Visits from spirits are common among Latter-day Saints (Mormons) in northern Utah, and most involve positive interactions with the spirits of helpful kin: the spirits of the deceased and of children not yet born. The spirit visits show that the Mormon cosmological notion of the eternal family is not simply abstract or something to imagine and long for in the afterlife. Rather, spirit members of the family are active in the world of the living, and both spirit and living members of the family are involved in the mutual project of salvation. The living and the spirits coexist in a relationship of mutual ethical responsibility centred on assisting one another with spiritual progress. Mormon notions of the eternal family are manifest in the mutual responsibility between the spirit world and the mortal world. An exploration of Mormon spirit interactions contributes to recent work in the anthropology of Christianity that emphasizes relationalism as a value by extending an understanding of this concept to include active ethical obligations between living and spirit kin.

中文翻译：

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“他们向我展示了我需要知道的东西”：犹他州摩门教的精神、永恒的家庭和集体道德责任

犹他州北部的后期圣徒（摩门教徒）的鬼魂来访是很常见的，大多数涉及与有帮助的亲属的鬼魂积极互动：死者和尚未出生的孩子的鬼魂。灵魂拜访表明，摩门教关于永恒家庭的宇宙观并不只是抽象的，也不仅仅是想象和渴望来世的东西。相反，家庭的精神成员活跃在生者的世界中，家庭的精神成员和活着的成员都参与了相互的救赎计划。生者与灵魂以一种相互道德责任的关系共存，其核心是在精神进步上互相帮助。摩门教永恒家庭的观念体现在精神世界和凡人世界之间的相互责任。