Foster, Lawrence: "The Psychology of Prophetic Charisma: New Approaches to Understanding Joseph Smith and the Development of Charismatic Leadership"

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Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 6, No. 1, 2007

The Psychology of Prophetic Charisma: New Approaches to Understanding Joseph Smith and the Development of Charismatic Leadership

Lawrence Foster

Abstract

This paper reviews the insights of Len Oakes on the psychology of charisma and then applies these insights to the complex personality of Mormon founder, Joseph Smith. Oakes’s five stages in the development of the sense of prophetic vocation illuminate Joseph Smith's distinctive development and sense of mission. These five stages are: early narcissism, incubation, awakening, mission, and decline or fall. Prophetic charisma raises many complex and important questions. The line between madness and the highest visionary reconstruction of personality is often an extremely fine one. Oakes's suggestive analysis may help us better understand the dynamics of how contradictory prophetic creativity may develop in a prophetic personality, as well as, at a more modest level, how our own minds may work, both at their best and at their worst.

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Other contributions by author(s)

Conference 2004 GA: Events Overview
Foster, Lawrence - profile
Foster, Lawrence, Ph.D.: "The Psychology of Religious Genius: Joseph Smith and the Origins of New Religious Movements" - abstract
Foster, Lawrence: "The Psychology of Prophetic Charisma: New Approaches to Understanding Joseph Smith and the Development of Charismatic Leadership" - abstract

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