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Evangelical Protestant Christians have been one of the primary groups opposing Mormons since the beginnings of Mormonism in the 1820s. This thesis is an examination of the historical basis for Evangelical opposition to Mormonism and the impact of that opposition on Mormon identity. This study is divided into three chronological chapters representing the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries in America. Evangelical animosity towards Mormonism was grounded in the Christian heretical tradition begun in the second century AD. Because of this tradition, Evangelicals were inherently afraid of heresy for two main reasons: temporal treason and eternal damnation. Due to the heterodox claims of a new prophet and new scripture, Mormonism was quickly labeled as dangerous, not only to Christianity, but to America as a whole. This perceived danger only grew as Mormonism continued to differentiate itself further with the practices of polygamy, communalism, and theocracy. In the nineteenth century, Mormon assimilation of Evangelicalism primarily affected the social structures of marriage, economics, and politics. In the twentieth century, Mormon assimilation of Evangelical identity would focus more on the incorporation of Evangelical ideology and theology. As Fundamentalism and Neo-Evangelicalism protested Mormonism as a cult, Mormonism became more Fundamentalist and Evangelical by nature, especially as the Church of Jesus Christ of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recognized how such opposition negatively impacted American public perceptions. Such changes included the development of Mormon neo-orthodoxy with its emphasis on the sovereignty of God, the depravity of man, and salvation by grace. In the twenty-first century, a group of Mormon and Evangelical scholars engaged in the practice of interfaith dialogue developed by Liberal Protestants and Catholics. As part of their dialogue, Evangelicals retained the purposes of evangelism and apologetics thereby qualifying the dialogue as a new more subtle form of Evangelical opposition to Mormonism in the twenty first century. As Evangelicals continuously opposed Mormonism as a Christian heresy, such opposition effected changes within Mormonism, changes that have led to some degree of assimilation and even adoption of several elements of Evangelicalism. The most recent part of this assimilation process has been the development of Mormon progressive orthodoxy that emphasizes anti-sectarianism, anti-liberalism, and revised supernaturalism.

This paper analyzes the concept of immortality as expressed in Stephenie Meyer’s vampire romance novel Midnight Sun (2021). By way of a comparison with the authors Mormon faith, I intend to highlight how the main characters portray key parts of LDS soteriology. Using Synne Myreböe’s notion of actualization (aktualisering) the paper considers Mormonism as a lens rather than as an institutionalized religion.  Although Midnight Sun makes use of numerous religious themes, it is in my opinion not to be regarded as a theological text. After all, Meyer is a novelist. Her religiosity motivates the questions posed by the study, but the connection between her writing and explicit Mormon theology is established by me. By making the Mormon concept of immortality a lens through which I view the material, I intend to highlight aspects of the narrative which otherwise would be less apparent.  Midnight Sun is a paraphrase of Meyer’s earlier work Twilight (2006). The latter tells the story of Bella, a student who falls in love with an ancient vampire called Edward. In Midnight Sun the story is inverted, making Edward the main narrator. Due to Midnight Sun’s disposition, my work relies on a resource not available to prior studies on Twilight, namely Edward’s voice. In this paper, I examine how the character relates to his father figure, thus paraphrasing the Mormon concept of priesthood.

This thesis seeks to explore the relationship between Mormon assimilation, exceptionalism, and their endeavors in secular reading by analyzing Out of the Best Books (OOBB), a 1964–71 five-volume reading guide and reading program on secular reading established by the Mormon Church for its women’s organization, the Relief Society. Examining the approaches to secular literature in the OOBB program suggests that Mormons can respond to their competing desires to separate and assimilate by making efforts that fulfill both aspirations simultaneously rather than moving exclusively in one direction. Yet OOBB’s efforts to achieve both objectives did not amount to an entirely seamless navigation of this paradox. The program’s attempts to incorporate texts that might challenge Mormon notions of morality as well as their efforts to introduce world literature and fully address their female audience raised additional tensions particularly relevant to contemporary Mormonism, suggesting the complexity of Mormons navigating this identity paradox both within the context of the OOBB program and today. Furthermore, this examination of OOBB offers a venture at fleshing out the history of Mormon reading, confirming Mormons’ relationship to literature as central to their conception and expression of identity and situating Mormon reading endeavors in the broader context of American reading practices.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1970. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 188-194).

Thesis (Th. M.)--Grace Theological Seminary, 1982. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-95).

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-17T15:02:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 737646 bytes, checksum: 52a1da47d70df2014c22498d05cd0edf (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-09-25 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Memetics and Heresies in Mormonism: an overview of the memes of the Great Contemporary Heresy , such as expressed in its catechism does a memetic analysis of the doctrine exposed in the Mormon catechism, Gospel Principles, including in this analysis the very front cover of the catechism and some internal illustrations. Memetic analysis consists in extracting from texts and images the memes behind the discourse; in this case, the Mormon discourse. The memetic analysis is preceded by the definition and discussion of the concept of meme, with special attention to the distinction between the concepts of meme and idea, the latter being defined not according to dictionaries, common sense or traditional theories, but according to the theory of memes itself. Distinction is also made between the concepts of viral meme (or mind virus) and non-viral meme. After the memetic analysis, the results are used in order to analyze the conflictional relationship and the rivalry between Mormons and Protestants and to explain the strong growth of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in many parts of the world. / Memética e heresias no mormonismo: Uma viagem pelos memes da Grande Heresia Contemporânea , tais como expressos em seu catecismo faz uma análise memética da doutrina exposta no catecismo mórmon, Gospel Principles ( Princípios do Evangelho ), incluindo, nesta análise, a própria capa do catecismo e algumas das ilustrações internas. A análise memética consiste em extrair de texto e imagens os memes que há por trás do discurso, no caso o discurso mórmon. A análise memética é precedida da definição e discussão do conceito de meme, com atenção especial para a distinção entre os conceitos de meme e idéia, sendo o conceito de idéia definido não segundo os dicionários, o senso comum ou as teorias tradicionais, mas conforme a própria teoria dos memes. É feita também uma distinção entre os conceitos de meme viral (ou vírus da mente) e meme não-viral. Após a análise memética, seus resultados são usados para analisar a relação conflituosa e a rivalidade entre mórmons e evangélicos e para explicar o forte crescimento da Igreja de Jesus Cristo dos Santos dos Últimos Dias em várias partes do mundo.

