In Mormonism, gifts of the Spirit are spiritual endowments that provide benefits to the recipient and to those he or she serves. [1] The seventh Article of Faith states: "We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth." [2] [3] Both males and females can receive spiritual gifts. [4] They are an important component in both the basic beliefs and daily living of Mormons.
While some Charismatic Christians believe that spiritual gifts are an arbitrary endowment of grace, an important Mormon idea is that spiritual gifts can be bestowed by God upon an individual through diligent seeking and righteous living. [5] Some gifts are developed in the premortal existence. [6] Other spiritual gifts are developed during mortal life and identified by priesthood blessings. For example, many Mormons receive a patriarchal blessing which can reveal some spiritual gifts by revelation. For those who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), this blessing is recorded and saved in the official church archives.
In contemporary Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints Living, spiritual gifts are most often associated with the gift of the Holy Ghost, [7] which is bestowed by the laying on of hands following baptism in an ordinance called confirmation. [8] During the ordinance, the person being confirmed will receive the verbal admonition to "receive the Holy Ghost." [9] From this point forward, the person will be entitled to the constant companionship of the Holy Spirit if they have faith in Jesus Christ and are in a state of true repentance. The recipient will also be entitled to receive personal revelation. [10]
There is no clear consensus among Mormon thinkers on whether or not non-Mormons, who have not received the gift of the Holy Ghost, can enjoy spiritual gifts. Early Mormon references do not stress the idea that spiritual gifts are entirely predicated on the gift of the Holy Ghost, while contemporary opinions often do. [11] [2] However, the LDS Church's official website has the following quote, "As the Prophet Joseph Smith taught, the gifts of the Spirit 'are obtained through that medium' [the Holy Ghost] and “cannot be enjoyed without the gift of the Holy Ghost. … The world in general can know nothing about them.” [12]
Many Mormons believe that spiritual gifts may be received according to the needs and capacity of the individual and to the needs of others around him or her. [1] [13] These gifts are given to benefit those who love God in their journey towards eternal life. [14] They also serve as signs of true believers. [2]
The belief that spiritual gifts exist in the present age is called continuationism by some theologians and religious studies scholars. In contrast, the belief that spiritual gifts no longer operate is called cessationism. Continuationists generally believe that cessationists lack faith. Consistent with the rationalism of the modern age, cessationists generally believe continuationists are either deceivers or mentally unhealthy. [11] [15]
In the early-nineteenth century, the claim of Mormons to supernatural spiritual gifts was very common. [16] [17] Spiritual gifts were promoted in hymns, such as "The Spirit of God Like a Fire Is Burning", which was included in the first Latter Day Saint hymnal in 1835. [18] However, with the passage of time, supernaturalism has been deemphasized as a normative expression within Mormonism. [19] This de-emphasis is consistent with the general pattern of a young and charismatic religious movement experiencing the petrification of charisma because of new doctrinal standards, fixed rituals, and the policy making of bureaucratic institutions. [20]
In regards to the gift of tongues, some early Mormons claimed that their glossolalia ("speaking in tongues in a sacred language unknown to any human") was an expression of the pure Adamic language. [21] However, beginning in June 1839, glossolalia was de-emphasized in favor of the less supernatural xenoglossia ("speaking in tongues in a language that could have been learned by natural means"). [22] In regards to the gift of healing, stand alone expressions of supernatural healing have been de-emphasized in favor of comforting the sick via priesthood blessings under institutional sponsorship. [23] [24] Today, few Mormons claim to experience supernaturalism, [25] though there is a greater belief in supernatural gifts within Mormon fundamentalism as compared to the LDS Church. When supernaturalism is claimed in contemporary Mormonism, there is a tendency to attribute the experience to a direct act of God instead of an indirect act through the mediation of spiritual gifts.
Some of the spiritual gifts found in early Mormon-exclusive sources include:
The Book of Alma: The Son of Alma, usually referred to as the Book of Alma, is one of the books that make up the Book of Mormon. The title refers to Alma the Younger, a prophet and "chief judge" of the Nephites. Alma is the longest book in the Book of Mormon and consists of sixty-three chapters, taking up almost a third of the volume.
The Book of Helaman is one of the books that make up the Book of Mormon, a text held sacred by churches within the Latter Day Saint movement, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The book continues the history of the Nephites and the Lamanites from approximately 50 BC to 1 BC. It discusses political unrest among the Nephites and the formation of a group of secret dissenters called the Gadianton Robbers. Helaman, son of Helaman leads the Nephites for a time, and his sons Nephi and Lehi go on a successful mission to the Lamanites. When Nephi returns home, he correctly identifies the murderer of the chief judge using his prophetic powers, and sends a famine to the Nephite which lasts three years. After a digression from Mormon, the book of Helaman ends with Samuel the Lamanite's prophecy of the signs that will precede Christ's birth and death. Helaman deals with themes of external and internal conflict, hidden information, Nephite racism, and Mormon's views of history as deduced by his redaction of it.
