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TheLatter Day Saint movement is a religious movement withinChristianity that arose during theSecond Great Awakening in the early 19th century and that led to the set of doctrines, practices, and cultures calledMormonism, and to the existence of numerousLatter Day Saint churches. Its history is characterized by intense controversy and persecution in reaction to some of the movement's doctrines and practices and their relationship tomainstream Christianity (seeMormonism and Christianity). The purpose of this article is to give an overview of the different groups, beliefs, and denominations that began with the influence of Joseph Smith.
The founder of theLatter Day Saint movement wasJoseph Smith, who was raised in theburned-over district of UpstateNew York. Smith stated that, in response to prayer, he sawGod the Father andJesus Christ, as well asangels and other visions. This eventually led him to a restoration of Christian doctrine that, he said, was lost after the early Christian apostles were killed. In addition, several early leaders made marked doctrinal and leadership contributions to the movement, includingOliver Cowdery,Sidney Rigdon, andBrigham Young. Modern-day revelation from God continues to be a principal belief of the Mormon faith.
Mormon history as an academic field is calledMormon studies.
The Latter Day Saint movement arose in thePalmyra andManchester area of western New York, where its founder Joseph Smith was raised during a period of religiousrevival in the early 19th century called theSecond Great Awakening, a Christian response to thesecularism of theAge of Enlightenment which extended throughout theUnited States, particularly the frontier areas of the west.
A significant early event in this Second Great Awakening was theCane Ridge Revival, a largecamp meeting that took place in 1801 atCane Ridge, Kentucky. Joseph Smith's fatherJoseph Smith Sr. said he had several visions or dreams, as had Smith's paternal and maternal grandfathers.
The people of western New York, like the rest of the United States at the time, were also influenced byfolk religion. The fathers of both Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were reported to have useddivining rods, though not by those within the LDS church. Joseph Smith usedseer stones,[1][2] which he used after his claimedFirst Vision. People of the time used such rods and stones in various ways, including to locate underground water, to find lost items, to locate buried treasure or mineral mines, as part of religious ormagic rituals, or to communicate with spirits or angels. Until about the 1830s, the use of such divining media, even as a profession, was thought by many, though not all, as "honorable and profitable employment". (Palmyra Herald, July 24, 1822)
Another related strand of religious thought that became important to the Latter Day Saint movement was theRestoration Movement, primarily influenced byBarton W. Stone (who participated in the Cane Ridge revival), andAlexander Campbell, who joined Stone in 1824 inOhio. Stone and Campbell believed that the division among Christiansects had been caused by aGreat Apostasy (or falling away) from the original teachings of Jesus, and that the correct principles of Christianity could be re-established by "restoring" practices described in theNew Testament. The Restorationists also intended to eliminate sectarianism, arguing that there should be only one Christian church, which should be called the "Church of Christ."
While theserestorationist ideas were circulating in the western frontier, the family of Joseph Smith was living in western New York, where they attended many of the local revivals. During this time, the area was seeing so many Christian revivals that western New York's most well-known revivalistCharles Grandison Finney later dubbed the area the "Burned-Over District". Because of a lack of clergy from established churches, this area was unusually open to religious innovations, new movements, and social experiments such asreligious communism.
Latter Day Saints do not typically distinguish between this Restoration movement and the broaderProtestant Reformation, since both were an attempt to return to the values and doctrines taught by Jesus and the Apostles, while most Latter Day Saint groups believe that there was a need for God to actively restore both authority and doctrine. However, in spite of their different use of the wordrestoration, this movement was an important part of the culture that led Joseph Smith to become interested in religion.
Joseph Smith and several of the church founders wereFreemasons,[3][4] and were founding members of a lodge inNauvoo, Illinois in March 1842. There are some similarities between Mormon temple worship and symbolism and the stories and symbols of Freemasonry. In modern times,The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) holds no position for or against the compatibility of Masonry with LDS Church doctrine.
Most Latter Day Saints trace the beginnings of Mormonism to Joseph Smith's First Vision, which he said he had in about 1820 in the woods near his home. Early accounts of this vision describe it as a vision of Jesus in which he was told his sins were forgiven. Later, more detailed accounts indicate Smith was also told that all Christian denominations had become corrupt and further clarify that Smith saw multiple heavenly beings, including Jesus andGod the Father.
