Mormons!
presentation at Adult Forum by
Stan Thayne
Graduate Student in Religious Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill
April 22. 2012
Stan Thayne
Graduate Student in Religious Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill
April 22. 2012
Mormons!
Stanley Thayne
Mormons!
Stanley Thayne
Popular images and self images of Mormonism
Missionaries, polygamy, politics, entertainment, media, sports, Broadway, and Mormons in other unlikely places
Polygamy
19th-Century Images
Missionaries
Modesty, Cleanliness, Chastity, Marriage, Family
mormon.org an attempt at self representation/redefinition
Service, Welfare, Humanitarian Aid
Are Mormons Christian?
The “browning” of Mormonism:
A traditionally very white church goes global
Mormons in Politics
Mormon Presidential candidates
- Joseph Smith, 1844
- Parley Christensen, 1920
- George Romney, 1968
- Mo Udall, 1976
- Sonia Johnson, 1984
- Bo Gritz, 1992
- Orrin Hatch, 2000
Mormons and the GOP
Mormon Democrats
Famous (and infamous) Mormons, former Mormons, and rumored Mormons
Unlikely Mormons (but, yes, Mormons)
South Park and Simpsons
Book of Mormon on Broadway
Mormon beginnings
- Joseph Smith born in 1805 in Vermont
- Smith family moves to Palmyra, NY, in 1816
- Angel Moroni delivers “golden plates” and translation begins in 1827
- Book of Mormon published in 1830
- Church of Christ organized April 6, 1830, in upstate NY; followers dubbed “Mormonites”; in 1838 becomes The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Joseph Smith, 1805-1844
Book of Mormon
- The Book of Mormon purports to be a record of a family who left Jerusalem in 600 BCE and sailed to the Americas. There they divided into two warring factions known as the Nephites and the Lamanites.
- Eventually the Lamanites defeated their brethren and they, the Lamanites, are believed to be (among) the ancestors of the American Indians.
mormon migrations
- Mormon community gathers to Kirtland, Ohio, in 1831; driven out of Ohio in 1838.
- Independence, MO, identified as Zion. 1831-1833 two major centers (Kirtland and Zion); expelled from Independence in 1833; expelled from MO in 1838.
- Nauvoo, IL, build the “City of Joseph” in 1839
- Joseph Smith killed in 1844
- Succession crisis and splintering of “Restoration Traditions.” LDS exodus to Great Basin (Utah)
- Polygamy discontinued in LDS tradition in 1890 (though not fully rooted out until 1907).
Succession Crisis
Following Joseph Smith’s death in 1844 a number of individuals arose and claimed to be the Prophet’s rightful successor, including:
- Sidney Rigdon (member of 1st Presidency)
- Brigham Young (president of 12 apostles)
- James Strang
- William Marks (Nauvoo Stake President)
- Granville Hedrick
- Alpheus Cutler (member of presiding high council and council of 50)
- Joseph Smith III (years later convinced by two others to assume leadership of RLDS)
mapping mormon migrations
Restoration Movements
Scattering of the Saints:... at Amazon
LDS vs. RLDS
Joseph Smith III: Pragmatic Prophet at Google Books
The Community of Christ, formerly The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS)
- Regards Joseph Smith III (who was 11 at the time of his father death) as Joseph Smith’s rightful successor.
- (Re)organized in 1872.
- HQ in Independence, Missouri
- 250,000+ members in 50 nations
- Current president: Stephen M. Veazey
Community of Christ Temple, Independence, Missouri
Gay Rights Revelation added to the Community of Christ Scriptures in a World Conference, April 2011
Community of Christ
Presidents of Seventies Priesthood Quorum
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- Brigham Young (president of the Quorum of the Twelve) as Joseph Smith’s Successor
- Exodus to Great Basin, 1846-47 and throughout 19th century
- Headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah
- Over 14 million members worldwide
- 52,483+ missionaries (currently serving)
- Current President: Thomas S. Monson
mormon exodus: handcarts and covered wagons
demographics
LDS Temples (152 and counting)
"Temples will dot the earth ..." - Joseph Smith
Salt Lake Temple, Utah
LDS Quorum of 12 Apostles
LDS and Traditional Family Values
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- Largest of several fundamentalist and/or polygamous Mormon groups
- Several movements split from LDS Church in late 19th and early 20th century (after polygamy discontinued in LDS Church)
- Gathered mainly in Hildale, Utah; Colorado City, Arizona; and Eldorado, Texas; with some members in Colorado and Canada.
- Community has been subject to numerous government raids, most recently in 2008.
- Former leader Warren Jeffs recently convicted
FLDS Temple and FLDS women during federal raid
Themes
Modern Revelation: opening the canon
- Mormon Scriptures
- “The Quad”: Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants (D&C), Pearl of Great Price
Restoration
- Offices of “prophet” and “twelve apostles”
- Priesthood organization of lay clergy that is both hierarchical and egalitarian (all male members can hold offices; top-down leadership model)
- Organization based on a hybrid Old and New Testament model
- “We believe in the same organization that existed in the primitive church…” (6th article of faith)
Emphasis on Family
- Polygamy in LDS tradition until 1890
- Refuted in RLDS and still practiced by fundamentalists
- The Family: A Proclamation to the World (LDS)
- “The family [is] the fundamental unit of society”
Temples
- Temple ordinances designed to “seal” families
- “Families can be together forever”
- Ordinances such as baptism and “sealing” performed for the living and vicariously for the dead
- Genealogy
Missionary Work
- Early church converts were immediately called on missions (cf. itinerant model typical of second great awakening)
- “Every member a missionary”