Iron Chariots Wiki - User contributions [en]

Book of Mormon

2010-03-24T21:47:20Z

Rabidwriter: /* References */

The '''Book of Mormon''' (abbreviated BoM) is, according to [[Mormons]], "another testament of Jesus Christ," written by the ancestors of the American Indians. The Book of Mormon claims that Native Americans are descended from [[Jews]], who escaped the destruction of Jerusalem and crossed the sea to populate North and South America. This tome is a saga that spans from approximately 600BC to 421AD.

The Book of Mormon has 15 books, named for their authors, which are divided into chapter and verse much like the Bible. It is written from the perspective of prophets who handed the book down through the generations. The prose is Old English, much like the King James version of the Bible, and borrows at length from biblical authors such as Isaiah. In fact, the book of 2 Nephi contains large passages quoted verbatim from Isaiah ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/2_ne/11-24 2 Nephi 11-24],{{bible|Isaiah 7-14}}).

The Book of Mormon was first printed in 1830.

==Gold plates==

[[Joseph Smith]] claimed to have translated the book from a language he labeled as "reformed Egyptian." The book was written on gold plates, which Smith claimed to have received from an [[angel]]. Joseph described the plates thus: "...each plate was six inches wide and eight inches long and not quite so thick as common tin... The volume was something near six inches in thickness....”(Joseph Smith, Times and Seasons, v3:9, March 1, 1842, 707.) Smith told his followers and family that he was forbidden to show the plates to anyone, or they would be stricken dead.

{{Comment-box1|text=Scholars have pointed out that, if Smith's description were true, the gold plates would have weighed around 200 pounds. Yet, Smith claims that he "ran, with the plates tucked under his arm" through the woods, to his home.

Smith's wife, [[Emma Smith]], later recalled that she "occasionally lifted the plates, covered in cloth" to dust underneath.

Joseph Smith allowed others, including Martin Harris, to lift the box that the gold plates were supposedly in. Harris estimated the plates to weight 40 to 50 pounds (Brodie 1945).}}

Joseph probably got the idea for buried metal plates from a story that appeared in a Palmyra paper in 1821, describing the discovery of brass plates found in Canada (Brodie 1945).

==Moroni==

Joseph Smith claimed that he was shown the "golden tablets", during his second vision, after his first visitation from God and Christ. The angel, Moroni, appeared to him on the Smith farm in 1823 (although this date changes depending on the source), and revealed the location where the plates were buried. Moroni also instructed Joseph in the use of the [[Urim and Thummim]], seer stones which Smith used to translate the tablets. Moroni appeared to Smith three times that night, cautioning Joseph that he should not try to make any money off of the golden plates.

The next day, Joseph claimed to have found the golden plates buried on the hillside as Moroni had dictated. Each year, for four years, Joseph claims to have revisited the spot (where the plates were buried), only to be turned away by Moroni. Finally, in 1827, Joseph was allowed to unearth and take home the plates.

A translation of the gold plates began in 1829. He allegedly used the Urim and Thummim to translate them, but eyewitnesses also claimed that they saw Joseph place a seer stone (presumably the same one he used during his [[money-digging]] exploits) into a hat, cover his head with a cloth, and then dictate the translation to transcribers.

{{Comment-box1|text=If Smith was using the same seer stone to translate the plates that he previously admitted in court to having used for nefarious money-digging and scams, then God apparently approved of those activities. In fact, if God led Joseph to find the seer stone, then God is complicit in the bilking money from Smith's neighbors.}}

==Missing 116 pages==

After 116 pages of the Book of Mormon had been transcribed, Martin Harris asked Joseph if he might take copies of those pages to his wife, Lucy. Lucy was skeptical of Smith's claims about the gold plates and wanted to see the work for herself. Smith agreed to let Harris take the 116 pages home to Lucy. Upon receiving the pages, the pages supposedly disappeared. Mrs. Harris told her husband that, if Smith was genuinely translating, then he should be able to reproduce the pages.

