Summer Review: Albert Brisbane — Joseph Smith and Eschatology

Another Oldie.

This post has been sitting around for a while, has something to do with Joseph Smith’s sermons, and in particular funeral sermons, because it poses some questions on the idea of community and eschatology, and I don’t have time to work on it more right now, so here it is.

Mormon communal adventures of the 19th century played out against a range of American civil experimentation. A major difference was the underlying eschatology of Mormonism.

Joseph Smith pushed (via revelations like Doctrine and Covenants 42) the idea of community into the lives of early Mormons, but he also pushed it into the afterlife (an early version of this is D&C 78:6 – later versions were based on sealing). Echoing Swedenborg (by coincidence rather than intent it seems) he infused doctrine with community and family.

Mormon Communitarianism- Distinct by Eschatology

Mormon communitarianism came close on the heals of a number of such experiments. Robert Owen’s communities had an influence on Mormonism because several Owenite co-ops existed in the vicinity of Kirtland just prior to the advent of the Lamanite Missionaries landing there. When Parley Pratt, Ziba Peterson, Oliver Cowdery and Peter Whitmer came through Ohio during the fall before the hard winter of 1830-31, they found an Owenite inspired commune on the Isaac Morley farm. Some of the interesting details are in Mark Staker, Hearken O Ye People. (Kofford, 2010). This does have something to do with Joseph Smith’s funeral sermons:

Albert Brisbane and Joseph Smith

Albert Brisbane – Joseph Smith and Eschatology

This post has been sitting around for a while, has something to do with Joseph Smith’s sermons, and in particular funeral sermons, because it poses some questions on the idea of community and eschatology, and I don’t have time to work on it more right now, so here it is.

Mormon communal adventures of the 19th century played out against a range of American civil experimentation. A major difference was the underlying eschatology of Mormonism.

Joseph Smith pushed (via revelations like Doctrine and Covenants 42) the idea of community into the lives of early Mormons, but he also pushed it into the afterlife (an early version of this is D&C 78:6 – later versions were based on sealing). Echoing Swedenborg (by coincidence rather than intent it seems) he infused doctrine with community and family.