Mormonism

Many people have capricious ideas about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The history of Mormonism reads much like a fairytale. It began in the early nineteenth century, in upstate New York. In the heart of a period plagued by religious tension and conflicting claims, a young man by the name of Joseph Smith Jr. sought to determine his position with God, and which church he should join. Shortly thereafter, Smith’s prayers were answered. Over the next several years, Smith experienced several substantial manifestations, including one from an angel by the name of Moroni, who told Smith as to where he could find the gold plates that would later become the Book of Mormon. Shadowing these events, Smith played a pivotal role in organizing a church that would later become known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Shortly thereafter, devotees moved to an area just shy of Cleveland, Ohio, to a town called Kirtland, and through strong missionary work, the church saw an influx of new members. As the Kirtland community began to grow and prosper a new branch was formed in Missouri. Following the economic collapse of Kirtland in 1837, church adherents moved to join with the splinter group in Missouri, in a place known as Far West in Caldwell County. However, rising religious tensions eventually erupted into conflict, forcing those members of the Mormon Church to move once again. In 1839, the Saints found their selves on the banks of the Mississippi river in Illinois. It was here that the group would found a new city called Nauvoo. Under the leadership of Joseph Smith, the municipality rapidly grew. However, the radical views and ideas of the group once again brought about trouble with residents of neighboring counties. The combination of internal and external conflicts soon led to violence that would result in a drastic turn of events. In June of 1844, Smith ordered the militia to suppress a number of dissidents that resulted in both his brother Hyrum and himself being arrested on charges of treason. On June 27, 1844, a vehement mob broke into the jail where the brothers were being housed and slayed both brothers, leaving the church in a vulnerable state (“History of Mormonism,” 2014). The deaths of Hyrum and Joseph Smith in June of 1844 would leave the Church in a state of disarray. A succession crisis arose, as several members of the Church sought to seize power. Jan Shipps stated that rather than Smith’s death be used as a means for unification, the prophets death instead “ushered in divisions in Mormonism that are as dramatic and potentially as long-standing as the sundering of Israel’s northern and southern tribes” (Shipps, 1985). In August of 1844, members of the church elected a temporary Quorum of Twelve as the leading body of the church (“History of Mormonism,” 2014). Directing the quorum was a man by the name of Brigham Young, who proved to be a formidable leader, and would later become President of the Mormon Church. As time passed, it became evident that the Mormons would need to find a new home. In 1846, the church underwent a split in which a significant number of the members began a westward journey that would end more than a year later in what is now Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1849, after successfully colonizing the area known as the Great Basin of Utah, the Mormons petitioned for their settlements to be admitted as a state. However instead, Congress organized the region as a territory. The socioeconomic programs developed by the group proved to be controversial, causing the community to further distance themselves from mainstream America. Further adding to this distance was the formal adoption of polygamy in 1852, which fostered negative sentiment towards the Saints. Yet, despite numerous setbacks, Utah’s bid for statehood was granted in 1896, nearly nineteen years after Young’s death and only six years after the newly elected president of the Mormon Church, Wilford Woodruff, made a statement abolishing the practice of Church-sanctioned polygamy. As for the other significant group of Mormons, a serious reformation occurred. In the early 1850s, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints coalesced from among the Saints who remained in the mid-west United States (“History of Mormonism,” 2014). Joseph Smith III assumed the presidency after his father. Under his direction, the Church sought to correct measures in theology that had arisen during their time at Nauvoo. Under his leadership, the Church moved from Nauvoo, Illinois; to Plano, Illinois; to Lamoni, Iowa; and finally settled in Independence, Missouri (“History of Mormonism,” 2014). Joseph III took a minute, disjointed group of followers and grew it into a denomination with more than 70,000 members throughout the United States and several additional countries. However, as the group began to transcend international boundaries, it became clear that the expansion of the Church into other cultures would bring about serious issues, such as how to tackle diversity and the roles of each gender within the religion. To accurately understand how the church handled many of these issues, it is first necessary to understand many of the beliefs and practices of the religion that delineate it from other similar religions such as Christianity.