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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Christianity > Protestantism & Protestant Churches > Other Protestant & Nonconformist Churches > General
Parley P. Pratt's memoirs impress with their vivid and eventful
accounts of the author's life. Foremost however is the author's
supreme devotion to the Mormon church and the Lord God. Pratt
begins by reminiscing on his youth. The early 19th century was an
exciting but dangerous time to be alive; the United States was a
fledgling nation, and its westward expansion was fraught with a
variety of dangers and hardships. Some trusted only in what they
believed they knew, but Pratt placed his trust in Jesus Christ's
principles from an early age and was in youth part of the Baptist
movement. However, he felt he could go further in God's name, and
this led him to Joseph Smith and the Mormon church. As one of the
earliest members of the Latter Day Saints, Pratt enjoyed a good
degree of influence at the forefront of the church's activity. He
was present as the denomination grew from its roots as a small,
regional group of frontier settlers to a national and international
creed with its base in Utah.
Parley P. Pratt's memoirs impress with their vivid and eventful
accounts of the author's life. Foremost however is the author's
supreme devotion to the Mormon church and the Lord God. Pratt
begins by reminiscing on his youth. The early 19th century was an
exciting but dangerous time to be alive; the United States was a
fledgling nation, and its westward expansion was fraught with a
variety of dangers and hardships. Some trusted only in what they
believed they knew, but Pratt placed his trust in Jesus Christ's
principles from an early age and was in youth part of the Baptist
movement. However, he felt he could go further in God's name, and
this led him to Joseph Smith and the Mormon church. As one of the
earliest members of the Latter Day Saints, Pratt enjoyed a good
degree of influence at the forefront of the church's activity. He
was present as the denomination grew from its roots as a small,
regional group of frontier settlers to a national and international
creed with its base in Utah.
Wife No. 19 is the compelling, informative and emotionally fraught
biography of Ann Eliza Young, a member and wife within the Mormon
church during the 19th century. Young sets out to chronicle a
lengthy expos of the various misdeeds she witnessed or was
personally part of. She describes the character of the founder and
prophet of the Mormon Church, Joseph Smith, in the context of his
interpersonal relationships. The gradual emergence of polygamy, and
its uptake among the higher ranking members of the church, is
detailed. Although the title highlights the polygamous
relationships for which Mormonism gained notoriety, this book does
not shy away from the other scandals or controversies. For example;
the means via which Brigham Young dishonestly relieved his
followers of their money, possessions and cattle via a number of
schemes, and the frequent use of the local Native American
populations as scapegoats.
Wife No. 19 is the compelling, informative and emotionally fraught
biography of Ann Eliza Young, a member and wife within the Mormon
church during the 19th century. Young sets out to chronicle a
lengthy expos of the various misdeeds she witnessed or was
personally part of. She describes the character of the founder and
prophet of the Mormon Church, Joseph Smith, in the context of his
interpersonal relationships. The gradual emergence of polygamy, and
its uptake among the higher ranking members of the church, is
detailed. Although the title highlights the polygamous
relationships for which Mormonism gained notoriety, this book does
not shy away from the other scandals or controversies. For example;
the means via which Brigham Young dishonestly relieved his
followers of their money, possessions and cattle via a number of
schemes, and the frequent use of the local Native American
populations as scapegoats.
Did the Labour Party, in Morgan Phillips' famous phrase, owe 'more
to Methodism than Marx'? Were the founding fathers of the party
nurtured in the chapels of Nonconformity and shaped by their
emphases on liberty, conscience and the value of every human being
in the eyes of God? How did the Free Churches, traditionally allied
to the Liberal Party, react to the growing importance of the Labour
Party between the wars? This book addresses these questions at a
range of levels: including organisation; rhetoric; policies and
ideals; and electoral politics. It is shown that the distinctive
religious setting in which Labour emerged indeed helps to explain
the differences between it and more Marxist counterparts on the
Continent, and that this setting continued to influence Labour
approaches towards welfare, nationalisation and industrial
relations between the wars. In the process Labour also adopted some
of the righteousness of tone of the Free Churches. This setting
was, however, changing. Dropping their traditional suspicion of the
State, Nonconformists instead increasingly invested it with
religious values, helping to turn it through its growing welfare
functions into the provider of practical Christianity. This
nationalisation of religion continues to shape British attitudes to
the welfare state as well as imposing narrowly utilitarian and
material tests of relevance upon the churches and other social
institutions. The elevation of the State was not, however, intended
as an end in itself. What mattered were the social and individual
outcomes. Socialism, for those Free Churchmen and women who helped
to shape Labour in the early twentieth century, was about improving
society as much as systems.
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