A pesquisa teve como objetivo realizar uma investigação sócioistórica do processo de cotidianização do carisma no mormonismo procurando apreender a transformação do carisma religioso-profético e, assim reunir elementos que possibilitem consolidar, a partir de um caso particular, uma teoria mais geral da ocorrência de tais processos sociais. A investigação buscou encontrar, no emaranhado de lutas por poder e chances de prestígio, o fio condutor pelo qual se desenrolou o processo de transformação de um movimento religioso carismático, de religiosidade altamente emotivo-pneumática a uma religião desencantada, hierarquizada e institucionalizada. Para isso utilizou-se farta documentação e interpretação histórica que permitiu uma observação mais detalhada dos fenômenos sociais investigados. No plano teórico-metodológico empregou-se como instrumental teórico fundamental de pesquisa, primeiramente a teoria da dominação carismática de Max Weber, sua teorização dos processos de transformação do carisma e sua sociologia da religião. O outro referencial teórico imprescindível encontra-se na obra do sociólogo alemão Norbert Elias, a saber, seus conceitos de psicogênese e sociogênese, figuração, processo de monopolização, equilíbrio das tensões entre outros, que permitiram um acesso privilegiado ao processo de longo prazo que conformou e solidificou o carisma genuíno do profeta-fundador Joseph Smith em uma religião ritualizada e uma instituição hierarquizada. / The research has aimed to accomplish a social-historical investigation of the process of routinization of charisma in Mormonism, seeking to perceive the change of the religious-prophetic charisma, and thus gathering elements which can enable to consolidate, considering a particular case, a more general theory of the occurrence of such social processes. The investigation sought to find, in the struggle for power and chances of prestige, the leading thread with which the process of change of a religious charismatic movement has developed, from highly emotional-pneumatic religiosity to a disenchanted, hierarchical and institutionalized religion. In order to achieve that, thorough documentation and historical interpretation has been applied, this way allowing a more detailed observation of the social phenomena investigated. The primarily theoretical instrument used in the research has been Max Weber theory of the charismatic domination, the theorization of the processes of charisma change and sociology of religion. The other essential theoretical reference can be found in the German sociologist Norbert Elias, including his concepts of psychogenesis and sociogenesis, figuration, monopolization process, balance of tension among others, which allow a privileged access to the long-term process which conformed and solidified the genuine charisma of the founder-prophet Joseph Smith in a ritualized religion and a hierarchic institution.

abstract: This dissertation illuminates overlaps in Mormonism and the New Spirituality in North America, showing their shared history and epistemologies. As example of these connections, it introduces ethnographic data from women who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in order to show (a) how living LDS women adapt and integrate elements from the New Spirituality with Mormon ideas about the nature of reality into hybrid spiritualities; and (b) how they negotiate their blended religious identities both in relation to the current American New Spirituality milieu and the highly centralized, hierarchical, and patriarchal Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The study focuses on religious hybridity with an emphasis on gender and the negotiation of power deriving from patriarchal religious authority, highlighting the dance between institutional power structures and individual authority. It illuminates processes and discourses of religious adaptation and synthesis through which these LDS women creatively and provocatively challenge LDS Church formal power structures. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Religious Studies 2012

This doctoral dissertation presents new data and analyses concerning the expansion of Mormonism in postcolonial southeastern Nigeria after 1960. It considers why Efik- and Igbo-speaking Nigerians joined both the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS Church) despite the profusion of alternative Christian denominations already established in the southeastern part of Nigeria in the late twentieth century. This study also examines how the expansion of Mormonism in southeastern Nigeria affected the policies, practices, and theology of both the LDS and RLDS Church. This dissertation makes two overarching arguments. First, it contends that the Efik- and Igbo-speaking Nigerians who embraced Mormonism wanted to have the social respectability and imagined economic benefits of joining an international mission church, while making the smallest possible departure from their indigenous culture. Second, this project argues that the expansion of Mormonism in southeastern Nigeria raised existential questions for American church leaders about what it meant to be Mormon in the second half of the twentieth century. While the LDS Church resisted adapting many of its religious practices to indigenous customs and cultures, the expansion of Mormonism in Nigeria nevertheless pushed LDS and RLDS theology and values towards both the Protestant and American mainstream. This dissertation bases its conclusions on preliminary research conducted in Nigeria and on a close reading of archival records and manuscripts housed at the Church History Library of the LDS Church, L. Tom Perry Special Collections at Brigham Young University, and the Community of Christ Library Archives. / 2027-10-31T00:00:00Z

