The Power of Godliness: Mormon Liturgy and Cosmology

by Jonathan Stapley

Overview

The Power of Godliness is a key work to understand Mormon conceptions of priesthood, authority, and gender. With in-depth research and never previously used documents, Jonathan A. Stapley explores the rituals of ordination, temple "sealings," baby blessings, healing, and cunning-folk traditions. In doing so, he demonstrates that Mormon liturgy includes a much larger and more complex set of ritualized acts of worship than the specific rites of initiation, instruction, and sealing that take place within the temple walls.
By exploring Mormonism's liturgy more broadly, The Power of Godliness shows both the nuances of Mormon belief and practice, and how the Mormon ordering of heaven and earth is not a mere philosophical or theological exercise. Stapley examines Mormonism's liturgical history to reveal a complete religious world, incorporating women, men, and children all participating in the construction of the Mormon universe. This book opens new possibilities for understanding the lived experiences of women and men in the Mormon past and present, and investigates what work these rituals and ritualized acts actually performed in the communities that carried them out. By tracing the development of the rituals and the work they accomplish, The Power of Godliness sheds important new light on the Mormon universe, its complex priesthoods, authorities, and powers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190844431
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	03/02/2018
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Jonathan Stapley is an award-winning historian and scientist. An active participant in the field of Mormon Studies, he is also the Chief Technology Officer for a bio-renewables company.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Priesthood Ordination
2. Sealings
3. Baby Blessing
4. Healing, Authority, and Ordinances
5. Cunning Folk Traditions and Mormon Authority

Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

"It is a book worth reading for anyone interested in the history of Latter-day Saints ritual practie and priesthood... It is a fine contribution to Ritual Studies." — Hans Gerald Hödl, Religious Studies Review

"it is one of those books that makes every word count. There is no fluff here, only finely sanded insight after insight, with all redundancy polished away ... his archival work is unparalleled." — Matthew Bowman, Mormon Studies Review

"Stapley's work is a welcome addition to the growing library on Latter-day Saint ritual praxis ... Stapley ought to be congratulated on producing a study that provokes even as it leaves space for further discussion." — Dan Belnap, BYU Studies Quarterly

"The careful concision of The Power of Godliness is refreshing and impressive The book makes its most valuable contributions to the study of gender and 20th-century Mormonism in particular, enriching our understanding of ubiquitous female participation in LDS healing liturgy prior to later correlation movements that replaced local variation with hierarchically centralized directives Stapley, a biochemist, now joins a group of independent scholars who manage to write influential books on Mormonism as a side gig-and make it look easy."—Gavin Feller, Reading Religion

"[T]he wider scholarly world is enriched by Power of Godliness. The book offers much to consider for those interested in institutional continuity and change, creation and negotiation of religious identity, and how ritual enlivens belief and vice versa. We will be talking about and learning from this work for a long time to come."—Juvenile Instructor

"Finally, a succinct and insightful analysis of Mormon rituals. Stapley takes on the complexities of the nineteenth century while not shirking from the controversies of the twentieth. By bravely addressing the full span of Latter-day Saint history, he shows how change keeps the tradition alive and meaningful. The Power of Godliness is required reading for understanding how belief and practice structure the Mormon world."—Colleen McDannell, Professor of History, University of Utah

"Jonathan Stapley's strength is two-fold; his archival research is unparalleled, bringing into the conversation a panoply of new sources and illuminating materials. In addition, he uses them to construct new models for understanding the complex theological universe of early Mormonism. The Power of Godliness is an exceptional liturgical history."—Terryl Givens, author of Feeding the Flock: The Foundations of Mormon Thought

"This imaginative and impeccably documented inquiry into the Mormon ordering of cosmos and community probes the connection between liturgical and ecclesiastical structures and casts new light on both. Drawing upon his prodigious research in personal narratives and institutional sources that span decades of Mormon history, Stapley demonstrates how successive changes in Mormon rituals have affected the beliefs and experiences of ordinary women and men. The book's detailed and even-handed treatment of such complicated and contested issues as shifting conceptualizations of priesthood and women's longtime participation in healing rituals makes it a fascinating read, a valuable reference, and a helpful bridge between the Mormonism of the present and its all too distant past."—Jill Mulvay Derr, co-editor of The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in Latter-day Saint Women's History

From the Publisher