Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- Notes on contributors
- Introduction
- 1 Scientology, scripture, and sacred tradition
- 2 “He may be lying but what he says is true”: the sacred tradition of don Juan as reported by Carlos Castaneda, anthropologist, trickster, guru, allegorist
- 3 The invention of sacred tradition: Mormonism
- 4 Antisemitism, conspiracy culture, Christianity, and Islam: the history and contemporary religious significance of the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion
- 5 The invention of a counter-tradition: the case of the North American anti-cult movement
- 6 “Heavenly deception”? Sun Myung Moon and Divine Principle
- 7 “Forgery” in the New Testament
- 8 Three phases of inventing Rosicrucian tradition in the seventeenth century
- 9 A name for all and no one: Zoroaster as a figure of authorization and a screen of ascription
- 10 The peculiar sleep: receiving The Urantia Book
- 11 Ontology of the past and its materialization in Tibetan treasures
- 12 Pseudo-Dionysius: the mediation of sacred traditions
- 13 Spurious attribution in the Hebrew Bible
- 14 Inventing Paganisms: making nature
- Index
- References
3 - The invention of sacred tradition: Mormonism
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- Notes on contributors
- Introduction
- 1 Scientology, scripture, and sacred tradition
- 2 “He may be lying but what he says is true”: the sacred tradition of don Juan as reported by Carlos Castaneda, anthropologist, trickster, guru, allegorist
- 3 The invention of sacred tradition: Mormonism
- 4 Antisemitism, conspiracy culture, Christianity, and Islam: the history and contemporary religious significance of the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion
- 5 The invention of a counter-tradition: the case of the North American anti-cult movement
- 6 “Heavenly deception”? Sun Myung Moon and Divine Principle
- 7 “Forgery” in the New Testament
- 8 Three phases of inventing Rosicrucian tradition in the seventeenth century
- 9 A name for all and no one: Zoroaster as a figure of authorization and a screen of ascription
- 10 The peculiar sleep: receiving The Urantia Book
- 11 Ontology of the past and its materialization in Tibetan treasures
- 12 Pseudo-Dionysius: the mediation of sacred traditions
- 13 Spurious attribution in the Hebrew Bible
- 14 Inventing Paganisms: making nature
- Index
- References
Summary
Mormonism offers an extensive opportunity for a critical discussion of the concept of invented tradition, given both its emergence from preexisting cultural elements and its self-reflection upon that religious “coming forth.” From six inaugurating members in 1830 to 11 million by 2006, its created cultural heartland in America's Midwest and the issue of its potential status as a world religion present social scientists with interpretative challenges. Following an introductory background and hermeneutical consideration of the problematic concept of “invented tradition” as applied specifically to religious groups, this chapter considers ideological, textual, and ritual forms of Mormonism's sacred tradition before closing with reflections upon the nature of history and of Mormonism's future as frames for “tradition.”
BACKGROUND
Originally named “The Church of Christ,” this group became “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints” (LDS) in 1838: from 1995 it has stressed “The Church of Jesus Christ” element. This group needs differentiating from the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS) that arose after Joseph Smith's death from those who did not migrate west with the majority membership. A more Protestant-like constituency, it called itself the Saints Church in 1972 and the Community of Christ in 2001. Other groups exist, including those described as “fundamentalist” because they adhere to early traditions of polygamy formally abandoned by the LDS in 1890.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Invention of Sacred Tradition , pp. 56 - 74Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007
References
- 2
- Cited by