The Story of "Mormonism" and the Philosophy of "Mormonism"

The Story of "Mormonism" as presented in the following pages is a revised and reconstructed version of lectures delivered by Dr. James E. Talmage at the University of Michigan, Cornell University, and elsewhere. Mormonism is the predominant religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity. Joseph Smith founded the movement in Western New York in the 1820s. During the 1830s and 1840s, it distinguished itself from traditional Protestantism. Mormonism represents the faith taught by Smith in the 1840s. After he was killed in 1844, most Mormons followed Brigham Young on his westward journey to the area that became the Utah Territory, calling themselves The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Other sects include Mormon fundamentalism, which seeks to maintain practices and doctrines such as polygamy, and various other small independent denominations. The second-largest Latter Day Saint denomination, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, since 2001 called the Community of Christ, does not describe itself as "Mormon", but instead follows a Trinitarian Christian restorationist theology, and also considers itself Restorationist in terms of Latter Day Saint doctrine. The word Mormon originally derived from the Book of Mormon, a religious text published by Smith, which he said he translated from golden plates with divine assistance. The book describes itself as a chronicle of early indigenous peoples of the Americas and their dealings with God. Based on the name of that book, early followers of Smith were more widely known as Mormons, and their faith was called Mormonism. The term was initially considered pejorative, but Mormons no longer consider it so (although generally preferring other terms such as Latter-day Saint, or LDS). Mormonism shares a common set of beliefs with the rest of the Latter Day Saint movement, including use of and belief in the Bible, as well as in other religious texts including the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants. It also accepts the Pearl of Great Price as part of its scriptural canon, and has a history of teaching eternal marriage, eternal progression, and polygamy (plural marriage) (although the LDS Church formally abandoned the practice of plural marriage in 1890). Cultural Mormonism, a lifestyle promoted by Mormon institutions, includes cultural Mormons who identify with the culture, but not necessarily with the theology. Mormonism originated in the 1820s in western New York during a period of religious excitement known as the Second Great Awakening.[4] After praying about which denomination he should join, Joseph Smith, Jr. said he received a vision in the spring of 1820. Called the "First Vision", Smith claimed God the Father instructed him to join none of the existing churches because they were all wrong. During the 1820s Smith reported several angelic visitations, and was eventually told that God would use him to re-establish the true Christian church, and that the Book of Mormon would be the means of establishing correct doctrine for the restored church. Smith, Oliver Cowdery, and other early followers, began baptizing new converts in 1829. Formally organized in 1830 as the Church of Christ. Smith was seen by his followers as a modern-day prophet. Joseph Smith claimed The Book of Mormon was translated from writing on golden plates in a reformed Egyptian language, translated with the assistance of the Urim and Thummim and seer stones. Both the special spectacles and the seer stone were at times referred to as the "Urim and Thummim".[9][10] He said an angel first showed him the location of the plates in 1823, buried in a nearby hill, but he was not allowed to take the plates until 1827. Smith began dictating the text of The Book of Mormon around the fall of 1827 until the summer of 1828 when 116 pages were lost. Translation began again in April 1829 and finished in June 1829.