The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, informally known as the Mormons, was founded by Joseph Smith in 1830, who claimed to have received a revelation of the Father -God-and his son, Jesus Christ 1820. Years later, he also claims to have recieved further instruction from the Angel Moroni. The church migrated from New York to Kirtland Ohio, until they were forced out by mobs, but the they than moved to Illinois. The church also sent large groups of Saints to Missouri, while they were in kirtland, but were forced out of the state by the State Government, they joined the Saints in Illinois. They were there for a few years, but were forced out by mobs. They than moved to Utah where they have many members there and worldwide. The Mormons perform enormous amounts of missionary activity. Today, there are more than 12.5 million members.

The Mormons, like other small denominations, have been the target of discrimination. Mormons are depicted as "bad guys" in Arthur Conan Doyle's 1890 novel, A Study in Scarlet, and Zane Grey's 1912 Riders of the Purple Sage.

In 1847, Mormons, led by Brigham Young, traveled west to escape persecution and founded Salt Lake City, Utah. Salt Lake City is famous for its wide streets, which were made wide enough to allow a wagon team to turn around. Salt Lake City is home to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, which has been recording since 1910 and broadcasting since 1929. Its recordings usually feature hymns and patriotic music. The Choir has made five gold and two platinum recordings.

Church members follow a law of health known as the Word of Wisdom that promotes healthy eating as well as avoiding tobacco, alcohol, coffee, tea and illegal drugs.

Mormons' relationship to Christianity

Mormons are somewhat out of the mainstream of U. S. Christian denominations, because they accept the Book of Mormon as well as the King James Bible. The Book of Mormon includes an account of the ancient people in the Americas. It also states that Jesus Christ came to them after the 40 days he spent with the Apotles in Isreal. According to LDS history, The Book of Mormon was translated by divine revelations made to Joseph Smith. The Mormons believe that The Book of Mormon is Another Testament of Jesus Christ

Nevertheless, modern Mormons consider themselves to be Christians -- though in the 1970s the church was very adamant about the fact that Mormons were NOT Christians.

The LDS website says "We believe in the Jesus of the New Testament, and we believe what the New Testament teaches about Him. We do believe things about Jesus that other Christians do not believe, but that is because we know, through revelation, things about Jesus that others do not know."

Polygamy

Early prejudice against Mormons was sparked in part by its early practice of polygamy, which was sanctioned from 1840 until 1890. Even though it was officially discontinued in 1890, Mormonism and polygamy continue to be associated in the popular mind.

A 1998 statement by LDS Present Gordon B. Hinckley states:

This Church has nothing whatever to do with those practicing polygamy. They are not members of this Church. . . . If any of our members are found to be practicing plural marriage, they are excommunicated, the most serious penalty the Church can impose. Not only are those so involved in direct violation of the civil law, they are in violation of the law of this Church.

However, in addition to "the" Church (the 12.5-million-member Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), there continue to be small splinter groups, which also consider themselves to be Mormons and do practice polygamy. The most notable is the "Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (often called "Fundamentalist Mormons.") This group numbers about ten thousand. It broke from the Mormon church in 1890 over the issue of polygamy. It made headlines in 2006 and 2007, when leader Warren Jeffs was arrested by the FBI and indicted by a grand jury on charges of arranging illegal "marriages" between male followers and underage girls.

External Links

Non-Mormon

• MormonWiki
• JesusNotJoseph
• Mormonism Research Ministry

Mormon

• Official Church Website
• Official Church Website for Investigators