Tuesday, August 03, 2004

Mormonism and America

This past weekend, we took a trip to Nauvoo for a “mini family reunion.” While we weren't able to spend a lot of time in Nauvoo itself, there were a few things that made a significant impression on me.

The Nauvoo temple is, by far, my favorite temple. I love the rich architectural symbolism and wish it were more prevalent in the newer temples. The effort and craftsmanship that went into the rebuilding is remarkable. One interesting tidbit:

The murals in the ordinance rooms are strikingly North American in character. Animals include deer, elk, beavers, cougars, and bison. I was reminded of Joseph Smith's teaching that the Garden of Eden was in Missouri. However global the Church may be today, it certainly started out very America-centered, and retains much of that America-centeredness. As the City of Joseph pageant pointed out, we believe that America is a chosen land.

This explicit North America-centeredness (the New Jerusalem to be built on the American continent) seems to me to raise some questions with regard to the limited Mesoamerican interpretation of the location of Book of Mormon events. I'm not sure these ideas are mutually exclusive, but there may be some conflicts, at least with historic interpretations of events.

As noted in the many Bloggernacle discussions of Zelph (here, here, and here), Joseph Smith apparently believed that the Book of Mormon events took place on the North American continent.

It appears that Joseph was equally willing to make connections to Biblical events, as he located the Garden of Eden and the places where Adam offered sacrifices in Missouri, at and near Adam-Ondi-Ahman. This is also where Doctrine & Covenants 116 indicates Adam will return.

While the Mesoamerican placement of the Book of Mormon reduces the central place of North America in Mormonism, the Doctrine & Covenants and other teachings of Joseph Smith broaden it. Even apart from its American “character” in terms of thematic emphasis, Mormonism is clearly an American religion.

4 comments:

  1. Wow! I really want to visit the Nauvoo temple now so that I can get a personal feel for what you are talking about. It sounds like a remarkable building and place. Thanks for sharing your experience.

    Danithew
    http://www.wump.info/wumpblog

    ReplyDelete
  2. "This explicit North America-centeredness (the New Jerusalem to be built on the American continent) seems to me to raise some questions with regard to the limited Mesoamerican interpretation of the location of Book of Mormon events. I'm not sure these ideas are mutually exclusive, but there may be some conflicts, at least with historic interpretations of events."
    ...........
    While the Mesoamerican placement of the Book of Mormon reduces the central place of North America in Mormonism, the Doctrine & Covenants and other teachings of Joseph Smith broaden it. Even apart from its American “character” in terms of thematic emphasis, Mormonism is clearly an American religion."

    I'm not following you here. You seem to be equating the term North America with the United States. What about Canada and Mexico as parts of North America? Why doesn't Mesoamerica qualify as part of North America?

    ReplyDelete
  3. i went through the nauvoo temple the summer it was dedicated (2 years ago?). it was very finely crafted. of course, some in the bloggernacle seem to think re-creating old buildings is a perversion. i guess i can't agree with that.

    -lyle

    ReplyDelete
  4. ----------------
    I'm not following you here. You seem to be equating the term North America with the United States. What about Canada and Mexico as parts of North America? Why doesn't Mesoamerica qualify as part of North America?
    ----------------

    That is the same question that came to my mind when reading your comments, also.

    It is probably only me, but I am often bothered that most of us in the United States try to claim exclusive ownership to the term "America" when to me the term would refer to North America and South America. At the very least, wouldn't all of North American be "America"? It is just one of my quirky questions.

    ReplyDelete