Mormons is the name commonly given to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mormons believe that the church as established by Christ did not survive in its original form and was restored in modern times by divine means through a modern prophet, Joseph Smith . Thus, they believe their church is the true and complete church of Jesus Christ restored on Earth. Mormons are more correctly called Latter-day Saints, using the word saint in its Biblical sense to mean any member of Christ’s church. The name “Mormons” comes from their acceptance of a text called the Book of Mormon as holy scripture.
The church has more than 16 million members. Although Mormonism originated in the United States, a majority of Mormons now live in other countries. Church headquarters are in Salt Lake City .
Many other groups trace their origins to Joseph Smith but are not associated with the church described in this article. The largest of these is the Community of Christ (formerly called the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints), which has headquarters in Independence, Missouri (see Community of Christ ). However, the Book of Mormon no longer figures prominently in their faith or practice.
Church doctrines and ordinances
Mormon beliefs are based on ancient and modern revelations from God. Many of these revelations are recorded in scriptures. These scriptures include the Bible, the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price.
Latter-day Saints regard the Bible as the word of God, but they believe that it is an incomplete record of all that God said and did. The Book of Mormon is a history of three groups of early peoples of the Western Hemisphere. Mormons teach that the Book of Mormon was divinely inspired and regard it as holy scripture. Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon from golden plates that he said he received from the angel Moroni. The Doctrine and Covenants contains what Mormons believe are revelations given to Smith by God. The Pearl of Great Price contains writings of Smith and his translation of some ancient records.
Latter-day Saints have a unique concept of God. They teach that this concept was revealed by God through Joseph Smith and other prophets. Mormons believe that the Supreme Being is God the Father, who is a living, eternal being with a glorified body of flesh and bone. The human body is made in the image of God.
Latter-day Saints teach that God the Father created all people as spirit-children before the earth was made. They regard Jesus Christ as the first spirit-child whom the Supreme Being created. They believe that Christ created the world under the direction of God the Father. This is why Mormons also refer to Christ as the Creator.
According to the Mormon faith, having children is one major purpose of human life. The birth of each child provides the opportunity for a spirit-child of God to experience mortal life. This life is a form of probation during which the individual’s obedience to God is tested and he or she receives the opportunity to progress toward a state of being that the apostle Peter called “the divine nature.” Jesus came to earth and was born of the Virgin Mary. As the only one of God’s spirit-children begotten by the Father in the flesh, he is divine.
Jesus Christ died on the cross for the sins of all humanity and brought about the resurrection of all. This act of atonement (making up for wrongs done) was his gift to all people. He lives today as a resurrected, immortal being of flesh and bone.
God the Father and Jesus Christ are two separate beings. With a third distinct person, the Holy Ghost, they form a Trinity, Godhead, or governing council in the heavens. The Holy Ghost is a spirit without a body of flesh and bone.
Latter-day Saints claim that their doctrine is the one taught by Jesus and his apostles. They believe that the first principles and ordinances (sacraments or sacred observances) of the gospel are faith in Jesus Christ; repentance; baptism by immersion for the forgiveness of sins; and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. They believe that a person must be called of God by those who have the authority to do so in order to preach the gospel and administer its ordinances.
Latter-day Saints believe in life after death and in the physical resurrection of the body. The spirit, awaiting the body’s resurrection, continues to exist as an intelligent, self-aware being. During this time, individuals who did not know the gospel in life may accept it after death. For this reason, Mormons believe that a living person can be baptized on behalf of a deceased individual. Such baptisms and other ordinances performed for the dead take place in a Mormon temple, which is considered to be a link between the mortal world and the eternal world or afterlife.
Anybody may enter and worship in a Mormon meeting house or chapel. However, only worthy Latter-day Saints may participate in temple worship. They must affirm, among other things, that they tithe (contribute one-tenth of their income to the church); live the Word of Wisdom (abstain from alcohol, tobacco, coffee, and tea); and have no sexual relations outside of marriage. Because Latter-day Saints believe that family life can continue after death, marriages performed by an authorized individual in a Mormon temple are for eternity.
Another important Mormon ordinance performed by individuals known as temple officiators is endowment, which instructs Latter-day Saints in the meaning of life and death. The endowment allows worthy individuals to form special covenants (solemn agreements) with God that involve obedience to strict ethical codes (ideas about what is right and wrong). These covenants are symbolized by ritual clothing used in temple ceremonies and by a special garment worn as underclothing. The endowment helps Mormons progress toward exaltation, the highest degree of salvation. Mormons consider exaltation to be a condition or nature that they can reach by following gospel laws and principles, and because of Jesus’s atonement for their sins.
Latter-day Saints believe in upholding the civil law of the country in which they are established. For example, they believe the Constitution of the United States is an inspired document. Mormons in the United States are urged by their religion to uphold its principles.
Church organization
Latter-day Saints regard the organizational plan of their church as divinely inspired. They have no professional clergy. However, all members in good standing, young and old, can participate in church government through several church organizations. A body called the General Authorities heads the church. It consists of the President (the Prophet) and two counselors; the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; the seven-member Presidency of the Seventy; the First and Second Quorums of the Seventy; and the three-member Presiding Bishopric.
Under the General Authorities are area leaders and then regional and local organizations called stakes (dioceses) and wards (congregations). Each stake is governed by a president and two counselors, who are assisted by an advisory council of 12 men called the High Council. A stake has between 2,000 and 10,000 members. A bishop and two counselors govern each ward. Wards have an average of 500 to 600 members.