Smith also described many other visions involving angels. Some of his earliest visitations involved aNephite prophet-warrior, who called himselfMoroni. Smith said this angel appeared to him many times, and showed him where to find a set of buried Golden Plates containing ancient writings that the prophet-warrior had sealed in a stone box before his death, together with other artifacts. The writings on the Golden Plates, according to Smith, contained an account of the various nations that inhabited ancient America, and described how they were led to theNew World by Jesus, but eventually lost their Christian faith through a series of wars and corruption.
After he said he received the Golden Plates, Smith began to dictate their translation to his wifeEmma Hale Smith and various associates of his, includingMartin Harris and, for most of the later translation, Oliver Cowdery. Smith said he translated the text through the gift and power of God and through the aid of theUrim and Thummim, orseer stone.[1][2] The resulting writings were published in March 1830 as theBook of Mormon.
TheBook of Mormon was much more ambitious than being just a purported history ofNative Americans. Mormons quickly adopted the book as a work of scripture of similar importance to theBible. The book's title page described it as an attempt to show Native Americans "what great things the Lord has done for their fathers", and to convince "Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God." (Book of Mormon, title page.) The book contained doctrinal discussions on numerous themes, including how the pride of the wealthy leads to the downfall of civilization, the dangers of "secret combinations" of people who meet secretly and use secret signs and oaths "to carry out the evil purposes of the group", and God's mercy and protection over his followers. Latter Day Saints consider the crowning moment of the book to be Jesus' visit to the ancient Americans, during which time he teaches them in person about the meaning of his death and resurrection.
Some of the early movement's most important charismatic experiences were shared between Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, who joined the movement during the translation of theBook of Mormon. During the translation of the Golden Plates, Smith and Cowdery determined that they needed to obtain thePriesthood, or the authority to act in God's name, which they believed had been lost from the earth during theGreat Apostasy. According to an account by Cowdery in 1834, they went into the woods nearHarmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania on May 15, 1829, were visited by an angel who gave them the "Holy Priesthood". (Messenger and Advocate, 1(1), Oct. 1, 1834.) In 1835, Smith and Cowdery stated that the angel wasJohn the Baptist, and that the "Holy Priesthood" was specifically thePriesthood of Aaron", which included the power to baptize. Today this area is preserved as theAaronic Priesthood Restoration Site.
Smith and Cowdery further elaborated for the 1835 publication of theDoctrine and Covenants that they were also later visited byPeter,James, andJohn, who restored the "keys of your ministry" and the "keys of the kingdom". Neither Smith nor Cowdery ever gave a date for this visitation.
After the restoration of the Priesthood, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery began baptizing dozens of people, as early as June 1829. (History of the Church 1:6, p. 59). These converts did not belong to a formal church organization. Nevertheless, this community of believers referred to themselves as "the Church of Christ", and included converts in three New York towns:Fayette,Manchester, andColesville.
There is no known record of an early Mormon concept ofthe Lord's church prior to Smith's translation of theBook of Mormon from April to June 1829. Some time in April 1829, Smith dictated a story ofAlma the Elder, the former priest of a wicked king, who baptized his followers by immersion, "having authority from the Almighty God", and called his community of believers the "church of God, or the church of Christ".
Some time between June and December 1829, Joseph Smith,David Whitmer and Oliver Cowdery said they received a revelation about "how he should build up his church & the manner thereof". This revelation was called the "Articles of the Church of Christ", and it indicated that the church should ordainpriests andteachers "according to the gifts & callings of God unto men". The church was to meet regularly to partake ofbread and wine. Cowdery was described as "an Apostle of Jesus Christ".
On April 6, 1830, Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, and a group of approximately 50 believers met to formally organize theChurch of Christ into a legal institution.[5][6] By later accounts, this meeting was a charismatic event, in which members of the congregation had visions, prophesied,spoke in tongues, ecstatically shouted praises to the Lord, and fainted (Joseph Smith History, 1839 draft). Also, the church formally ordained a lay ministry. Smith and Cowdery, according to their 1831 account, were each ordained as "an apostle of Jesus Christ, an elder of the church". ("Articles and Covenants of the Church of Christ",Painesville Telegraph, April 19, 1831).
