Research Article| January 01 2011 Female Ritual Healing in Mormonism Jonathan A. Stapley; Jonathan A. Stapley Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Kristine Wright Kristine Wright Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Journal of Mormon History (2011) 37 (1): 1–85. https://doi.org/10.2307/23291588 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation Jonathan A. Stapley, Kristine Wright; Female Ritual Healing in Mormonism. Journal of Mormon History 1 January 2011; 37 (1): 1–85. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/23291588 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All Scholarly Publishing CollectiveUniversity of Illinois PressJournal of Mormon History Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. © 2011 Mormon History Association2011 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

As Mormonism grew, Joseph Smith persistently sought to incorporate two elements into the alloy of his people: the power of God and rituals for its implementation. Reformed religion insisted that the days of miracles were past, yet Joseph Smith was unreserved in combining charisma and ritual into a healing liturgy that challenged these norms. Smith drew on the salvific rituals of his church and used them to focus the power of God in his people, to overcome death both spiritually and physically, both after this life and during it. This study delineates this developmental process in Mormonism’s healing liturgy up to the Latter-day Saint settlement of the Great Basin.

Reports of baptism for the restoration of health are generally overlooked by Mormon historians, yet baptism for health was a widespread Latter-day Saint practice. Although baptism for health was perhaps more common than other Latter-day Saint re-baptism practices, modern scholars have given it only tangential treatment. Historically, the liturgy of Mormon healing is ritually diverse. This study chronicles the development, application, and cessation of baptism for health, an integral part of that history.