| Dictionary: Mormon Church |
| The Religion Book: Mormons/Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |
In 1820 the little town of Palmyra, New York, was typical of the many mill towns dotting the famous Erie Canal. Religious revival had hit the area, the impact of which can still be seen in the small town famous for the fact that its main intersection features a church of a different denomination on each of the four corners. They surround what was, until only a few years ago, Palmyra's only traffic light, making for some interesting ecumenical debates on Sunday morning at about 11 o'clock.
A young man named Joseph Smith, whose family had migrated down from Vermont, was caught up but confused by the religious questions of the day. Every preacher seemed to claim that his own church was the "right" church. Methodists vied with Presbyterians for new converts, and many other long-forgotten sects all added their voices to the spiritual mix. It was typical of the American melting-pot kind of frontier revival that often broke out during those times.
Smith decided he needed to go right to the source for guidance. He began to pray for help in knowing God's will concerning which church he should join:
In the midst of this war of words and tumult of opinions, I often said to myself, what is to be done? Who of all these parties be right? Or are they wrong all together?
In a small grove of trees, now called the Sacred Grove and visited by many tourists every year, Smith received his answer. He later claimed that God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him, warning him not to join any church. Just as God had appeared to Moses and Paul in former times, he appeared to Smith with a message: The times were changing. Something new was about to happen.
Instructed to climb Hill Cumorah, a small glacial drumlin just north of Palmyra on the way to the little village of Manchester, Smith there met the angel Moroni, son of the great prophet, Mormon, who showed him where golden plates were buried that would answer Smith's questions. They were written in the language Smith described as "Reformed Egyptian Hieroglyphics," and he was able to translate because along with the plates he discovered a pair of "translating spectacles" that allowed him to read the lost language. When translated, they became The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ.
The story they told changed Smith's life. When Jesus Christ walked the Galilee, he organized his church to be the vehicle whereby God, the heavenly father, would reveal himself to humanity and welcome them into heaven. The apostles continued this tradition and preached the Gospel during their lifetimes. They were the saints of the former days. But gradually the Church pulled away from the Gospel. It became apostate, and God withdrew the Church from Earth. Now, in these latter days, it was to be restored according to the prophecy given by the apostle Peter in Acts 3:19-21.
Mormon, the author of the record and one of the last of the prophets of ancient America, had buried the plates there in that hill centuries before. They described how Lehi, a prophet who had lived in Jerusalem some six hundred years before the birth of Christ, had sailed with a small group of people from the Mediterranean all the way to the American continent. They had built a great civilization in Central America while trading, and eventually warring, all the way north to the place of present-day Palmyra. After his resurrection in Jerusalem, Jesus Christ had appeared here in the Americas, preaching the Gospel to his "sheep of another fold." Alas, the people in America were no different from those in other places in the world where the Gospel had been preached and rejected. God raised up prophets, but they were ridiculed. War broke out. The last great battle between God's faithful and the apostate took place here at Hill Cumorah. The descendants of those who had fought were the very people Americans called Indians. Although remnants of history and snatches of language remained to hint of the history that taken place so many centuries before, the story was lost.
Lost, that is, until Smith translated the Golden Plates and revealed what had taken place here. He was able to do so, he said, because God was restoring the saints in these latter days, fulfilling the prophecy and preparing the way for the return of Jesus Christ.
Moroni concluded his book with a great promise. He said those who read his words and sincerely prayed about their meaning would be shown by the Holy Ghost that the words were true and that God's promise was being fulfilled. Smith believed. No one was allowed to see the plates except Smith, although he did reveal them to two different groups of witnesses so they could testify to their existence.
The Book of Mormon is used as a third Testament, as it were. It is not meant to replace the Bible but to be used as a companion to the Old and New Testaments. Mormons claim it predicts the history of the Americas for some twenty-five hundred years: the voyage of Christopher Columbus, the fate of American Indians, the coming of the Puritans, the Revolutionary War, and much more.
On April 6, 1830, ten years after Smith received the plates, translated them, and began to preach the newfound Gospel, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized in Fayette, New York. It now boasts over eleven million members around the world.
But the church experienced persecution from the very beginning. Threatened and finally driven out of town, Smith led his followers west, joining the great western migration taking place at the time. In 1844 both Joseph Smith and his brother were killed by a mob while imprisoned in Carthage, Illinois, awaiting charges for the destruction of an anti-Mormon newspaper press. Brigham Young took control. Leading the people across more than one thousand miles of unsettled prairie, he finally arrived, in 1847, at the great Salt Lake Valley of present-day Utah. This, Young declared, would be the scene of the New Jerusalem. Salt Lake City was born. From this base, Mormon communities were established in Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, north to Canada, and south into Mexico. They were united by the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Thirteen Articles of Faith that Smith had summarized concerning the beliefs of the new church.
Although the official name of the church is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they are often called "Mormons" after the name of the one of the authors of the text translated by Smith. They are a Christian church in that they follow Jesus Christ, but they do not consider themselves to be Protestant, because they feel that by the time of the Reformation the true Church had long since been withdrawn from Earth. Restored in the time of Joseph Smith, it now awaits the literal gathering of Israel and the restoration of the Ten Tribes, "lost" since the Assyrian invasion (See Babylonian Captivity; Judaism, Development of). Zion, the New Jerusalem, will be built on the American continent, where Jesus Christ will someday return to rule planet Earth.
It is probably very frustrating to church leaders that, in light of all this history and theology, people seem to have two questions they ask time and time again.
The first is probably more prurient than theological: "What is the Mormon position regarding polygamy?"
The church now forbids plural marriage. Its official position is that at various times in the past, God commanded a few men to take more than one wife. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, and Solomon all did it. So when Joseph Smith and Brigham Young were told to take more than one wife, they questioned the practice but were faithful to God and followed his will. Since 1890, however, when Mormon president Wilford Woodruff received a revelation from God that the practice had to cease, it has been forbidden by official church policy.
Do some Mormons still practice plural marriage? Of course. There are fundamentalists in every religion who believe their church has become too liberal and who refuse to go along. But polygamists are excommunicated by the officially recognized church, the greatest punishment the church can deliver.
The second question comes as a result of recent lawsuits involving people researching their family trees. "Why does the Mormon Church keep such extensive genealogical records?"
Mormons believe in baptism by immersion. That's not much different from some other Protestant churches. But according to Mormon theology, you can baptize the dead by proxy, so to speak. You can stand in for them at the temple and be baptized in their stead. To identify deceased family members in order to baptize them, Mormons have established a huge genealogical data bank.
This project has caused some interesting news reports. Recently Mormons have put prison inmates in Utah to work transcribing, from German records released since the Holocaust, the names of Jewish people to be baptized. This practice has raised serious church/state separation problems, to say nothing of the fact that living Jewish relatives don't want their families being baptized, even if they did die long ago. They rightly feel it is disrespectful. A class-action lawsuit was supposed to have put an end to the practice, but it was recently discovered, according to Jewish complainants, that deceased Jews were still being baptized by proxy. The Mormons had apparently broken their word.
