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Mormon religious belief has long been a mystery to outsiders, either dismissed as anomalous to the American religious tradition or extolled as the most genuine creation of the American imagination. The Refiner's Fire presents a new and comprehensive understanding of the roots of Mormon religion, whose theology promises the faithful that they will become "gods" through the restoration of ancient mysteries and regain the divine powers of Adam lost in the fall from Paradise. Professor Brooke contends that the origins of Mormonism lie in the fusion of radical religion with occult ideas, and organizes his book around the two problems of demonstrating the survival of these ideas into the nineteenth century and explaining how they were manifested in Mormon doctrine. In the concluding chapter, the author provides an outline of how Mormonism since the 1850s gradually moved toward traditional Protestant Christianity. As well as religion, the book explores magic, witchcraft, alchemy, Freemasonry, counterfeiting, and state-formation. John L. Brooke is professor of history at Tufts University and the acclaimed author of The Heart of the Commonwealth: Society and Political Culture in Worcester County, Massachusetts, 1713-1861 (CUP, 1989), which has won, among other prizes, the Organization of American Historians' Merle Curti Award for Intellectual History and the National Historical Society Book Prize for American History.
- Sales Rank: #812688 in Books
- Brand: Brand: Cambridge University Press
- Published on: 1996-05-31
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.98" h x .91" w x 5.98" l, 1.40 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 444 pages
Features
- Used Book in Good Condition
Review
"John Brooke takes a controversial romp over the field of previous Mormon scholarship. When he has done, he has managed to raise the intellectual pedigree of Joseph Smith by establishing his close kinship with European hermeticists and the subversive sectarians of the Radical Reformation. It is a fascinating argument that traces the influence of ideas through complicated social networks of neighbors and kin. The people 'prepared' for Mormonism are a surprising lot." R. Laurence Moore, Cornell University
"The Refiner's Fire explores the complex and always intriguing world of early Mormon theological and ritual evolution with remarkable learning, fairness, and daring--an exciting, sophisticated account sure to generate both controversy and a renewed appreciation of early Mormon spiritual creativity." John Butler, Yale University
"This is not just a revealing history of the backgrund of the first Mormons and early Mormonism but a larger history of early American culture that will do almost as much for readers who are interested in the cultural context in which this new American religion developed as it will do for those who simply want to learn more about Mormon beginnings." Jan Shipps, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis
"His book is a model of the historian's enterprise....[Brooke] blends the passion of the detective and the dispassion of the good judge as he describes the background and context of Mormonism." Martin E. Marty, Commonwealth
"An insightful contribution to the controversy surrounding the origins of Mormonism." College & Research Libraries News
"Excellent....This study not only sets Mormon religious history into a frontier occult milieu but offers important understanding of the beliefs and practices of Americans outside the individual and institutional carriers commonly the focus of previous occult histories." The Reader's Review
"The Refiner's Fire is a wonderful book, thoroughly researched and rich in interpretive detail." Curtis Johnson, The Journal of American History
"The Refiner's Fire is an important and daring work for which Brooke has received the Bancroft Prize in American history....Combining intellectual and demographic history with rare skill, Brooke sheds great light on transatlantic subcultures that have not been labeled "occult" (read "hidden") for nothing." Religious Studies Review
From the Back Cover
The 'Refiner's Fire' presents a new and comprehensive understanding of the roots of the Mormon religion, a religion which proposes that the faithful will become gods. The book's central thesis is that the origins of Mormonism lie in the fusion and magical ideas about recovering the divine powers of Adam lost in the fall from Paradise.
Most helpful customer reviews
9 of 18 people found the following review helpful.
Remarkable Book
By Peter G. Buckley
I have used The Refiner's Fire in my American Social History class to great effect. The students were fascinated not only by the subject matter (which was wonderful in the way it presented almost unimaginable links of popular thought)but also by Brooke's method.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
Excellent; 4.5 Stars
By R. Albin
This well written and well documented book is a revealing look at the roots and genesis of the distinctive theology and cosmology of the LDS church. Brooke argues very well that LDS theology/cosmology has deep roots in the Western tradition, traceable back to the Hermetic tradition of the Classical world. Brooke shows an excellent correspondence between Mormon theology/cosmology and a combination of Hermetic ideas, alchemical ideas associated with the Hermetic tradition, milleniarianism derived from late Medieval mysticism, utopianism and perfectionism associated with radical sects of Reformation, and possibly aspects of folk magic traditions. This is more than a demonstration of correlations. Brooke does very well in showing the specific historical influences in colonial and early Republican America that contributed to the formation of Mormon theology/cosmology. These include the heritage of radical English sects, mystic traditions from German sects that were influential in the middle Atlantic colonies, and the 18th century revival of Freemasonry. Tracing some of these traditions through the families of early Mormon leaders, and in particular, the heritage and experiences of Joseph Smith, Brooke provides a concrete and persuasive reconstruction of how this set of idea came together to form the distinctive LDS theology/cosmology.
