Early Mormonism and the magic world view
By: D. Michael Quinn.
Publisher: Signature Books
Published: 1987
Place of publication: Salt Lake City, Utah
Language: eng
Number of pages: 313
Subjects: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints -- History -- 19th century.; Occultism -- Religious aspects -- Mormon Church -- History of doctrines -- 19th century.; Mormon Church -- History -- 19th century.
Description: In this articulate and insightful book, D. Michael Quinn, a professor of history at Brigham Young University, masterfully reconstructs the world view of an earlier age in America, finding ample evidence for treasure seeking and folk magic in Joseph Smith's formative years. Quinn discovers, for example, that Joseph's world was inhabited by supernatural creatures whose existence could be both symbolic and real. He explains that the involvement of the Joseph Smith family in folk magic was not unusual for the times and is important in attempting to understand how early Mormons may have interpreted developments in their history in ways that differ from modern, twentieth-century perceptions. Quinn's impressive research provides a much-needed background for the environment that produced Mormonism's founding prophet. -- from Book Jacket.
Notes: Bibliography: p. [229]-296.
Includes index.