The church has stated that these people were baptized accidentally, claiming that the transcribers could not always tell whether the deceased were Jewish just from their names.
The principle at stake is this: Mormons believe families are united forever, even after death. It is very important to them to discover who their family is and make sure they are baptized, thus fulfilling God's requirements on Earth.
Meanwhile, a lot of Gentile genealogists, given free access to Mormon computer files, are at least happy with the result of the doctrine, regardless of their religious beliefs.
Mormons have endured quite a bit of persecution, yet most who come into contact with Mormons as a group come away with nothing but good things to say. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is one of the most respected vocal ensembles in the world. Residents of Palmyra, New York, who each summer face an influx of thousands of Mormons arriving to attend the famous Mormon Pageant (a reenactment of the Mormon story that is held on Hill Cumorah), are unanimous in their praise of Mormon visitors. Townspeople claim Mormons are always well dressed, they are always well behaved, and they never drink or smoke. The church erects beautiful buildings and maintains an extremely polished website and visitor center, and its members strive always to be polite and helpful.
Conservative Christians, however, ridicule the religion, labeling it a dangerous cult. Its history is slandered in book and television exposés. Way back in 1832, Alexander Campbell published his Delusions: An Analysis of the Book of Mormon. In it he pointed out that the golden plates seem to have anticipated and given a definitive "answer to just about every error and truth discussed in New York for the last ten years." In other words, according to Campbell, the book was a hoax written by Smith, conveniently kept secret by not allowing witnesses to watch the "translation" process and designed to answer the current theological dilemmas of the day. The idea that American Indians were descended from the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel was a popular one and had been around for a long time. The late Vernal Holley, after a comprehensive study of the geography of the Book of Mormon, claims that a map of the "Holy Land according to Joseph Smith" can be placed right over a map of present-day New York. The two, he claims, including place names, rivers, lakes, and historic landmarks, are identical.
Some who have "come out" of Mormonism insist the public image and theology is a cover for a domineering sect that controls the lives of its members and teaches a totally different set of beliefs from those published for public consumption. Even Sherlock Holmes enters the picture. In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's first adventure featuring the famous detective, A Study in Scarlet, Mormons are the evil enemy the fledgling detective has to defeat.
While the church has faced persecution since its inception, it continues to flourish and grow. Any visit to its newly completed visitor's center in Palmyra is a treat. Its television cable network is always informative. And its magnificent choir will no doubt continue to make definitive choral recordings for a long time.
Sources: The Book of Mormon. Trans. Joseph Smith. Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1980. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. http://www.mormon.org. September 15, 2003. Hudson, Winthrop S. Religion in America. New York: Charles Scribner, 1965. Holley, Vernal. “In Search of Book of Mormon Geography.” Mazeministry.com. http: //www.mazeministry.com/mormonism/holley/holleymaps.htm.
| US History Encyclopedia: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints |
The Mormon Church traces its origins to founder Joseph Smith's vision of 1820, which upheld the view that no existing church had "right" doctrine. Mormonism avowed a belief in the Trinity but denied original sin. It stressed faith in Jesus Christ, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Spirit. While it accepted the Bible as the word of God, Smith's discovery of an alternative scripture, the Book of Mormon, provided an account of an Israelite prophet, Lehi, who was commanded by God in 600 B.C. to lead a small group of people to the American continent. It also recorded the appearance of Christ, after his Resurrection, to the people in America. Early Mormonism held that there would be a literal gathering of Israel to the United States and that Zion would be built upon the American continent. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) was organized on 6 April 1830.
The Early Years
The new Church settled in Ohio, where it fostered a communitarian lifestyle, created a collective religious leadership, and launched the first mission to England in 1837. It then moved to Missouri, where political and religious controversy led to the Mormon War of 1838. The Saints withdrew to Illinois where they established the new city of Nauvoo in 1840, an agricultural rather than a commercial center. At Nauvoo, the Relief Society was established in 1842 to improve community morals. During this period, Joseph Smith also received a revelation, enjoining members of the Church to practice plural marriage (polygamy), based on precedents from the Old Testament.
Nauvoo and the Migration
While the Mormons engaged in Illinois politics, sympathy for the idea of a Mormon kingdom in the West increased during the early 1840s. After the governor of Illinois ordered a trial of the Church leadership for the destruction of the press of a newspaper critical to Mormonism, Joseph Smith and his brother were murdered in Carthage, Illinois, on 27 June 1844. The state legislature revoked the Nauvoo charter in January 1845 and the Church announced plans for removal in September 1845. In 1846, 12,000 Saints left Illinois, dedicating the Nauvoo Temple before their departure, and the Pioneer Company reached the Salt Lake Valley on 24 July 1847. The state of Deseret was established in January 1849 as the civil government of the territory.
Settling Utah
In 1850, LDS Church President Brigham Young sought statehood within the United States, but this was blocked in Congress, and territorial status was accepted in 1851. Young encouraged colonization to the south of Salt Lake City and along the Wasatch Front, where communities were organized to encourage community life and religious activity, with common pastures and the cooperative raising of grain. Missionaries were sent to Latin America and Europe, and the notion of the Gathering of Zion (the migration of converts to Utah) was fostered by means of the Perpetual Emigrating Fund in the late 1850s. Given the Church's political dominance, tensions soon arose with federally appointed officials. President James Buchanan sent a force to Utah in 1857, in the face of protests about Brigham Young's dictatorial rule. Young recalled distant colonists, declared martial law, and forbade the entry of federal troops and in June 1858 a peace formula was negotiated.
The Church in the Nineteenth Century
During the Civil War the Latter-day Saints remained generally loyal to the Union. After the war, mining and cotton production developed in southern Utah and railroad connections in 1869 broke down the territory's isolation. A new Mormon cooperative system discouraged trade with outsiders, and after the depression of 1873, an effort was made to foster strongly collectivist cooperative organizations, called the United Orders, but these did not endure. A movement to Arizona and Wyoming took place in the late 1870s, and Mormons settled in Mexico in 1886. By 1880, the Church had 134,000 members, 80 percent of whom lived in Utah. Missionary work was pursued in Mexico, Polynesia, and the domestic United States, though Mormons faced violent reprisals in the American South. Missions increased between 1890 and 1900, as 6,125 missionaries were sent out, but immigration to Utah was discouraged after 1890.
