Elias: An Epic of the Ages

Orson F. Whitney's Elias is one of the most ambitious undertakings in American religious literature: a sprawling epic poem that traces the entire arc of existence from the pre-mortal realm through creation, biblical history, the Restoration, and on to the apocalypse. Written by a man who would become an apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this verse narrative attempts what no other Mormon writer had attempted before: to render the vast cosmology of LDS theology in the grand tradition of classical epic poetry. The narrator begins as a young poet hungry for fame and glory, then undergoes a spiritual awakening that reframes all human ambition in light of divine purpose. Through various characters and divine messengers, Whitney explores what it means to truly progress through the ages and what ultimate greatness really looks like when measured against eternity. The result is both a theological treatise and a deeply personal meditation on beauty, love, and the soul's long journey home. For readers interested in the intersection of American poetry and religious imagination, or in understanding how one faith tradition attempted to claim the epic form for its own, Elias remains a remarkable and largely unexplored artifact of early Mormon intellectual life.