The Long of It: (skip to the bottom if you want the short of it).
Mormonism began with Joseph Smith Jr. who was born on Dec. 23, 1805, in Vermont. He was the fourth child, out of nine, of Lucy and Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith was said to have been disturbed by all the different denominations in Christianity and wondered which was true. It was at this time that Joseph Smith read James 1:5 and was encouraged to ask God for wisdom in determining which “sect” was right (mainly between the Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians). In 1820, when he was 15, Joseph went into the woods to pray concerning this and it is said that God the Father and Jesus appeared to him and told him not to join any of the denominational churches. Joseph Smith’s account in the woods is quit startling:
“…finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God…. when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction. But exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction – not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never felt before in any being – just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell on me.”
He goes on to say that,
“when the light fell upon me I saw two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name, and said, pointing to the other – ‘this is my beloved Son, hear him!’”
It was during this time that “Jesus” forbids Joseph Smith to join any church since they were all an “abomination” to Him. It was after this encounter, “of a boy not quite fifteen” (yes, it seems the chronology of Joseph Smith’s age is in conflict as recorded in Jesus the Christ by apostle Talmage), figured out that Jesus and God were separate and the idea of the Trinity was created by “sophistries of human unbelief.”
On Sept. 21, 1823, the angel called Moroni, who was the “last survivor of the Nephite nation,” appeared to him and told him that he had been chosen to translate the book of Mormon which he compiled before his death and hid in the “Hill Cumorah.” The plates, made of gold, in Cumorah contained writing and happend to be near where Joseph was then living in Palmyra, New York. Joseph Smith said that on Sept. 22, 1827 he received the plates and the angel Moroni instructed him to begin the translation process. BTW. Joseph Smith also received the Urim and Thummim (to translate the language on the plates) and a breastplate (assumed like the one Aaron would wear as High Priest in Israel) from the angel of Moroni. The translation work began on the 15th of May and was finally published in 1830 as the Book of Mormon. Joseph claimed that during this translation process, John the Baptist appeared to him and ordained him to accomplish the divine work of restoring the true church by preaching the true gospel which, allegedly, had been lost from the earth. Later, Peter, Paul and John also appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to confer on them the Melchizedek Priesthood. On the six day of April in 1830, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was formally organized in Fayette, Seneca County, New York. The church started with six people (the minimum needed by State Law), and Jesus appeared to Joseph Smith to tell him exactly how to organize the church government with detailed plans. Jesus would then appear to Joseph and have direct communication with him frequently, “as the needs of the Church required.”
The Book of Mormon is supposed to be the account of people who came from the Middle-East to the Americas. It covers the period of about 600 B.C. to 400 A.D. It tells of the Jaredites, people from the Tower of Babel who came to Central America but perished because of their own immorality. It also describes some Jews who fled persecution in Jerusalem and came to America led by a man called Nephi. The Jews divided into two groups known as the Nephites and Lamanites who fought each other. The Nephites were defeated in 428 A.D. The Lamanites continued and are known as the American Indians. The Book of Mormon is the account of the Nephite leader, Mormon, concerning their culture, civilization, and appearance of Jesus to the Americas after His ressurection to preach the Gospel.
After the publication of the Book of Mormon, Mormonism began to gather momentum. Because their religion was so deviant from Christianity, i.e., plurality of gods, polygamy (Joseph is said to have had 27 wives), etc., persecution soon forced them to move several times and finally arrived in Nauvoo, Illinois. After being accused of breaking some laws in Nauvoo – destroying a printing press that was publishing harmful information on Mormonism, Joseph and his brother Hyrum ended up in jail. A mob later broke into the jail and killed Joseph and his brother.
After the shooting, the church divided into two groups: One led by his widow and son went to Independence Missouri. They were originally known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (on April 7, 2000 the church took on the new name – Community of Christ, although the legal name has never changed). They claim to be the true Church and lay claim to the legal succession of the church presidency which was bestowed upon Joseph’s son by Joseph Smith himself.
