Foundation of Mormonism
The history of Mormonism originated in the early nineteenth century in New York State, during a period when religious excitement filled the region. In the midst of conflicting religious claims, Joseph Smith Jr., a young teenager, determined to find out for himself where he stood with God and which church, if any, he should join. The young man's prayers were answered and over a period of the next several years he claimed several significant heavenly manifestations, including one directing him to the location of some gold plates buried near his home. Through the gift and power of God he discovered they contained a religious history of the ancient inhabitants of America, including a visit by Jesus Christ. This book is known today as the Book of Mormon. Following these events, Smith played a leading role in organizing a church on April 6, 1830 which became known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Shortly thereafter adherents moved just outside of Cleveland, Ohio, to Kirtland, and due to increased missionary activity the fledgling church prospered and grew rapidly. Religious as well as economic and social programs were implemented for the benefit of the people including the construction of a temple. This temple still stands today as a monument of the faith and dedication of these people. As the Kirtland community grew, a significant branch of the Church was also established in Jackson County, Missouri which was designated as a center place for the gathering of the Saints, but as Church members moved in, cultural and religious differences increasingly strained community relationships and open conflict soon emerged. The Mormons were driven out of Jackson County into neighboring counties to the north. When the economy at Kirtland collapsed in 1837 due to a failed banking venture and the national financial panic of the same year, church followers moved to join with the other adherents still in Missouri at a central place called Far West in Caldwell County. This move, however, proved short lived as conflicts continued to mount through the spring and summer of 1838. As raiding parties on both sides inflicted property damage on each other, the conflict quickly came to a head when the small Mormon community at Haun's Mill was attacked and eighteen people killed and many others wounded. In the harsh winter of 1838, approximately 6,000 Mormons were forced to abandon their homes and leave the state. This time the Saints moved east to the banks of the Mississippi river in Illinois and founded a new city called Nauvoo meaning the "city beautiful." Again, their community grew rapidly under the leadership of Joseph Smith as its spiritual and secular leader. Church members once again fashioned a social, religious, and political community as they drained the swamps and constructed an impressive temple overlooking the river. A peaceful coexistence with their neighbors was not to be. Both internal conflicts and external societal and religious differences soon developed. Joseph Smith, as mayor of Nauvoo, ordered the suppression of some dissidents and violence erupted. Smith then called out the Nauvoo militia to protect the city as he and his brother, Hyrum, were arrested on charges of treason by Illinois authorities in June 1844. They were jailed in Carthage, Illinois and on June 27, 1844, a bitter mob broke into the jail and killed the brothers. Following Joseph's death, the Church was at a pivotal point as several people claimed leadership. At a meeting held in Nauvoo in August 1844, members temporarily selected the Quorum of Twelve as the leading body of the Church. Directing the Twelve, Brigham Young proved a forceful and able leader as it became necessary for the Mormons to find another home. Within two years, a majority of members began a westward trek from Nauvoo. This history-making trip to the deserts of the Great Basin in the Utah territory proved to be an epic journey of major proportions. Along the way, Young was selected as Church President, and in July 1847 the first settlers reached what is now Salt Lake City. Before the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869, over 60,000 people made the one-thousand mile march from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to their new Utah Zion. Here the LDS Church colonized many parts of the Intermountain West including parts of western Canada and northern Mexico. They began an extensive agricultural community and through innovative irrigation and a cooperative village-based economy, they once again built their society. The first few years were extremely difficult, but with strong organization and determined leadership, success was achieved. In 1849, the Mormons wished their settlements admitted to the Union as the State of Deseret, but instead the area was organized by Congress as a territory. Brigham Young was appointed governor and superintendent of Indian affairs, but the political, economic, and social programs of the Mormons continued to distance themselves from mainstream America. Adding to this distance was Young's formal public announcement in 1852 of the doctrine of plural marriage which was attributed to a Joseph Smith revelation in 1843 and paralleled an ancient Israelite practice. Thereafter polygamy became sensationalized in newspapers and books across the country. Mormon plural marriage, accompanying their festering fracture with American political institutions, provoked a wave of negative sentiment toward the Saints. Antagonism reached its peak in 1857 when Col. Albert Sidney Johnston, in command of 2,000 U.S. troops, was sent to Utah by President James Buchanan. This time the Mormons refused to budge and war preparations were made to defend their homes. Fortunately, a peaceful settlement was reached, but a massacre in the fall of 1857 of an innocent California bound wagon train at Mountain Meadows in isolated southern Utah was symptomatic of the depth of Mormon feelings over many issues. During Utah's bid for statehood, Congress passed laws against polygamy aimed solely at Utah. Despite these tensions, by the time of Brigham Young's death in 1877, the LDS community was a thoroughly established commonwealth. Statehood was finally granted after LDS President Wilford Woodruff made a statement in 1890 ending Church-sanctioned polygamy. Utah entered the Union as the 45th state in 1896.
Since then, the LDS Church has prospered well beyond Utah and the inter mountain region and is becoming a world religion as half of all LDS members live outside the United States and Canada. The Church sends missionaries throughout the world and is established in over 100 countries. Current membership is estimated at over 12 million members. The popular nickname "Mormons" continues to be used to identify the Latter-day Saints who settled in Utah. The Church is well known for its espoused family values, code of healthful living, and temples built around the world, underscored by their affirmation of the divinity of Jesus Christ. Community of Christ (Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) Independence, Missouri After Joseph Smith's death in 1844, smaller groups of believers scattered to many parts of the country. Beginning in the 1850s, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints coalesced from among Saints who remained in the mid-west United States. The reorganization believed that Joseph Smith Jr. had designated his eldest son, Joseph III, to be his successor as president of the Church. Joseph Smith III accepted leadership of what would become the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on April 6, 1860, at Amboy, Illinois. Under his leadership, Church efforts were directed toward corrective measures in theology (most notably polygamy) and Church administration that they felt had crept in during the Nauvoo years. The Reorganized Church headquarters moved to Plano, Illinois, in 1865 and the Reorganization became official in 1872. As members grew anxious to gather nearer the "center place," the Church moved its offices to Lamont, Iowa, in 1882. The Church founded Graceland College at Lamont in 1895. During his presidency, Joseph III led the Church from a small fragmented group to a denomination of over 70,000 persons with members throughout the United States and in several other countries. Since April 1920, the official corporate headquarters of the RLDS Church has been in Independence, Missouri. As the Church crossed international boundaries, leaders soon realized that the task was more than merely extending an American church into other cultures. International diversity prompted RLDS leaders to identify the universal aspects of the gospel that might find a place in other cultures while being adapted to indigenous values and needs. In 1984, President Wallace B. Smith announced revelatory instructions providing for the ordination of women and construction of a temple in Independence, Missouri. The Temple was completed and dedicated to the pursuit of peace in 1994. To more adequately represent the Church's theology and mission: We proclaim Jesus Christ and promote communities of joy, hope, love, and peace," on April 6, 2001, the Church officially became the Community of Christ. Today the Church is established in more than forty nations and numbers some 250,000 members. Half the Church membership resides outside of North America. |
Joseph Smith Jr.
Latter-Day Saints heading westward to Utah
Wilford Woodruff
Joseph Smith III
Mormon Headquarters Plano, Illinois
Brigham Young
President Wallace B. Smith
Brigham Young University also called BYU was named after Brigham Young.
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