Preview

The Mormon Church: an American Original

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2249 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Mormon Church: an American Original
The Mormon Church: An American Original

James Andrews
March 24, 2013 World History From 1500 H

Mitt Romney was a competitive candidate in the 2012 presidential campaign, and he is a Mormon. David Archuleta is popular American song writer and singer who nearly won American Idol back in 2008, and he is a Mormon. Andy Reid, the well recognized NFL coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, is also a Mormon. Mormonism is one of the fastest growing religions of recorded human history, and it is only getting bigger. So where did Mormonism come from? How did it alter history? And what are the lasting implications of it? The key to these questions all lay in one thing – history. The Mormon Church has forever left its footprint on the history that every American shares. Note: I am researching scholarly source, whether they are Mormon or not, on the history of the church. I am not researching on the religious views of the Mormon Church leaders.
The Mormon Church was created into existence when the founder Joseph Smith, Jr. and five of his followers gathered on April, 1830 in upstate New York. They originally intended calling the new religion the Church of Christ, but the unofficial name Mormon (originating from the Book of Mormon) would gain acceptance and popularity among the members. The official name of the church would be changed two more times.1 1. Codell Carter, Godhood (in Ludlow, Daniel H., Encyclopedia of Mormonism, New York: Macmillan, 1992) 553
First, in 1834, it was changed to the Church of the Latter-day-Saints and then again in 1838 to its now present name Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day-Saints, or LDS for short.
The Mormon Church was not accepted among most New Yorkers during the time of the Second Great Awakening because of its new, differentiating theology and practices.1 Many people who knew of Joseph Smith, Jr. did not view him as a creditable source, for he was often in trouble with the law and had as what many neighbors described as a shady



Bibliography: Carter, Codell. Godhood. in Ludlow, Daniel H., Encyclopedia of Mormonism, New York: Macmillan, pp. 553–55, 1992. Godfrey, Kenneth. Comprehensive History of the Church, A. In Arnold K. Garr; Donald Q. Cannon; Richard O. Cowan. Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saint History. Salt Lake City, 2000. Hill, Marvin. Carthage Conspiracy Reconsidered. Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society. http://dig.lib.niu.edu/ISHS/ishs-2004summer/ishs-2004summer107.pdf, 2004. Jessee, Dean. The Reliability of Joseph Smith 's History, Journal of Mormon History 3: 23–46, 1976. Linder, Douglas. The Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857 and the Trials of John D. Lee. Famous Trials, 2006. Web. 14 Nov. 2012. http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mountainmeadows/leeaccount.html (accessed Novemeber 9, 2012). Roberts, B. H. History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 3, Deseret News, pp. 23, 24, 1905.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    For most frontier settlers, traveling to the west was an opportunity but for the Mormons, it is a different story Opportunity for the Mormons meant religious freedom. The mormons made a substantial impact on western expansion. Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter­Day Saints also known as the Mormons, settled in Kirtland Mills, Ohio in hopes to create a place for Mormons to live in the “Kingdom of God” on earth. In 1837, there was an economic collapse of the Kirtland settlement which caused many Mormons to leave but Smith decided to head west of Missouri with his followers. In a year, conflicts arose between the Mormons and their neighbors who feared Mormonism caused the Missouri governor to ordered all the Mormons to leave the state. Smith who feared for an impending massacre, followed his instructions. The Mormons traveled east and found the city of Nauvoo on the Mississippi River. The city grew to over 10,000 inhabitants and missionaries helped the church increased to 35,000 members. As opposition to Mormonism starts to cause problems, Smith and his brother gets arrested and murdered in a cell…

    • 646 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mormons- Religious followers of Joseph Smith, who founded a communal, oligarchic religious order in the 1830s, officially known as the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Mormons, facing deep hostility from their non-Mormon neighbors, eventually earnings and working hours to distribute work and established codes to fair competition to ensure that similar procedures were followed by all firms in any particular industrial sector.…

    • 574 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Mormon Migration

    • 1186 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The creator of the Mormon religion was Joseph Smith. It was founded around the 1830s. Mormons believe God made Joseph a prophet to restore Christianity. They also believe that the Bible is not worthy to be the rules of God. The “Book of Mormon”, the book by Joseph Smith with the help of his angel is acceptable as being the official book of their religion. This book told of Indigenous people in early America believing in Christ a long time before he ever lived.…

    • 1186 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Social Reform DBQ Essay

    • 505 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Religious reform is one of the most notable and evident reforms of the time period. Many modern day religions, were created in 1840’s. The Mormon religion was created in the 2nd great awakening and is still highly concentrated in same areas Reform started due to Americans starting to question what was considered a sin. For example, Theodore Parker argued that war was a sin, and good a Christian man should not fight in the war with Mexico.(Document 5) It was new ideas like this that lead to the creation of new religions, and communities. Many groups created in the antebellum years are still around today. Americans used religion to promote liberty and unite people. Therefore, as religion changed it was only fit the reform spirit was created. (Document 3) Society was changing to reach perfection and become more god-like. (Document 1).…

