The Mormon Church - An Introduction
The Mormon
church, formally known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints, was started by a man from Palmyra, New York, named Joseph Smith,
Jr. At the age of fourteen, Joseph Smith had a series of visions and was
visited by an angel named Moroni. Moroni directed Smith to a box of golden
plates inscribed with hieroglyphics. Moroni also provided a pair of instruments
- called Urim and Thummirn - to enable Smith to read the hieroglyphics
and to dictate an English translation. The result was the Book of Mormon,
published in 1829, which tells of Christ visiting a lost tribe of Israelites
who migrated to America in 600 B.C., and ends with a prophecy that the
Church of Christ would be restored in America by a group of "Latter-Day
Saints," to correct the errors of other churches and restore the
communal life of the New Testament Christians.
The first Mormon church was established in 1831 in Kirtland, Ohio, and started spreading. The Mormons were persecuted for their "unorthodox" Christian views and practices. Later Brigham Young, Smith's successor, led a group of Mormon settlers to the valley of the Great Salt Lake in Utah (then a part of Mexico) and started a Mormon settlement. This settlement grew and other Mormons came and settled.
This church is now represented around the world. In addition to the Holy Bible,
Mormons regard the Book of Mormon as Scripture. One distinguishing difference
from traditional Protestant doctrine
is that Mormons believe that God is a flesh-and-bones person who became
supreme by mastering universal knowledge, and that all human beings have
an unremembered pre-existence in the spirit world. Mormons also observe
strict rules of personal morality.
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