The movement more than doubled in size with the conversion ofSidney Rigdon, a formerCampbellite minister, who led several congregations of Restorationists in Ohio'sWestern Reserve area, causing hundreds of his adherents to follow him into Mormonism. A fiery orator, Rigdon was called to be Smith's spokesman, and immediately became one of the movement's leaders. By 1831 the church's headquarters were established inKirtland, Ohio, and Smith urged the membership to gather there or to a second outpost of the church inJackson County, Missouri (see below).
While based in Kirtland, the church changed its name to the "Church of the Latter Day Saints", and added a number of new doctrines and leadership offices. An attempt to establish a communitarian economy known as the "Law of Consecration" was established in 1831. The Latter Day Saint understanding of the priesthood was elaborated by the separation of the higher orMelchizedek Priesthood offices from the lesser orAaronic Priesthood offices and by the restoration of thePatriarchal Priesthood. Also established were theFirst Presidency, theHigh Council—later elaborated as the High Council of Zion, the Travelling High Council (orQuorum of the Twelve) andStake high councils—Seventies,patriarchs,high priests, andbishops.
During the Kirtland era, many charismatic experiences were reported, many involving visitations of angels or communication from God through stones. However, some Church members claimed to receive revelations that contradicted those received by Joseph Smith. He and several followers prayed about the issue, and Joseph recorded a series of revelations, which included a description of several real spiritual gifts, a statement that only Joseph Smith, as the Prophet, could receive new doctrines and commandments for the Church, and a warning that not all supernatural experiences come from God. This effort to balance charismatic experience with order and stability became a lasting characteristic of the Latter Day Saint Movement.
Kirtland also was the site of the construction of the movement's firsttemple. Latter Day Saints reported a great outpouring of spiritual experiences in connection with theKirtland Temple's dedication. The temple was associated with the Kirtland-era "endowment", and with the temple ceremonies of "foot washing" and "solemn assembly." The movement also established the "School of the Prophets" which met in the temple. At Kirtland, Smith reported many revelations including the "Word of Wisdom"—advocating temperance and dietary restrictions. He acquiredEgyptian papyrus scrolls which he said contained the writings of the Biblical patriarchsAbraham andJoseph. According to some reports, it was in Kirtland that Smith first began to practice the doctrine ofplural marriage when he marriedFanny Alger as his first plural wife in 1833.
In 1837 Smith and Rigdon founded an "anti-bank" called theKirtland Safety Society. When it failed, some 300 of the Kirtland membership became disillusioned, including a third of the church leadership.[7] The result was the movement's first major schism. A new organization led by Smith's former secretary,Warren Parish, along withMartin Harris and others, vied for control of the church in Kirtland. Re-establishing the original "Church of Christ" name, these "reformed Latter Day Saints" took possession of the temple and excommunicated Smith and Rigdon. Smith and Rigdon relocated to Missouri and were followed there by hundreds of loyalists in a trek known as the "Kirtland Camp."
As the church was gathering to Kirtland, a second gathering place was established 900 miles distant, on the frontier inJackson County, Missouri. Joseph Smith had revealed to Latter Day Saints that they were to prepare "the way of the Lord for hisSecond Coming", "for the time is soon at hand that I shall come...." (D & C 34:6,7) He also revealed that the "center place" of theCity of Zion would be near the town ofIndependence in Jackson County. (D & C 57:3) Latter Day Saints began to settle the area to "build up" the City of Zion in 1831. Settlement was rapid and non-Mormon residents became alarmed that they might lose political control of the county to the Latter Day Saints. In October 1833, non-Mormon vigilantes succeeded in driving the Mormons from the county. Deprived of their homes and property, the Latter Day Saints temporarily settled in the area around Jackson County, especially inClay County.
Years elapsed, and despite Mormon lawsuits and petitions, the non-Mormons in Jackson refused to allow the Mormons to return. Meanwhile, new converts to Mormonism continued to migrate to Missouri and settle in Clay County. In 1836, the Missouri legislature createdCaldwell County specifically for Mormon settlement and Missouri branches of the church gathered there, centering on the town ofFar West.
