Changes

Jump to: navigation, search

Mormonism

4,386 bytes added, 06:49, November 21, 2018
no edit summary
Attracting a host of converts, Smith's new religion also garnered intense persecution, necessitating moves in turn to Ohio, Missouri, and finally Illinois, where Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum Smith were murdered in 1844. Smith's movement fragmented following his demise, with the majority eventually following Brigham Young, then head of the LDS Church's Council of Twelve Apostles, to Utah.
 
As a matter of course, most Mormons prefer to be called by their official name, the "Latter-day Saints." The usage of the word saint here follows the biblical meaning of the terms as meaning one who has dedicated themselves to God and His service. The term "Latter-day Saint" is often abbreviated as "LDS." The moniker "Mormon" was originally used as a derisive name by non-Mormons and was derived from the "The Book of Mormon."
Plural marriage proved a source of dissension, especially between the Utah Mormons and the smaller Community of Christ, which rejected the doctrine. Polygamy also caused trouble between the LDS church and the U.S. government, until its practice was banned in 1890. Throughout the last century, Mormons fought to project an image of wholesome, family-oriented Christianity, reaping millions of converts and emerging as a formidible presence on the world religous scene.
===The "Doctrine of Eternal Progression"===
A major pillar of Mormon belief is their concept of [[theosis|deification]], which they refer to as the "Doctrine of Eternal Progression." In opposition to the Trinitarian dogmas of the [[First Ecumenical Council|First]] and [[Second Ecumenical Council|Second]] [[Ecumenical Council|Ecumenical Councils]], Mormons believe that [[God]] the Father, whom they refer to by the Old Testament Hebrew term "Elohim"<ref>LDS Bible Dictionary, Entry "God," at http://scriptures.lds.org/en/bd/g/43.</ref> (which, translated into English literally, means "gods") as a way to refer to God the Father separately form His Son, Jehovah/Yahweh, who Mormons believe incarnated on Earth as Jesus Christ. Mormons also refer to God the Father as "Heavenly Father" as Mormons believe that He is literally the father of the human spirit. Mormons believe that all human beings are literal spirit children of God and lived with Him in Heaven before being born on this Earth. (It should be noted that this LDS doctrine of per-existence of spirits, by which we all are alleged to have existed "spiritually" in heaven prior to our birth on this earth, was specifically condemned by the [[Fifth Ecumenical Council]].) Thus, Mormons believe the difference between is not one of kind -Created v. Uncreated- but of degree -Fallen v. Perfect and Eternal. Because of this Mormons believe that through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ all people can be made perfect and be made like God by God, i.e. they can become gods. <ref>https://www.lds.org/topics/becoming-like-god?lang=eng</ref> This is laid out in one of Joseph Smith's "revelations" known as Doctrine and Covenants section 132, verse 20 which says: "Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them."
For a casual observer, this may seem similar to the Church's teaching of [[theosis]], but this is most emphatically ''not'' so:
In Mormonism, you do not have to be Mormon to be a martyr for the cause of Christ. Mormons look at all who die for their religion and for Jesus in all the varying forms of Christianity as martyrs.
==Distinctive Mormon "Scriptures"==
===The Book of Mormon===
In 1823 Smith claimed to have been visited by an [[angel]] named Moroni, who told him of a chronicle of ancient history supposedly engraved in "Reformed Egyptian" on tablets of gold, and buried in a hill near Manchester, New York. Smith allegedly obtained these plates in 1827 and translated them into English via the use of two seer-stones which he called the "Urim and Thummim." These stones should not be confused with the [[Old Testament]] Urim and Thummim (the stones on the High Priest’s breastplate used to relay messages from God to the Israelites), though . Mormons sometimes try believe they are the same type of holy instruments but that the one Joseph Smith claimed to connect have was not the one mentioned in the twoBible.
This translation became ''The Book of Mormon'', which is revered as "Another Testament of Jesus Christ" by Mormons. The monikers referring to Smith's church as "the Mormon Church" and its members as "Mormons" are derivations from''The Book of Mormon.'' This book purports to be a religious and secular history of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas--called Nephites, Lamanites, Mulekites, and Jaredites--from about 2200 B.C. to A.D. 421. It claims that at least some Native Americans are descended from groups of Near Eastern peoples (mostly [[Judaism|Jews]]) who immigrated during pivotal periods in Israel’s history.
