Commonly referred to as “Mormons,” though they prefer to be known as Latter-day Saints. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was formed in the first-half of the nineteenth-century by its founder, Joseph Smith. Smith was said to have been visited by God, the Father, and Jesus Christ after retreating to the woods to pray for guidance. At the time there were multiple competing facets of Christianity and Smith was unsure which to join. To answer his question, God and Jesus Christ told him not to join any of the churches, but to restore the one true church. After Jesus’s crucifixion, Latter-day Saints believe the original church fell after followers argued over his teachings leading to the loss of his true message. Later, Smith was visited by an angel named Moroni, who announced the existence of two gold plates for him to find. The plates were in an unknown language so, through God’s assistance, Smith translated the plates into English. Once they had been translated, the plates were taken back by the angel. The translation of the plates came to be known as the Book of Mormon, which is the groundwork of the church for Latter-day Saints. Smith and his followers, due to the hostility from the local population in New York, left to settle westward where they could practice their religion freely. Along the journey, Smith was murdered by a mob for his religious beliefs, but his follower continued on and settled in Utah. On February 14th, I interviewed Kevin Anderson at The
Two of these denominations were the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the African Methodist Episcopal. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - commonly known as Mormons was founded by Joseph Smith; he was inspired to create a new church faction by the revivals he experienced in the western area of New York called the "Burned Over District-" implying it had been "scorched" by so many revivals. Although not regarded as a splinter off from an existing Protestant denomination but a restoration of primitive Christianity having distinctive post-biblical doctrines, the Mormon Church is now a flourishing, worldwide denomination. On the other hand, during the revivals, Baptists and Methodists converted large numbers of blacks. However, because of the mistreatment they received from their fellow believers, under the leadership of Richard Allen, the black population broke away from the Methodist church while creating their own denomination; the African Methodist Episcopal.10 Both churches mentioned above, having developed and sprouted out other denominations over the years, still stand even today.
The Mormon faith dates back to the year 1830 when Joseph Smith, the founder along with 5 other men gathered together to form what they initially called The Church of Christ. This was later changed to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
A homegrown religion originating in the late 1820s, Mormonism arose as a rejection of the existing Christian sects and a return to what the Mormons considered to be pure Christianity. Similarly, the members believed their desire for a new kind of government stemmed from their disillusionment with what they believed was a corrupt government and a desire for the reestablishment of true American values and the original intent of the founding fathers. This sentiment is epitomized by Joseph Smith’s presidential platform, which states “No honest man can doubt for a moment, the glory of American liberty is on the wane; and that calamity and confusion will sooner or later destroy the
Church of the Brethren does not accept abortion. Participating in abortion is not support their beliefs. Church of the Brethren is a denomination that was formed to continue their practices their own way. They started as a small group and to this day still recruit new members. They solely use the New Testament as their source of guidance for the practice they preach. Rational Choice theory explains Church of the Brethren 's position in opposing abortion.
The Church of the Latter-Day Saints of Jesus Christ is viewed by many as nothing more than a different form of evangelical Christianity. After all, LDS theology seems to appear to share many similarities with that of Christianity at first glance. Both speak of Jesus Christ as savior of the world, both talk about repentance and forgiveness, both believe in some sort of afterlife where the righteous are rewarded and the unrighteous condemned, both advocate for a strong commitment to good morals, and both include a Father God, Son, and Holy Spirit. These similarities, however, are only apparent on the surface. Just because both religious groups attend a Sunday morning service each week, pray to Jesus, read the Bible, and maybe even call themselves Christians, does not mean they are simply different expressions of the same religion. A closer look at the doctrines of both the LDS church and Christianity will establish that, at the heart of it, the religion popularly known as Mormonism is quite distinct from Christianity.
Mormonism was founded by Joseph Smith, a man who came from a family of poor New York state farmers that were involved in occult practices according to Malise Ruthven and Peggy Fletcher Stack. He claimed to have been visited by the angel Moroni after attending a revival in the New York area. During his visitation, he was given spiritual revelation from God, which Joseph claimed were written on “golden plates”, which he then translated using sacred stones . His translation of these golden plates was printed in 1830 with financial aid from a farmer by the name of Martin Harris who obtained a loan for the publication fees. Criticism of the book of Mormon was almost immediate, the Wayne Sentinel declared that “most people entertain an idea that the
The writings, known as the Book of Mormon, describe how some Israelites traveled to the Americas to become the indigenous tribes (Gutjahr 7). The books and Joseph’s teachings laid out a faith that seemed radically different than any other. But Mormonism shares roots with other religions; it began as a form of Trinitarian Christianity. Like Christianity, it builds on Judaism; Mormonism also connects with the Jewish history as the Book of Mormon describes the families of a lost tribe of Israel. Like Protestantism, Mormonism can be considered a reformed version of Christianity. Mormonism, in fact, has much in common with Islam—both have Abrahamic roots and a modern prophet and sacred text. Mormon ideas may seem radical in some areas, but are Christian in many fundamental aspects. Mormons believe in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, although they see them as separate beings. They accept the Old and New Testament as the work of God, and believe in many Christian ideas such as sin, divine revelation, and God’s eventual return. The main difference, then, is simply that Mormonism is newer than other religions, and thus assumed to be invalid. As Noah Feldman summarizes, “Antiquity
Mormonism was founded in the 1820s’ by Joseph Smith. Smith, wanting to expand his religious following migrated to Illinois where he established a settlement that included a temple of worship and a village (Green 57). In Illinois the Mormon peoples’ were met with threats, violence, and occasionally they were even killed. This was the case for their leader Joseph Smith; Smith was met with disgust from non-mormons when he attempted to run for presidency and his church riddled with scandal when the word of polygamy got out. With his tarnished reputation, Smith was ultimately murdered by an outraged mob, who then threatened other Mormons that if they did not leave they would be met with the same fate (Mormons into the West). With that warning, the Mormons picked a new leader, Brigham Young, who wanted to flee the American Border. Young set for travel with his new followers to the Great Salt Lake, which at the time was located in Mexico.
Mormonism is a religion created by Joseph Smith on April 6, 1830(The Mormon Trail), its believers are referred to as Mormons and practice the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS Church) (The Mormon Trail). Smith believed himself to be a prophet destined to “restore the original pure church the Christians in the Book of Mormon had created (Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion).” However, he was killed by a mob in Illinois but was replaced by his successor, Brigham Young. Their beliefs include a particular set of deity, afterlife, and they practice polygamy, which is one of the reasons the Mormons sought religious freedom.
Every one of the mormons prayed daily to find a place of safety and peace to go to. They all wanted a better life, and to not be killed off for believing what they believed in. In 1847, the mormons set out to go to Salt Lake City Utah, where they would be free from harm and be free to believe, and practice, their own religion.At this time, Brigham Young was the current Prophet. So he was going to lead the mormons across the plains to Utah. Before they left, Brigham Young delivered a talk, saying as he
Reported to being visited by an angel and given golden plates in 1840; the plates, when deciphered, brought about the Church of Latter Day Saints and the Book of Mormon; he ran into opposition from Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri when he attempted to spread the Mormon beliefs; he was killed by those who opposed him.
Mormons Moving to Salt Lake City During the nineteenth century there were many different types of people moving west over America. One of these groups was the religious group, the Mormons. The religion was originally founded by Joseph Smith in the early nineteenth century. He first started of with very few followers but quickly many people started to come round to Smiths way of thinking. After developing the religion in Palmyra, Joseph Smith and his followers moved to Kirtland.
Mormonism is known as one of the most successful (in present time) and government involved religions from the 1800’s. Joseph Smith, who had much curiosity in religion, and what was real and what was made up, founded the religion. He claimed that Jesus Christ and God himself visited him and that they told him, .all denominations have strayed from the truth and that he should not join any of them. After that event, he didn’t think much of it and moved on through his life. Once he told his father of his vision, he was scorned, and went to seek forgiveness. When praying for his sins to be relinquished he received a vision by the angel named Moroni, who spoke of a book written on gold plates and buried in a nearby hillside. As Smith went to the gold plates, he continued translating what became the Book of
All these differing theological issues pale in comparison to the disagreement that many Christians have with the LDS Church’s origins. In 1830, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was founded after Joseph Smith claimed to have received a vision of God and Jesus Christ telling him that the true church was not on the earth at that time (Perry). If this is true, it implies that all other Christian religions are false. Prior to the Church’s organization, Joseph Smith published The Book