In 1838 Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon and their loyalists left the former church headquarters of Kirtland and relocated toFar West, Missouri. A brief leadership struggle left the former heads of the Missouri portion of the church excommunicated, such asDavid Whitmer,Oliver Cowdery,William Wines Phelps and others. Years later, many of this group of "dissenters" became part of theWhitmerite schism in the Latter Day Saint movement.
While the church was headquartered in Far West, Smith announced revelations that changed the name of the church to the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" and initiated the "Law of Tithing." Conflicts with non-Mormon settlers arose as the church began to plant colonies in the counties surrounding Caldwell. These escalated into what has been called the1838 Mormon War. The perceived militant attitude adopted by the church caused some leaders, includingThomas B. Marsh, president of theQuorum of the Twelve, to break with Smith and Rigdon. This precipitated another schism which led to the foundation of theChurch of Jesus Christ, the Bride, the Lamb's Wife byGeorge M. Hinkle, who had been the Mormon commander of the Caldwell County militia.
As a result of the war, 2,500 Missouri militia troops were called out to put down the Mormon "rebellion." Smith and other church leaders were imprisoned inLiberty, Missouri and the majority of the Latter Day Saints were deprived of their property and expelled from the state.
With the help of sympathetic non-Mormons in Illinois, in the spring of 1839 the Latter Day Saint refugees regrouped and began to establish a new headquarters inNauvoo. Smith and other leaders were allowed after several months of harsh treatment to escape Missourian custody, and they rejoined the main body of the movement in April, 1839. In 1841, construction began on anew temple, significantly more elaborate than the one left behind in Kirtland. The Nauvoo city charter authorized independent municipal courts, thefoundation of a university and the establishment of a militia unit known as the "Nauvoo Legion." These and other institutions gave the Latter Day Saints a considerable degree of autonomy.
Nauvoo saw the final flowering of Joseph Smith's vision for the movement, including some of Mormonism's morecontroversial practices. It was here that Smith introducedBaptism for the dead,Rebaptism, the Nauvoo-eraEndowment, and the ordinance of theSecond Anointing. In addition, he created a new inner council of the church—containing both men and women—called theAnointed Quorum. Although, according to some reports, Smith himself had been secretly practicing what he later calledplural marriage for some time, in Nauvoo he began to teach other leaders the doctrine.
In March 1844, Smith was said byWilliam Law to have organized a secret council of the church called the "Council of the Kingdom". Practices of this council included acclaiming Joseph Smith as "Prophet, Priest, and King" in addition to polygamy. These secrets were threatened to be released in a newspaper called theNauvoo Expositor. Smith, acting in his capacity as mayor and head of the municipal court, responded by having the newspaper declared a "public nuisance" and by ordering the destruction of the press.
Whenever Latter Day Saints gathered in large numbers, they met with opposition from neighbors who suspected that Mormon bloc-voting would lead totheocracy. By the mid-1840s, many non-Mormons inHancock County felt threatened by growing Mormon political power, commercial rivalries, and a new religion with at least two elements that were hard to digest in the religious community of that time: first, Latter Day Saints had a somewhat different perspective on the nature of God from traditional Protestants; second, the claim of modern revelation, together with the claim of new scripture, opened the canon of the Bible.[8]
Smith's destruction of theExpositor exacerbated all these fears and non-Mormons throughout Illinois began to clamor for his arrest. When Smith submitted to imprisonment in the county seat ofCarthage, the Governor of Illinois,Thomas Ford, left the jail, taking the only impartial local militia unit with him. With the jail being guarded only by two guards and a unit ofanti-Mormon militiamen, the Carthage Greys, a mob of disbanded militia units, attacked without resistance. Joseph and his brotherHyrum were killed.
