Keywords
Mormonism, rhetoric, prophets
Abstract
This article enters the conversation about religion and communication at the crossing of two important but under-traveled paths: prophetic rhetoric and Mormonism. Mormon polygamy has a rich and controversial history that includes a series of public arguments and internal debates over how to navigate the historically radical religion through the political landscape of nineteenth-century mainstream America. Wilford Woodruff, president and prophet of the church when the government compelled the Mormons to stop the practice of polygamy, needed to end “plural marriage” without undermining the vitality of the church’s revelatory claims. I argue that Woodruff’s response breaks the limited rules of prophetic rhetoric and satisfies the government’s demands without totally eliminating the agency of the Mormon God. By re-imagining the role God plays in an overwhelming secular culture, Woodruff constructs a strikingly postmodern view of divine agency and inverts the traditional hierarchy of Burke’s scene-agent ratio as it is assumed in the current literature on prophetic discourse. Key Words: Mormon, Polygamy, Prophecy, Revelation, Rhetoric, Agency, Prudence
Original Publication Citation
"Crosby, Richard Benjamin. “‘Which is the Wisest Course?’: Political Power and Prophetic Agency in Nineteenth-Century Mormon Rhetoric.” Journal of Communication and Religion 34.1 (2011): 1-23 (Lead Article)."
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
Crosby, Richard Benjamin, "“Which is the Wisest Course?”: Political Power and Prophetic Agency in Nineteenth-Century Mormon Rhetoric" (2011). Faculty Publications. 6774.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/6774
Document Type
Peer-Reviewed Article
Publication Date
2011
Publisher
Journal of Communication and Religion
Language
English
College
Humanities
Department
English
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