Abstract
On 6 April 1830 Joseph Smith Jr. legally established what he claimed to be the restored Church of Jesus Christ that had existed previously during the New Testament times. This bold claim was bolstered by stories of angelic visitations in the hemlock–northern hardwood forest of New York and Pennsylvania by biblical and nonbiblical figures alike. In one of Smith’s supernatural encounters he claims that immediately prior to his theophany the Devil tried to intercede and prevent his communion with God. Thus, Smith and his followers have embraced a complex worldview concerning the nineteenth-century American forest, host to both the Divine and the Devil. The nineteenth-century American forest was complicated by its dangerous elements, its economic opportunities, and the sublime quality popularized in landscape paintings. Forests existed as environments that were equal in their ability to leave one desolate, well-provisioned, or inspired. Navigating these sometimes paradoxical views, Joseph Smith’s stories of otherworldly visitations in forest settings have resonated with many people seeking understanding in a confusing world. The founding story of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and artistic depictions thereof demonstrate an evolving view of the American forest. The American forest is a malleable, liminal space in which Latter-day Saints have continually combined elements of faith and memory to create a unique faith tradition with roots in a transformative place in American society. This interdisciplinary paper examines the physical appearance of the hemlock–northern hardwood forest, the socioeconomic climate, shifting sentimental values, and the philosophical ideas popularized by transcendentalists and the Hudson River School of painters that provided the scaffolding for this resilient religious movement’s origin story.
Highlights
IntroductionOn 6 April 1830 Joseph Smith Jr. legally established what would later be renamed The
On 6 April 1830 Joseph Smith Jr. legally established what would later be renamed TheChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Fayette, New York, with a membership of six people
This newly organized Church claimed to be the restored Church of Jesus Christ that existed during the New Testament times led by the Twelve Apostles, which had been destroyed by apostasy some hundred years after the time of Christ. It claimed to be “the only true & living Church upon the face of the whole Earth” (Joseph Smith Papers Revelation 1831, p. 126 [D&C 1:30]). Such bold claims were bolstered with mystical stories of angelic visitations in the hemlock–northern hardwood forest of New York and Pennsylvania by biblical figures and nonbiblical figures alike
Summary
On 6 April 1830 Joseph Smith Jr. legally established what would later be renamed The. Religions 2022, 13, 232 to the forest in socioeconomic, sentimental, and philosophical terms will provide a scaffolding with which to understand how this forest environment was changing in the broader American cultural context, including ideas popularized by transcendentalists and the Hudson River School of painters With this framework in place, a discussion of the founding story of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and depictions thereof will demonstrate that the Latter-day Saint culture, along with its broader American cultural context, gradually shifted away from viewing the American forest as solely a wild frontier to be subdued by human intervention and toward a more nuanced and romantic view of certain natural environments as being significant places for spiritual reflection.. In some old-growth stands unexposed to agricultural clearing it would not be uncommon for some trees to reach heights above 100 feet With this physical setting in mind, one can begin to understand the context for how nineteenthcentury Americans could have viewed the forest paradoxically with awe, as ancient and pristine, yet with derision, as a wild place in need of clearing and cultivation in order to settle and survive.
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