Zion (Latter Day Saint movement)
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Within the Latter Day Saint movement, Zion is a term with numerous meanings, including the following:
- In one sense, Zion retains its Biblical meaning of Jerusalem. See Zion.
- In another sense, Zion refers to the New Jerusalem, a physical, Millennial city expected to be headquartered in Jackson County, Missouri.
- In another sense, Zion is any city in which the people are unified and are "pure in heart".
- The term also refers to the central location to which Latter Day Saints have physically gathered.
- In yet another sense, Zion is a metaphor for a unified society of Latter Day Saints, metaphorically gathered as members of the Church of Christ.
- For Zion to be fully realized, its society must be willing to live the Law of Consecration based on mutual feelings of charity, the pure love of Christ.
In the spiritual, metaphorical sense, Zion is regarded by Latter Day Saints as a perfect social state of being of "pure in heart" (Moses 7:18) believers, where all people have all things in common, and there is no suffering nor impoverished among them because of an outpouring of love, unselfishness, and working for the good of the whole community of believers. It stands in opposing contrast to proverbial Babylon, where there is much suffering, poverty, selfishness and wickedness.
Geographical uses of the name "Zion" are associated with references in the Book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price, where Enoch the son of Jared founds a city for the righteous descendants of Adam (Moses 7:19). This city became so righteous and pure that it was translated (taken)] (Moses 7:21) from the presence of the earth (Moses 7:69) and brought into the presence of God, leaving behind on earth only Methuselah and his family (including Noah) to repopulate the earth with righteous people. LDS believe that, at the Second Coming, Zion the city of Enoch will return to the presence of the earth.
In a literal sense, Zion (the New Jerusalem) (Articles of Faith:10) is a city that Latter-day Saints believe will be built (Covenant 57:113) in Jackson County, Missouri, and a common reference to both North and South America as the "Promised Land".
On July 20, 1831, Joseph Smith, Jr. stated that he had received a revelation that designated Missouri as the "land which I have appointed and consecrated for the gathering of the saints." (Covenant 57:1). The revelation further stated, "Behold, the place which is now called Independence is the center place; and the spot for the temple is lying westward…" (Covenant 57:3). Smith later envisioned the Missouri temple as being the starting point for the creation of a New Jerusalem: "Verily this is the word of the Lord, that the city New Jerusalem shall be built by the gathering of the saints, beginning at this place, even the place of the temple, which temple shall be reared in this generation." (Covenant 84:4). The Mormons were forced to leave the state of Missouri, however, before this temple could be constructed. (Covenant 124:49-59)
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sometimes known as Mormonism, people have been counseled (by their scriptures and their leaders) to build up the cause of Zion (Covenant 6:6. So spiritually, Zion can be wherever there are those seeking to build up the cause of Zion. This has been generalized to mean that Zion is wherever there is a concentration of LDS people actively participating in their religion. So, in a physical sense, the term "Zion" has come to mean the Salt Lake Valley and surrounding regions. The term has been so frequently used that it, too, is often considered a "literal" usage. It is even used mockingly in the term "Zion Curtain" (similar to Iron Curtain), indicating a vastly different culture between "Zion" (in this sense) and the culture of surrounding regions.
