Method Infinite: Freemasonry and the Mormon Restoration

Method Infinite: Freemasonry and the Mormon Restoration PDF Author: Cheryl L. Bruno
Publisher: Greg Kofford Books
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 532

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Book Description
While no one thing can entirely explain the rise of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the historical influence of Freemasonry on this religious tradition cannot be refuted. Those who study Mormonism have been aware of the impact that Freemasonry had on the founding prophet Joseph Smith during the Nauvoo period, but his involvement in Freemasonry was arguably earlier and broader than many modern historians have admitted. The fact that the most obvious vestiges of Freemasonry are evident only in the more esoteric aspects of the Mormon faith has made it difficult to recognize, let alone fully grasp, the relevant issues. Even those with both Mormon and Masonic experience may not be versed in the nineteenth-century versions of Masonry's rituals, legends, and practices. Without this specialized background, it is easy to miss the Masonic significance of numerous early Mormon ordinances, scripture, and doctrines. Method Infinite: Freemasonry and the Mormon Restoration offers a fresh perspective on the Masonic thread present in Mormonism from its earliest days. Smith's firsthand knowledge of and experience with both Masonry and anti-Masonic currents contributed to the theology, structure, culture, tradition, history, literature, and ritual of the religion he founded.

Method Infinite: Freemasonry and the Mormon Restoration

Method Infinite: Freemasonry and the Mormon Restoration PDF Author: Cheryl L. Bruno
Publisher: Greg Kofford Books
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 532

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Book Description
While no one thing can entirely explain the rise of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the historical influence of Freemasonry on this religious tradition cannot be refuted. Those who study Mormonism have been aware of the impact that Freemasonry had on the founding prophet Joseph Smith during the Nauvoo period, but his involvement in Freemasonry was arguably earlier and broader than many modern historians have admitted. The fact that the most obvious vestiges of Freemasonry are evident only in the more esoteric aspects of the Mormon faith has made it difficult to recognize, let alone fully grasp, the relevant issues. Even those with both Mormon and Masonic experience may not be versed in the nineteenth-century versions of Masonry's rituals, legends, and practices. Without this specialized background, it is easy to miss the Masonic significance of numerous early Mormon ordinances, scripture, and doctrines. Method Infinite: Freemasonry and the Mormon Restoration offers a fresh perspective on the Masonic thread present in Mormonism from its earliest days. Smith's firsthand knowledge of and experience with both Masonry and anti-Masonic currents contributed to the theology, structure, culture, tradition, history, literature, and ritual of the religion he founded.

Fire and Sword

Fire and Sword PDF Author: Leland Homer Gentry
Publisher: Greg Kofford Books, Incorporated
ISBN: 9781589581203
Category : Missouri
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Many Mormon dreams flourished in Missouri. So did many Mormon nightmares. The Missouri period--especially from the summer of 1838 when Joseph took over vigorous, personal direction of this new Zion until the spring of 1839 when he escaped after five months of imprisonment¿represents a moment of intense crisis in Mormon history. Representing the greatest extremes of devotion and violence, commitment and intolerance, physical suffering and terror--mobbings, battles, massacres, and political ¿knockdowns¿--it shadowed the Mormon psyche for a century. In the lush Missouri landscape of the Mormon imagination where Adam and Eve had walked out of the garden and where Adam would return to preside over his posterity, the towering religious creativity of Joseph Smith and clash of religious stereotypes created a swift and traumatic frontier drama that changed the Church.

Joseph's Temples

Joseph's Temples PDF Author: Michael W Homer
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781647692124
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description


The Gift and Power

The Gift and Power PDF Author: Brant Gardner
Publisher: Greg Kofford Books, Incorporated
ISBN: 9781589581319
Category : Book of Mormon
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Book length treatment of the wide spectrum of questions about the Joseph Smith's translation of the Book of Mormon. Includes discussion about the role of folk magic, how the English text replicates the original plate text, and the use of seer stones.

Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith PDF Author: Richard Lyman Bushman
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 1400077532
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 786

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Book Description
Founder of the largest indigenous Christian church in American history, Joseph Smith published the 584-page Book of Mormon when he was twenty-three and went on to organize a church, found cities, and attract thousands of followers before his violent death at age thirty-eight. Richard Bushman, an esteemed cultural historian and a practicing Mormon, moves beyond the popular stereotype of Smith as a colorful fraud to explore his personality, his relationships with others, and how he received revelations. An arresting narrative of the birth of the Mormon Church, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling also brilliantly evaluates the prophet’s bold contributions to Christian theology and his cultural place in the modern world.

