The Mormons Have An Epic

I always say that the definition of an epic is a justification of a way of life in the medium of literary art. It's a debatable definition, I know. Well, I discovered today that Orson Scott Card's Tales of Alvin Maker series is the Mormon epic. I just have been too ignorant of LDS history and theology to notice. I discovered this when I found the Mormon "endowment" ceremony online . That "sectarian minister", funded by Lucifer and present at the beginning of the world, says things very similar to a character by the name of Reverend Philadelphia Thrower. But it's all good orthodox Calvinist theology (apparently known long before John Calvin or Augustine etc. came to the scene...). I never would have guessed its arrangement was adapted from another source.

But don't take my word for it, take the word of this master's thesis from SUNY Brockport. .

And if you don't read Orson Scott Card, don't worry about it. But Scott Card's status as Mormon Vergil does explain why every time I mention him, people say, "you know he's a Mormon."

ESA(20050609.1)