The War Against Polygamy
In the late 1860s, a war against polygamy was unleashed in Utah Territory and other parts of the West inhabited by Latter-day Saints. The anti-Mormon Liberal Party was formed in Utah in 1870 to oppose LDS political and economic dominance, while James McKean, chief justice of Utah Territory, launched a campaign to prosecute those who practiced polygamy, including Brigham Young. In Reynolds v. United States (1879) the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Anti-Bigamy Act of 1862. Non-Mormons in Utah called for resolute action on polygamy and the Edmunds Act of 1882 assured penalties for polygamy and disenfranchised twelve thousand Saints. Over one thousand men were sent to jail in Utah, and similar prosecutions took place in Idaho and Arizona. Five years later, the Edmunds-Tucker Act threatened to destroy the Church by dissolving it as a legal corporation, a move upheld by the Supreme Court in 1890. Fearful that all members of the Church would be disenfranchised, President Wilford Woodruff issued the Manifesto against polygamy in 1890, accepted willingly by most Mormons, and a new understanding was reached with the federal authorities.
The Church in the Progressive Era
In the early twentieth century, the LDS Church displayed a greater readiness to become involved in the affairs of the nation. In 1903, Apostle Reed Smoot was elected to the Senate despite charges of disloyalty to the nation. The Church solved its debt problem with bond issues and curtailed its direct involvement in business ventures. Established missions were strengthened and a new training system for missionaries established. Signs of Mormon integration came with the increasing national popularity of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Church's support for national prohibition after 1916, and its contributions to the war effort. During World War I, twenty-four thousand Latter-day Saints enlisted in the armed forces, the Church and its auxiliaries bought $1.4 million worth of Liberty bonds, and the Relief Society sold its store of wheat to the government.
The Response to the Depression
During the 1920s, the agricultural depression drove many Saints to the cities and made them a more urban people. The Church's Relief Society created a Social Welfare Department in 1919, and the Church began to undertake more intensive studies of social problems and foster cooperation with some secular agencies. The coming of the Great Depression in 1929, therefore, did not catch the Church entirely unprepared. Although opposed to the dole, it did not condemn federal work relief. A survey of need was carried out in 1933 and local units were urged to create community enterprises. In 1936, the Church launched the Welfare Plan under Harold B. Lee, reviving the idea of the bishop's storehouse and calling on local units to establish coordinating committees. An exchange system was formed and make-work projects created where necessary, based around agriculture. This provided positive publicity for the Church, and even progressive periodicals like Time and The Nation started to reflect a more positive view of Mormon life.
An International Church
During World War II, one hundred thousand Mormons entered the armed forces, and the LDS Serviceman's Committee was organized to provide programs and guidelines for them. Missionary activity was resumed in 1946, and by 1950, there were five thousand missionaries, twelve hundred of them in Europe. A new sense of internationalism was evident, with the shift of missionaries to Asia. Efforts also were made to keep young men and women involved in church life through recreational activity, and seminary involvement grew from 28,600 to 81,400. Student wards were created in university towns, enabling students for the first time to hold church offices. A new churchwide home teaching program was begun in 1964, with priesthood holders expected to get to know the families in their charges, and the family home evening program was launched in 1965. By the end of the 1960s, the church had achieved a membership of 2.8 million, with new growth in Latin America and seventeen thousand missionaries in the field.
The Latter-Day Saints Today
In politics, the Church shifted sharply to the right during the 1960s, although Apostle Hugh Brown supported some social welfare programs and was a Democratic candidate for U.S. senator. By the late 1970s, however, the Church eschewed direct political participation in favor of taking stands opposed to the Equal Rights Amendment, legalized abortion, and gambling. In 1978, LDS Church President Spencer Kimball received a revelation extending the priesthood to all worthy male believers (prior to this date, black males had been excluded from the otherwise universal male priesthood), solving the problem of the priesthood in South America and Africa as well as the United States. In 1998, LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley stated that church members who practiced polygamy risked excommunication, but the Church was drawn uncomfortably into the spotlight in 2000 when Tom Green of Utah was prosecuted on charges of polygamy. The Church in the 1990s, led by President Hinckley since 1995, was an expanding force, though more outside the United States than within it, with over five million members in 1998.
Bibliography
Alexander, Thomas G. Mormonism in Transition: A History of the Latter-Day Saints, 1890–1930. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1986.
Allen, James B., and Glen M. Leonard. The Story of the Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Books, 1992.
Bushman, Claudia L., and Richard L. Bushman. Building the Kingdom: a History of Mormons in America. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Gottlieb, Robert, and Peter Wiley. America's Saints: The Rise of Mormon Power. San Diego, Calif.: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986.
Mauss, Armand L. The Angel and the Beehive: The Mormon Struggle with Assimilation. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994.
Quinn, D. Michael, ed. The New Mormon History: Revisionist Essays on the Past. Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books, 1992.
Shipps, Jan. Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1985.
| Columbia Encyclopedia: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |
Organization and Beliefs
Mormon belief is based on the Book of Mormon, the Bible, and various revelations made to Joseph Smith. The Book of Mormon, ascribed to the prophet Mormon, recounts the early history of peoples in America from c.600 B.C. to c.A.D. 420. The Aaronic priesthood (deacons, teachers, and priests), which includes every worthy male between the ages of 12 and 19, is primarily concerned with the temporal affairs of the church; that of Melchizedek (elders and high priests) is concerned with the spiritual leadership. High priests are represented in the Council of Twelve (the Apostles) and in the first presidency (the president and two counselors-three high priests vested with supreme authority). The territorial divisions of the Mormon settlements are wards and stakes. Each ward has a bishop and two counselors; five to ten wards compose a stake.
Significant characteristics of the Mormon creed include the emphasis on revelation in the establishment of doctrines and rituals, the interdependence of temporal and spiritual life, tithing, and attention to community welfare. Mormons practice baptism for the dead; they believe that the deceased soul may receive the baptism necessary for salvation by proxy of a living believer. They also believe in "celestial marriage," whereby individuals marry for all eternity. Mormons carry out a campaign of vigorous proselytizing which has, in the course of a century and a quarter, raised the church from a handful of followers to its present size.
History
Founding of the Church
The history of the Mormons began with Smith's claim that golden tablets containing the Book of Mormon had been revealed to him, and his establishment of a headquarters for his organization at Kirtland, Ohio (1831). His following grew rapidly, particularly from the intensive missionary activity in which members engaged, both in the U.S. and abroad. Stakes of Zion, as the Mormons called their settlements, were started in W Missouri, and Smith prepared to make the region the permanent home of his people. However, the intolerance of gentile neighbors toward the Mormons's communal economy and unconventional belief system led to persecution and violence. Finally, in 1838-39, Gov. Lillburn W. Boggs ordered their expulsion (see also Doniphan, Alexander William).
Violence in Illinois
The Mormons sought a new Zion in the Illinois town of Nauvoo. There, they received a charter giving them virtual autonomy, with the right to maintain their own militia, their own court, and the power to pass any laws not in conflict with the state or federal constitutions. The town expanded as converts poured in from abroad, and in 1842 it was the largest and most powerful town in Illinois. The growing wealth and strength of the Mormon community caused envy and fear among their neighbors.
