Item Detail
-
12797
-
3
-
0
-
English
-
The Norwegian Experience with Mormonism, 1842-1920
-
Provo, UT
-
Brigham Young University
-
Ph.D. diss.
-
"The Norwegian experience with Mormonism began in Illinois when over eighty Norwegian immigrants converted to Mormonism in 1842. Mormonism came to Norway in 1851 concurrently with a revolution known as The Thranite Rebellion. In the light of this, and given the Mormon emphasis on freedom from political bondage, leaders in Norway dubbed Mormonism "insurrectionary" and directly influenced a Supreme Court decision in 1853 that Mormons were not Christians. Mormon efforts to gain dissenter status revealed deep conflicts among religious and civil leaders in their perception of the role of government vis-a-vis religion. Most Mormons before 1920 had broken ties with the traditional community life (about ten percent were newly arrived from Sweden). They discovered opportunities for renewed community and betterment in Mormon social and basic educational activities, and over half found a new life on the Utah Frontier." [Author's abstract]