What are Mormons? If you ask yourself this question, we summarize that it refers to a religious group, let's say quite modern, that has been expanding rapidly. This is the story of the members of the Church of Jesus Christ who are often referred to as Mormons.
We tell you the history of this branch of Christianity, its beliefs and what the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as Mormons, profess.
Joseph Smith. founder of the mormons
It is not a cult or taboo subject, which is not surprising, in fact, there are over 16 million Christians. In other words, they believed in God, they believed in Jesus, they believed in his teachings, they believed in the Old and New Testaments, and they also believed in the Book of Mormon: the other covenant of Jesus Christ.
“He called me by name, and told me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God, and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for me, and that among all the nations, tribes and tongues my name would be taken for good and for evil, that is, that they would speak good and bad about me among all people. He said that a book was deposited, written on gold plates, which gave a list of the ancient inhabitants of this continent, as well as the origin of their origin. He also declared that in it was contained the fullness of the everlasting gospel which the Savior had communicated to the ancient inhabitants.. Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormons.
LThe beginnings of the Mormons
Not exactly a new religion, but his church is a revival of the religion that Jesus originally conceived. His founder, Joseph Smith, said that in 1820 God contacted him to show him that all church creeds to date were wrong.
This event is considered the first vision because it was his first appearance. Years later, she said that she saw an angel named Moroni who revealed to him that he had been chosen to translate a spiritual book, the book of Mormon. A sacred text written around the 2200th century believed by believers to contain the writings of ancient prophets who lived in America in XNUMX BC. C. As explained in History Channel, was named after the Mormons, the father of Moroni (the angel), and that is why the members of this church are called mormons.
The angel told him that to find this writing, he must go to a hill near Palmyra, New York. There will be manuscripts on the gold plate, that is, ancient stories about the American continent written in strange languages.
his second bible
This man, considered his prophet, said that after several failed attempts, he unearthed the gold plates on September 22, 1827. Thanks to some "seeker" stones called urim y Thummim (objects used to discern the will of God). So Smith published the Book of Mormon in 1830 and founded the teaching in New York, which spread from North America to the South and now to the rest of the world.
“The Book of Mormon is a story filled with the love of God, the love for all people and all places. It is on our continent, but it is more than two thousand years old. Basically, it's a story about war. An epic story of peace, evil and good, who lived a long time ago but believed and even predicted the coming of Jesus Christ”, as explained in the official video of their Church.
This book is one of the classics of religion, and it is said that Jesus will go to North America after his resurrection. It also talks about the ancient prophets who lived on our continent and the events that occurred between 600 and 400 BC. c.
Numerous but persecuted
Continuing the story of Mormonism, the Prophet and his early followers settled in Ohio, where they planned to establish their headquarters, but it didn't work out because the Missouri settlers drove them out. They had several violent confrontations with them, so in 1839 they settled on the Mississippi River and established the city of Nauvoo. Thanks to missionaries from his church, the flow grew rapidly.
However, the founders were criticized and persecuted for embracing this teaching. He and his brother were jailed for treason in 1844, the same year they were killed by anti-Mormon mobs. But the church is not without leaders.
After their leader's death, they parted ways, but many followed Smith's successor, Brigham Young, also known as "The American Moses.". So Young led a large group of persecuted Mormons in pursuit of religious freedom in Illinois, and in 1847 he and other pioneers reached Utah's Salt Lake Valley, now its largest ecclesiastical city.
Brigham was named president of the Church of Jesus Christ, was the first governor of Utah, and is also credited with having a major impact on the political and religious landscape of the American West.
Mormons: their religious hierarchy
Still are based in Salt Lake City, and the church is led by a prophet who is the president of the church. Its history is very different from that of other Christians, as is its ecclesiastical body and the sacraments performed by each member. The church hierarchy consists of the first presidency (the president and two counselors), two councils of apostles, the stake presidency (parish equivalent), the administrative body (a bishop and two high priests), and individual members.
Children in this church are usually baptized at the age of eight, and from the age of twelve they can enter a kind of clergy (similar to a Catholic church attendant). Only from the age of 18 can a person enter what is considered more permanent (Melchizedek Priesthood).
Differences between the Catholic Church and the Mormon
Although church members identify themselves as Christians, not all Christians recognize Mormonism as an official denomination. Those who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ claim that after Jesus' death, God sent more prophets and that the original church has been restored in modern times.
In addition to the Christian Bible, they have three books as the foundation of their faith: the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price.. They also believed that the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve lived, was located in Jackson County, Missouri, and that there were three levels of heaven: heavenly, earthly, and heavenly.
Another difference with the Catholic Church is that do not recognize the Christian concept of the Trinity (God exists in three persons). Instead, they believe that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are three separate gods, they explained on the History Channel, and they also say that the members of this church follow a strict lifestyle that does not allow them to drink alcohol, tobacco, coffee. or tea.
“Family life, good works, respect for authority, and missionary work are important values in Mormonism,” Mormons affirm.
They believed in polygamy from the beginning. In fact, they recognized that their founder had 40 wives. However, in 1890, many years after his death, they banned the practice and they are now married to one person. Although a small number of fundamentalists continue to believe and practice plural marriage.
How many women can a Mormon have?
Despite the fact that polygamy was prohibited, in the state of Utah in 2014 a juez He agreed with the Mormons. Allowing several couples to live together as long as there is no legal marriage for both parties.
So what about Mormons today?
Although probably still unknown to most people, the religion grew rapidly from the beginning, actually reaching almost 600.000 people in Chile, and also settled in the popular culture of the United States.
There is even an American Mormon presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, and the famous musical "The Book of Mormon," which add to the world's attention to the church, which is modernizing to some extent.
Among its novelties, recently announced that children of parents who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender can now be blessed and baptized, which a few years ago, according to The Guardian, was not allowed. But even so, his honor code is not clear about same-sex relationships and maintains rules of chastity that apply to students of all genders.
Still, some experts believe that if current trends continue, there could be 265 million Mormons worldwide by 2080. This is amazing for what could be considered a new church, but as history has shown, it has had trouble sending missionaries to prophesy around the world.
In this blog we like curiosities and learning about other cultures, so if you know something more about Mormons that we have not mentioned here, I encourage you to write us in comments.