The Book of Mosiah is one of the books which make up the Book of Mormon. The title refers to Mosiah II, a king of the Nephites at Zarahemla. The book covers the time period between ca 130 BC and 91 BC, except for when the book has a flashback into the Record of Zeniff, which starts at ca 200 BC, according to footnotes. Aside from stating that it was abridged by Mormon, the text says nothing about its authorship. Mosiah is twenty-nine chapters long.
The Book of Ether is one of the books of the Book of Mormon. It describes the Jaredites, descendants of Jared and his companions, who were led by God to the Americas shortly after the confusion of tongues and the destruction of the Tower of Babel. Ether consists of fifteen chapters.
Early Mormonism had a range of doctrines related to race with regards to Black people of African descent. References to Black people, their social condition during the 19th and 20th centuries, and their spiritual place in Western Christianity as well as in Mormon scripture were complicated.
The Book of Moroni is the last of the books that make up the Book of Mormon. According to the text it was written by the prophet Moroni sometime between 400 and 421 CE. Moroni consists of ten chapters.
The Book of Mormon mentions three men named Helaman. The first was the son of King Benjamin, king of the united Nephite-Zarahemla kingdom who lived in the 2nd century BC. Besides his genealogy, information about the first Helaman is limited. His brother, Mosiah, became heir to the throne.
Zarahemla is a land in the Book of Mormon that for much of the narrative functions as the capital of the Nephites, their political and religious center. Zarahemla has been the namesake of multiple communities in the United States, has been alluded to in literature that references Mormonism, and has been portrayed in artwork depicting Book of Mormon content.
Mormon is believed by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be a prophet-historian and a member of a tribe of indigenous Americans known as the Nephites, one of the four groups described in the Book of Mormon as having settled in the ancient Americas.
According to the Book of Mormon, the Anti-Nephi-Lehies were an ethnic group of Lamanites formed around 90 BC, after a significant religious conversion. They made a covenant that they would not participate in war, and buried their weapons. Eventually they changed their name to the people of Ammon, or Ammonites. During a later period of warfare, the young men of the group who had not made the pacifist covenant became a military unit known as the two thousand stripling warriors, and were protected by divine intervention.
According to the Book of Mormon, the plates of Nephi, consisting of the large plates of Nephi and the small plates of Nephi, are a portion of the collection of inscribed metal plates which make up the record of the Nephites. This record was later abridged by Mormon and inscribed onto gold plates from which Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon after an angel revealed to him the location where the plates were buried on a hill called Cumorah near the town of Palmyra, New York.
According to the Book of Mormon, Amaleki was one of several Nephite record keepers who maintained records on metal plates known as the plates of Nephi. The Book of Mormon refers to the small plates of Nephi and the large plates of Nephi. Nephi began writing on the small plates about 570 BC. Nephi's brother Jacob and his descendants began keeping records of sacred and religious matters on the small plates around 544 BC. Seven of Jacob's descendants, including Amaleki, wrote on the plates. Amaleki recorded his account on the plates about 130 BC. He states at the end of his writings that the plates are full. He received the plates of Nephi from his father Abinadom and penned 18 verses in the Book of Omni. He was the last person to write in the small plates of Nephi. Having no descendants, Amaleki gave the small plates to King Benjamin.
This chronology outlines the major events in the history of the Book of Mormon, according to the text. Dates given correspond to dates in the footnotes of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints edition of the Book of Mormon and to a Jaredite timeline proposed by Latter-Day Saint scholar John L. Sorenson.
According to the Book of Mormon, Zenos was an old world prophet whose pre-Christian era writings were recorded upon the plates of brass. Zenos is quoted or paraphrased a number of times by writers in the Book of Mormon, including Nephi, Jacob, Alma, son of Alma, Nephi, son of Helaman, Samuel the Lamanite, and Mormon.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints focuses its doctrine and teaching on Jesus Christ; that he was the Son of God, born of Mary, lived a perfect life, performed miracles, bled from every pore in the Garden of Gethsemane, died on the cross, rose on the third day, appeared again to his disciples, and now resides, authoritatively, on the right hand side of God. In brief, some beliefs are in common with Catholics, Orthodox and Protestant traditions. However, teachings of the LDS Church differ significantly in other ways and encompass a broad set of doctrines, so that the above-mentioned denominations usually place the LDS Church outside the bounds of orthodox Christian teaching as summarized in the Nicene Creed.
Mosiah priority is a theory about the creation of the Book of Mormon arguing that the original manuscript began not with 1 Nephi, but midway through, starting with Mosiah. According to Mosiah priority, after the text of Mosiah through the end of the Book of Mormon was transcribed, Joseph Smith returned to the beginning and transcribed 1 Nephi through Words of Mormon. Mosiah priority is the most widely held solution to questions regarding the sequence of the English text.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Book of Mormon:
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