Item Detail
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27998
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0
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0
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English
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Mormon Metaphysics and "Magical" Matter
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Cultural Encounters : A Journal for the Theology of Culture
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Winter 2015
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11
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1
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Portland, OR
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Institute for the Theology of Culture ; Multnomah Biblical Seminary
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79-84
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Stephen Webb presents an interesting thesis in his volume Mormon Christianity suggesting that Christendom should adopt the metaphysical materialism of Mormonism instead of the matter-spirit dualism, including divine immaterialism, of classical theism. In Webb's view, Mormonism's founder Joseph Smith's claims about a visionary experience with the divine are the major shaping influence on Mormon metaphysics. In this essay, I will argue that Smith drew upon aspects of the Western esoteric tradition, in particular Hermeticism and what Catherine Albanese has called "American metaphysical religion," and that it was these influences that shaped Smith's hermeneutic related to his visionary experience and his reading of the Bible, as well as his overall views on spirit and matter.