This presentation offers a comparative study of the gold plates of the New World, and the lead plates of Granada, Spain. Both metallic records (brought forth in the modern period) were said to be buried in the ground, connected by rings, found by treasurer-seekers in a sacred hills, and deposited with other relics. Both artifacts …
Speaker: Michael G. Reed
Mormon Magic And The Religious World View
Hansen: Finding treasure and other wealth (in Jewish tradition) fits the spiritual schema of redemption. By examining folklore, responsa, etc, lessons can be drawn to better understand Mormonism. Bruno: Alchemist were a “necessary agent of creative transmutation: a priest in a hallowed, ancient priesthood; a son of the Widow; a knower of creation’s ancient secret; …
PANEL: Mormon Studies at Graduate Theological Union and in the Academy
Robert A. Rees, Arthur Holder, Michael G. Reed, Sheila Taylor
The Religious Beliefs & Practices of Magical Treasure Seekers
Although Joseph Smith and early Mormonism are not the main focus of this paper, I will present many interesting details that strongly parallel Joseph Smith’s religious beliefs and practices. Such details I suggest are important and useful for ascertaining the ways in which Joseph Smith’s treasure seeking activities informed his development/restoration of the Church. Michael …
Mormons And Masonry
In the early nineteenth century, many prominent Freemasons sought to “Christianize” Freemasonry. Distinguished European Masonic writers promoted interpretations of Masonic rituals that were almost clusively Christian. Reverend Salem Town of New york also promoted this Christian application in his widely circulated A System of Speculative Masonry (1818), claiming that the initiate’s progression out of darkness …
Banquet: Treasures Of Earth On Heaven: The Impact Of Mormonism’s Missing, Repudiated, Rebuilt, And Museum-Sequestered Artifacts
A supremely important artifact to early Christians was the cross; slivers of it were cherished as the most valuable of relics. Over time, the cross has been repudiated by latter-day Saints, who instead mark their most sacred buildings with a statue of Moroni. Arguably the most important artifact of Mormonism, the object on which its …
Ancient Metal Records – A Notion Preposterous in Joseph Smith’s Day?
Hugh Nibley declared, Michael G. Reed
SW10011: Book Preview: Banishing the Cross: The Emergence of a Mormon Taboo
According to Michael Reed’s research, the cross taboo was a rather late development in Mormon history, manifesting itself at a grassroots level around the turn of the twentieth century, later being institutionalized as protocol in the 1950s by President David O. McKay. Before then, many Saints had used and promoted the symbol in its visual …
SL09264 Cross at the Cross: LDS Contempt for the Christian Symbol
The cross taboo was a late development in Mormon history, manifesting itself at the grass-roots level around the 1900s and later being institutionalized as protocol in the 1950s by President David O. McKay. Previously, many Saints used and promoted the symbol in its visual and material form. This paper will explain why the early Mormon …