Materializing Religion, Heidegger, and the Stability of Joseph Smith’s Seer Stones as Religious Objects
This article examines the stability of religious objects by asking how Joseph Smith’s seer stones, from which he dug for buried treasure and produced the Book of Mormon, were materialized into religious objects. This analysis challenges the assumed stability of material objects by demonstrating that...
| Published in: | Material religion |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis
[2020]
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| In: |
Material religion
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Smith, Joseph 1805-1844
/ Stone
/ Fortune-telling
/ Religion
/ Materiality
/ Seclusion
/ Holiness
/ Heidegger, Martin 1889-1976, Sein und Zeit
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| RelBib Classification: | AG Religious life; material religion AZ New religious movements KDH Christian sects |
| Further subjects: | B
religious objects
B Material Religion B Mormon studies B seer stones B Museums B Martin Heidegger B Latter-day Saints B Joseph Smith B Ann Taves |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | This article examines the stability of religious objects by asking how Joseph Smith’s seer stones, from which he dug for buried treasure and produced the Book of Mormon, were materialized into religious objects. This analysis challenges the assumed stability of material objects by demonstrating that the seer stones could potentially lose their religious qualities and values once they were examined, displayed, or explained. This is framed by using Martin Heidegger’s practical descriptions “ready-to-hand” and “present-to-hand” to explain the unstable nature of religious objects and why public examination and explanation of religious objects can potentially strip them of their perceived sacredness. |
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| ISSN: | 1751-8342 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Material religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/17432200.2020.1756165 |