List of Mormon folk beliefs

The Seagull Monument located in front of the Salt Lake Assembly Hall on Temple Square.

In the largest group of the Latter Day Saint movement, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), folklore is usually distinguished from church doctrine, but there is no universally accepted method of determining where doctrine ends and folklore begins. Any other part of the expressive cultural aspects of Mormonism may be classified as Mormon folklore.[1]

On scriptural themes

Mormon folk beliefs on scriptural topics include:

  • that Cain, the killer of Abel, is still alive and wanders the earth as punishment for killing Abel, wearing no clothing but being covered by hair, and that apostle David W. Patten encountered him once,[2][3][4] and that reported sightings of Bigfoot can be explained by this story[5]
  • that the global flood of Noah (the builder of Noah's Ark) constituted the baptism of the Earth[6]
  • that Jesus was married, possibly to Mary Magdalene; Mary, sister of Lazarus; and/or Martha, and that Jesus may have been a polygamist and had children[7][8][9]
  • that Jesus was born on 6 April[10][11][12]
  • modern encounters and assistance from one or more of "The Three Nephites", three Nephite disciples chosen by Jesus in the Book of Mormon, who were blessed by Jesus to "never taste of death; but ye shall live to behold all the doings of the Father unto the children of men".[13][14]: 209 

In church history

Tāwhiao

Folk beliefs regarding LDS church history include the following:

On temples

Laie Hawaii Temple

Folk beliefs regarding LDS temples include the following:

  • that in designing the Salt Lake Temple, Brigham Young had the foresight to make space accommodation for future technological advancements such as elevators, air conditioning, and electrical wiring[36]
  • that on December 7, 1941, Japanese aircraft pilots attempted to bomb or strafe the church's Hawaiian Temple just prior to or just after the attack on Pearl Harbor, but were prevented from doing so by mechanical failures or an unseen protective force,[37] and that the Japanese pilot who attempted to bomb or strafe the Hawaiian Temple was converted to the LDS Church after he saw a picture of the temple in the possession of Mormon missionaries in Japan[37]
  • that Tāwhiao accurately predicted the site of the 1958 Hamilton New Zealand Temple before his death in 1894;[38][39]
  • that the Freiberg Germany Temple, which was the first Mormon temple in a Communist state when it was dedicated in East Germany in 1985 (at that time, the temple was called the "Freiberg GDR Temple", from "German Democratic Republic", East Germany's official name) by its very presence in the country had hastened the fall of the communist regime in 1989 which in turn led to its reunification with West Germany to form modern-day Germany, the Freiberg area's prosperity in the relatively poor eastern Germany is also attributed to the temple's location in the city[40]
  • that wearing temple garments affords physical protection, and that some wearers have survived car wrecks, floods, and other calamities unscathed thanks to the protective power of the garments[41]

Predictions

The following are examples of predictions or prophecies that are part of Mormon folklore:

