Descriptions:
Like other Christians, Latter-day Saints believe Christ suffered and died on a cross. But unlike other Christians, Latter-day Saints don’t generally use the cross today as a symbol of their faith. In this episode, Dave talks about why that is.
Video transcript and additional notes: https://saintsunscripted.com/faith-and-beliefs/living-the-gospel/why-dont-latter-day-saints-use-the-cross/
“Mormons and the cross,” Deseret News, Sept. 10, 2009: http://bit.ly/2Z9UVdk
Book review on this subject by Alonzo Gaskill: http://bit.ly/3qfH9C9
Book review on this subject by Boyd Jay Peterson: https://bit.ly/3jJwSeN
From the Church’s website: http://bit.ly/378I2Vj
“A Gauge of the Times: Ensign Peak in the Twentieth Century,” by Ronald W. Walker: http://bit.ly/3aY8thG
Some history on the cross, via the Encyclopedia Britannica: http://bit.ly/2NrnMri
“When America Hated Catholics,” by Politico Magazine: http://politi.co/3pn7ixG
Recommended reading: “Banishing the Cross: The Emergence of a Mormon Taboo,” by Michael G. Reed. Preface this with Alonzo Gaskill’s review of the book.
Notes:
-While Bishop Nibley received some heated letters about the cross being a Catholic symbol, others were clearly more tolerant. For example, apostle Orson F. Whitney, opined that the cross was indeed a Catholic symbol (and therefore wouldn’t be appropriate on Ensign Peak), but instead suggested that a cross be built on Mt. Timpanogos in honor of Father Escalante, a Catholic pioneer who led an expedition through the valley long before the Saints arrived.
-In Michael Reed’s book, he suggests that the symbol of the cross was popular among the early Saints because of its connection to folk magic, freemasonry, and the fact that Precolumbian crosses were seen as evidence supporting the veracity of the Book of Mormon. Reed asserts that as time went on and the early Saints lost their connection with folk magic and freemasonry, their affinity for the cross also waned. Alonzo Gaskill, in his review of Reed’s book, commented:
“Perhaps the most problematic part of Banishing the Cross is the book’s third chapter, ‘Mormon Magic, Freemasonry, and the Cross’ (37–60). In this section, Reed argues that Joseph and the early Saints were comfortable with using the cross as a symbol because they were heavily into folk magic and Freemasonry. The chapter is essentially a reiteration of other works on this same theme, including D. Michael Quinn’s Early Mormonism and the Magic World View. However, the problem is not so much that Reed largely rehearses the research of others. Rather, the difficulty is that the chapter is heavily conjectural. In approximately seventeen pages of printed text, Reed offers at least that many conjectural conclusions (for example, ‘almost certainly,’ ‘perhaps,’ ‘one wonders whether,’ ‘it is reasonable to assume,’ it is ‘possible’ or ‘likely’ that, it ‘could be posited’ that, and so forth). The chapter presents evidence that crosses were used in nineteenth century Masonry and by some practitioners of folk magic during that same era. But it does not present evidence for its claim that Joseph introduced the cross as a symbol into Mormonism because of these influences. Reed fails to provide substantiation that Joseph introduced the symbolic cross into the restored Church. The chapter is not only speculative in its conclusions, but it also overlooks the point that Joseph never used the cross as a symbol in his public discourse or liturgical rites. In the one discourse we have in which Joseph refers to the cross as a symbol, the Prophet seems to speak somewhat condescendingly of it. Thus, whether Reed is right or wrong in his conjecture, he does not make a convincing argument for his claim that the early LDS comfort with the symbol of the cross was primarily due to Joseph’s comfort with folk magic or Masonry.”
I agree with Gaskill. Hence, why this subject wasn’t broached in the video. I think the waning of the cross is more logically explained by a desire to avoid appearing “Catholic.” Perhaps folk magic and Freemasonry played a small role in the early use of the cross, but I think Reed’s argument is overstated.
-“Even though we do not believe in using the cross as a symbol in our Church, we do not criticize others for wearing or using the cross in their religions. We should understand that the cross is significant and sacred to them. In fact, the 11th article of faith says, “We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.” -From the Church’s website: http://bit.ly/3qqu1Kr
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