    • 505 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Hum/130 Final Project

    • 2115 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Slick, M. J. (2010). Mormon Beliefs, are they Christian? Retrieved November 23, 2010, from Christian Apoligetics and Research Ministry: http://carm.org/mormon-beliefs…

    • 2115 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Depression and Mormon Women

    • 2704 Words
    • 11 Pages

    ‘Molly Mormon' is the perfect woman. She never raises her voice. Her house is always sparkling clean and she excels in every church calling. She's understanding and supportive of her husband and children. In essence, ‘Molly Mormon' is the ideal wife, mother, helpmate, PTA leader, quilter, baker, and casserole maker; she is consistently well-groomed, cheerful and bright (Egan 1).…

    • 2704 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Second Great awakening ushered in a new perspective on religion. No longer was the Church cookie cutter. New forms of churches such as Baptist, Congregationalist, and Methodist attempted to resurrect the protestant faith. Charles Finney lead the Second Great Awakening, he preached a “social gospel” in the burned over district and redeemed multiple communities. He rebuked the idea of predestination, and said sin was due to social selfishness of individuals. He spoke to the church, stating that church reformations lead to the salvation of sinners (2). He paved the road for utopian communities such as the Rappites (who took the bible literally), Shakers (who had little believe in the human race and therefore celibate), and Mormons (whose founder Joseph Smith was killed by a mob due to the group’s controversial practice of polygamy and other factors). The Second Great Awakening opened the minds…

    • 1099 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    Riess, Jana. “Understanding Polygamy in Mormon History.” For Dummies. John Wiley and Sons Inc. February. 2005. Web. 15 October. 2013. http://www.dummies.com/howto/content/understanding-polygamy-in-mormon-history.html .…

    • 1789 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Suicide and Nurse

    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages

    (2004 January 08). Religion & Ethnics- Mormonism. Retrieved December 5, 2007, from bbc.co.uk Web site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/socialvalues/ethics_3.shtml…

    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Pages 3-11 introduce the story of controversial Matthias the Prophet and the turbulent religious movements that arose in the late 1820s and 1830. This is under the chapter entitled, Prologue: Two Prophets at Kirtland. Beginning with Prophet Matthias travelling to Mormon Settlement in Kirtland, the chapter fundamentally focuses on the religious terrain that Matthias endured after release from prison. While his attempt to endear himself to the Mormon Prophet Smith and the Mormon Church failed, he played a role in the Second Great Awakening. During the period, the northern opinion significantly influenced religious change movement countrywide. In resisting this evangelical reformism, Smith and Matthias separately attacked the domineering views advanced by the Finneyite evangelicalism and were central to the hostility that grew towards Finneyite reformers in late 1820 and 1830s.…

    • 285 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Mormon vs. Christianity

    • 1427 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The false prophets of Mormonism teach that Jesus Christ was the first spirit child of Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother. He was the spirit brother to Satan. Jesus is separate from God. He was the creator of the world (Eckman, pg. 101).…

    • 1427 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The great Mormon migration of 1846-1847 was but one step in the Mormons' quest for religious freedom and growth. The Mormon religion, later known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was founded by Joseph Smith on April 6, 1830 in Fayette, New York. Smith experienced visions as a teenager and would later be regarded as a prophet by the Mormons. In 1827, he claimed that an angel showed him buried gold plates which he then transcribed into The Book of Mormon.…

    • 1065 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Joseph spent the next six years of his life translating the Hebrew text to the real world of God in a book he names “The Book of Mormon”. Ten years after the first vision in 1830, Joseph Smith Jr released “The Book of Mormon” and began his branch of religion called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.The difference between Christianity and Mormonism is that Mormons practiced things at the time were unimaginable, such as polygamy. Mormons believed they weren’t doing anything wrong because they believed that Joseph Smith Jr. was a prophet and was supposed to correct the world with the correct words of God. Another way that Mormons practiced ‘free exercise” also come with fear because it threatened the new personal and Evangelical view of religion. Evangelicals feared that a religion like Mormonism or Catholicism that had enough supporters, that would become the dominant religion in America. The result would be a singular a religion country again. Mormons and Catholics didn't only focus on more community than individual experience, but they were both also blindly following one single man.Evangelical thought this could threaten their religious freedom, and that the country…

    • 835 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although Mormons only equaled approximately 2 million throughout the entire United States the church was able to rally its women into the fight against…

    • 876 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    4 Nephi: The Book Of Mormon

    • 2430 Words
    • 10 Pages

    As Elder Spencer J. Condie of the Seventy wrote, “If ever there lived a person who resisted and withstood the evil influence of a depraved world to become a worthy servant of the Lord, this person was Mormon” (2). At a very young age, Mormon was entrusted with the plates and he later became the prophet and record keeper of the Nephites. He was visited by the Lord himself, and also called to lead the people in a military capacity while he was just a young man. Mormon was described as being “large in stature,” but it was the size of his faith, love, and obedience that made him one of Christ’s choicest…

    • 2430 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics