Binding Earth and Heaven: Patriarchal Blessings in the Prophetic Development of Early Mormonism

Chapter 5: Patriarchal Blessing Themes, 1834–1845

5 patriarchal blessing themes, 1834–1845 To restate our basic thesis: LDS patriarchal blessings emerged as a compensatory commitment mechanism in the prophetic development of early Mormonism. A systematic study of early patriarchal blessings is one way to acquire an appreciation for the distinctive prophetic beliefs of the Mormon restoration that motivated converts to prioritize their religious commitments, forsake their former lives, and, in frequent conflict with detractors and opponents, strengthen their devotion to the realization of what they believed was a transcendent cause. That transcendent cause was building God’s Kingdom on earth by preaching the ‘‘restored gospel,’’ gathering Latter-day Saint converts to Zion in preparation for the second coming of Jesus Christ, and, after proving themselves worthy of God’s commission as his latter-day agents, ultimately attaining salvation and eternal life in the celestial kingdom of heaven for themselves and their posterity. major themes and subthemes in early patriarchal blessings To facilitate our study of early patriarchal blessings we have performed a statistical content analysis of a sample of blessings randomly chosen from Michael Marquardt’s compilation of Early Patriarchal Blessings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, as summarized in the previous chapter. Table 1 shows a rank-order listing of the twenty most frequently PAGE 75 ................. 18278$ $CH5 08-30-12 08:37:10 PS 76 binding earth and heaven Table 1 Rank order of major blessing themes and subthemes by frequency of mention in a random sample of patriarchal blessings, 1834–1835 Rank Frequency Major themes and corresponding subthemes 1 158 Salvation and eternal life: celestial crown/glory; celestial kingdom; eternal life/immortality; eternity; salvation; salvation sealed; saved; saved in Kingdom of God; sealed to eternal life 2 148 Lineage: (house, seed, descendant of) Abraham; Ephraim; father; husband; Israel; Jacob; Joseph; Manasseh; Zebulon 3 85 Posterity: blessed by; a blessing to; blessings of; chosen; inheritance of; numerous; remembered by; special mission of 4 83 Zion: city/land of; gathered to; inheritance in; lead others to; Mount Zion; Zion 5 81 Priesthood: authority/power of; evangelical; gift of; heir to with husband; higher/Melchizedek; keys of; lineage of; patriarchal; patriarchal right of; priesthood; principles of; rights of 6 80 Faith: have been/continue to be faithful; if faithful; increase/ strengthen faith; faithfulness 7 65 Spirit: evil; filled with; Holy Ghost/Spirit; Holy Ghost, comfort/guidance of; Holy Spirit of promise; of the Lord/ Truth; power of the; shown by the; spirit(s); spirit prison 8 57 Affliction: afflictions; persecution; sorrows; trials; trials given by God 9 52 Husband: blessings in common with; calling of; comfort to; lineage of; savior/deliverer; support/obedience to; thy companion; to rule 10 51 Material blessings: blessings of health/long life; material/ earthly/temporal blessings 11 50 Spiritual blessings: divine reward(s); spiritual blessings 12 49 Knowledge and understanding: doctrine/gospel; gift of; mysteries revealed/understanding of; seek/obtain; spiritual; worldly/of men 13 47 End times: last days; last days, destruction in; last days, living in; last dispensation; last dispensation, chosen for; Lord, caught up to meet; Lord, coming of; redeemer, live to see; second coming (of Jesus); Son of Man, coming of 14 42 Israel: Israel; lineage of; gathering of; house/tribes of; remnants of 15 40 Good name and reputation: honored/not forgotten; known among men/nations; name recorded in heaven/in the book 16 38 Power: among men; endowed with; over evil/the wicked; over others; spiritual/of God; to convert; to heal; to heal children; to instruct 17 36 Kingdom: Lord’s; of God on earth; saved in 18 34 Gospel: everlasting; fold, brought to; gospel; preach/proclaim; restored 19 33 Covenants: covenant people; covenants; everlasting/new; sealed/sealing of 20 30 Angels: angels; ministering/guard and protect Note: Subtheme frequencies were summed to produce the total frequencies for major themes. PAGE 76 ................. 18278$ $CH5 08-30-12 08:37:11 PS patriarchal blessing themes, 1834–1845 77 coded themes (and their corresponding subthemes) in our sample of patriarchal blessings bestowed on Latter-day Saints during the period 1834–45. The corresponding subthemes help specify and clarify the meaning of these major themes and give a clear indication of the primary concerns and doctrinal beliefs shared by both the patriarchs who bestowed the blessings and the church members who received them during this early period of LDS history. According to our sample results, the most common...