Name/Title
Terrible RevolutionDescription
"The relationship between Mormons and the United States was marked by anxiety and hostility. Nineteenth-century Latter-day Saints looked forward to apocalyptic events that would unseat corrupt governments across the globe but would particularly decimate the tyrannical government of the United States. Mormons turned to prophecies of divine deliverance by way of plagues, natural disasters, foreign invasions, American Indian raids, slave uprisings, or civil war unleashed on American cities and American people. For the Saints, these violent images promised an end to their oppression. It also promised a national rebirth as part of the millennial Kingdom of God that would vouchsafe the protections of the United States Constitution. Blythe examines apocalypticism across the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints particularly as it would take shape in localized and personalized forms in the writings and visions of ordinary Latter-day Saints outside of the Church's leadership. By following the official response of church leaders to lay prophecy, Blythe shows how the hierarchy, committed to a form of separatist nationalism of their own, encouraged apocalypticism during the nineteenth century. Yet, after Utah obtained statehood, as the church sought to accommodate to national norms for religious denominations, leaders sought to lessen the tensions between themselves and American political and cultural powers. As a result, visions of a violent end to the nation became a liability and leaders began to disavow and regulate these apocalyptic narratives particularly as they showed up among the laity"--Book Details
Author
Blythe, Christopher JamesDate Published
2020Publication Subjects
Christianity and politics -- Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- History -- 19th century.
Christianity and politics -- United States -- History -- 19th century.
United States -- Politics and government -- 19th century.
Christianity and culture -- United States -- History -- 19th century.
Apocalyptic literature -- History and criticism.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Christianity and politics -- Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Apocalyptic literature.
Christianity and culture.
Christianity and politics.
Politics and government.
United States.
Eglise de Jésus-Christ des saints des derniers jours -- 19e siècle.
Christianisme et politique -- Eglise de Jésus-Christ des saints des derniers jours -- États-Unis -- 19e siècle.
Littérature apocalyptique -- Histoire et critique.Call No.
BX8643.P6 B58 2020ISBN
9780190080280 0190080280Notes
x, 333 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm. Includes bibliographical references (pages 277-302) and index.