MORMO​N

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (with headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah — a state that is now is 70% Mormon.  The Church was founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith Jr. (1805-1844)

In the last decade, nearly 300,000 individuals over the age of eight have joined the Mormon Church every year.  Membership is expected to grow to over 23 million over the next two decades. The Mormon religion is growing fastest in Latin America and Asia.

The Word of God

Joseph Smith was given another and new and unique “Word of God,” different from the New Testament.  Writings of the book were miraculously translated from an ancient record by Joseph Smith, Jr. by the “gift and power of God.”   This ancient record was written on golden plates which had their location revealed to Joseph Smith, Jr. by an angel.  Joseph Smith, Jr. translated the golden plates.   He then gave them back to the angel, which has them in it’s “charge.”   Well known Mormons have stated these plates lay buried within the famous hill located near the Smith home outside of Palmyra, New York.  The famous hill is named Cumorah Hill (The Mormon Church owns the property).  Today the plates are said to be lost.

BRIGHAM YOUNG GAVE AN ACCOUNT ON JUNE 17, 1877;

Oliver Cowdery went with the Prophet Joseph when he deposited these plates. Joseph did not translate all of the plates; there was a portion of them sealed, which you can learn from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. When Joseph got the plates, the angel instructed him to carry them back to the hill Cumorah, which he did. Oliver says that when Joseph and Oliver went there, the hill opened, and they walked into a cave, in which there was a large and spacious room. He says he did not think, at the time, whether they had the light of the sun or artificial light; but that it was just as light as day. They laid the plates on a table; it was a large table that stood in the room. Under this table there was a pile of plates as much as two feet high, and there were altogether in this room more plates than probably many wagon loads; they were piled up in the corners and along the walls. The first time they went there the sword of Laban hung upon the wall; but when they went there again it had been taken down and laid upon the table across the gold plates; it was unsheathed, and on it was written these words: ‘This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ’ (Journal of Discourses 19:38).

In the official Mormon authorized book History of the Church 1:53 states that it was only by prayer and faith that they were “able to obtain a view of them (the plates).”

I guess you need “prayer and faith” to see physical objects. And on page 55 it is clearly written that Joseph Smith himself has recorded that the plates were seen in a vision.

Joseph Smith Murdered

And of course, Joseph Smith, Jr. was murdered, along with his brother Hyrum Smith, both were killed by a mob in Carthage, Illinois, on June 27, 1844. The brothers had been in jail awaiting trial when an armed mob of about 200 men stormed the facility, their faces painted black with wet gunpowder.

Joseph Smith, as mayor of the town of Nauvoo, Illinois, had ordered the destruction of the facilities producing the Nauvoo Expositor, a newly established newspaper set up by a group of non-Mormons and people who had seceded from the church. The newspaper's first (and only) issue was deeply critical of Smith and other church leaders—reporting that Smith was practicing polygamy and claiming he intended to set himself up as a theocratic king. In response, Smith declared the paper a public nuisance and ordered its press destroyed.

The destruction of the press led to charges of riot against the Smith brothers and other members of the Nauvoo City Council. Warrants for his arrest were dismissed by Nauvoo courts. Joseph Smith declared martial law in Nauvoo and called on the Nauvoo Legion to protect Nauvoo. The brothers voluntarily traveled to the county seat at Carthage and surrendered to the authorities to face the charges. After surrendering, the brothers were also charged with treason against Illinois for declaring martial law. The brothers were in the Carthage jail awaiting trial when the mob attacked.

The Name Mormon

But the writings are not called the Book of Joseph Smith, Jr..  They are called the Book of Mormon.  Who was Mormon?  Mormon was a 4th-century prophet–historian who compiled and abridged many records of his ancestors into the Book of Mormon. In Mormon 1:5 Mormon identifies his lineage. He states that he is a descendant of Nephi and that his father’s name was Mormon.  But in Third Nephi 5:12, Mormon states that he was not named after his father, but  was named after the land in which a great event took place—the restoration of Christ’s covenant people, Christ’s church.

“And behold, I am called Mormon, being called after the land of Mormon,

The land in which Alma did establish the church among this people:

Yea, the first church which was established among them after their transgression.”

Third Nephi 5:12

Contents of Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon is about pre-Columbus civilizations in the Americas from approximately 2600 BC through AD 420,  It is said to be written by prophets and followers of Jesus Christ. The book records the teachings of Jesus Christ to the people in the Americas as well as Christ’s personal ministry among the people of Nephi after his resurrection

Many Gods

Mormons believe that the universe is inhabited by many gods who produce spirit children. Joseph Smith declared,

“I will preach on the plurality of Gods. I have always declared God to be a distinct personage, Jesus Christ a separate and distinct personage from God the Father, and the Holy Ghost was a distinct personage and a Spirit: and these three constitute three distinct personages and three Gods”        Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 370

Mormon Apostle Bruce R. McConkie spoke about gods, quote,

“Plurality of Gods: Three separate personages: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, comprise the Godhead. As each of these persons is a God, it is evident, from this standpoint alone, that a plurality of Gods exists. To us, speaking in the proper finite sense, these three are the only Gods we worship. But in addition there is an infinite number of holy personages, drawn from worlds without number, who have passed on to exaltation and are thus gods”      Mormon Doctrine, pp. 576-577

Mormon secret ceremony

Jesus Christ in America