  • that the day will come that the United States Constitution will "hang by a thread" and that members of the church will be central in rescuing it and the United States from destruction.[42][43][44][45][46] (See also: White Horse Prophecy)
  • that God will restore the Adamic language.[47]
  • that the Dream Mine will provide financial relief for believers in Utah after the disasters leading up to the Second Coming.[48]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Wilson, William A. (1992). "Folklore". In Ludlow, Daniel H (ed.). Encyclopedia of Mormonism. New York: Macmillan Publishing. pp. 518–520. ISBN 0-02-879602-0. OCLC 24502140.
  2. ^ Letter by Abraham O. Smoot, quoted in: Wilson, Lycurgus Arnold (1904) [1900], Life of David W. Patten, the First Apostolic Martyr, Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News, pp. 46–47, OCLC 4922706
  3. ^ Whiting, Linda Shelley (2003), David W. Patten: Apostle and Martyr, Springville, Utah: Cedar Fort, p. 85, ISBN 1555176828, OCLC 51293310
  4. ^ Kimball, Spencer W. (1969), The Miracle of Forgiveness, Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft, pp. 127–128, ISBN 0-88494-444-1, OCLC 20950
  5. ^ Arave, Lynn; Genessy, Jody (2003-07-24), "Living in Utah: A guide to separate reality from myths", Deseret Morning News, p. A1
  6. ^ Pratt 1880b, p. 323
  7. ^ Hyde 1854, pp. 81–82, 210
  8. ^ Pratt, Orson (October 1853), "Celestial Marriage", The Seer, vol. 1, p. 159
  9. ^ Wilford Woodruff, Journal Entry July 22, 1883, reporting on a sermon given by Joseph F. Smith.
  10. ^ Jeffrey R. Chadwick, "Dating the Birth of Christ", BYU Studies 49:4 (2010).
  11. ^ John P. Pratt, "Passover—Was It Symbolic of His Coming?", Ensign, January 1994.
  12. ^ James E. Talmage, "Chapter 8: The Babe of Bethlehem", Jesus the Christ (2006 ed., Salt Lake City, Utah: LDS Church).
  13. ^ Wilson, William A. (1996). "Mormon Folklore". In Brunvand, Jan Harold (ed.). American folklore: an encyclopedia. New York: Garland Publ. ISBN 978-0-8153-0751-8.
  14. ^ Wilson, William A. Wilson (2013). "Freeways, Parking Lots, and Ice Cream Stands: The Three Nephites in Contemporary Society". In Eliason, Eric A.; Mould, Tom (eds.). Latter-day lore: Mormon folklore studies. ISBN 978-1-60781-285-2. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  15. ^ Michael T. Griffith (1996). One Lord, One Faith: Writings of the Early Christian Fathers as Evidences of the Restoration (Bountiful, Utah: Horizon) ISBN 0-88290-575-9
  16. ^ Jacob Spori, "True and False Theosophy", Juvenile Instructor, 28:672–74 (1893-11-01).
  17. ^ Paul B. Pixton, "'Play It Again, Sam': The Remarkable 'Prophesy' of Samuel Lutz, Alias Christophilus Gratianus, Reconsidered" Archived 2013-10-21 at the Wayback Machine, BYU Studies, 25:3 (1985) pp 27–46.
  18. ^ Pratt 1880a, pp. 276–277
  19. ^ Smith 1869, p. 83
  20. ^ William G. Hartley, "Mormons, Crickets, and Gulls, A New Look at an Old Story", in D. Michael Quinn (ed.) (1992). The New Mormon History (Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books).
  21. ^ Hyde 1877, p. 58
  22. ^ Lynne Watkins Jorgensen, "The Mantle of the Prophet Joseph Passes to Brother Brigham: One Hundred Twenty-one Testimonies of a Collective Spiritual Witness", in John W. Welch (ed.) (2005). Opening the Heavens: Accounts of Divine Manifestations, 1820–1844 (Provo and Salt Lake City, Utah: BYU Press and Deseret Book) ISBN 0-8425-2607-2 pp. 373–480.
  23. ^ Matthew Cowley, ""Maori Chief Predicts Coming of L.D.S. Missionaries", Improvement Era 53:696–98, 754–56 (September 1950), reprinted in Matthew Cowley (1954, Glen L. Rudd ed.). Matthew Cowley Speaks: Discourses of Elder Matthew Cowley of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book) p. 200–05.
  24. ^ Grant Underwood, "Mormonism and the Shaping of Maori Religious Identity", in Grant Underwood (ed.) (2000). Voyages of Faith: Explorations in Mormon Pacific History (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University) pp. 107–26.
  25. ^ R. Lanier Britsch, "Maori Traditions and the Mormon Church," New Era, June 1981, p. 38.
  26. ^ a b Harris, Matthew L.; Bringhurst, Newell G. (2015). The Mormon Church and Blacks. Chicago: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-08121-7.
  27. ^ Smith, Darron (March 2003). "The Persistence of Racialized Discourse in Mormonism" (PDF). Sunstone.
  28. ^ Dallin H. Oaks (June 5, 1988), Interview with Associated Press, Daily Herald (Utah)
  29. ^ Jeffrey R. Holland (March 4, 2006), The Mormons, PBS
  30. ^ Sterling M. McMurrin affidavit, March 6, 1979. See David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism by Greg Prince and William Robert Wright. Quoted by Genesis Group Archived 2011-07-13 at the Wayback Machine
  31. ^ Peggy Fletcher Stack (January 12, 2015). "Black Mormons Lament that Race is Taboo Topic at Church". The Salt Lake Tribune.
  32. ^ Bush, Lester E. Jr.; Mauss, Armand L., eds. (1984). Neither White Nor Black: Mormon Scholars Confront the Race Issue in a Universal Church. Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books. ISBN 0-941214-22-2.
  33. ^ Reeve, W. Paul (2015). Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness. New York, New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-975407-6.
  34. ^ Stewart, John J. Mormonism and the Negro Salt Lake City, Utah: 1960, Bookmark (This book discusses and then dismisses this belief).
  35. ^ Horowitz, Jason (28 February 2012). "The Genesis of a church's stand on race". Washington Post. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  36. ^ Paul C. Richards, "The Salt Lake Temple Infrastructure: Studying It Out in Their Minds", BYU Studies (1996–1997).
  37. ^ a b Baldridge, Kenneth W.; Chase, Lance D. (2000), "The Purported December 7, 1941, Attack on the Hawai'i Temple"", in Underwood, Grant (ed.), Voyages of Faith: Explorations in Mormon Pacific History, Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, pp. 165–90, ISBN 0-8425-2480-0.
  38. ^ LDS Church (1958), The Mormon Temple, Temple View, Hamilton, New Zealand: Bureau of Information, Zealand Temple, LDS Church, p. 13, OCLC 367545393, alt.
  39. ^ Kezerian, Sandra L. (March 31, 2012), "Visiting our Family History Missionaries at the Archives", wellingtonnewzealandmission.blogspot.com
  40. ^ Taylor, Scott (2010-09-06). "Non-Mormons call Freiberg Germany LDS temple their own". Deseret News. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
  41. ^ Hank Stuever, "Unmentionable No Longer: What Do Mormons Wear? A Polite Smile, if Asked About 'the Garment'", Washington Post, 2002-02-26, p. C1.
  42. ^ Young 1854, p. 15
  43. ^ Kimball 1856, p. 216
  44. ^ Harold B. Lee, Conference Report, April 1942, p. 87.
  45. ^ Joseph Fielding Smith, Conference Report, April 1950, p. 159.
  46. ^ Ezra Taft Benson, Conference Report, April 1963, p. 113.
  47. ^ Robertson, John S. (1992). "Adamic Language". In Ludlow, Daniel H (ed.). Encyclopedia of Mormonism. New York: Macmillan Publishing. ISBN 0-02-879602-0. OCLC 24502140.
  48. ^ Papanikolas, Zeese (1995). "Dream Mining". Trickster in the Land of Dreams. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 64–5. ISBN 0803237030.

References