Cette thèse se propose d’analyser les conditions de création et les modalités particulières du malaise définitoire de lafiction evensonienne. Ce mal-être caractérise d’abord une culture religieuse, celle du mormonisme, dont Evenson présente ce qu’il considère être la violence intrinsèque. Ainsi envisagé, le mormonisme sert de matrice aux délires des prophètes fous qui parcourent les textes, littéralisant le Verbe divin pour le pire. Ce malaise culturel et religieux trouve son pendant formel dans l’hybridation générique particulière de l’oeuvre. L’incongruité fondamentale des textes qui brassent des genres aussi divers que le gothique, le western, la fiction policère, et la sciencefiction, ouvre un espace de trouble herméneutique caractéristique du postmodernisme. En mettant en déroute nos horizons d’attente, le texte evensonien met en crise le partage entre réel et fiction, et nous confronte à l’angoisse terrifiante de la perte du sens. Ces textes qui défaillent sont le lieu de dissonances, signes de l’absurdité brutale du monde qui a perdu sa cohérence fragile. Les oeuvres nous invitent au coeur d’un désert moral dans lequel rougeoie l’effroi du sacré. Dans leur violence figurale, elles inaugurent une nouvelle relation au sensible en conditionnant une réception particulièrement affective du lecteur en proie à l’effondrement de ses repères moraux, herméneutiques, et existentiels / This dissertation wishes to analyze the conditions of creation and the particular modalities of the malaise defining of Evenson’s fiction. That feeling of uneasiness first characterizes Mormonism, a religious culture that Evenson presents asintrinsically violent. As such, Mormonism appears as a matrix to the delirium of the mad prophets found wandering in thetexts as they literalize the Word of God for the worst. This cultural and religious malaise finds its expression in the particulargeneric hybridization of the work. The fundamental incongruity of the text, cross-pollinating genres as diverse as the Gothic,the Western, detective fiction and Science-Fiction, opens a space of hermeneutical trouble defining of Postmodernism. Byunsettling our expectations, Evenson’s texts question the difference between reality and fiction, and thus shape a particularform of anxiety that emerges from the loss of meaning. Those works are the locus of dissonances that sign the brutal absurdity of a world whose fragile consistency has been shattered. They invite us at the heart of a moral desert, both sacredand dreadful. The figural violence of the texts programs a new kind of sensible, affective reception from the reader whosemoral, hermeneutical and existential bearings collaps

Denna uppsats redogör för hur mening skapas kring könsroller inom mormonismen utifrån dess religiösa urkunder samt förkunnanden från auktoriteter inom kyrkan. Ljuskastas över mansidealet, kvinnoidealet och maktrelationer inom religionen utifrån frågan om kön. Undersökningen är avgränsad till de tre specifika religiösa urkunderna som är specifika för mormonismen (Mormons bok, Den kostbara pärlan samt Läranoch förbunden), vidare undersöks uttalanden/förkunnanden från mormonska auktoriteterinom kyrkan gällande frågan om kön. Undersökningen genomförs kvalitativt och analyserar resultaten utefter diskursanalys och diskursteori. Undersökningen kommer attvisa på att språkbruket inom mormonismen utgår från en essentialistisk syn på kön där kvinnans och mannens olika ordinerade roller i livet baseras på denna syn. Vidare upptäcks stora skillnader på hur man talar om kvinnor respektive män, där språket är särskilt värderande. Utifrån språket synliggörs maktrelationer där mannen både erhåller makten i kyrkan och ses som familjens överhuvud.

What is the sense of place of Mormon agricultural landscapes? That is to say, what makes an LDS Church-owned welfare farm or a Mormon family garden meaningful to those who interact with it? In formulating a partial answer to this question, this thesis demonstrates how religious ideals of self-reliance and social welfare explicitly define Mormon agricultural landscapes, providing a sacred sense of their purpose to those who work and benefit from them. However, these sacred landscapes are complicated by developments of industrial agricultural equipment, corporate institutions, and urban demographics, which tend to isolate people from each other and the land they live from while developing in them a false sense of independence and sustainability. The LDS Church and its membership have learned to mitigate these negative implications to a degree, though I suggest doctrinal reasons they could do better. As case studies, this thesis examines the motives and methods of an industrially scaled Church welfare farm in Blue Creek, Utah and a Mormon family garden in Bluffdale, Utah. Contextualized within relevant American and Mormon history, I explore the paradoxical sense of place of Mormon agricultural landscapes where ideals of self-reliance and social welfare thrive and social isolation and emotional interconnection coexist, which makes room for principles of economic efficiency and environmental conservation to find a compromise.