Startseite Religionswissenschaft, Bibelwissenschaft und Theologie The Prophetess of Endor: Reception of 1 Samuel 28 in Nineteenth Century Mormon History
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The Prophetess of Endor: Reception of 1 Samuel 28 in Nineteenth Century Mormon History

  • Christopher James Blythe EMAIL logo
Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 23. Juni 2017

Abstract

This article documents one strain of Mormon thought concerning the Woman of Endor narrative in 1 Samuel 28, in which the woman was interpreted as a prophetess enabled to raise the dead through her spiritual gifts. Church leaders eventually condemned this narrative because of its similarities with Spiritualist exegesis and American Christianity’s use of the narrative to condemn Spiritualism as necromancy. Through establishing an orthodox reading of the passage, leaders strengthened the boundaries separating the two faiths – boundaries that many Spiritualists had argued were at best blurry and overlapping.

Acknowledgments

The author would like to express his appreciation for those who read and commented on drafts of this paper, including Mason Kamana Allred, Matthew Godfrey, Courtney Jensen Peacock, Joseph Spencer, Joseph Stuart, Jeff Turner, and Kris Wright.

Works Cited

Manuscripts

The Church History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.

General Church Minutes.

MS 1862

MS 8988

MS 9628

MS 14590

Newspapers

Common Sense: A Journal of Lived Ideas

Elders’ Journal

Elder’s Journal of the Southern States Mission

Improvement Era

Juvenile Instructor

Millennial Star

New York Herald

Saints’ Advocate

Seer

Spiritualistic Free Press

Times and Seasons

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Published Online: 2017-6-23
Published in Print: 2017-4-25

©2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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