"The Great World of the Spirits of the Dead": Death, the Great War, and the 1918 Influenza Pandemic as Context for Doctrine and Covenants 138

Authors

George S. Tate

Keywords

Mormon studies, pandemic, World War I, 1918 Influenza Pandemic

Abstract

At the dedication of BYU’s new Joseph F. Smith Building on September 20, 2005, President Gordon B. Hinckley said of President Joseph F. Smith, “It is my opinion that no man, save the Prophet Joseph only, has had a greater and better understanding of the origin and history of the Church and of its doctrines—not only concerning this life but also concerning the eternities.” Of the “Vision of the Redemption of the Dead,” which comprises Doctrine and Covenants 138, he said, “It is a document without parallel. . . . There is nothing quite like it in all of our sacred literature.” And in the dedicatory prayer he said of President Smith, “His mind . . . reached into the depths of the things of eternity, the great spiritual architecture of Thy divine and eternal plan.”

Recommended Citation

Tate, George S. (2007) ""The Great World of the Spirits of the Dead": Death, the Great War, and the 1918 Influenza Pandemic as Context for Doctrine and Covenants 138," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 46: Iss. 1, Article 1.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol46/iss1/1