The Second Great Awakening

This last week in class, we discussed the Second Great Awakening. The more I learn about this period in history, the more I see its influence in contemporary American culture and politics. This religious revivalism explains in part why, next to Europe, the United States is so morally, religiously, and politically conservative: why we find Glenn Beck funny, why homosexuality and abortion are such explosive issues, etc.

Insights into the Second Great Awakening have also enabled me to more clearly see how Joseph Smith fits into his own historical and cultural context. He tried to build a Utopian community based on shared wealth (or as we'd say, a zionistic community which he was inspired of God to direct), like the Harmony Society or the Oneida communities. He sent out missionaries to preach on tree stumps, like Thomas and Alexander Campbell. He claimed to have the whole truth. The church he founded represents a 'democratization' of faith and power - all men hold the priesthood, all worthy members hold callings, and such callings are not held for life.

However, in many ways, Joseph Smith represents a break from his contemporary revivalists, first and foremost in the movement's title - a restoration rather than a revival. Through the intermediary Joseph Smith, God restored truth and power that had been lost. The revivalists, on the other hand, thought all the necessary truth was already contained within the Bible, and the concept of 'authority' or power had been quite lost. Joseph Smith's teachings - especially the principle of the temple - hark back to the Old Testament. On the contrary, revivalists primarily read, quoted, and expounded on the New Testament, insisting that all the necessary truths for salvation were contained in that book.

The Mormons also promulgate seemingly heretical doctrines, like the apotheosis of man. We Mormons believe that man is God in embryo, and that we can become gods ourselves. This is a total break with all religious thought in the previous 1600 years, and is a restoration - not a revival - of truth.