The Mormons By Frontline And The American Experience

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.

People and religion are a part of everyday life. The world is sure to be empty without the existence of God’s creation. When people and religion are viewed as different, the history, beliefs, and practice are formed unrealistically by outsider, more so than an insider. In an interview with a LDS, the author attempts to write and summarize a Mormon‘s journey through life with God and others.

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

This paper will identify key events and activities in the life of Brigham Young, including his birth, childhood, activities within the church, and many marriages. All of this information was researched and gathered from several different online sources. The content in most of the online sources overlapped and was very repetitive.

the future founder of the Mormon Church, claimed that he had visions. Whilst living in upstate New York in the 1820s, Joseph Smith said that an angel spoke to him to find something. That angel, Moroni, told him that there were inhabitants in America long ago and that there was a book about it. He claims that he was directed towards a buried book written on sacred golden plates that contained the religious history of the very ancient people. After finding the plates, he published a translation of the plates in 1830 named The Book of Mormon. Smith used seer stones, “Urim and Thummim” that were buried with the golden plates, to translate the plates into English. Smith was able to build a following because many people were amazed that somebody was able to talk to an

First of all, we must explore the origin of Mormonism. In 1820, a 14 year old boy named, Joseph Smith, Jr., had a vision of what he thought was the

The religious group known as the Mormons cannot be investigated very long until the name Joseph Smith rises to the surface and is seen as one held in high regard. In order for one to examine the doctrines, practices, and views of the Mormon faith one must become acquainted with Joseph Smith, and who he is, who he claimed to be, and how the Mormon views him as it relates to his or her faith. However, just who is Joseph Smith? Who is Joseph Smith as it relates to the Mormon? We will examine who Joseph Smith is, his early childhood and religious affiliation, his founding the religion of the Mormons, how the Mormon views him, and how Joseph Smith and the views his followers hold of him contradicts the Bible.

Mormons are well known for the missionaries that come door to door to proselyte non-believers, this is done in efforts to share the love of God and the mercy for His people. They want to unify the community in God because they are commanded to by their scripture and they believe this with better sustain society spiritually. I have known many Mormons in my life and while I never converted to Mormonism I do believe that their strong conviction to the family principals would definitely benefit society. We as a secular community have stayed from our traditions not only in faith & religion but with our funeral traditions that are dying out with cremation, “green burial”, and water resonation become increasingly more popular. Mormons place their traditions very high in the Mormon life.

One of the stories that caught my attention was the Helzer brothers’ story because it happened locally. The older of the two Helzer brothers, Glenn (a.k.a. Taylor) Helzer, was the one that was in charge. He attended a “brainwashing” seminar known as “Harmony” training. After the training, he “decided that God had put him on earth to take over the Mormon church and become its true prophet” (Rich 32). Then he convinced Dawn Godman to attend a “Harmony” training. To illustrate, Dawn Godman, who was a roommate of the Helzer brothers, was “… a depressive, overweight woman …” (Rich 32). Godman was in a depressive state, which made her vulnerable and seeking a sense of purpose, which led to Taylor controlling her psychologically. The Helzer brothers and Godman abducted an elderly couple for money and killed them; in addition, killed several other people. Godman continued to follow the Helzer brothers and commit these heinous crimes because her life had purpose which was being a “disciple” to Taylor. Later, David Sullivan, an investigator, took part in the “Harmony” trainings to gain Godman’s trust. During Godman’s hearing, Sullivan showed her a hand signal which meant “… he was a trusted, heart connection” (Rich 36). Sullivan helped Godman finally realize that Taylor was not a prophet and her purpose was not to be his “disciple.” Godman, herself, ultimately, came back to reality and testified against the

The year 1838 was momentous to Joseph Smith. John Whitmer and David Whitmer were excommunicated from the church. Joseph Smith said God told him to change the name of the church from The Church of the Latter-day Saints to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Three more official histories of Joseph Smith’s first vision are published. John Whitmer refuses to give up his written documents regarding the history of the church.

Brigham Young was not a strict religious person. When he heard John Smith preach about the Latter Day Saints he embraced the religion. This became a turning point within his life. He had a hard time accepting some of the older religious doctrines. His desire was to have a positive approach to his religious faith. Once he converted to Mormonism, he is large amount of time reading and examining the book of Mormon, he loves the Mormon bible because it was simple and its passages were clear in both old and New Testament. He was impressed by the Mormons missionary work but it was not until 1832 he attended a meeting. He met John Smith and was baptized, he preached his first sermon not using any notes. He did this with all of his following sermons. His wife passed in September of 1832, and he devoted his life completely to the church.

With this week’s reading, I found that Joseph Smith’s life had parallels and similarities not only from the analogy Joseph draws between himself and Paul, who was also persecuted for his witness of the living God, but also with prophets and disciples from nearly every dispensation. I found that there were connections between the conversion of Alma the younger and deliverance of Joseph Smith from the adversary, as Alma describes being racked with

Investing time and energy into a spiritual practice can be draining. To better understand a practice is to study every aspect and every angel of what is to come. A woman’s journey can be difficult when they are a part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- Day Saints (LDS) going back all the way to 1980’s. Within Mormonism, there is the salvation and kingdom but to get there, the support of both men and women being equal does not exist unless women obey certain rules within the roles of the family, look upon the authority of one male God within their church and values the importance of this religion. Pears (1998) expresses how the examples of childhood, educations, church organization and obedience are some of the most important pieces to have in a Mormon life but most important is the patriarchy that is obeyed. It is the ultimate authority of all. To keep woman’s spirits up per say, women especially feminist women, have a very difficult time going through their spiritual journey while being Mormon.

In these harsh and difficult times, I would urge all my brethren to reflect on Joseph smith and his words and actions that he displayed in his severe persecutions. Joseph perhaps is one of the greatest examples that you, my brethren can follow. During his life the prophet Joseph smith endured many hardships and trials. These included