Historians have long noted Joseph Smith's early interest in Methodism. Demographic studies of early Mormon converts have demonstrated further that many of those attracted to the Mormon message on both sides of the Atlantic came from Methodist backgrounds. These two points, and the many similarities between Methodist and Mormon beliefs and practices, have led many scholars to suggest that Smith's church was influenced by the Methodists who joined the movement. This thesis explores the Methodist backgrounds of those Methodists who converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1830, when Joseph Smith formally organized his church(originally called the Church of Christ), to 1838, when the Latter-day Saints moved to Nauvoo, Illinois, and the church experienced a transformation in its theology, worship practices, and organizational structure. I argue that Methodism fundamentally shaped the ways that early Mormonism developed in its first eight years. This was a result of both Methodism's rapid growth and expansive influence in antebellum America and the many early Mormon converts who had previously affiliated with Methodism. This thesis contains four chapters. Chapter 1 examines the historiography on the subject, summarizing the demographic studies previously conducted and the conclusions drawn by other historians. It also provides the theoretical framework that shaped the thesis. Chapter 2 analyzes the conversion narratives of the early converts to Mormonism who came from Methodist backgrounds. I show that these converts generally maintained a positive view of Methodism even after their conversion to Mormonism, and viewed their belief in dreams and visions and the acceptance of charismatic religious experience they were taught while Methodists as instrumental in their eventual acceptance of the Mormon message. Chapter 3 explores an extended analysis of Joseph Smith's various recollections of his "first vision" within the context of Methodist conversion narratives of the era. By analyzing the first vision within the Methodist context, I seek to harmonize key discrepancies in Smith's early and later narratives while still allowing each version to speak for itself. Chapter 4 surveys early Mormon church organization and worship and compares it to that of early American Methodism in an effort to better contextualize early Mormonism within the culture from which it arose and developed. This chapter concludes with a brief summary of the lasting influence of Methodism on Mormon religiosity.

This thesis is in three parts. The first part looks at the historical scholarship on writings opposed to Mormonism, especially those from the nineteenth century. The conclusion is that, despite hundreds of works written against Mormonism in its early years, the historical scholarship has not done justice to the writings or people involved. The vast majority of the writings and writers have not been analyzed, and those that are discussed are usually the most sensational and not representative of the genre.The second part of this thesis is a a case study giving an example of the kind of work the author feels needs to be done to make up for the deficiency in this area. Specifically this part examines the religious concerns of critics who wrote in the United States and Great Britain between 1844 and 1857. The evidence clearly shows that there were many writers who expressed religious concerns about Mormonism. Criticisms were made against Mormon religious practices such as polygamy, temple ceremonies and baptism for the dead, and against Mormon religious beliefs such as the role of Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and Mormon doctrines on God and the Bible.The third section contains two appendices. The first is a bibliography of imprints written against the Mormons between 1844 and 1857. The second is a bibliography of all secondary literature about opposition to Mormonism.

This research explores the unique and divergent experiences of LGBTQ+ young adults as they engage in identity and space-making practices at the intersection of gender/sexuality and religion. Utilizing queer theorists’ conceptualization of identity as a form of embodied and spatial labor, I critique the approach of existing scholarship that constructs LGBTQ+ and religious identities as incompatible or at least in need of reconciliation. Based on thirteen semi-structured interviews with LGBTQ+ young adults in Utah, my research makes visible how vulnerability and risk impact the strategies that LGBTQ+ young adults employ to navigate their identities and make space. It shows that they strategically navigate space wherever they find themselves, regardless of whether they encounter accommodation or belonging. In doing so, it comes to look beyond the narrative of visibility as the primary strategy for LGBTQ+ progress to recognize that LGBTQ+ young adults employ varied strategies of visibility and concealment to navigate the spaces where they find themselves.

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This thesis is based on ethnographic data collected across two Mormon congregations in the Republic of Ireland. I explore the experiences of a religious minority who are part of a wider society experiencing rapid religious and social change. Engaging with concepts of tradition, continuity, and change, this research explores how members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints experience their status as a minority religion in modern Ireland. As part of a growing number of new religious movements in Ireland, Mormonism represents a simultaneous continuation and rupture of Ireland’s previous religious traditions. This research suggests that a continuing influence of Catholicism in Irish society shapes Irish Mormon perceptions of self, of others, and of faith. Yet, by identifying with a religion which is viewed in Ireland as a ‘foreign’ faith, Irish Mormons represent a clear break with previous religious tradition. Irish Mormons’ relationship with Mormonism as a global religion also demonstrates the complexity of continuity and change within modern religion. This research shows that Irish Mormons reject what they perceive as an Americanisation of Mormonism and often emphasise the uniquely Irish nature of Mormonism in Ireland. Thus, Irish Mormons are adapting Mormon tradition into new forms far from the Mormon heartland of Utah. This research concludes that Mormons in Ireland utilise complex and interconnected understandings of tradition, community, and Irishness to create and maintain a minority religious identity in modern Ireland.

This thesis is a study of the events that occurred during the first five months of Fort Duchesne, Utah, between August and December 1886. The primary focus is on Frederick William Benteen, one of the heroes who fought and survived the Battle of the Little Big Horn. The three Ute tribes--Uintah, White River, and Uncompahgne--are also discussed as they pertain to Fort Duchesne.A difficulty arose the first day a site was chosen at Fort Duchesne. Surprisingly, it did not involve the Indians, but the post commander. The central problem is what caused the long delay in building the fort. This study presents several possible theories as to why troops were still billeted in tents during the winter months of December and January. These include Major Benteen's inexperience as a construction engineer commander and his insatiable drinking habit he had acquired.

This study seeks to answer a fundamental question facing missiologists and historians of Mormonism: given their sustained preoccupation with converting others to Mormonism and their thriving tradition of missionary work, how do Mormons conceive of their mission? By focusing on the theoretical frame in which Mormon missionaries imagined the non-Mormon world, prepared for missionary engagement, and derived their expectations for their mission work, this study aims to illuminate the development of Mormon missionary activities and explain the processes by which Mormons fashioned for themselves a missional character. Beginning with Joseph Smith and the emergence of his missional thought and ending with the institutional shifts of the Mormon Church toward mission programs, this thesis attempts to map the general arc of Mormon mission theory as it developed within the context of early American religious history.