Liahona (Book of Mormon)

{{Infobox fictional artifact|image=Liahona, in Nephi Returning to the Tents with Food, May 1925.png|alt=An elaborate, ball-shaped object. Apparently hollow, its shape is like a lattice. It is topped with a node. It seems to rest in some sort of base for itself, so it can be placed on a flat surface.|caption=The Liahona, as depicted in Nephi Returning to the Tents with Food (May 1925)|source='Book of Mormon'|first=|date={{sourcetext|source=Book_of_Mormon_(1981)|book=1 Nephi|chapter=16|verse=10}}}}{{Book of Mormon}}

File:Liahona.jpg

In the Book of Mormon, the Liahona ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|l|iː|ə|ˈ|h|oʊ|n|ə}})[http://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/scriptures/bofm/pronunciation "Book of Mormon Pronunciation Guide"], churchofjesuschrist.org (retrieved 2012-02-25), IPA-ified from «lē´a-hō´na» is described as a brass ball with two spindles, one of which directs where Lehi and his companions should travel after they leave Jerusalem at the beginning of the narrative. Some early participants in the Latter Day Saint movement claimed to have seen the Liahona. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members have used the Liahona as a namesake, such as in the name of the magazine the Liahona and in the idea of "Liahona Mormons".

Background

The Book of Mormon, published in 1830, is one of the primary religious texts of Mormonism,{{Harvtxt|Mason|2015|loc="Origins and History", fourth paragraph}}. also known as the Latter Day Saint movement.{{Harvtxt|Dunstan|Hawvermale|2022|p=177n1}}. Founder Joseph Smith said that an angel of the Christian God directed him to uncover metal plates inscribed with the history of an ancient American people and that by miraculous means he translated the writing on these plates, producing the Book of Mormon.{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2008|pp=19, 21–22}}. Most in the Latter Day Saint movement regard the Book of Mormon as being genuinely ancient and historical.{{Harvtxt|Vogel|1986|p=3}}.

Depiction

In the Book of Mormon, a man named Lehi and his family live in Jerusalem prior to the Babylonian captivity. God communicates with Lehi and directs him to lead his family away from Jerusalem. While they camp in the wilderness, the Liahona is found one morning at Lehi's tent door. It is not named as the Liahona at this point. It is described as a "brass ball" of "curious workmanship" with "two spindles", one of which indicate the direction that his party should travel ({{sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|version=1981|book=1 Nephi|chapter=16|verse=10}}). On occasion writing appeared on the ball that displayed additional instructions from God ({{sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|version=1981|book=1 Nephi|chapter=16|verse=26|range=-29}}). Using the Liahona, Lehi and his party travel through a wilderness and across an ocean. The Liahona works "according to the faith and diligence" ({{sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|version=1981|book=1 Nephi|chapter=16|verse=28}}) with which they heed its direction, and ceases functioning at times when the members of the party demonstrate a loss of faith in God's commandments, notably when Nephi's brothers rebelled against Lehi during their ocean crossing ({{sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|version=1981|book=1 Nephi|chapter=18|verse=12}}).

In the Book of Alma, Alma identifies the object as "Liahona" when speaking to his son Helaman, saying, "our fathers called it Liahona, which is, being interpreted, a compass" ({{sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|version=1981|book=Alma|chapter=37|verse=38}}).

