I LOVED my World Religions Class three years ago. For our NRM essay, I selected Mormonism. I enjoyed researching, learned a lot about their history, and hopefully you can learn from it, too. THIS IS NOT AN ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY. It is a research paper. It is what it is.
The past few hundred years have given rise to New Religious Movements, or NRM's. One of the NRM's with the largest growth of members and national attention is the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, or Mormons. Although Mormons are, technically speaking, "Christians," as they are followers of Christ who believe in salvation through faith in him, they broke away from typical Christianity to create their own unique doctrine and book.
In 1817, the Second Great Awakening swept across the United States of America. In a revival tent in Vermont sat a 12-year-old boy named Joseph Smith, Jr., who, through these meetings, gained a fervent interest in religion. He attended church and read the Bible, but also partook in religious folk magic with his family. These conflicting practices left him confused about his own beliefs. A few years later, as Smith prayed in the woods, he received his first of many visions from God. God told Smith that his sins were forgiven and that the churches of the current day had turned their back on the true gospel. This experience was brushed aside when Smith shared it with his preacher, but it is now known to Mormons as the "restoration of the Gospel."
The visions continued, and in 1827, twenty-four-year-old Smith was visited by an angel named Moroni, who informed him of a book made of engraved golden plates hidden near Smith's home. Upon being located and translated, the contents of these gold plates became the Book of Mormon, the ancient writings of Israelites and prophets who journeyed to America centuries before the coming of Jesus Christ. Smith dictated this story through spiritual revelations in hopes of restoring the "true church" of God. He and his new followers chose to settle first in Kirtland, Ohio, where they dedicated the Kirtland Temple to their new religion, and then in Jackson County, Missouri, where they established a commune. It was here on the commune that they named themselves the Latter-Day Saints. "Mormon" began as a derogatory term taken from the Book of Mormon by those opposed to the movement, but then the Latter-Day Saints themselves adopted the name. In Missouri, the LDS group was met with strong opposition from Missouri slave owners, who believed that this new religion disagreed with slavery. This led to a series of violent clashes, including the 1838 Mormon War, a series of conflicts lasting three months. Following the "war", the Mormons fled to Illinois, founding the city of Nauvoo, but were met with more persecution as rumors of Smith's extramarital sexual relationships began to circulate. This led to the arrest of Joseph Smith, and he was killed on June 27, 1844, when an anti-Mormon mob took over the jail.
After all this, it seemed that surely the LDS Church was doomed to die with its founder. But the Council of Twelve Apostles, still in leadership today, took over the movement and elected Brigham Young, a man happy in his Mormon polygamy with 55 wives, as Smith's successor. Realizing that the violence made it impossible for Mormons to remain in Illinois, Young led a 1,100-mile wagon trail of "Mormon pioneers" to unsettled territory in what is now Utah but was at the time owned by Mexico. On July 24th, 1847, the Mormon pioneers finally reached their permanent home on the shores of the Great Salt Lake. Settling in this desolate, arid landscape was difficult but the Mormons faced the task with confidence and hard work. Immediately, scouts set out to locate drinkable water. The pioneers created irrigation systems, built homes, churches, and schools, and established farms. Just twenty-two days after arriving in the Salt Lake region, Brigham Young formed the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, which is still enjoyed in the homes of millions around the world, especially at Christmas. The Mormons still did not have complete peace in Utah and tensions and rebellions sprang up from time to time, such as the 1857 rebellion in which Mormons massacred all the men, women, and children in a wagon train moving through Utah. This violence nearly led to President James Buchanan setting an anti-Mormon act into place. The church doctrine of "plural marriage" (polygamy) was also quite controversial. In 1890, the LDS church finally dropped this practice, causing some Mormons to break off into the polygamist sect of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, still in practice today although it came under fire in 2011 when its leader was sent to jail for sexually abusing his underage wives.
Despite these and other scandals, the Latter-Day Saints overcame their difficult start and flourished into a lasting, legitimate religion. Polygamy no longer exists in the traditional Mormon setting. Families are considered the most important unit of society, and Mormons, as a whole, have more children than the national average. Although the LDS doctrine is unique, it is also easy to see that it stemmed from Protestantism. Mormons believe that Jesus Christ, the son of God, came to earth to save us from our sins and will one day return to establish a lasting kingdom. God is a loving heavenly father who sent the Holy Spirit to guide and comfort his children on earth. But unlike traditional Christianity, Mormons believe that these three divinities are separate beings rather than the paradoxical three-in-one. Baptism is done to follow Jesus's example and also on behalf of unbaptized ancestors who died outside of the faith. Once the gift of salvation is accepted and secured through baptism, Mormons must continue to assure their faith through acts. This is why missionary work is such a powerful presence in the Latter-Day Saints church. In any Suburban neighborhood in America, Mormon missionaries are sure to make an appearance at one time or another, sharing their two important books of faith: the Holy Bible and the Book of Mormon. The work of 74,000 missionaries is fruitful. Today 14.8 million people profess Mormonism, with 57% of these followers living outside of the United States. In 2012, Mormonism received national attention when a Mitt Romney, a Mormon and graduate of Brigham Young University, ran as the Republican presidential nominee. Glenn Beck, an independent political radio host, is also a member of the LDS church. Growth of this faith is inching slowly but steadily year by year, and as mission work continues, the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints may someday graduate from the status of New Religious Movements into a centuries-old religion.
Works Cited
"1838 Mormon War." Wikipedia. Web. Accessed 7 October 2016.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1838_Mormon_War>
"Joseph Smith." Wikipedia. Web. Accessed 7 October 2016.
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"Our Beliefs." Mormon.org. Web. Accessed 7 October 2016. <Mormon.org>
Voorst, Van. World RELG 3: Introduction to World Religions. 2017, Cengage Learning. Print.
"Worldwide Statistics." Mormonnewsroom.org. Web. Accessed 7 October 2016.
<mormonnewsroom.org/facts-and-statistics>
