A Tale of Two Josephs: How Smith Shows Campbell That There’s No Power in Myth

Joseph Smith was a master myth maker. In a period of about 15 years until his death, he succeeded in convincing thousands of people (and millions since) that a small group of Israelites sailed in a custom-built barge to America, forged a civilization that lasted for over a thousand years, and became the principal ancestors of every Native American in the western hemisphere. He also convinced them that this great civilization left behind a historical summary of their thousand-year history buried in his own backyard. The record was engraved on sheets of gold, in an unknown language called reformed Egyptian. An angel named Moroni told him where the golden record was buried, and through the use of magical seer stones he translated the reformed Egyptian characters to English. The resulting book became the most correct book of any book on the earth. The authentic Christian religion had been lost during the Dark Ages, and Joseph Smith was the man that was chosen by God to restore it to earth.

Not bad for a simple farm boy living in upstate New York. And we’re just scratching the surface.

Joseph Smith’s teachings have been adapted and changed with time, but the essential elements of his myth remain in tact. While his religious innovations are certainly an important measure of his genius, I believe that his real genius lied in his ability to get people to believe that his stories were more than myths. People believed that he taught the literal truth, and they acted upon it. That was Smith’s power. The same principle applies today. For the modern-day general authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there is no power in myth.

If you watch PBS, you’ve probably seen or heard about Bill Moyers and his conversations with author Joseph Campbell on "The Power of Myth." Or you may have read Campbell’s book by the same name. A review of the book that was written for the Christian Research Journal summarizes Campbell’s premise:

For Campbell, the "power of myth" is the power of metaphor and poetry to capture the imaginations of individuals and societies. Myth supplies a sense of meaning and direction that transcends mundane existence while giving it significance. It has four functions (p. 31): The mystical function discloses the world of mystery and awe, making the universe "a holy picture." The cosmological function concerns science and the constitution of the universe. The sociological function "supports and validates a certain social order." Everyone must try to relate to the pedagogic function which tells us "how to live a human lifetime under any circumstances." America, Campbell believes, has lost its collective ethos and must return to a mythic understanding of life "to bring us into a level of consciousness that is spiritual" (p. 14).

Campbell defends the benefits of myths as literally false but metaphorically true for the broad range of human experience. [emphasis in original]

Sounds pretty good, especially for Mormons like me that have discovered that the foundational stories of the faith they grew up with aren’t literally true. A metaphorical understanding of the church’s teachings works well when you want to keep participating in the faith community without having to believe all the nonsense. The problem is that Gordon B. Hinckley and the rest of his cohorts certainly aren’t going to pin a gold star on your shirt for believing in the church metaphorically. If you openly admit that you think that Joseph Smith’s stories are myths, you probably won’t be excommunicated. But you might become a bit of an outcast. And you could also break some hearts.

Sometimes myths serve a noble purpose. Who doesn’t like to hear the story of George Washington chopping down the cherry tree? What about the story of the apple bonking Sir Isaac Newton on the head? While these stories may not necessarily be true, they are harmless enough, and you don’t suffer dire consequences if you don’t believe them. Do you lose your U.S. citizenship if you say that the cherry tree story was just made up by a creative biographer?

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has very little tolerance for mythological believers. As Gordon B. Hinckley famously stated in General Conference in 2003:

Each of us has to face the matter—either the Church is true, or it is a fraud. There is no middle ground. It is the Church and kingdom of God, or it is nothing.

I used to think that I could be a heterodox believer. Not anymore. I see no room in the church for heterodoxy. Indeed, not long ago, a dear TBM family member told me, "There is no such thing as heterodoxy. That is a lie of the adversary."

While of course I don’t believe that heterodoxy comes from Satan, I do agree that there is no such thing as heterodoxy, at least in the Mormon church. Besides, people who don’t believe in the literalness of Joseph’s stories aren’t going to sacrifice their entire lives to further the Mormon kingdom. They certainly wouldn’t be likely to faithfully pay ten percent of their income. They wouldn’t support the brethren on some issue when the brethren are clearly wrong. I don’t think the church has much use for mythological believers. Not that it couldn’t… just that it doesn’t.

This is my tale of two Josephs. Joseph Smith has shown Joseph Campbell that there’s no power in myth, at least not in the Mormon church. In this context, Smith’s immortal words still ring true even today: "Let us here observe, that a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation." And although Smith probably didn’t intend it, the tragedy is that one of the sacrifices that is required today is the sacrifice of the mind.