Item Detail
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25390
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0
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0
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English
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Made in Heaven : Marriage Confirmation Narratives Among Mormons
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Latter-day Lore : Mormon Folklore Studies
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Salt Lake City
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University of Utah Press
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123-133
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Belief narratives concerning the suitability of marriage partners, one type of narrative prevalent among some members of the Mormon Church, necessitate further scrutiny. Marriage confirmation narratives are typically transmitted through what Linda Dégh calls “communal cooperation.”2 These occasions might include family gatherings where grandparents, parents, or relatives have been encouraged to relate their confirmation experience to eager teenagers and other family members, gatherings of roommates at the college dormitory, formal class settings like Sunday School, seminary, or other situations where there is religious instruction by ecclesiastical leaders, or whenever there is a small group of friends assembled for a “bull session.” Generally, narratives about divine confirmation of marriage can be divided into eight arbitrary categories: 1) visionary experiences, 2) natural phenomena, 3) patriarchal blessings,3 4) temple experiences, 5) covenants, 6) dreams, 7) voices, and 8) unexplained spiritual happenings. [From the text]