Early Mormonism and the Magic World View

Early Mormonism and the Magic World View PDF Author: D. Michael Quinn
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781560850892
Category : Latter Day Saint churches
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
In this articulate and insightful book, D. Michael Quinn reconstructs the world view of an earlier age in America, finding ample evidence for treasure seeking and folk magic in Joseph Smith's formative years. Folk magic was not unusual for the times and is important in understanding how Mormons may have interpreted developments. Quinn's impressive research provides a much-needed background for the environment that produced Mormonism's founding prophet.

Early Mormonism and the Magic World View

Early Mormonism and the Magic World View PDF Author: D. Michael Quinn
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 392

Book Description
During his apprenticeship to become a prophet (1820-30), Joseph Smith, Jr., learned from village mentors how to use a divining rod; a seer stone; a hat to shield his eyes in order to see hidden treasures; and amulets, incantations, and rituals to summon spirits. In this impressive study of Mormon origins and Christian mysticism, Quinn demonstrates how different from current norms early American religious practices could be. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

Same-Sex Dynamics Among Nineteenth-Century Americans

Same-Sex Dynamics Among Nineteenth-Century Americans PDF Author: D. Michael Quinn
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 9780252069581
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 506

Book Description
Winner of the Herbert Feis Award from the American Historical Association and named one of the best religion books of the year by Publishers Weekly, D. Michael Quinn's Same-Sex Dynamics among Nineteenth-Century Americans has elicited critical acclaim as well as controversy. Using Mormonism as a case study of the extent of early America's acceptance of same-sex intimacy, Quinn examines several examples of long-term relationships among Mormon same-sex couples and the environment in which they flourished before the onset of homophobia in the late 1950s.

The Mormon Hierarchy

The Mormon Hierarchy PDF Author: D. Michael Quinn
Publisher: Mormon Hierarchy
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 968

Book Description
The Mormon church today is led by an elite group of older men, nearly three-quarters of whom are related to current or past general church authorities. This dynastic hierarchy meets in private; neither its minutes nor the church's finances are available for public review. Members are reassured by public relations spokesmen that all is well and that harmony prevails among these brethren. But by interviewing former church aides, examining hundreds of diaries, and drawing from his own past experience as an insider within the Latter-day Saint historical department, D. Michael Quinn presents a fuller view. His extensive research documents how the governing apostles, seventies, and presiding bishops are likely to be at loggerheads, as much as united. These strong-willed, independent men-like directors of a large corporation or supreme court justices-lobby among their colleagues, forge alliances, out-maneuver opponents, and broker compromises. There is more: clandestine political activities, investigative and punitive actions by church security forces, personal "loans" from church coffers (later written off as bad debts), and other privileged power-vested activities. Quinn considers the changing role and attitude of the leadership toward visionary experiences, the momentous events which have shaped quorum protocol and doctrine, and day-to-day bureaucratic intrigue from the time of Brigham Young to the dawn of the twenty-first century. The hierarchy seems at root well-intentioned and even at times aggressive in fulfilling its stated responsibility, which is to expedite the Second Coming. Where they have become convinced that God has spoken, they have set aside personal differences, offered unqualified support, and spoken with a unified voice. This potential for change, when coupled with the tempering effect of competing viewpoints, is something Quinn finds encouraging about Mormonism. But one should not assume that these men are infallible or work in anything approaching uninterrupted unanimity.

The Glass Looker

The Glass Looker PDF Author: Mark Elwood
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781737839224
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
The Glass Looker follows an ordinary American farm boy named Joseph Smith who discovers he possesses the magical ability for seeing in stones. Learn the origin story of the American boy-prophet through illustrated accounts collected from Joseph, his family, neighbors and enemies.

The Mormon Hierarchy

The Mormon Hierarchy PDF Author: D. Michael Quinn
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781560852353
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Early in the twentieth century, it was possible for Latter-day Saints to have lifelong associations with businesses managed by their leaders or owned and controlled by the church itself. For example, one could purchase engagement rings from Daynes Jewelry, honeymoon at the Hotel Utah, and venture off on the Union Pacific Railroad, all partially owned and run by church apostles. Families could buy clothes at Knight Woolen Mills. The husband might work at Big Indian Copper or Bullion-Beck, Gold Chain, or Iron King mining companies. The wife could shop at Utah Cereal Food and buy sugar supplied by Amalgamated or U and I Sugar, beef from Nevada Land and Livestock, and vegetables from the Growers Market. They might take their groceries home in parcels from Utah Bag Co. They probably read the Deseret News at home under a lamp plugged into a Utah Power and Light circuit. They could take out a loan from Zion's Co-operative and insurance from Utah Home and Fire. The apostles had a long history of community involvement in financial enterprises to the benefit of the general membership and their own economic advantage. This volume is the result of the author's years of research into LDS financial dominance from 1830 to 2010.

Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith PDF Author: Dan Vogel
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 760

Book Description
A psychological biography of Joseph Smith presents a comprehensive account of his life, set against a backdrop of theology, local and national politics, Smith family dynamics, organizational issues, and interpersonal relations.

The Sins of Brother Curtis

The Sins of Brother Curtis PDF Author: Lisa Davis
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451612850
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 370

Book Description
This brilliantly reported, unforgettable true story reveals how one of the most monstrous sexual criminals in the history of the Mormon church preyed on his victims even as he was protected by the church elders who knew of his behavior. When Seattle attorney Tim Kosnoff agreed to listen to an eighteen-year-old man who claimed to have been molested by his Mormon Sunday school teacher, he had no idea he was embarking on a quest for justice on behalf of multiple victims or that the battle would consume years of his life and pit him against the vast, powerful, and unrepentant Mormon church itself. As Kosnoff began to investigate the case, he discovered that the Sunday school teacher, a mysterious figure named Frank Curtis, possessed a long and violent prison record before he was welcomed into the church, where he became a respected elder entrusted with the care of prepubescent Mormon boys. Through Lisa Davis’s deft storytelling, two astonishing narratives unfold. The first shows how Brother Curtis ingratiated himself into the lives of young boys from working-class Mormon families where money was tight, and was accepted by mothers and fathers who saw in him a kindly uncle or grandfather figure who enjoyed the blessing of the church. Having gained the families’ trust, Curtis became fiendishly helpful, offering to supervise trips or overnights out of the sight of parents, when he could manipulate his victims or ply them with alcohol. The other narrative is a real-life legal thriller. As Davis shows, Kosnoff and his partners tirelessly assembled the case against the church, sifting through records, tracking down victims, and convincing them to testify about Brother Curtis’s acts. What began as a case of one plaintiff turned into a complex web stretching across multiple states. Joined by what would become a team of attorneys and investigators, Kosnoff found himself up against one of the most insular institutions in the United States: the secretive and powerful Mormon church. The amazing legal case at the heart of The Sins of Brother Curtis shows how the church’s elite, well-funded team of attorneys claimed the church was protected under the Constitution from revealing that Curtis had molested a number of Mormon boys. Yet Kosnoff and his devoted legal team (which included a female investigator adept at getting parents of victims to talk to her) succeeded in forcing the church to reveal that it knew about Curtis and ultimately achieved a successful settlement. Emotionally powerful page by page, The Sins of Brother Curtis delivers a redemptive reading experience in which the truth, no matter how painful and hidden, is told at last and justice is hard won. This is a remarkable story, all true.

An Insider's View of Mormon Origins

An Insider's View of Mormon Origins PDF Author: Grant H. Palmer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 300

Book Description
Quote: 'Why would God reveal to Joseph Smith a faulty [mistranslated] KJV text?' Chap 4: (Evangelical Protestantism in the Book of Mormon) concludes that numerous theological issues addressed in the Book of Mormon probably derived from Smith's Upstate New York religious environment than from the claimed ancient gold plates. Chap 5: (Moroni and the Golden Pot) examines a long list of parallels between a published story by E.T.A. Hoffmann, and Smith's account of the angel Moroni's visits. The chapter concludes, 'It would stretch credulity to believe that this [long list of parallels between Hoffmann's Golden Pot story and Smith's Moroni story] could be a coincidence, and I therefore think that a debt is owed to E.T.A. Hoffmann and the European traditions ... ' Chap.

Elder Statesman

Elder Statesman PDF Author: D. Michael Quinn
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 680

Book Description
The young Reuben Clark struggled to gain an education in rural Granstville, Utah. Finally in 1890, at considerable inconvenience to his parents, he attended college in Salt Lake City, then Columbia University in Manhattan. Later he would become Undersecretary of State, Ambassador to Mexico, and counselor to three Mormon prophets. Quinn's revisitation of Clark's life might well be the last great biography of a twentieth-century Mormon leader.