Prophetic Authority

To explore the foundations of Mormon religious authority, this chapter introduces the idea of a Mormon prophet, demonstrates how the production of the Book of Mormon established Smith’s claim to authority, and show how his ongoing revelation created a hospitable environment to maintain his prophetic authority hierarchically within his church. This will lay the foundational concepts for how Smith developed and maintained a hierarchal role while also developing a democratic priesthood. It will also set the scene for how an inclusive populist priesthood could eventually embrace a hierarchical ecclesiology, demonstrated by Kathleen Flake’s work. The chapter will begin to define what a Mormon prophet looks like and how Joseph Smith establishes his prophethood and authority through the charismatic practices of communing with the dead and producing modern revelation and ancient scripture. It will establish that this kind a charisma founds authority and creates a space in which prophetic authority can exist charismatically without the grounding of an institution.