The prophetess of Endor: reception of 1 Samuel 28 in nineteenth century mormon history

This article documents one strain of Mormon thought concerning the Woman of Endor narrative in 1 Samuel 28, in which the woman was interpreted as a prophetess enabled to raise the dead through her spiritual gifts. Church leaders eventually condemned this narrative because of its similarities with Sp...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Blythe, Christopher James (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: De Gruyter 2017
In: Journal of the bible and its reception
Year: 2017, Volume: 4, Issue: 1, Pages: 43-70
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Bible. Samuel 1. 28 / Woman / Endor (Place) / Prophetess / Mormon Church / Spiritualism / Witch
IxTheo Classification:HB Old Testament
KDH Christian sects
Further subjects:B Samuel
B Endor
B Saul
B Mormonism
B Spiritualism
B Witch
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:This article documents one strain of Mormon thought concerning the Woman of Endor narrative in 1 Samuel 28, in which the woman was interpreted as a prophetess enabled to raise the dead through her spiritual gifts. Church leaders eventually condemned this narrative because of its similarities with Spiritualist exegesis and American Christianity’s use of the narrative to condemn Spiritualism as necromancy. Through establishing an orthodox reading of the passage, leaders strengthened the boundaries separating the two faiths – boundaries that many Spiritualists had argued were at best blurry and overlapping.
ISSN:2329-4434
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of the bible and its reception
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1515/jbr-2017-2002