Mormon Poems And The Culture Of Latter Day Saints

By Irma Farrell


Latter day Saints poetry, or Mormon poems, is poetry written by the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints about spiritual themes or topics. Latter day Saints have composed religious poetry since the beginning of the Church in the early nineteenth century. For them it is a form of art that can convey messages to the Holy Spirit.

An example would be Elders Journal, which was published at Far West in 1838, contained a beautiful poem that was a tribute to John Marsh. Some significant early known poets are Eliza Snow who penned O, My Father and Phelps who wrote The Spirit of God. Some known contemporary authors are John Talbot and Dilworth Young.

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.

Joseph Smith found Mormonism in the 1820s and through his visions began the church in New York around that time. Although they are the main part of the Latter Day Saints, there are some who chose to be independent and there are others who do not practice the religion anymore. Other than being religious, they also put a high importance to family life and values, like fidelity and chastity.

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.

They used to practice polygamy or plural marriage which Smith has established in Nauvoo, but was opposed by the US congress. The practice was officially abolished by Wilford Woodruff in his 1980 manifesto. They are identified as Christians though some of their beliefs differ from the mainstream Christianity.

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.

The important event in the book is the appearance of Jesus Christ in the Americas shortly after his resurrection. The book is divided into smaller books, titled after the primary authors and divided into chapters and verses. It is written in English and is very similar to the early King James Version of the Bible and has been translated into 108 languages today.

When writing what they consider as a Mormon literature, the scope is not limited to spiritual themes. There are many authors who have penetrated the main audience, like Stephanie Meyer and Orson Scott Card who penned the Twilight series and the Enders Game, respectively. Mormon poems and literature are just like any other form of art in this world.




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