This book is valuable not only becuse of its insight into the history of the distinctively American phenomenon of Mormonism, but also because it shows the heterogenous nature of religious experience and ferment in colonial and early Republican America. The attractions of Mormonism, with its repudiation of original sin, its generous promise of eternal life to most, and the prospect of acquiring godly attributes in the afterlife, are depicted very well. Brooke also does very well in showing how Smith's ideas evolved from the time of his initial revelations to the time of his death. The concluding chapter is a nice history of how the LDS church had to modify some of the features of Smith's vision to survive in the more conventional Protestant dominated society of 19th and early 20th century America.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
Hermeticism and Mormonism
By E M
This is the second time I've read his book. I am glad I read it again because the last time I read it was over a decade ago and I had not researched church history as thoroughly at that point as I have now. I've done a whole lot of reading and research since then. I have read through much apocalyptic, mystical and sectarian literature since originally reading this and I am in a much better position now to gauge the merits of this work; and I fully concur with the author as to his overall thesis; i.e. that Mormonism is largely dependent on Hermetic tradition for much of it's theology. I am also in the process of going through the Mormon "scriptures" as well, so that I can also be well grounded in LDS theology/cosmology straight from the sources themselves.
The author begins his investigation with early Protestant sectarianism in order to show the under currents of what would lay the groundwork for Mormon cosmology. I would say that having read much of the sectarian literature from the 16th to the 18th centuries, Mormonism is even more of a departure from Christianity than much of what made up those sects ideologically. None of those sects (i.e. Shakers, Ephrata community, Swedenborgians, Philadelphians, Muggletonians etc), as far as I am aware, made God only a human being, made matter eternal and made all people potential gods in the making. This aspect of Mormon thought is such a serious departure from Christianity that nothing that is essentially Christian is really to be found here. These kinds of ideas are present in different forms in polytheistic and pagan thought however. Hermeticism is more than a likely candidate for Joseph Smith's initial inspiration and later propagation of these notions. The most likely mediating source in my opinion is Swedenborg. Brooke does note Swedenborg's likely influence, but having read Swedenborg, I would give even more credit to Swedenborg than this author does. Protestant mystics like Boehme and Swedenborg were very much within the tradition of Hermeticism and Cabalism. Like Joseph Smith, Swedenborg also claimed that God was a man; albeit in Swedenborg this is a bit more ambiguous. Swedenborg apparently thought that God was a cosmic man in some more allegorical sense; Smith believed that God was a man literally. Almost certainly Smith got this notion from Swedenborg originally. Smith attests to having read Swedenborg and agreeing with much of his thought. I am not aware of Swedenborg ever positing that men would become gods in the sense Smith did. Swedenborg was even more monotheistic than many other sectarians were at the time (even going so far as to deny the Trinity). Mormonism is really not monotheistic at all; it is wholly polytheistic. There is no one God, only an eternal succession of actual and would-be gods. In this aspect of Mormon thought, no precedent in Christian sectarianism can be found. These kinds of notions are found only in pagan thought. Buddhism and Hinduism are similar, but Hinduism has a supreme God at least in theory. In Buddhism there are many gods, not just one and any enlightened Buddha is a god, for all intents and purposes. Mormonism is similar to Buddhism in it's belief in the eternal succession of gods and the eternity of matter. It is very similar to Hinduism in it's ideas regarding polygamy and the role it plays in godhood. Certainly, the sexual aspects of Hindu Kama Sutra does offer an interesting parallel; but in general, paganism always had a very particular reverence for the coital act and this played a huge role in the temple cult (another aspect of Mormonism). Undeniably, Smith's known polygamy and the importance he gave to copulation and reproduction finds no precedent in Judaism and Christianity. Despite what Mormons may claim, the patriarchal polygamy was not religious in any way. Christ condemned polygamy along with adultery, so by Christ's definition Smith was an adulterer. Of course, really by any definition Smith was an adulterer because he had married women who were already married. It's incredibly odd that the Book Of Mormon condemns polygamy as an abomination, yet Smith practiced it and sanctioned it. In short, Hermeticism seems to have been the initial inspiration given it's theurgic bent, but there are other aspects of Mormonism that are simply pagan modes of religion.
I have read Mormons criticize this book as being overly speculative. That is really a straw man argument. The author does engage in speculation, but the speculation is based on historical fact. Facts such as: 1) Joseph Smith was into divination; 2) Smith was a Freemason; 3) Smith had read much material that was of a Hermetic bent. All of the above are historically verifiable from Smith's own words and attested by those who knew him. All of the above more than substantiates Smith's involvement in Hermetic, occult and pagan tradition. Freemasonry has been propagating Egyptian Hermeticism since it's formation; that is easily substantiated. Swedenborg owed much to Hermetic thought; that is also easily substantiated. That Smith used seer stones and engaged in other forms of divination (things the Bible condemns btw) is also easily substantiated.
To sum up, I wholly agree with the author's thesis, although I might have explored further the role of Swedenborg and I might have explored contemporaneous channeled literature such as Jacob Lorber to give more context to overall religious trends of the time. There are odd parallels between Lorber's writings and the Pearl of Great Price.
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