Item Detail
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12863
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7
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0
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English
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The Celestial Family : Early Mormon Thought on Life and Death, 1830-1846
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Carbondale, IL
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Southern Illinois University
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Ph.D. diss.
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"The family emerged as the center of socio-cultural thought for many Americans during the mid-nineteenth century. Domestic relations received extensive attention as Jacksonian writers endeavored to promote traditional values and a sense of continuity in the face of a rapidly changing society. Mormons were within the mainstream of this movement as the faithful followers of Joseph Smith gradually adopted a theology which offered the promise of unbroken kinship associations that transcended death. In such areas as marriage, sex roles, child nurture, education, and even eschatology, early Mormonism shared much common ground with the prevailing attitudes of antebellum America. In many respects these religionists enlarged upon the accepted philosophy in regard to familialism which was cherished by their contemporaries. The question of conformity has long intrigued students of Mormon history: were the Latter-day Saints a deviant subculture or were they in basic harmony with the values of Jacksonian America? At least within the realm of domestic thought they were, generally, conformists. The celestial, or external, family was theoretically reflective of the aspirations espoused by a majority of nineteenth century Americans. For the followers of Joseph Smith, as well as modern members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, life was perceived as a prepartory state for immortality. Consequently, in order for kinship bonds to overcome the restrictions of the grave certain religious rituals were deemed essential. Through priesthood ministrations, which the devout Mormon held to be sanctified by God, marriages were solemnized for eternity, individuals were endowed with certain spiritual gifts believed to facilitate their admission to the highest postmortal station in the hereafter, and deceased ancestors were vicariously baptized as potential adherents to the faith. These sacred ordinances bridged the gap between earthly existence and the next world according to the theological tenets of Mormonism. In their elaborate and insatiable quest to preserve the family unit throughout eternity, early Mormons epitomized the socio-cultural beliefs of many Jacksonian Americans. This study has considered the ways by which early Mormons sought to achieve the goal of creating a family unit which might remain intact in the hereafter. At the same time a comparison between Latter-day Saint familialism and antebellum American thought on that topic will be drawn. An analysis of the importance of domestic relations in mid-nineteenth century Mormonism has also provided additional insight concerning the history of the American family." [Author's abstract]
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Doing the Works of Abraham : Mormon Polygamy―Its Origin, Practice, and Demise
Fanny Alger and Joseph Smith's Pre-Nauvoo Reputation
Lords of Creation : Polygamy, the Abrahamic Household, and Mormon Patriarchy
Mormon Funeral Sermons in the Nineteenth Century
Solemn Covenant : The Mormon Polygamous Passage
The 'Beautiful Death' In the Smith Family
To Overcome the 'Last Enemy' : Early Mormon Perceptions of Death