Mormon "relics"


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I start this as a more fun than serious topic, let's see where that goes.

Our religion does not seem to be one that is attached to random sacred relics, but do we ever get funny about certain things?

Example: when I was student-teaching I admired this large basket my mentor kept some reading books in. I asked where she got it and she replied Gordon B. Hinckley had sent it hee way, figuring it could be useful in a classroom (her husband was one of his personal security). For a moment I was shocked a basket touched by the prophet was holding sight word readers.

Yesterday I ran into a kid attached to a cap he had received from Elder Bednar.

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Yeah, I basically agree with the OP.  I think we keep Joseph Smith's pistol in a museum somewhere, maybe in Nauvoo.  Not exactly holy relic status.  We've got scripture about the location of Eden, and where a prophesied temple must be built, and the hill Cumorah, but those places don't seem to hold as much importance in most of our minds as, say, Jerusalem or the tomb we think might have been Christ's.  We don't exactly require pilgrimages to Joseph's grave or Carthage or whatnot.

 

I mean, a lot of us (including me) have been to church history sites, but when I stand next to a Muslim and ask him about Mecca, there's quite a bit of difference between his response about his places, and mine about mine.

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My dad has kept at least one copy of every church manual that has ever been issued to him. When I was still living at home one of his favorite FHE lesson ideas was to compare and contrast things like the old and new For the Strength of Youth pamphlets. I offered to give him my copy of the fairly new Nursery handbook, he wasn't interested because there's nothing older to compare it to. 

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I have a original stone from the Nauvoo Temple ..... It's in our flower garden. If it ever turns up missing I will start checking all the members homes first.

In the garden, that's not even close to a relic. Now my piece of original Nauvoo Temple stone is mounted and displayed on the top of my book cases!  :)

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Actually the church does keep sacred relics.   Many are put on display - for example the original 12 Arnold Friberg Book of Mormon painting that were commissioned for the primary 50 year celebration are displayed in a special room for that purpose at the conference center.

 

Some are not put on general display but are kept in special vaults in the basement of the old Church Office building.  An example is the death mask of Joseph and his brother Hyrum.

 

Some are in the hands of the Reorganized Church that has now been renamed to the "Community of Christ" - or something like that.  An example is the original manuscripts for the Book of Mormon - unfortunately this sacred relic was hidden by Ema and others - in the grave of Joseph Smith and mostly destroyed by time and age.

 

Some still remain under the control of prominent LDS families.  An example is an original official distribution of the Rules of the United Order that remains with my family now under the watchful control of my brother.  Who intended to donate this to the Church when objected and threatened law suit by other family members -- that we are waiting to all die off (only one left).

 

Some are completely bogus - An example is the White Salamander letter falsely uncovered by Mark Hoffman.

 

One rather strange and odd thing I find about sacred relics is that in all history the saints have never been able to preserve and save any original manuscripts of scriptures - only parts of scripture like the manifesto on polygamy and the recent declarations  -- all basically very recent and hardly more then just 100 years old.

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Actually the church does keep sacred relics.   Many are put on display - for example the original 12 Arnold Friberg Book of Mormon painting that were commissioned for the primary 50 year celebration are displayed in a special room for that purpose at the conference center.

 

Some are not put on general display but are kept in special vaults in the basement of the old Church Office building.  An example is the death mask of Joseph and his brother Hyrum.

 

Some are in the hands of the Reorganized Church that has now been renamed to the "Community of Christ" - or something like that.  An example is the original manuscripts for the Book of Mormon - unfortunately this sacred relic was hidden by Ema and others - in the grave of Joseph Smith and mostly destroyed by time and age.

 

Some still remain under the control of prominent LDS families.  An example is an original official distribution of the Rules of the United Order that remains with my family now under the watchful control of my brother.  Who intended to donate this to the Church when objected and threatened law suit by other family members -- that we are waiting to all die off (only one left).

 

Some are completely bogus - An example is the White Salamander letter falsely uncovered by Mark Hoffman.

 

One rather strange and odd thing I find about sacred relics is that in all history the saints have never been able to preserve and save any original manuscripts of scriptures - only parts of scripture like the manifesto on polygamy and the recent declarations  -- all basically very recent and hardly more then just 100 years old.

 

I'm not sure I would classify any of these as a sacred relic so much as an historically important item. Any good artwork by a famous individual is at a bare mininmum valuable. Original BoM manuscripts would likewise be historically important in much the same way that an original Shakespear manuscript would be. I'm not sure that the Church puts much emphasis on such things.

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I'm not sure I would classify any of these as a sacred relic so much as an historically important item. Any good artwork by a famous individual is at a bare mininmum valuable. Original BoM manuscripts would likewise be historically important in much the same way that an original Shakespear manuscript would be. I'm not sure that the Church puts much emphasis on such things.

 

I agree. We are not a Church of sacred relics (though I have to admit that the genuflection, literal and figurative, toward the "Sacred Grove" comes close).

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Huh - current news seems to be turning this thread on its head.

 

SLTribune: Mormon church releases photos of ‘seer stone’ used by founder Joseph Smith

 

efj3ol.jpg

 

I can better imagine Joseph Smith putting that stone into a top hat and looking at it than using it as a spectacle lens.

 

A Mormon missionary once assured me that the "stone-in-hat" story was an invention of South Park. When I pointed out that it predated South Park by quite a long spell, he still insisted it was false.

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I can better imagine Joseph Smith putting that stone into a top hat and looking at it than using it as a spectacle lens.

 

Wait! Are you certain it was a "top" hat? We don't want to be perpetuating falsehoods here. Because down the road someone may find out that the hat was actually a cowboy hat and lose their testimonies.

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My Catholic friend asks, "Why don't Mormons use the cross?"

 

 

 

We don't use the cross in the sense that Catholics do.  ie.  Having a piece of the true cross in a place of prominence in any of our churches and other public buildings.  I've seen several of these pieces BTW.  Unlike us, the Catholic churches are mostly open daily to worshipers.

 

In that sense there are AFAIK no relics in any of our churches.

Edited by mrmarklin
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