Phrenology and the Latter Day Saint movement information
Phrenology chart published in Latter Day Saint newspaper The Prophet on January 15, 1845[1][2]
Phrenology has been a cultural factor in the Latter Day Saint movement (informally Mormons) since around the time of its founding in 1830.[1] Phrenology is a pseudoscience which involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits.[3][4] Developed in the 1790s, it became widely popular in the United States in the 1830s and 1840s, coinciding with the rise of the Latter Day Saint movement.[5]
Phrenology was never endorsed as a part of church theology or doctrine, but neither was it considered incompatible. This contrasts with the basic attitude of Orthodox Christian clergy, who generally condemned phrenology as "atheism, materialism, and determinism".[6] Phrenologists themselves considered themselves a secular science, compatible and even supporting of religion. Many early Latter Day Saints, including Joseph Smith, had phrenological readings done, and these readings were used by adherents and critics as supporting evidence of their respective viewpoints.[7]
The seriousness with which Latter Day Saints treated phrenology varied greatly, either considering them heretical, frivolous, amusing, or highly significant.[1] By the beginning of the 20th century, the respectability of phrenology began to decline, the appeal to Latter Day Saints subsequently faded away, and is currently generally frowned upon.[6]
^ abcDavid J. Whittaker
"Almanacs in the New England Heritage of Mormonism" Brigham Young University Studies Vol. 29, No. 4 (FALL 1989), pp. 89-113
^William Smith, George T. Leach (December 6, 1844). "The Prophet, 1844–1845" – via Internet Archive.
^Wihe, J. V. (2002). Science and Pseudoscience: A Primer in Critical Thinking. In Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience, pp. 195-203. California: Skeptics Society.
^Hines, T. (2002). Pseudoscience and the Paranormal. New York: Prometheus Books. p. 200
^McCandless, Peter (1992). "Mesmerism and Phrenology in Antebellum Charleston: "Enough of the Marvellous"". The Journal of Southern History. 58 (2): 199–230. doi:10.2307/2210860. JSTOR 2210860.
^ abDavis Bitton and Gary L. Bunker, Phrenology Among the Mormons, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Volume 9, number 1. Spring 1974 pages: 42-61
^Leaders that had phrenological readings done include Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, Brigham Young, George A. Smith, John E. Page, Amasa M. Lyman, Charles C. Rich, George Q. Cannon, Daniel H. Wells, Abraham H. Cannon, Matthias F. Cowley, Orson F. Whitney, Rudger Clawson, Wilford Woodruff, George F. Richards, Sarah Granger Kimball. See Quinn, D. Michael. Early Mormonism and the Magic World View. Signature Books, 1998 e-book location 20343 of 23423
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