This thesis is a rhetorical analysis of utopian discourse about marriage in mid-nineteenth-century America. Although utopian communities are usually approached within the fields of history and sociology, a rhetorical analysis adds to the discussion by uncovering the discursive complexity of marriage beliefs within a rapidly changing culture. Discursive features of the Shaker, Oneida Community and Latter-day Saint texts are outlined and compared according to the following format:Chapter One examines the textures of conflict within the dominant culture's views of marriage and gender roles in nineteenth-century America, with a brief overview of reform efforts of the day. This chapter provides a wide context of marriage discourse in this era, which situates emergent utopian discourse of alternative marriage constructs.Chapter Two narrows the focus to utopian discourse, analyzing how utopian rhetoric responded to concerns of the dominant culture (outlined in Chapter One) and shaped their cultural identities. This chapter outlines several general features of utopian discourse about marriage and gender roles, with detailed analyses of the rhetoric of Shakers and the Oneida Community regarding thier alternatives to traditional marriage constructs.Chapter Three builds on the context of the first two chapters and further narrows the scope of analysis to Mormon Polygamy dsicourse. Public and private accounts are considered in a comparison of official church rhetoric with women's discourse about the principle. The last two chapters also show utopian departures from and similarities to mainstream discourse about marriage and gender roles.Although the three groups examined responded to mainstream concerns with some discursive similarities, rhetorical analysis shows that differences also exist, such as their rhetoric of gender identity and church authority. The Latter-day Saints stand out against the wider context of utopian discourse for their patriarchal model, their tenets of both continuous and personal revelation, and their enduring success as a religion.

The problem of the existence of a devil is important, since it relates to other beliefs which a person or his religion may uphold. The orthodox Christian concepts of the divinity of Christ, the Fall of man, the Atonement, and the inspiration of the Bible are altered when a belief in Satan is discarded.The prophets of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) take a very definite stand concerning the existence of Satan. They declare that the devil and his angels exist and that they tempt and try to deceive men. L.D.S. scriptures, given through modern revelation, not only show that Satan exists and tempts men but also confirm the authenticity of the Old and New Testaments. However, these scriptures indicate that many passages relating to Satan are missing from the Old Testament. Therefore, on the testimony of modern scripture, the Latter-day Saints maintain that the concept of Satan did not evolve into Jewish thinking and literature by natural means. Rather, the prophets of God since the days of Adam have declard that Satan exists, and some of these prophets have come fact to face with him.Through modern scripture and latter-day prophets, the Latter-day Saints believe that Satan and his angels are spirits, in the image of men, who rebelled against God and were cast down to the earth and have been here since men were upon the earth. These evil spirits have been denied the privilege of obtaining mortal bodies; therefore, they sometimes seek to possess bodies of people living upon the earth. However, they are often detected by Elders holding the Priesthood and are cast out. On occasions they have attacked mortals and in every way tried to destroy the Kingdom of God on earth.The question of Satan's existence is interrelated with many L.D.S. doctrines. The Mormon concepts concerning opposition, the Fall, the Atonement, the divinity of Jesus Christ, and the inspiration of The Book of Mormon and other modern scripture, would of necessity be changed if Satan were to be denied as real person. The Latter-day Saints state that it is through their belief in modern revelation--scripture, the prophets, and personal revelation through the power of the Holy Ghost--that they know Satan exists, that they know many things concerning his origin and career, and that they are able in many cases to expose his deceptions.

Since the issuance of the Manifesto by President Wilford Woodruff on September 25, 1890, discontinuing the practice of plural marriage by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, intensive efforts have been made by dissenters to show that authority to practice polygamy has secretly continued to the present day. Claiming that the Church departed from its original teachings when it discontinued the practice of plural marriage and that the Manifesto was adopted merely as an act of appeasement, "fundamentalists" have attempted to show that the doctrine of plural marriage was revealed to the Latter-day Saints as an irrevocable decree, essential to the highest exaltation in the world to come. They further claim that since the time of Joseph Smith a special "higher priesthood" organization has secretly functioned independent of the Latter-day Saint Church through which authority to solemnize plural marriages has continued to the present day. Asserting that the practice of plural marriage is still a "vital part of the religion of the Latter-day Saints," and that men are commanded to obey God's laws "in total disregard of the laws of man which might conflict therewith." "Fundamentalists" conclude that it is not within the power of the Latter-day Saint Church or the Federal or State Government to prohibit plural marriages.A consideration of this position indicates that only after a unique interpretation of certain carefully selected excerpts from Latter-day Saint Church history and in some instances a complete fabrication of events, can evidence be found for the contention that the practice of plural marriage is still a "vital part of the religion of the Latter-day Saints."On the other hand, a review of the history and doctrine of the Church indicates, that no provisions were made for a succession of authority from Joseph Smith independent of the present Latter-day Saint Church leadership; that the practice of plural marriage was not dogmatically regarded as an irrevocable decree or an essential to the highest exaltation regardless of circumstances; and that the suspension of the practice of plural marriage was accomplished by the same authority by which the practice was introduced.

