Mormonism moving beyond its infancy, scholars say at Sunstone

SALT LAKE CITY — Unlike some American religious movements, Mormonism has moved beyond its infancy and adolescent stages into a continually maturing faith that depends on its orthodox, institutional power structure and a strong sense of right and wrong.

The structure and defined moral ethic are part of what give the faith its staying power, according to two religious historians, who discussed the characteristics of new religious movements during the opening general session of the annual Sunstone Symposium Wednesday night.

Jan Shipps, professor emeritus of religious studies at Indiana University-Purdue University, and Jon Butler, professor of American history at Yale University, engaged in a conversation about the characteristics of "new religious movements when they are no longer new."

Butler said for a denomination to form from its roots as a new religious movement, it needs "bureaucracy and ethic," which organizes believers in ways that allow congregations to form and leadership to articulate principles by which the faith is governed.

Shipps said many new religious movements fail even after an initial period of explosive growth because "the leader either gives up and decides he or she had it wrong, or they die. Then there is a struggle to see who will become the new leader."

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints did grapple with who the new leader would be after church founder Joseph Smith was murdered in 1844, but one of the faith's books of scripture — now known as Doctrine and Covenants — provided "everything (church members) needed to know about the structure of the church."

The book also contained "very clear descriptors of ritual, or ordinances, and a very clear understanding of its history," Shipps said.

The church's own understanding of its history has evolved over time, she said, and added focus has been given in recent decades to Smith's account of his first vision.

Shipps and Butler agreed that as denominations mature, change is inevitable. The founders of some faith traditions wouldn't recognize their own denominations after hundreds of years have passed, Butler said, noting "some mature religious groups have real trouble with old age."

He cited the decline in membership among mainline Protestant churches in recent decades, and concern about what is happening to Christian Science after decades of growth.

In response to a question from the audience, Shipps said dissent within a faith tradition "has value for the institution because it sets the boundaries" within which members are allowed to operate. "Orthodox" members operate within those parameters, while other members may not, she said.

Butler said he has seen institutions that have come to "accommodate many varieties of faithful expression" among members, noting that more than half of Catholics ages 18 to 50 don't accept the church's teaching on birth control, but "all of them consider themselves completely orthodox. They take communion and give confession."

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