Thursday 18 July 2013

Latter Day Saints Culture, Literature And Mormon Poems

By Irma Farrell


Poems written by members of the LSD Church are generally called Mormon poems that are part of their literature and are usually spiritual in their themes and topics. Since the establishment of the Church during the early 19th century, they have composed poetry and stories. They believe that the Holy Spirit will respond to them through these messages.

A beautiful tribute poem to John Marsh is an example which was part of the Elders Journal in the Far West in 1838. Authors Eliza Snow and Phelps are two of significant poets in the early years who penned O, My Father and The Spirit of God, respectively. Their significant contemporaries include John Talbot and David Wright.

Even before The Book of Mormon was published in the 1830s, their literature had already begun. Since then they had included scriptures, dramas, poetry, fiction and others to their literature. Mormonism is a big religious and cultural group that is a large part of the LDS Movement.

Through the spiritual visions of Joseph Smith, their founder, Mormonism began during the 1820s in New York. They became part of the LSD Church although there are other members who have deviated from the original organization and some have not been practicing the religion. The religion focuses on traditional family life and values, like integrity, chastity, fidelity and honesty.

The religion had strong similarities with nineteenth century Protestant Christianity. Mormons not only practice baptism and celebrate the Eucharist, but they also participate in religious rituals unknown to the traditional Christians. They believe that God, through Smith and his successors, restored these truths and restored the original Christianity taught by Jesus Christ.

During this century, many members practice polygamy and plural marriage, but it was opposed heavily by the United States Congress. In 1980, the practice was formally abolished as instructed in the manifesto of Wilford Woodruff. Although they are part of Christianity, they differ in some of the beliefs.

They also believe in scriptures other than the Holy Bible, particularly The Book of Mormon. This book contains the sacred texts found from 2200 BC until AD 421 compiled from various prophets who lived in America. On March 1830, Joseph Smith published the book for the first time. There are several passages in the book that are not found in the other scriptures like the fall of the first man and woman from the grace of God.

A crucial event in the book is when Jesus appeared in America shortly after he rose from the dead. Like the Holy Bible, it is separated into shorter books, with the author as title of each book, then divided still into chapters then as verses. Today, the book has been translated into different languages and distributed to other countries.

In the recent century, the scope of their literature is not restricted to their religion and culture. There is a lot of Mormons who are successful in the mainstream media, for example, Stephanie Meyer who is responsible for the phenomenal Twilight series, and Orson Scott Card who also wrote Enders Game. Their Mormon poems and other literature are just as fascinating as what any culture have.




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