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9780252084874 Academic Inspection Copy

Prophetic Authority

Democratic Hierarchy and the Mormon Priesthood
  • ISBN-13: 9780252084874
  • Publisher: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESS
    Imprint: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESS
  • By Michael Hubbard MacKay
  • Price: AUD $49.99
  • Stock: 0 in stock
  • Availability: This book is temporarily out of stock, order will be despatched as soon as fresh stock is received.
  • Local release date: 14/06/2020
  • Format: Paperback 168 pages Weight: 0g
  • Categories: Christianity [HRC]
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The Mormon tradition's emphasis on prophetic authority makes the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints unique within America's religious culture. The religion that Joseph Smith created established a kingdom of God in a land distrustful of monarchy while positioning Smith as Christ's voice on earth, with the power to form cities, establish economies, and arrange governments.

Michael Hubbard MacKay traces the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' claim to religious authority and sets it within the context of its times. Delving into the evolution of the concept of prophetic authority, MacKay shows how the Church emerged as a hierarchical democracy with power diffused among leaders Smith chose. At the same time, Smith's settled place atop the hierarchy granted him an authority that spared early Mormonism the internal conflict that doomed other religious movements. Though Smith faced challenges from other leaders, the nascent Church repeatedly turned to him to decide civic plans and define the order of both the cosmos and the priesthood.

In Prophetic Authority, MacKay gives us the most thorough and painstaking description of the slow blossoming of the Mormon priesthood hierarchy available, embedding the story in the raucous context of antebellum American democracy. Valuable for anyone who wants to understand either of those worlds better.”—Matthew Bowman, author of Christian: The Politics of a Word in America
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