Cultural reception

Joseph Smith and three associates—Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris, known as the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon—said that God promised to show them the Liahona and did show it to them in what they believed was a miraculous vision.{{Harvtxt|Bushman|2005|p=78}}. This claimed promise is included in the Doctrine and Covenants,{{Harvtxt|Ludlow|1992|p=829}}, citing {{sourcetext|source=Doctrine and Covenants|version=1835|chapter=17|verse=1}}. a Mormon religious text that compiles documents that adherents believe to be divine revelations.{{Harvtxt|Scales|2012|pp=205–206, 224}}. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement,{{Cite web |title=Latter Day Saints Movement |url=https://pluralism.org/latter-day-saints-movement |access-date=May 11, 2024 |website=The Pluralism Project |publisher=Harvard University}} named one of its magazines, the Liahona, after the object, referencing its purpose of directing people.{{Harvtxt|Dyal|1989|p=23}}. A 1967 essay categorized approaches to Latter-day Saints worship as being either like the Iron Rod (another object from the Book of Mormon)—rigid and unambiguous—or like the Liahona, flexible and based on experiencing what Latter-day Saints believe to be revelation.{{Harvtxt|Nielsen|1991|p=105}}. This has been called the "Iron Rod–Liahona scales".{{Harvtxt|Aghababaei|Krauss|Aminikhoo|Isaak|2019|p=351}}. The concept of "Liahona Mormons" circulated among Latter-day Saints, and it was acknowledged in the denomination's General Conference.{{Harvtxt|Nielsen|1991|p=106}}.

Citations

References

{{Cite journal |last1=Aghababaei |first1=Naser |last2=Krauss |first2=Stephen W. |last3=Aminikhoo |first3=Masoume |last4=Isaak |first4=Steven L. |date=2019 |title=The Circumplex Religious Orientation Inventory: Validity and Reliability of a New Approach to Religious Orientation in a Muslim Population |journal=Psychology of Religion and Spirituality |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=350–357 |doi=10.1037/rel0000187}}
{{Cite book |last=Bushman |first=Richard Lyman |title=Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |year=2005 |isbn=1-4000-4270-4 |language=en}}
{{Cite book |last=Bushman |first=Richard Lyman |title=Mormonism: A Very Short Introduction |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-19-531030-6 |series=Very Short Introductions |doi=10.1093/actrade/9780195310306.001.0001}}
{{Cite journal |last1=Dunstan |first1=Adam |last2=Hawvermale |first2=Erica |date=2022 |title=The Anthropology of Mormonism: An Emerging Field |url=https://jmssa.org/wp-content/uploads/JMSSA-VOLUME01-DUNSTAN-HAWVERMALE.pdf |journal=Journal of the Mormon Social Science Association |volume=1 |pages=177–207 |doi=10.54587/JMSSA.0107}}
{{Cite journal |last=Dyal |first=Donald H. |date=Autumn 1989 |title=Mormon Pursuit of the Agrarian Ideal |journal=Agricultural History |volume=63 |issue=4 |pages=19–35 |jstor=3743328}}
{{Cite book |last=Givens |first=Terryl L. |title=By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture that Launched a New World Religion |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2002 |isbn=9780195168884 |language=en}}
{{Cite book |last=Givens |first=Terryl L. |title=The Book of Mormon: A Very Short Introduction |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0195369311 |series=Very Short Introductions |language=en}}
{{Cite book |last=Ludlow |first=Douglas Kent |title=Encyclopedia of Mormonism |publisher=Macmillan |year=1992 |editor-last=Ludlow |editor-first=Daniel H. |chapter=Liahona|pages=829–830}}
{{Cite web |last=Mason |first=Patrick Q. |date=September 3, 2015 |editor-last=Barton |editor-first=John |title=Mormonism |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.75 |website=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.75|isbn=978-0-19-934037-8 }}
{{Cite journal |last=Nielsen |first=Michael E. |date=1991 |title=Religious Orientation Among Mormons |journal=Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy |volume=17 |pages=105–120}}
{{Cite journal |last=Scales |first=Laura Thiemann |date=Summer 2012 |title=Narrative Revolutions in Nat Turner and Joseph Smith |journal=American Literary History |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=205–233 |doi=10.1093/alh/ajs024 |jstor=23249768}}
{{Cite book |last=Vogel |first=Dan |title=Indian Origins and the Book of Mormon |publisher=Signature Books |year=1986 |isbn=0-941214-42-7}}

External links

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