At about that time, Joseph Smith, as mayor of Nauvoo, ordered the suppression of church dissidents. Violence resulted, and Smith called out the Nauvoo militia to protect the city. For this, he and his brother, Hyrum, were arrested by Illinois authorities (June 24, 1844), and charged with treason. They were jailed in Carthage, Ill., where three days later they were murdered by an angry mob.
After that many Mormons fled, dissension and suspicion were rife, and there was debate over the succession to Smith's leadership. Possible choices included another brother, William Smith, and several prominent leaders, notably Sidney Rigdon, James Jesse Strang, Lyman Wight, and Brigham Young, whom the church leaders ultimately chose.
The Mormons under Brigham Young
Young proved a forceful and able leader who dominated and worked for the good of his people. Again, it became necessary for the Mormons to find a home. Under Young's guidance, a remote spot was chosen, the valley of the Great Salt Lake in what is now Utah. Those who rejected Young's leadership and claimed the succession for a son of Joseph Smith declined to accompany the main body to Utah; they ultimately constituted themselves into a separate church (see Community of Christ).
In July, 1847, the first settlers reached what is now Salt Lake City and began an agricultural community. The first few years were extremely difficult, but the organization of the Mormons for community welfare, their great industry, and the determined leadership of Young made for their success. Through extensive irrigation, farming prospered.
In 1849, the Mormons wished to have their communities admitted to the Union as the State of Deseret, but the area became Utah Territory instead. Brigham Young was appointed territorial governor and superintendent of Indian affairs, but Mormon isolation was destroyed. Non-Mormons filtered in, resented by the Mormons. Young's formal announcement in 1852 of the doctrine of plural marriage, based on a vision of Joseph Smith in 1843, set the Mormons further apart from their fellow Americans. Thereafter, polygamy was luridly discussed in newspapers across the country. The antagonism was very strong in the 1850s, and when Col. Albert S. Johnston was sent out with an army force in 1857, Young prepared to defend the Mormon state. The Utah War did not rise to serious proportions, but the bitterness of feeling was shown after the massacre of the members of a wagon train at Mountain Meadows in 1857, for which the Mormons were blamed.
The question of plural marriage was the important point in Utah's bid for statehood. Congress passed laws against polygamy aimed solely at Utah. Despite persecution, the Mormon community was a thoroughly established commonwealth by the time of Brigham Young's death in 1877. Statehood was finally granted after Mormon president Wilford Woodruff made a statement (1890) withdrawing church sanction of polygamy: Utah entered the Union as the 45th state in 1896. Since then, the church has spread beyond Utah, becoming truly international in the late 20th cent. when church membership roughly doubled. More than half of all Mormons now live outside the United States.
A number of Mormons, generally referred to as fundamentalists, continue to believe in plural marriage, either as members of a splinter church or quietly within the mainstream church, which excommunicates those who adhere to the practice. Some 10,000 people in North America belong to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the largest of the splinter faiths. Many of its members live in SW Utah and NW Arizona.
Bibliography
See J. Smith, The Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (1880 ed., repr. 1971); D. H. Ludlow, ed., Encyclopedia of Mormonism (5 vol., 1992); studies by L. Arrington and D. Bitton (1979), R. Bushman (1984), T. Alexander (1986), J. Coates (1991), D. M. Quinn (1994), and R. N. and J. K. Ostling (1999).
| Law Encyclopedia: Mormon Church |
The Mormon Church is a religious body founded in 1830 in Fayette, New York, by Joseph Smith. It is also known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or LDS Church. There are 7.7 million Mormons worldwide. Approximately two-thirds reside in the United States, with the highest concentration in the western states, especially Utah. The church, which is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, encountered legal difficulties during its early years because of its practice of polygamy and its opposition to the use of common law as legal precedent. The church's differences with the U.S. government led to armed conflict in the late 1800s.
Joseph Smith based his teachings on his translation of hieroglyphic messages revealed to him on several golden plates. Smith's translation of these divine messages is known as the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon and the Bible form the basis of Mormon belief.
During the early 1800s, Smith and his followers settled in Kirtland, Ohio, and Jackson County, Missouri, where they were persecuted because of their beliefs. They moved to Illinois and helped establish the town of Nauvoo, where the church prospered. However, local residents became inflamed over rumors that Smith and his followers were practicing polygamy, or plural marriage. Smith and his brother Hyrum were arrested and taken to Carthage, the county seat. On June 27, 1844, they were both shot and killed by a group of townspeople.
Smith was succeeded by Brigham Young, the head of the church's Council of the Twelve Apostles. In 1846 Young organized and directed church members to follow him from Nauvoo to the Great Salt Basin in the Utah Territory. They settled there and established the headquarters of the church in Salt Lake City.
In Utah the Mormon Church prospered and grew. In addition to leading the church, Young became provisional governor of the Utah Territory in 1849. In that capacity he and the other members of the government, most of whom were Mormons, defied the U.S. government by rejecting common law as valid legal precedent in Utah. Common law, as distinct from statutory law, is English precedent adopted by U.S. courts. Over time, common law became part of U.S. jurisprudence except where it was expressly abrogated. Although Young patterned the structure of Utah's territorial government after the other state governments, with executive, legislative, and judicial branches, he believed that the United States should abandon all vestiges of English tradition. According to Young, the application of common law allowed judges too much latitude to impose standards that did not comport with public will.
Young's opposition to the application of common law reached its nadir over the issue of polygamy. By the mid-1800s, the Mormon Church had acknowledged polygamy as one of its tenets. Mormon teaching of the time held that men were obligated to have multiple wives. Common law provides that marriage to more than one living husband or wife is a felony and that any marriages other than the first are void.
When President Millard Fillmore assigned three federal judges to the Utah Territory in the 1850s, Young became concerned that the new judges would impose common-law precedent. He attempted to blunt their impact by urging the legislature to prohibit judges from using common-law precedent in Utah. On January 14, 1854, the legislature passed a bill that prohibited any law from being read, cited, or adopted in Utah unless it had been enacted by the legislature or the governor. This bill directly contravened the Organic Act of Utah of 1850 (9 Stat. 453) by which the U.S. Congress created the Utah Territory. The act gave the U.S. Supreme Court and the federal district courts of the territory both common-law and equity jurisdiction and established that the laws of the United States applied in the territory. In 1856 the Territorial Supreme Court held that the Organic Act extended common law over the Territory of Utah and that the legislature violated the Organic Act when it forbade the use of common law in Utah (People v. Moroni Green, 1 Utah 11 [1856]).