Equal Rites

Equal Rites PDF Author: Clyde R. Forsberg Jr.
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231507461
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 353

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Book Description
Both the Prophet Joseph Smith and his Book of Mormon have been characterized as ardently, indeed evangelically, anti-Masonic. Yet in this sweeping social, cultural, and religious history of nineteenth-century Mormonism and its milieu, Clyde Forsberg argues that masonry, like evangelical Christianity, was an essential component of Smith's vision. Smith's ability to imaginatively conjoin the two into a powerful and evocative defense of Christian, or Primitive, Freemasonry was, Forsberg shows, more than anything else responsible for the meteoric rise of Mormonism in the nineteenth century. This was to have significant repercussions for the development of Mormonism, particularly in the articulation of specifically Mormon gender roles. Mormonism's unique contribution to the Masonic tradition was its inclusion of women as active and equal participants in Masonic rituals. Early Mormon dreams of empire in the Book of Mormon were motivated by a strong desire to end social and racial discord, lest the country fall into the grips of civil war. Forsberg demonstrates that by seeking to bring women into previously male-exclusive ceremonies, Mormonism offered an alternative to the male-dominated sphere of the Master Mason. By taking a median and mediating position between Masonry and Evangelicism, Mormonism positioned itself as a religion of the people, going on to become a world religion. But the original intent of the Book of Mormon gave way as Mormonism moved west, and the temple and polygamy (indeed, the quest for empire) became more prevalent. The murder of Smith by Masonic vigilantes and the move to Utah coincided with a new imperialism—and a new polygamy. Forsberg argues that Masonic artifacts from Smith's life reveal important clues to the precise nature of his early Masonic thought that include no less than a vision of redemption and racial concord.

Knowing Brother Joseph Again

Knowing Brother Joseph Again PDF Author: Davis Bitton
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781589581234
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 183

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Book Description
Rev. ed. of: Images of the prophet Joseph Smith / Davis Bitton. 1996.

Mormonism For Beginners

Mormonism For Beginners PDF Author: Stephen Carter
Publisher: Red Wheel/Weiser
ISBN: 1939994535
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 310

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Book Description
Mormonism For Beginners is a balanced, richly engaging introduction to the history, tenets, practices, traditions, and yes, debates and controversies of this uniquely American Protestant movement. Designed for the uninitiated or younger members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), this book presents the history of the movement from Joseph Smith to the 21st century along with the key doctrines of the faith in the context of everyday life, as well as the essential scriptures. Not least of Carter and Atwood’s accomplishments is addressing such headline-grabbing issues as polygamy, same-sex marriage, and the role of women in the LDS church in dispassionate, even-handed terms. Their goal is to shed a clear light on an often misunderstood belief system and way of life.

Second Witness

Second Witness PDF Author: Brant Gardner
Publisher: Greg Kofford Books Incorporated
ISBN: 1589580419
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 469

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Book Description
"This volume, the first of six, devotes serious attention to the foundational questions: (1) What is a useful approach to Book of Mormon geography? (2) What contributions can archaeology, anthropology, and ethnohistory make to Book of Mormon questions? (3) What constituted Nephite theology in these first generations? (4) What were Mormon's sources and how did he organize his work? One of the most exciting insights of this volume is its reconstruction of the politics behind the Deuteronomic reforms of King Josiah. These reforms deemphasized an earlier Messiah-centered theology that more fully acknowledged the council of the gods, the war in heaven, Yahweh's feminine consort, originally worshipped in the temple, and Isaiah, the poet-prophet who foretold the Messiah's coming. Did Lehi's acceptance of this earlier, Christ-centered religion explain the death threats against him in Jerusalem? If Laman and Lemuel accepted those reforms, did this intrafamily disagreement produce a thousand years of hostility between Nephites and Lamanites in the New World? Other contributions of this volume are a fresh look at what the Book of Mormon actually says about skin color, the pressures of local polytheistic culture on Nephite theology, and the Isaiah-based egalitarian ideal of Nephite culture."--Bk. jkt.

“This Is My Doctrine”: The Development of Mormon Theology

“This Is My Doctrine”: The Development of Mormon Theology PDF Author: Charles R. Harrell
Publisher: Greg Kofford Books
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 598

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Book Description
The principal doctrines defining Mormonism today often bear little resemblance to those it started out with in the early 1830s. This book shows that these doctrines did not originate in a vacuum but were rather prompted and informed by the religious culture from which Mormonism arose. Early Mormons, like their early Christian and even earlier Israelite predecessors, brought with them their own varied culturally conditioned theological presuppositions (a process of convergence) and only later acquired a more distinctive theological outlook (a process of differentiation). In this first-of-its-kind comprehensive treatment of the development of Mormon theology, Charles Harrell traces the history of Latter-day Saint doctrines from the times of the Old Testament to the present. He describes how Mormonism has carried on the tradition of the biblical authors, early Christians, and later Protestants in reinterpreting scripture to accommodate new theological ideas while attempting to uphold the integrity and authority of the scriptures. In the process, he probes three questions: How did Mormon doctrines develop? What are the scriptural underpinnings of these doctrines? And what do critical scholars make of these same scriptures? In this enlightening study, Harrell systematically peels back the doctrinal accretions of time to provide a fresh new look at Mormon theology. “This Is My Doctrine” will provide those already versed in Mormonism’s theological tradition with a new and richer perspective of Mormon theology. Those unacquainted with Mormonism will gain an appreciation for how Mormon theology fits into the larger Jewish and Christian theological traditions.