to in Burmese as, pagoda or zedi. These pagodas, found in nearly every part of Buddhist Myanmar, are also those structures most prevalent in Buddhist dream accounts and often take on phantasmagorical qualities when those same Buddhists attempt to recreate the pagodas of their dreams.

A Digital Voice from the Dust: The Joseph Smith Papers at the Intersection of Public and Digital History1

Collections ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 409-418
Author(s):  
Brent M. Rogers
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Public History ◽  
Latter Day Saints ◽  
Digital History ◽  
Joseph Smith ◽  
Historical Figure ◽  
Authentic Voice ◽  
The Church ◽  
Documentary Editing

Like other documentary editing projects, the Joseph Smith Papers—an effort to produce a comprehensive edition of the papers of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more commonly known as Mormons—seeks to provide reliable access to “the authentic voice” of its eponymous historical figure in innovative ways. As a digital voice from the dust, the project makes Smith's words, character, and context accessible in the online representation of his papers in ways that forcefully illustrate the convergence of public and digital history. This article uses the Joseph Smith Papers Project (JSPP) as a case study to look at documentary collections at the intersection of digital and public history while exploring issues of scholarship, access, and transparency. The trends described here promise to have implications for the larger fields of digitally presented public history and documentary collections.

Sacred Space and the Mediating Roles of Architecture

2012 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Barrie
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Sacred Space ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Sacred Places ◽  
Traditional Role ◽  
Sacred Place ◽  
Sacred Architecture ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Do So

The creation, roles, and experience of meaningful places in contemporary urban environments can be effectively informed through understandings of pertinent aspects of sacred architecture. To do so, this paper will discuss the mediating roles traditionally performed by sacred architecture and, in particular, its traditional role as an in-between place believed by its creators to establish connections to the understandings they sought or the gods they worshipped. Enduring themes of sacred places will be presented in the context of their communicative capacity and ritual uses, as a means to offer interpretations appropriate to today. The case study of the recently completed Oakland (CA) Cathedral will serve to illustrate contemporary positions and iterations. The conclusion suggests that the sacred place was (and still is), an intermediate zone created in the belief that it had the ability to engage, elucidate and transform, and that a re-introduction and repositioning of the mediating roles performed by the built environment can inform the creation of engaging and meaningful places today.

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