The Benson quote is typical of Mormon 'thin veil' theology...where Mormons typically are obsessed with the dead (for example, researching them, baptizing them, etc.) & "the dead" are actively watching over the Mormons' shoulders!
The Pratt citation shows how Mormons concede Joseph Smith was in essence a "medium" used to communicate "between worlds."
For a similar post on the "thin veil" -- see other FR thread today: Reviews [The OTHER World Series: 'The eyes of the dead are upon us' - ex-LDS 'prophet']
In this message, per the Pratt sermon:
Ye are assembled...and have laid these Corner Stones, for the express purpose that the living might hear from the dead, and that we may prepare a holy sanctuary, where "the people may seek unto their God, for the living to hear from the dead"...
The express purpose of the Mormon temple, says Parley Pratt, is that "the living" are to "hear from the dead."
Pratt said that the "spiritual philosophy of the present age" (spiritism/spiritualism had been introduced in the U.S. about five years prior) "was introduced to the modern world by Joseph Smith." And, he claimed, the real reason that Smith was killed was because Smith acted as "a medium of communication with the invisible world,whereby the living could hear from the dead."
Pratt emphasized how "ONE OF THE LEADING OR FUNDAMENTAL TRUTHS OF 'MORMON' PHILOSOPHY, viz. - 'That the living may hear from the dead' commenced thru Smith acting as a "medium."
...Where the subject matter will be things like...
* Haunting manifestations @ Mormon temples
* Mormons & the Paranormal
* Mormonism's distinct lack of discernment of spirits
* "Familiar spirits"
* Demonic possessions & Mormons
* Joseph Smith & the occult
* Why is freemasonry, which Mormonism heavily borrowed from, tinged with occultic symbols and hidden practices?
* Joseph Smith, a medium?
* Mormons & Halloween
* October as a strange month for dark Mormon teachings in Lds history
* How Joseph Smith tended to unveil key new doctrines @ funeral messages
And just about all of the postings will be new sources...
***Visitors, seen and unseen, from the world beyond, are often close to us.***
Mormons believe that Mountain Meadows is a haunted place. The ghosts of the murdered innocents still lurk there.
Getting a place marker before the obligatory “you hater” post.
This thread is really creepy