The ''Book of Mormon'' claims that many of these people were openly-practicing [[Christian|Christians]], ''before'' the birth of Christ, with a functioning church organization that mirrored that later taught by Joseph Smith. According to Smith's text, the godly "Nephites" openly administered baptisms, "confirmations" and the Holy Eucharist eons ''before'' the coming of the Savior. The book even claims that our Lord came to visit these peoples Himself after His [[Ascension]]--after raining down several days of death and destruction on the evildoers among them. About four-hundred years after this alleged event, the "Nephites" were destroyed by the wicked "Lamanites," who became among the primary ancestors of the Native American peoples.
This points to a Mormon perspective on the sacrifice of the Savior that is fairly unique. Mormons believe that the sacrifice is as retroactive as it is proactive, meaning that people could be saved by Christ's Atonement before Christ had chronologically sacrificed Himself to atone for the sins of mankind. Mormons believe ancient biblical figures such as Adam, Abraham, and Moses all received the Christian Gospel and were saved by Christ even before His birth. Interestingly, over 3,000 changes have been noted between the ''Book of Mormon'' currently published by the LDS Church, and the original 1830 edition published by Joseph Smith. Most of these alterations were made by Smith himself, in later editions of the book printed during his own lifetime. And most of them were spelling corrections, printers errors, or formatting corrections (the original copies of the Book of Mormon had no verses and only basic chapters- more detailed chapters and verses were added later on.) Some changes though were to the text itself. For instance, in I Nephi 11:32, our Lord was originally referred to as "the eternal God," but is now referred to as "the ''son'' of the eternal God." In I Nephi 11:18, the [[Theotokos]] was initially referred to as "the mother of God," while today she is referred to as "the mother of the ''Son'' of God."<ref>httphttps://www.geocitiesfairmormon.comorg/conference/swickerscaugust-2002/mormonbkchange.htmlchanges-in-the-book-of-mormon.</ref>
Connections between the history and civilization portrayed in ''The Book of Mormon'' and evidence found by archaeologists in the Americas is debatable. Evidence of horses, elephants, cattle, barley, wheat, steel swords, chariots, shipbuilding, and other Old World paraphernalia has not been found to exist in the Americas until the advent of Europeans. Evidence of these people, the gold plates, or the "seer-stones" has yet to be found.<ref>See, for instance, the Smithsonian Institute's offical statement on the ''Book of Mormon'', at http://www.irr.org/mit/smithson.html.</ref>
===Other Mormon "Scriptures"===
Mormons also have an open canon. As a result they have multiple sources of scripture. They accept as Scripture the ''Doctrine and Covenants'', containing 138 "revelations" and two "official declarations" allegedly given to Joseph Smith and his successors; together with . They also accept as scripture a text Mormons call the ''Pearl of Great Price'', containing which contains a variety of disconnected by Mormons believe revealed texts. These include the "Book of Moses," (a rewriting by text that Joseph Smith claimed was a revealed restoration of text written by Moses but which had been removed from the first part of the Book of Genesis), and that focuses on the Creation of the world and the ministry of Enoch; the "Book of Abraham," (a purported text Smith claimed to have translated form an ancient Egyptian scroll and which professes to be an account of the Patriarch [[Abraham]], with his early life in Ur, and the Creation which references to multiple "gods" in the act of creation, rather than one Godas Mormons do not accept the Trinity as discussed above. Some Mormons also interpret the "council of gods" mentioned in Abraham to possibly refer to pre-mortal human spirits which are here referred to as "gods" in the same manner that Psalm 82:6 calls those to whom the word of God has come as "gods" and to the way which the Savior refers to this scripture in John 10.  Additionally, Joseph Smith rewrote sections of the Bible "by inspiration" during his lifetime, making substantial additions to the text which he claimed were originally there but removed, and otherwise shaping its text to conform to his own teachings (including an alleged prophecy of his own coming). While this text was never officially adopted by the main LDS church (it was adopted, and various on the other texts hand, by the Community of Christ), a portion of -Joseph Smith's reworking of Matthew 24- it appears in the ''Pearl of Great Price'' and as footnotes in the official LDS editions of the King James Version of the Bible, the KJV being the official English language Bible for the LDS Church.