The other group was led by Brigham Young and they went to Utah where, in 1847, they ended up in Salt Lake and founded Salt Lake City. Brigham had 25 wives and began to build a Church that now boasts almost 12 million members.
The Short of It:
Mormonism was conjured up by a teenage boy who regularly dabbled in the occult, who had very little education, never produced one ounce of physical proof (geographical – the hill Cumorah has never been independently verified; archeological – no bones, coins, people groups of the americas; nothing of all Joseph Smith ever reported), who regularly would walk in the woods turning over rocks that he claimed hid gold underneath. Joseph eventually convinced people of his vision of a pure religion, lots of women, and the dream for a new start in the west. He died in a gunfight, his friends fought over who were the rightful heirs to the dream and his legacy produced two churches that both claim to be “the way.” Now, there are bunch of people who knock on doors acting like they are right, but all they are living for is a false hope concocted by a fake apostle, deluded by a demonic dream, inspired by the enemy of God.
I welcome questions…
Quotes taken from chapter 41 of Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage; one of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Just spent twenty minutes surfing the LDS website. It’s amazing that even though it is a cult, it still has the same mass appeal to our selfish desires that is so prevalent in the mainstream evangelical seeker fluff. We accepted Heavenly Father’s offer of mortality to become more like him, we have the seeds of divinity within, we can be fulfilled and be with our families forever. The appeal to man is overwhelming with little real focus on God. It is extremely well packaged and they use virtually every religious term that we use, but with usually subtle differences that have profound theological ramifications. I am amazed that those who follow this don’t take any issue with the historical and archealogical shortcomings of the Book of Mormon. Praise God that He has provided us with His truth!
Pat: It never ceases to amaze me how little adherents of a particular sect or religion bother to research the history and/or beliefs of said religion. You commented on the lack of issue taken by LDS faithful; just about a month ago there was a Mormon lady who wrote a book about the problems deep inside the church. I wish I had the particulars about her work, but her comments involved the lack of knowledge about Mormon beliefs and how shocked Mormons in general would be if they just knew the facts. She remains faithful to her religion still, but has been severely ostracized for her candor.
If all the people lining up to embrace Islam would first study Mohammed and the Koran I believe there would be far fewer takers — but religion is always easier than relationships.
I agree that most adherents of a particular sect or religion usually fail to research the history and/or beliefs of that religion.
Unfortunately I think we also have to add Christianity to that mix because the majority of people in our churches know very little church history nor do they know much doctrine.
But at least our Scriptures and the doctrines that flow from them are something to be proud of. And church history, too–most of it (the Reformation, for example).
Christians have no need to ignore parts of their heritage to be “acceptable” to the world or to feel good about their religion, if you’ll call it that. Not many faiths can say that!
I definitely agree to the first part, that our Scriptures and the doctrines are something to be proud of.
I would also agree that much of church history has good portions to it as well. My only warning is that there are many who do not know much history of the church and could easily be sideswiped by those who do (just as Mormon’s may be sideswiped by more informed Christians). Just a few examples from the top of my head are:
1. The crusades
2. The use of Scripture to approve of slavery and mistreatment of blacks
3. The persecution of the Anabaptists by the Reformers (which led to death for many)
4. The standing by of Christians in Nazi Germany when they were slaughtering the Jews.
I definitely think the history of a religious group and the moral conduct of its founders are of importance in the debate. I just think we need to be careful not to make it the foundation of our argument against them.
Good points. We must remeber that anytime we discuss a movement involving people we will find some irregularities and some outright errors. However, that is precisly why we follow Jesus Christ and the standards in His Word, not from a man. The tragedies from the events in church history could have been midigated if the leadership of that time had only checked their activities with the Word and not their emotions.
Until Christ comes, we will find ourseleves bound to activities, no matter how noble, are fraught with morbid frailties.