All men who were tried for the murders were acquitted after the prosecuting attorney dismissed the testimonies of the state's witnesses suddenly in his closing remarks.[9]
In the months following Smith's murder, it was not immediately clear who would lead the church. His brother,Hyrum, who wasAssistant President of the Church, (and as such would have been Smith's natural successor) had died with him. Another Smith brother who may have been a presumed successor should both Hyrum and Joseph die,Samuel, died a month later. Before Brigham Young could return to Nauvoo and stake his claim, another Smith brother,William was also considered as a potential successor.[citation needed] Other men who (by some reports) were designated as successors, includingBook of Mormon witnesses David Whitmer andOliver Cowdery, had been excommunicated from the church.
As a result, three of the principal claimants on the scene were:
Smith's widow,Emma, wanted Marks to become church president, but Marks believed that Rigdon had the superior claim.
In a general meeting of the church at Nauvoo on August 8, 1844, Rigdon and Young presented their respective cases. As the only surviving member of the First Presidency (who had not officially apostatized), Rigdon argued that he should be made "guardian" of the church. Young argued that without Smith there, there was no presiding authority higher than the Twelve. Therefore, he proposed that theQuorum of the Twelve Apostles be constituted as the new presiding authority. A vote of the congregation overwhelmingly supported Young's proposal, said to have been caused by Brigham briefly yet miraculously having the "voice and countenance of Joseph Smith" during his talk. Soon after, Rigdon left Nauvoo and established his ownchurch organization inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Rigdon, Young and Marks were later joined by a fourth claimant,James J. Strang ofVoree, Wisconsin, who claimed that Smith had sent him a letter designating him as his successor. However, Strang had only recently joined the church, and lacked name-recognition among the rank-and-file Mormons in Nauvoo. Though he would manage to attract a sizable following, his assassination in 1856 all but extinguished hissect.
With Rigdon's flight, Young and most of the Twelve Apostles assumed control of church headquarters in Nauvoo. A conflict with Joseph Smith's last surviving brother,William, was a factor that led the remaining members of the Smith family to break with the Twelve. Many (though not all) initially followed Strang, though all later left Strang's organization and joined themselves to the nascentReorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which coalesced in the early 1860s around Joseph Smith's eldest son,Joseph Smith III.
Meanwhile, at Nauvoo, the conflict between Mormons and non-Mormons escalated into what is sometimes called the "Mormon War in Illinois." Latter Day Saints in outlying areas were driven from their homes and gathered to Nauvoo for protection. The Illinois state legislature voted to revoke Nauvoo's charter and the city began to operate extra-legally. At about this time, Nauvoo's population peaked; it may have had as many as 12,000 inhabitants (and several nearly as large suburbs), rivaling Chicago, Illinois, whose 1845 population was about 15,000, and its suburbs. However, by the end of 1845, it became clear that no peace was possible, and Young and the Twelve negotiated a truce so that the Latter Day Saints could prepare to abandon the city. The winter of 1845-46 saw the enormous preparations for theMormon Exodus across theGreat Plains.
The largest group of Latter Day Saints followed nine of the Twelve Apostles west, establishing a way station atWinter Quarters, Nebraska in 1846, and enteringSalt Lake Valley in 1847. Having planted this initial colony in theGreat Basin, Young returned to Winter Quarters and in December 1847 reorganized his faction of the church, establishing himself as the head of a new First Presidency. This reorganization led to additional schisms, including the break withAlpheus Cutler and what became theChurch of Christ (Cutlerite) as well asLyman Wight's group in Zodiac, Texas. Young's organization today, the LDS Church, is headquartered inSalt Lake City, Utah. (SeeHistory of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)
The bulk of Sidney Rigdon's church had dissolved by 1847, but some loyalists reorganized asThe Church of Jesus Christ under the leadership ofWilliam Bickerton in 1862.James J. Strang's church in Voree suffered a significant schism in 1849, led by former follower Aaron Smith. After Strang's 1856 assassination, much of the remaining membership fell away from theChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite), but a small following remained loyal. Other leaders, includingDavid Whitmer,James Collin Brewster,James Emmett,Gladden Bishop,William Smith, andCharles B. Thompson also established church organizations that had limited followings.