Worthy male members of the church may enter the priesthood, which is divided into two orders. The Aaronic (lesser) order is for young men 12 to 18 years old. The Melchizedek (higher) order is for men over 18. Each order is subdivided into groups called quorums. Mormons believe that the priesthood provides individuals with the authority to act in God’s name in governing the church and performing religious ordinances.
Several auxiliary organizations assist the priesthood. The Sunday School, the largest auxiliary organization, provides religious education for adults and children. The Women’s Relief Society helps the sick and the poor, and directs women’s activities. The Young Men and Young Women organizations provide programs for teenagers. The Primary Association sponsors classwork and recreation for children 3 to 11 years old.
The church operates an extensive educational system. It provides weekday religious education for high school students in seminaries located near public high schools in many states and in several other countries. The church conducts weekday religious institutes for Mormon students near college campuses. It also maintains fully accredited colleges and universities in Utah, Idaho, and the Pacific Islands. The best known of these is Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
Latter-day Saints assist aged, disabled, and unemployed members through a voluntary welfare program. Projects directed by the wards and stakes help the poor.
Voluntary contributions from members and income from church-operated businesses support the church. Most members give a tithe (one-tenth of their annual income) to the church. Thousands of young men and women and retired people work without pay for 18 to 24 months in a worldwide missionary program.
History
Revelations.
During the early 1800’s, Joseph Smith, the son of a New England farmer, received a series of divine revelations. According to Smith’s account, God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him near Palmyra, New York, in 1820. They advised him not to join any existing church and to prepare for an important task. Smith said he was visited by an angel named Moroni three years later. Moroni told him about golden plates on which the history of early peoples of the Western Hemisphere was engraved in an ancient language. In 1827, Smith received the plates on Cumorah, a hill near Palmyra. His translation of the plates, called the Book of Mormon, was published in 1830. Smith and his associates founded the church on April 6, 1830. It grew rapidly, and had 1,000 members by the end of the first year.
Mormons in the Middle West.
Mormon communities were established at Kirtland, Ohio, and Independence, Missouri, during the early 1830’s. Smith moved the church headquarters to Kirtland in 1831, and the town was the center of the church for almost eight years. He instituted the basic organization and many of the present doctrines there. The first Mormon temple was completed there in 1836.
The 1830’s were years of growth, but serious problems arose at the same time. Disputes among some church members themselves, the collapse of a Mormon bank in 1837, and conflict with non-Mormon neighbors broke up the Kirtland community. In 1838, Smith and his loyal followers moved to Missouri, and joined other Mormons there. But trouble again arose. The Missouri Mormons had been driven from Independence in 1833, many settling in a town called Far West, in northern Missouri. In the fall of 1838, mobs attacked the Mormons in several of their settlements. In the “massacre at Haun’s Mill,” 17 Mormons, including some children, were killed. Joseph Smith and other leaders were arrested on what Mormons believe were false charges. Ordered out of Missouri, more than 5,000 Mormons fled to Illinois in late 1838 and early 1839. Smith escaped from prison in the spring of 1839 and rejoined his people in Illinois.
They founded the city of Nauvoo , which became one of the state’s largest cities. The rapid growth of Nauvoo, and the important part Mormons played in state politics, made non-Mormons suspicious and hostile again. One faction set up a newspaper to fight Smith, who had become a candidate for president of the United States. The paper was destroyed, and Smith was blamed for it. He, his brother Hyrum, and other leaders were arrested and jailed. On June 27, 1844, a mob attacked the jail. Smith and his brother were shot and killed.
The Mormons in Utah.
Most of the Saints supported Brigham Young as the next church leader. Mobs forced the Mormons out of Illinois in 1846. Joseph Smith had planned to move his people to the Great Basin in the Rocky Mountains. This plan was now put into effect by Young. In 1847, Young led the advance party of settlers into the Great Salt Lake valley. The population of the region grew rapidly, and by 1849, the Mormons had set up a civil government. The Mormons applied for admission to the Union as the State of Deseret, but Congress created the Territory of Utah in 1850 instead, and appointed Young governor. See Deseret ; Nevada (Early settlement) ; Utah (The Mormons) .
Trouble with non-Mormons began again. Throughout his governorship, Young quarreled with the U.S. government over the appointment and conduct of federal officials in the territory. President James Buchanan replaced Young with a non-Mormon governor and sent troops to Utah in 1857. The trouble that followed has been called the Utah War, or the Mormon War. The conflict ended in 1858 when Young accepted the new governor and President Buchanan gave full pardon to all concerned.
The number of Utah settlements increased until the territory’s population reached 140,000 in 1877. The practice among some Mormons of polygyny—that is, a form of marriage in which a man has multiple wives—was a source of bitter conflict at this time. Polygyny began secretly with Joseph Smith in the 1830’s, spread slowly during the 1840’s, and was announced publicly in 1852. The church prohibited the practice in 1890, after the Supreme Court of the United States ruled it illegal. In 1896, Utah was admitted to the Union as the 45th state. See Polygamy .
Mormons today
have won a reputation as a temperate, industrious people who have made their churches monuments to thrift and faith. Their meeting houses are in many ways model community centers. They include facilities for worship, learning, and recreation.
The promotion of music and the arts has long been important to the Latter-day Saints. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir in Salt Lake City is famous for its broadcasts, telecasts, and concert tours. The choir, now more than 100 years old, has been heard on U.S. radio networks since 1929.
The church underwent a large worldwide expansion in the late 1900’s and early 2000’s under the leadership of Gordon B. Hinckley. Hinckley led the church from 1995 until his death in 2008. In the 2000’s, the church’s most dramatic growth has been in Africa and Latin America.