Tensions continued to mount between Mormons and the federal government. In May 1857 President James Buchanan dispatched 2,500 U.S. Army troops to Utah to remove Young from office and enforce federal authority. Anticipating the federal troops' arrival, a group of angry Mormons joined forces with a group of Paiute Indians who attacked and killed 120 settlers traveling through the territory in September 1857. Mormon leaders feared that the attack, known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre, would lead to further reprisals by the federal government. They sent sympathetic church members to destroy the Army's supplies, thereby delaying the troops' arrival. The Mormons' resistance came to be known as the Utah War. By the time the troops arrived in the summer of 1858, tensions had eased considerably, and under a negotiated settlement, troops were stationed outside Salt Lake City without incident.
The Mormon Church's resistance to the application of common law continued through the late 1800s. A number of cases reached the Territorial Supreme Court, which repeatedly affirmed that common law is valid in the territory. (See Murphy v. Carter, 1 Utah 17 [1868], and Godebe v. Salt Lake City, 1 Utah 68 [1870]). In First National Bank of Utah v. Kinner, 1 Utah 100 (1873), the court held that the people of the Utah territory had tacitly agreed to the application of common law. In 1878 the U.S. Supreme Court settled the question of whether the common-law prohibition of polygamy applied in the territory. In Reynolds v. United States, 98 U.S. (8 Otto) 145, 25 L. Ed. 244, the plaintiff argued that the common-law prohibition of polygamy was unconstitutional because it violated the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of religion. The Court disagreed and held that religious freedom does not encompass the practice of polygamy and that laws prohibiting the practice are constitutional. The Court stated that to allow Mormons to practice plural marriage "would be to make the professed doctrines of religious belief superior to the law of the land, and in effect permit every citizen to become a law unto himself. Government could exist only in name under such circumstances."
By the 1890s the Mormon Church had officially abandoned the practice of plural marriage. In 1896 Utah became a state, and in 1898 the legislature passed a measure that declared that the common law "shall be the rule of decision in all courts of this state" (The Revised Statutes of the State of Utah, § 2488). The common law continues to carry the force of precedent in Utah, except for the common law of crimes, which the legislature abolished in 1973 (Utah Code Ann. § 76-1-105; repealed, Utah Code Ann. § 68-2-3; replaced by Utah Code Ann. § 68-3-1).
| Wikipedia: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |
| Classification | Restorationist |
|---|---|
| Orientation | Latter Day Saint movement |
| Polity | Hierarchical |
| Leader | Thomas S. Monson |
| Geographical area | 176 nations/territories |
| Founder | Joseph Smith, Jr.[1] |
| Origin | April 6, 1830 Manchester or Fayette, New York, United States |
| Separations | LDS denominations |
| Congregations | 28,109 |
| Members | 13,508,509 (see text)[2] |
| Missionaries | 52,494[3] |
| Tertiary institutions | 4[4] |
| Official Website | www.lds.org |
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (abbreviated as the LDS Church, often colloquially referred to as the Mormon Church) is a restorationist Christian church, and the largest denomination originating from the Latter Day Saint movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. circa 1830. The church is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has established congregations (called wards or branches) worldwide.
Adherents are usually referred to as Latter-day Saints, LDS, or Mormons. They view faith in Jesus Christ as the central tenet of their religion.[5] Latter-day Saints are often considered by other faiths to be a non-traditional member of Christianity[6][7] despite their belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and Savior of the world.[8] LDS Church theology includes the Christian doctrine of salvation only through Jesus Christ.[9] The church has an open canon which includes four scriptural texts:[10] the Bible (both Old and New Testaments), the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the
Latter-day Saints believe that Jesus leads the church by revealing his will to the President of the Church, whom they sustain as a modern-day prophet, seer, and revelator. Individual members are expected to receive personal revelation from God for specifics in conducting their lives.[11] The President heads a hierarchical structure with various levels reaching down to local congregations. Male bishops, drawn from the laity, lead local congregations. Worthy male members, after age 12, may be ordained to the priesthood. Women do not hold positions within the priesthood but serve in an array of other leadership roles.[12] Both men and women may serve as missionaries, and the church maintains a large missionary program which proselytizes and conducts humanitarian service nearly worldwide. Faithful members adhere to laws regarding sexual purity, health, fasting, and Sabbath-day observance. Members also voluntarily tithe, donating 10 percent of their income to the church.
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The history of the LDS Church is typically divided into three broad time periods: (1) the early history during the lifetime of Joseph Smith, Jr. which is in common with all Latter Day Saint movement churches, (2) a "pioneer era" under the leadership of Brigham Young and his 19th century successors, and (3) a modern era beginning around the turn of the 20th century as Utah achieved statehood.
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He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people.
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Following his claim of being visited by God the Father and Jesus Christ in 1820, Smith gained a small following[14] and began dictating the Book of Mormon, which he said was a translation of words found on a set of golden plates that had been buried near his home in western New York by an indigenous American prophet. Smith said he had been in contact with an angel, who showed him the plates' location.
On April 6, 1830, in western New York,[15] Smith organized the religion's first legal church entity, the Church of Christ.[16] The church rapidly gained a following, who viewed Smith as a prophet. In the 1830s, missionaries from the church converted thousands of new members[17] and established outposts in Kirtland, Ohio. Smith said in 1831 that God intended the Mormons to "retain a strong hold in the land of Kirtland, for the space of five years."[18] As persecutions increased and after Smith had received death threats, by fall 1838 Smith and most other Ohio Mormons had left Kirtland for the Mormon strong hold in Missouri.[19] There, Smith intended to build a "city of Zion".[20][21] Joseph Smith and his followers were plagued by persecution in both Missouri and Illnois. Finally Joseph Smith and some few others went to prison to answer charges brought against them. While in prison, Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum Smith (second in line to the church presidency),[22] were assassinated on June 27, 1844, by an angry mob.[23]
After Smith's death, a succession crisis ensued, and the majority of the members of the church followed Brigham Young and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, to whom Smith had given the keys of the priesthood. Young had been a close associate of Smith's and was senior apostle of the Quorum of the Twelve.[24] Other groups of Latter Day Saints followed other leaders to form other denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement.
In 1846, after the difficulties experienced in Missouri (culminating in an extermination order issued against the Mormons) and with continued persecution in Illinois, Young led his followers, the Mormon pioneers, in the largest forced migration in American history[25] from Nauvoo and the United States to what would later become known, in 1850, as the Utah Territory in search of religious freedom.[26]
The group branched out and colonized a large region now known as the Mormon Corridor. Young incorporated The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a legal entity, and initially governed both the church and the state as a theocratic leader. He also publicized the previously-secret practice of plural marriage, a form of polygamy.