Joseph Smith's family—including his widow,Emma Hale Smith, and her children—continued to live in Nauvoo after the departure of the majority of the Latter Day Saints. In 1860, the eldest of the Smith sons,Joseph Smith III, said he received a revelation to take his place as Prophet/President of a "New Organization" of the Latter Day Saint church. This group had gathered together many of the remnants of the various Midwestern Latter Day Saint groups into theReorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, now called theCommunity of Christ. This has continued to be the second largest Latter Day Saint group, with headquarters on a portion of the originalTemple Lot inIndependence, Missouri.
Others remained unaffiliated, however, and in 1863 a group of Latter Day Saints from Illinois and Indiana united under the leadership ofGranville Hedrick and reclaimed the name of the movement's original organization, the "Church of Christ." This group was the first group of Latter Day Saints to return to Independence, Missouri, to "redeem Zion." They are now headquartered on portion of the originalTemple Lot there and are known as theChurch of Christ (Temple Lot).
By far the largest of the sects, with membership in the millions, the LDS Church continues to be led byBrigham Young's successors. Young reorganized the First Presidency in 1847, and the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles have continued the same succession pattern: when the Prophet dies, the senior Apostle becomes the head of the LDS Church. As of January 2018,Russell M. Nelson is thechurch president. Among other things, the LDS Church has become known for its proselyting and humanitarian work worldwide.
The Community of Christ, known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS) until 2001, is the second largest group, with over 250,000 members. Joseph Smith's descendants continued to serve as Prophet and President until the retirement ofWallace B. Smith in the early twenty-first century. Today the church is led by President/Prophet Stephen M. Veazey, who is no relation to Joseph Smith. While the Community of Christ is somewhat more in line doctrinally with mainline Protestantism, they also believe in the Book of Mormon and an open scriptural canon, and place great emphasis upon peacemaking and similar pursuits. The Community of Christ has ordained women to priesthood since 1985 and dedicated a temple in Independence, Mo., in 1994.
Other notable minor factions of the Latter Day Saint movement include: theChurch of Christ (Temple Lot), which owns theTemple Lot in Independence, Missouri; theChurch of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite), founded by a member of Joseph Smith'sCouncil of Fifty; theChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite), founded by James J. Strang in 1844; theChurch of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite), founded by a follower of Sidney Rigdon in the early 1860s (and now the third-largest Latter Day Saint denomination); theChurch of Christ with the Elijah Message, founded in the 1940s by a man who claimed to be receiving revelations fromJohn the Baptist; and theRestoration Branches, which broke with the Community of Christ in 1984 when the latter began ordaining women. In addition, several other Latter Day Saint factions continue to exist, some of which still practicepolygamy.
Latter Day Saints share a central belief inJesus Christ as the Son of God and the Savior and Redeemer of the world. They accept his sacrifice as the only way to be saved. According to this movement's theology, that is the central message of the scriptures.
Latter Day Saints generally share an open canon. While different sects believe in different revelations, a central theme of the Latter Day Saint movement is that God always has more to say to the church, because the church's situation is always changing.
Latter Day Saints believe in the Bible and other ancient scripture. However, the modern prophet is usually considered to be a more important source of revelation, because he receives contemporary (and, thus, more relevant) instructions from God.
Most Latter Day Saint sects believe that authority from Jesus Christ is necessary in order to baptize, give the gift of the Holy Ghost, or administerthe Lord's Supper (or the sacrament). This Priesthood authority can be traced to the day that Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery received the Melchizedek Priesthood from Peter, James, and John, who received the Priesthood from Jesus himself.
Many of Joseph Smith's early revelations prophesied that the Latter Day Saints would build Zion, a new Jerusalem, a religious utopia centered in Jackson County, MO. The Prophet urged his followers to give everything they had to this cause. However, when they failed to live the Law of Consecration, which was a promise to voluntarily give all their property to the community for equal distribution, Joseph Smith received a revelation that God would build Zion later, when the people were ready. Both the Community of Christ and the LDS Church have come to understand Zion as primarily a community way of life that is centered around Jesus Christ, but many people still believe that, when they are ready, they will be able to build the literal city of Zion as well.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)Note 3:David Whitmer estimated the number at fifty, although as many as seventy-three could have been in attendance. See [Larry C.] Porter, "Organizational Origins," 153-55
