Item Detail
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19719
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0
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0
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English
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William Blake and Joseph Smith : Prophets of the Old and New World
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Carson, California
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California State University
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71
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M.A.
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In the quest for Eternal Truth a Blakean prophet is required to distinguish between self-evident truth and truth found through reasoning. Two prophets will be studied: William Blake and Joseph Smith, both of whom fought the established religions of their time to awaken the masses to the truth. Many critics have analyzed Blake using a form he despised, scientific reasoning. However, Blake's deep religious meaning can be interpreted prophetically. Thus, another contemporary prophet, using simple words of self-evident truths, is necessary to help interpret the deeper religious meanings hidden in Blake's mythology. Blake's cyclic myth, articulated by Northrop Frye, fits thousands of Blake's symbols into an understandable frame of reference. Smith's straightforward words on Eternal Truth fit into the cycle and, therefore, will be analyzed prophetically and not psychologically. The result shows that, in a reoccurring cycle, people find redemption when they use the imagination to overcome restricting reason.