By 1857, tensions had again escalated between Mormons and other Americans, largely as a result of accusations involving polygamy and the theocratic rule of the Utah territory by Brigham Young.[27] The Utah Mormon War ensued from 1857 to 1858, which resulted in the relatively peaceful[28] invasion of Utah by the United States Army, after which Young agreed to step down from power and be replaced by a non-Mormon territorial governor, Alfred Cumming.[29] Nevertheless, the LDS Church still wielded significant political power in the Utah Territory.[30]
At Young's death in 1877, he was followed by other powerful LDS Presidents, who resisted efforts by the United States Congress to outlaw Mormon polygamous marriages. Conflict between Mormons and the U.S. government escalated to the point that in 1890, Congress disincorporated the LDS Church and seized all its assets. Soon thereafter, church president Wilford Woodruff issued a Manifesto that officially suspended the practice.[31] Although this Manifesto did not yet dissolve existing plural marriages, and did not entirely stop the practice of polygamy, relations with the United States markedly improved after 1890, such that Utah was admitted as a U.S. state. Relations further improved after 1904, when church president Joseph F. Smith disavowed polygamy before the United States Congress and issued a "Second Manifesto" calling for all plural marriages in the church to cease. Eventually, the church adopted a policy of excommunicating its members found practicing polygamy and today seeks to actively distance itself from “fundamentalist” groups still practicing polygamy.[32]
During the 20th century, the church grew substantially and became an international organization, due in part to the influx of missionaries across the globe. In 2000, the church reported 60,784 missionaries,[33] and global church membership stood at 11,068,861.[33] As of 2007, membership had reached 13,193,999.[34]
The church became a strong and public champion of the nuclear family and at times played a prominent role in political matters, including opposition to MX Peacekeeper missile bases in Utah and Nevada,[35] opposing the Equal Rights Amendment,[36] opposing legalized gambling,[37] support of bans on same-sex marriage,[38] and opposition to legalized physician-assisted death.[39] Apart from issues that it considers to be ones of morality, however, the church usually maintains a position of political neutrality.[40]
A number of official changes have taken place to the organization during the modern era. One significant change was the ordination of black men to the priesthood in 1978, which reversed a policy originally instituted by Brigham Young. There are also periodic changes in the structure and organization of the church, mainly to accommodate the organization's growth and increasing international presence. For example, since the early 1900s, the church has instituted a Priesthood Correlation Program to centralize church operations and bring them under a hierarchy of priesthood leaders. During the Great Depression, the church also began operating a church welfare system, and it has conducted numerous humanitarian efforts in cooperation with other religious organizations.
The theology of the LDS Church consists of a mixture of biblical doctrines with modern revelations and other commentary by LDS leaders, particularly Joseph Smith, Jr. The most authoritative sources of theology are the faith's canon of four religious texts, called the Standard Works. Included in the Standard Works are the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the
The Bible, also part of the church's canon, is believed to be "the word of God as far as it is translated correctly".[42] Most often, the church uses the Authorized King James Version. Sometimes, however, parts of the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible are considered authoritative. Some excerpts of Joseph Smith's translation have been included in the Pearl of Great Price, which also includes further reputed translations by Smith and church historical items. Other historical items and reputed revelations are found in the Doctrine and Covenants.
Another source of authoritative doctrine is the pronouncements of the current Apostles and members of the First Presidency. The church teaches that the First Presidency (the prophet and his counselors) and the Quorum of Twelve Apostles are prophets[citation needed] and that their teachings are generally given under inspiration from God through the Holy Spirit. Members of the church acknowledge (sustain) them regularly as prophets, seers, and revelators—this is done publicly twice a year at the church's worldwide general conference broadcast.[citation needed]
In addition to a belief in the Bible,[43] the Deity of Jesus, and his atonement and resurrection, other LDS teachings are shared with other branches of Christianity. For example, LDS theology includes belief in the doctrine of salvation through Jesus alone,[9] his virgin birth, restorationism (via a Restoration of Christ's church given through Joseph Smith, Jr.), rejection of original sin,[44] millennialism, continuationism, penal substitution,[45] and a form of Apostolic succession. The practices of baptism by immersion and the Eucharist (referred to as the Sacrament) are also held in common.
Nevertheless, the LDS Church differs from the many other churches within Christianity, and some Christians do not believe that the LDS Church is part of Christianity.[46] The faith itself views other modern Christian faiths as having departed from true Christianity[47] and that it is a restoration of 1st century Christianity and the only true and authorized Christian church.[48] Differences between the LDS Church and most of traditional Christianity include disagreement with aspects of the Nicene Creed, belief in a unique theory of human salvation that includes three heavens (referred to as "degrees of glory"),[49] a doctrine of "
Officially, major Christian denominations view the LDS Church as standing apart from creedal Christianity,[51] a point the LDS Church itself does not dispute.[52] From the perspective of Christians who hold to creeds, the most significant area of departure is the rejection by the LDS Church of certain ecumenical creeds such as the Nicene Creed, which defines the predominant view of the Christian God as a Trinity of three separate persons with "one substance". LDS church theology recognizes a "Godhead" composed of God the Father, his son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost as three separate persons who share unity of purpose or will; however, they are viewed as three distinct beings making one Godhead. This has led to some doctrinal comparisons with Arianism and Semi-Arianism. Other significant differences relate to the church's acceptance of additional scripture, doctrine, and practices beyond what is found in the Catholic or Protestant versions of the Bible.
Several doctrines and practices of the LDS Church are unique within Christianity. For example, the Mormon cosmology, a Plan of Salvation that includes a pre-mortal life, three heavens, and the doctrine of
The LDS faithful observe a health code called the Word of Wisdom in which they abstain from the consumption of alcoholic beverages, coffee, tea, and tobacco. Their moral code includes a law of chastity that prohibits sexual relations outside of heterosexual marriage. LDS faithful donate a 10 percent tithe on all their income. They also give volunteer service in their local church. Moreover, all single young men between 19–25 years old who have sufficient health and many retired couples are encouraged to volunteer up to two years as a missionary to proselytize and/or provide humanitarian service. Unmarried women 21 years and older also may serve as missionaries for 18 months, but it is not considered their duty to do so as it is with the men who are ordained elders. Members are further instructed to set aside one night a week, typically Monday, for a Family Home Evening, where families study gospel principles together and enjoy wholesome family recreation.
The LDS Church shares a common heritage with a number of faiths, with smaller memberships, that are collectively called the Latter Day Saint movement. In common with the LDS Church, these faiths believe in Joseph Smith, Jr. as a prophet and founder of their religion. They also accept the Book of Mormon, and at least some version of the Doctrine and Covenants.
Other branches of the Latter Day Saint movement may be considered off-shoots of the LDS Church, mainly as a result of disagreements about plural marriage. In the LDS Church, the practice of plural marriage was abandoned around the turn of the 20th century, but it has continued among the fundamentalist groups, who believe the practice is a requirement for exaltation. The LDS Church, by contrast, believes that a single celestial marriage is sufficient for exaltation. Fundamentalists also believe in a number of other doctrines taught and practiced by Brigham Young in the 19th century, which the LDS Church has either abandoned, repudiated, or put in abeyance.