Sunday schools were an important part of the development of religious education in the United States and in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (L.D.S. Church). It was the purpose of this study (1) to analyze the teaching methods of both the L.D.S. and non-L.D.S. Sunday school movements in the United States prior to 1900; and (2) to compare the teaching methods used by these Sunday school developments and determine similarities and differences.

Since the inception of the United Nations in 1945, leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have made public statements regarding the international peace and security organization. To the confusion of many Church members, who often look to their leaders for prophetic guidance on numerous spiritual and temporal topics, these statements have been conflicting. Some Church leaders have clearly opposed the United Nations and others have openly supported it, offering various ideological explanations for their beliefs. Yet, it is evident that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has never made an official position on the topic of the United Nations. Church members are free to exercise their agency and either oppose or support the organization as they deem necessary. Regardless of personal opinions, a relationship has emerged between the Church and the United Nations in the past few decades through joint humanitarian efforts, as well as official and unofficial interactions. Since the United Nations is most likely a permanent fixture of the political world, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is concerned with topics of international importance, it appears this relationship will continue to blossom throughout the future.

The evidence presented in this thesis supports a view of the first Mormon men as coming from the agrarian majority of early nineteenth-century American farmers and artisans who embraced a set of manly ideals that differed significantly, in many ways, from those embraced by their middle-class contemporaries. These men's life writings attest to boyhood experiences of working alongside their fathers as soon as they were physically able, and subsequently of acting as substitute farmers and breadwinners as well as being put out to work outside the direct supervision of their fathers. Such experiences enabled them to frequently follow in the occupational footsteps of their fathers and almost always to marry at ages significantly lower that those of their more upwardly-mobile urban counterparts. Thus, they were able to follow a path to manly independence that was difficult yet direct and relatively rapidEarly Mormonism attracted an unparalleled percentage of men, who, in turn, embraced and supported the development of a the more self-confident and self-assertive theology of man in early Mormon doctrine. Compared to the other denominations of the day, a disproportionate number of early Mormon converts were, or were led to Mormonism by, men. Although these men had received prior religious instruction in their earliest years, typically from their mothers, the content of that instruction was not of the feminized variety stressed by many historians, and a significant portion of these men had been unable to achieve evangelical conversion experiences. Since many of them had previously turned to more liberal religious beliefs regarding the nature of man and his relationship to God, these men undoubtedly supported Mormonism's development of similar doctrines. Their rejection of revivalist rites of passage, which stressed submission and self-abnegation, is also consistent with their enthusiastic participation in more traditional, physically assertive, unrestrained and combative passages to manhood and rites of male bonding. Such beliefs and behaviors were in marked contrast to the manly self-restraint increasingly enjoined by the Northeastern middle class which has provided the model for most previous studies of nineteenth-century American manhood.

Religious education in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as given by the seminaries is to help youth achieve a meaningful testimony that God lives, Jesus is the Christ, and Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. The purpose of this study was to determine why some youth were not taking advantage of this training by enrolling in seminary.It was determined that the teachers were a negligible reason for lack of enrollment. Rather, the reasons stemmed more from a lack of awareness of the nature of the seminary program by some priesthood leaders, by the youth and their parents. Specifically, some youths would have attended seminary, but due to unique circumstances, such as lack of transportation, were unable to do so. Academic load in school prevented other students from enrolling in seminary. The influence of parents who were inactive in the Church, and who therefore did not encourage seminary attendance, resulted in the non-attendance of their children. The negative attitude of youth towards the Church was more noticeable than the negative attitude of their parents.

This study makes a consideration of four related concepts of Deity, each of which is accepted as doctrine by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which claims to have received these doctrines from Joseph Smith. On the other hand, each of these concepts is rejected as doctrine by the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which claims that Joseph Smith did not teach them.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Church programs in preparing young Latter-day Saint servicemen to accept and live the gospel of Jesus Christ as determined from the opinions of servicemen and bishops. The teaching programs, counseling, continual Church activity, Church publications, and the preservice and inservice Church orientations were evaluated for their effectiveness in teaching the five objectives: Testimony building; commandment living; continual activity, missionary work, and patriotism. One hundred eighteen servicemen, who had completed basic training and were attending technical training schools, along with seventy-seven bishops provided the information used in this study. The findings indicated that in the opinion of these servicemen and bishops effective training was being provided servicemen in building testimonies, living the commandments, and continuing to be active in the Church. However, missionary work and patriotism were ineffectively taught.

This thesis attempts to treat four problems: What is the gospel, as defined in Latter-day Saint literature? Do ancient and modern sources agree? Has there been an historical development of the definitions? Can any disagreements be rationalized? The results of this research reveal that the gospel is complex in that it is capable of handling all the problems of eternity, yet it is simple in that it is a plan of specific principles which lead man step by step to perfection. The author determined that ancient and modern sources do agree in placing six "first principles" at the beginning of man's gospel knowledge, but they then add many advanced principles of the gospel to aid man in his climb to eternal life. In the broad sense of the term, the gospel does include all truth, but all truth in a systematic structure. There has been an historical development of the definitions, for they gradually became more explicit in including all truths and principles. The differences in definitions are apparently due to the progressive revelation of principles, and to the authors' efforts to teach the principles needed by their audiences.