AdditionallyLastly, Joseph Smith rewrote there is a section in the entire Bible "by inspirationPearl of Great Price," during his lifetime, making substantial additions to titled the text, deleting the Song "Articles of Solomon entirely, and otherwise shaping its text to conform to his own teachings (including an alleged prophecy Faith." These are 13 basic statements of his own coming)official LDS beliefs. While this text was never officially adopted by the main LDS church (it was adoptedJoseph Smith first wrote them in a letter to John Wentworth, on the other hand, by the Community of Christ)an American newspaper editor, portions of it appear in the response to Mr. Wentworth''Pearl s request to know what members of Great Price'' and as footnotes the Church believed. They were subsequently published in the official LDS editions of the King James Version of the Bible (still the official LDS version)Church periodicals. Eventually they were canonized.
==Mormonism and Polygamy==
Plural marriage was practiced by early Mormon church leaders. Many sources say that Smith had as many as twenty to thirty wives, <ref>http://josephsmithspolygamy.org/last-year-life/</ref> while Brigham Young counted fifty20 wives.<ref>https://www.history.com/topics/religion/brigham-twoyoung.</ref>DBetween 1852 and 1890, Mormons openly practiced "plural marriage," which was their term for their form of polygamy. Michael Quinn, ''The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins Most plural families lived in Utah. Women and men who lived within plural marriage attested to challenges and difficulties but also to the love and joy they found within their families. They believed it was a commandment of Power''God at that time and that obedience would bring great blessings to them and their posterity.  Although some leaders had large polygamous families, Signature Books, Salt Lake City, 1994, 685 pages, ISBN 1two-56085-056-6thirds of polygamist men had only two wives at a time. Church leaders recognized that plural marriages could be particularly difficult for women. Divorce was therefore available to women who were unhappy in their marriages; Appendix 6remarriage was also readily available. Women sometimes married at young ages in the first decade of Utah settlement, "Biographical Sketches of Officers which was typical of women living in frontier areas at the Church of Jesus Christ time. At its peak in 1857, perhaps one half of all Utah Latter- day Saintsexperienced plural marriage as a husband, 1830-47" pp. 607-608)wife, or child.</ref> The Church percentage of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints practiced polygamy until 1890, when they ended it to ensure Utah’s statehoodthose involved in plural marriage steadily declined over the next three decades.
During the years that plural marriage was publicly taught, not all Latter-day Saints were expected to live the principle, though all were expected to accept it as a revelation from God. Indeed, this system of marriage could not have been universal due to the ratio of men to women. Women were free to choose their spouses, whether to enter into a polygamous or a monogamous union, or whether to marry at all. Some men entered plural marriage because they were asked to do so by Church leaders, while others initiated the process themselves; all were required to obtain the approval of Church leaders before entering a plural marriage. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints practiced polygamy until 1890, when they claim to have ended it after then Church President and Mormon Prophet Wilford Woodruff claimed to have received a "revelation" where God commanded the end of the practice. This came after 30 years of intense persecution for Mormons as the US government sought to use the force of law to compel Mormons into giving up their polygamous practices.<ref>https://www.lds.org/topics/plural-marriage-in-the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints?lang=eng.</ref>  Today about 70% of Utah is Mormon, and around . Around 60,000 or so are belong to polygamous, though splinter churches which the the mainline LDS Church sees as apostates. It excommunicates anyone advocating or practicing it. Other breakaway Mormon sects practice polygamy secretly. Despite the huge publicity campaign the LDS Church has constructed to disassociate itself from polygamy, Mormons and plural marriage are still commonly associated in contemporary culture. While it may have been renounced by the main LDS body, there is no doubt that Mormonism and its unholy practice of plural marriage remain closely entwined, especially since mainline LDS members are still required to affirm the propriety of polygamy when it ''was'' authorized by their church (prior to 1890).
The Orthodox Church condemns all forms of plural marriage as an unnatural practice.
*[[w:Mormonism|Wikipedia: Mormonism]]
*[http://www.cofchrist.org Community of Christ] (Website for the Community of Christ, the second-largest Mormon sect)
*[http://home.teleport.com/~packham/tract.htm To Those Who Are Investigating Mormonism by Richard Packham] (Packham is a former member of the LDS)*[http://www.hbo.com/biglove HBO’s Big Love] (Big Love is a television drama portraying Mormon polygamists living secretly in modern-day Utah)
[[Category:Non-Orthodox]]
[[Category:Heresies]]
[[ar:المورمون]]
35
edits

Navigation menu