Stung by bad publicity in the 19th century over its former practice of plural marriage, the LDS Church has taken efforts to distance itself from polygamy and from Mormon fundamentalist groups. The church has long excommunicated any members caught practicing polygamy.
The church teaches that it is a continuation of the Church of Christ established in 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr. This original church underwent several name changes during the 1830s, being called the Church of Jesus Christ, the Church of God,[58] and then in 1834, the name was officially changed to the Church of the Latter Day Saints.[59] In April 1838, the name again was officially changed by reputed revelation to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.[60] After Smith died, Brigham Young and the largest body of Smith's followers incorporated the LDS Church in 1851 by legislation of the State of Deseret[61] under the name The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which included a hyphenated "Latter-day" and a lower-case "d".[62] In 1887, the LDS Church was legally dissolved in the United States by the Edmunds–Tucker Act because of the church's practice (now abandoned) of polygamy. Thereafter, the church has continued to operate as an "unincorporated religious association" under what remains its formal name, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Accepted informal names include the LDS Church, the Latter-day Saints, and the Mormons. The term Mormon Church is in common use,[63] but the church began discouraging its use in the late 20th century, though takes no issue with the term Mormon itself. The church requests that the official name be used when possible or, if necessary, shortened to "the Church" or "the Church of Jesus Christ".[64]
The church has organized several tax-exempt corporations to assist with the transfer of money and capital. These include the Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, organized in 1916 under the laws of the state of Utah to acquire, hold, and dispose of real property. In 1923, the church incorporated the Corporation of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah to receive and manage money and church donations. In 1997, the church incorporated Intellectual Reserve, Inc. to hold all the church's copyrights, trademarks, and other intellectual property. The church also holds several non-tax-exempt corporations. See Finances of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Church congregations are organized geographically. Members are generally expected to attend the congregation with their assigned geographical area; however, some geographical areas also provide separate congregations for single adults or for speakers of alternate languages. For Sunday services, the church is grouped into either larger (~200 to ~400 people) congregations known as wards, or smaller congregations known as branches. Although the building may sometimes be referred to as a chapel, the room used as a chapel for religious services is actually only one component of the standard meetinghouse, of which the church maintains a virtual tour of a typical example and also an online meetinghouse locator which can be used to find the locations and meeting times of its congregations all over the world. Regional church organizations larger than single congregations include stakes, missions, districts, areas, and regions.
| 2007 Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life Survey[65] | Mormons (U.S.) | U.S. Avg. |
|---|---|---|
| Married | 71% | 54% |
| Divorced or separated | 9% | 12% |
| 3 or more children at home | 21% | 9% |
| Weekly (or more) Attendance at Religious Services | 76% | 39% |
The church reports a worldwide membership of over 13 million[2] with approximately 6.7 million residing outside the United States. According to these statistics it is the fourth largest religious body in the United States.[66] The church membership report includes all baptized members and their children. Although the church does not release attendance figures to the public, researchers estimate that actual attendance at weekly LDS worship services globally is around 4 million.[67] Members living in the U.S. and Canada constitute 46% of membership, Latin America 38%, and members in the rest of the world 16%.[68] A survey by the City College of New York in 2001 extrapolated that there were 2,787,000 self-identified LDS adults in the United States in 2001, 1.3% of the US population, making the LDS Church the 10th-largest religious body in their phone survey of over 50,000 households.[69] The 2007 Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life survey, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, found 1.7% of the U.S. adult population self identified themselves as Mormon.[65]
For a list of notable Latter-day Saints, see List of Latter Day Saints.
The LDS Church is organized in a hierarchical priesthood structure administered by men. Mormons believe that Jesus leads the church through revelation and has chosen a single man, called "the Prophet" or President of the Church, as his spokesman on the earth. The current president is Thomas S. Monson. He and two counselors (who usually are ordained apostles) form the First Presidency, the presiding body of the church; twelve other apostles form the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.[70] When a president dies, his successor is invariably the most senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who then reconstitutes a new First Presidency.[70] These men, and the other male members of the church-wide leadership (including the first two Quorums of Seventy and the Presiding Bishopric) are called general authorities. They exercise both ecclesiastical and administrative leadership over the church and direct the efforts of regional leaders down to the local level. General authorities and mission presidents work full-time and typically receive stipends from church funds or investments.[71]
At the local level, the church leadership are drawn from the laity and work on a part-time volunteer basis without stipend.[72] Like all members, they are asked to donate a tithe of 10 percent of their income to the church. An exception to that rule is for LDS missionaries who work at the local level and are paid basic living expenses from a fund that receives contributions from their home congregations; however, prospective missionaries are encouraged to contribute the cost of their missions to this fund themselves when possible. Members volunteer general custodial work for local church facilities.
Men in leadership roles are generally considered to be part of the priesthood and are ordained to the priesthood as early as age 12. Ordination occurs by a ceremony where hands are laid on the head of the one ordained.
The priesthood is divided into an Aaronic Priesthood for young men 12 and up and a Melchizedek Priesthood for men 18 and up. Since 1978, membership in the priesthood has been open to all races.[73] the Young Men Organization and Young Women Organization (for adolescents aged 12 to 17), Primary (an organization for children up to age 12), and Sunday School (which provides a variety of Sunday classes for adolescents and adults). The church also operates several programs and organizations in the fields of proselytizing, education, and church welfare. Many of these auxiliaries and programs are coordinated by the Priesthood Correlation Program, which is designed to provide a systematic approach to maintain worldwide consistency, orthodoxy, and control of the church's ordinances, doctrines, organizations, meetings, materials, and other programs and activities.
The LDS Church operates a large missionary program. Some members of the church are encouraged to serve as missionaries either full-time, part-time or as "service" missionaries in one of hundreds of missions throughout the world. All missionaries serve on a volunteer basis, and their expenses are paid by savings of the missionaries themselves, their families, their local congregations, and in some cases from a general church fund.[74] Missionaries include young single men between 19 and 25 (who serve two year missions), single women over the age of 21 (who serve 18-month missions), and mature couples who are generally retired (who serve terms ranging from three to 36 months[75]). Young single men are strongly encouraged and expected to serve a mission; women and couples are encouraged but not expected to serve missions. Missionaries generally have no input on what part of the world they serve their missions, and if necessary, the church will teach them a new language. Missionaries are held to high standards of personal "worthiness", which is determined by interviews by ecclesiastical leaders about how well the missionary has followed church standards such as the Word of Wisdom (not consuming alcohol,caffeine,tobacco, coffee, or tea) and the law of chastity (abstaining from pre- or extra-marital sex).
The church operates a Church Educational System which includes Brigham Young University, Brigham Young University–Idaho (formerly Ricks College), Brigham Young University Hawaii, and LDS Business College. The church also operates Institutes of Religion and an LDS Student Association near the campuses of many colleges and universities. For high-school aged youth, the church operates a four-year Seminary program, which provides religious classes for students to supplement their secular education. The church also sponsors a low-interest educational loan program known as the Perpetual Education Fund, which provides educational opportunities to students from developing nations.
The church's welfare system, initiated during the Great Depression, provides aid to the poor. It is financed by fast offerings: monthly donations beyond the normal 10 percent tithe, which represents the cost of foregoing two meals on monthly Fast Sundays. Money from the program is used to operate Bishop's storehouses, which package and store food at low cost. Distribution of funds and food is administered by local bishops (congregational pastors). The church also distributes money through its LDS Philanthropies division to disaster victims and third-world countries.
Other church programs and departments include LDS Family Services, which provides assistance with adoption, marital and family counseling, psychotherapy, and addiction counseling; the LDS Church History Department, which collects church history and records; and the Family History Department, which administers the church's large family history efforts and operates the world's largest library dedicated to genealogical research.[76] The church is also a major sponsor of Scouting programs for boys, particularly in the United States, where it the provides more members of the Boy Scouts of America than any other church.[77]
The church has not released church-wide financial statements since 1959, but in 1997, Time magazine called it one of the world's wealthiest churches per capita.[78] Its for-profit, non-profit, and educational subsidiary entities are audited by an independent accounting firm: as of 2007[update], Deloitte & Touche.[79][80] In addition, the church employs an independent audit department that provides its certification at each annual general conference that church contributions are collected and spent in accordance with church policy.[81]
The church receives almost all funds from tithes (ten percent of a member's income) and fast offerings (money given to the church to assist individuals in need). According to the church, tithing and fast offering moneys collected are devoted to ecclesiastical purposes and not used in for-profit ventures. About ten percent of its funding also comes from income on investments and real estate holdings.[citation needed]
The church uses its tithing funds to construct and maintain buildings and other facilities; to print the Scriptures for missionary work; to provide social welfare and relief; and to support missionary, educational, and other church-sponsored programs.[82]
The church has also invested in for-profit business and real estate ventures such as Bonneville International, Deseret Book Company, and cattle ranches in Utah, Florida, and Canada. However, these ranches are split between Church Welfare Work (Bishop's Storehouse and Welfare Square) for which funds are used from tithing and are not for profit.[clarification needed] For-profit ranching operations are partially self-sustained but never use tithed money.[citation needed]
Due to the differences in lifestyle promoted by church doctrine and history, a distinct culture has grown up around members of the church. It is primarily concentrated in the Intermountain West, but as membership of the church spreads around the world, many of its more distinctive practices follow, such as adhering to the Word of Wisdom, a revealed health law or code,[83] similar to Leviticus chapter 11 in the Bible, prohibiting the consumption of tobacco, alcohol, coffee and tea, and other addictive substances.[84] As a result of the Word of Wisdom, the culture in areas of the world with a high concentration of LDS tends to be reflected.[85][86]
Meetings and outreach programs are held regularly and have become part of Latter-day Saint culture.
In 1995, the church presidency issued "The Family: A Proclamation to the World", which stresses the importance of the family. The presidency proclaimed that "marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children." The document further explains that "gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose," that the father and mother have differing but equal roles in raising children, and that successful marriages and families, founded upon the teachings of Jesus Christ, can last eternally.[87] This document is widely cited by LDS members as a statement of principle.[88]
Four times a year, the adult women (members of the church's Relief Society) attend a Home, Family and Personal Enrichment Meeting. The meeting may consist of a service project, of attending a social event, or of various classes being offered. Additional Enrichment activities are offered for women with similar needs and interests.
After interviewing and polling thousands of youth across America, evangelical statistician Christian Smith writes, "... in general comparisons among major U.S. religious traditions using a variety of sociological measures of religious vitality and salience... it is Mormon teenagers who are sociologically faring the best." [89]
In addition to these regularly scheduled meetings, additional meetings are frequently held at the meetinghouse. Auxiliary officers may conduct leadership meetings or host training sessions and classes. The ward or branch community may schedule social activities at the meetinghouse, including dances, dinners, holiday parties and musical presentations. The church's Young Men's and Young Women's organizations (formerly known as the Mutual Improvement Organization, or simply "Mutual") meet at the meetinghouse once a week, where the youth participate in activities and work on Duty to God, Scouting, or Personal Progress. Other popular activities are basketball, family history conferences, youth and singles conferences, dances, and various personal improvement classes. Church members may also reserve the building at no cost for weddings, receptions, and funerals.
The culture has created substantial business opportunities for independent LDS media. Such communities include cinema, fiction, websites, and graphical art like photography and paintings. The church owns a chain of bookstores called Deseret Book, which provide a channel through which publications are sold. Titles including The Work and the Glory and The Other Side of Heaven have found acceptance both within and outside the church; BYU TV, the church-sponsored television station, also airs on several networks. The church also produces six pageants annually depicting various events of the primitive and modern-day church. Its Easter pageant Jesus the Christ has been identified as the "largest annual outdoor Easter pageant in the world."[90]
The church has been subject to criticism and even Anti-Mormonism since its early years in New York and Pennsylvania. In the late 1820s, criticism centered around the claim by Joseph Smith, Jr. to have discovered a set of golden plates from which the Book of Mormon was reputedly translated. In the 1830s, the greatest criticism was for Smith's handling of a banking failure in Kirtland, Ohio, and the LDS Church's political and military power in Missouri, culminating in the 1838 Mormon War. In the 1840s, criticism of the church centered on the church's theocratic aspirations in Nauvoo, Illinois, and the then-secret practice of plural marriage, criticism which appeared in the Nauvoo Expositor and led to a series of events culminating in Smith's assassination in 1844.
As the church began openly practicing plural marriage under Brigham Young during the second half of the 19th century, the church became the target of nation-wide criticism for that practice, as well as for the church's theocratic aspirations in the Utah Territory. After the Civil War, the church also came under nation-wide criticism[citation needed] after the Mountain Meadows massacre in southern Utah.
In the 20th and 21st centuries, academic critics have questioned the legitimacy of Smith as a prophet and the historical authenticity of the Book of Mormon and the Book of Abraham. In modern times, criticism focuses on claims of historical revisionism, homophobia, racism, and sexist policies. Notable 20th century critics include Jerald and Sandra Tanner and Fawn Brodie.
In recent years, the Internet has provided a new forum for critics,[91] and the church's recent support of California's Proposition 8 sparked heated debate and protest by gay-rights organizations and others.[92][93][94] While the church remains opposed to Gay marriage it has come out in support of certain protections for members of the LGBT community.[95]
“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.” Gordon B. Hinckley, "What Are People Asking About Us?" Ensign, November 1998, 70
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