{{Comment-box1|text=If Smith was actually translating these plates, there is no reason that he shouldn't have been able to reproduce those 116 pages. The fact that he took a few days and then claimed a revelation that God ()didn't want them retranslated indicates that he had been dictating from the top of his head. He would have been exposed as a fraud had the pages surfaced later and been shown to contradict the new pages. Good for Mrs. Harris for recognizing a con and trying to expose it, even if she did end up joining the Mormon ranks later on.}}

Harris returned to Smith with great trepidation and told him about the theft. Smith was furious. He spent two days in secluded prayer. When he emerged from prayer, he told Harris and Emma Smith, that an angel had appeared before him and told him not to re-write the missing 116 pages. The angel had instructed him to cease work on the "Book of Lehi" and instead write the "Book of Nephi". The Book of Nephi would be similar to the Book of Lehi, but since they were written from different points of view, there would be a few differences. Smith thus side-stepped being exposed as a fraud.

{{Comment-box1|text=Smith prayed three times, asking God to let him lend the manuscript to Martin Harris. Twice he was denied. The third time, God apparently changed his mind and told Joseph to let Harris have the pages. Then, when the pages disappeared, he condemned Joseph and Martin for doing what he gave them permission to do. Either God isn't omnipotent, and didn't forsee the theft of the pages, or he planned on them being stolen, and therefore apparently meant for that portion of the Book of Mormon never to be read.

It's likely that Smith felt pressured by Harris, who was financing the translation and supporting Smith and his wife. Harris was also under pressure from his wife and family (who probably assumed he was being swindled) to substantiate some of the claims that Smith was making. Smith was probably afraid of losing Harris' patronage, and was probably confident that he would be able to convince the rest of the Harris family, just as he had convinced his own. He miscalculated, and the revelation regarding the pages loss ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/10 D&C 10]) is a scramble to maintain his facade of divine guidance.}}

The first printing of the Book of Mormon in 1830 contained a preface written by Joseph Smith. This preface stated an explaination of the theft of teh 116 pages, and framed their loss as attempts by the devil to thwart God's plans to get the Book of Mormon published (Brodie 1945).

==Plagarism in the Book of Mormon==

It is likely that Joseph Smith got his ideas for the story of the Book of Mormon from several contemporary sources, including Ethan Smith's book: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/View_of_the_Hebrews ''View of the Hebrews'']. Ethan Smith's book speculated that Native Americans were descended from Hebrew settlers. The view was popular among scholars at the time (Brodie 1945). The book also compared copper breast plates found in New England burial mounds with the ephod (part of the ceremonial garb) of Hebrew high priests, including the Urim and Thumim. This may also be what spawned the breastplate and seer stones that constituted the Urim and Thumim which Joseph Smith sometimes used when "translating" the gold plates.

=References=
* Brodie, Fawn. ''No Man Knows My History''. New York, 1945. Vintage Books: New York, 1995. ISBN: 679-73054-0
*#Smith likely read and borrowed from Ethan Smith's ''View of the Hebrews''. The concept of Native Americans as descendents of the Hebrew people was common at the time, but was soon replaced with the theory of migration from east Asia (Ch 3, pp 46).
*#Martin Harris estimated the gold plates (which he did not see, but lifted the box that held them) to weigh 40 to 50 pounds (Ch 4, pp 50).
*#Martin Harris insisted on taking a copy of the "reformed Egyptian" characters from the plates to an expert (Ch 4, pp 50).
*#Joseph Smith added a preface about the missing 116 pages (Ch 4, pp 56).
*#Oliver Cowdry claimed that, during the translation of the plates, the plates wouldn't even be present. Joseph would just look into the Urim and Thummim and dictate, taking frequent breaks and walks down by the river to skip stones (Ch 4, pp 61).

[[Category:Religion]][[Category:Holy books]]

Book of Mormon

2010-03-24T21:43:39Z

Rabidwriter: /* Missing 116 pages */

Talk:Book of Mormon

2010-03-24T21:40:59Z

Rabidwriter: /* Gold Plates */

Page moved from the main [[Mormonism]] page. Edited and expanded. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:21, 17 March 2010 (CDT)

Added categories. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:52, 19 March 2010 (CDT)

Counter-apologetics moved into text boxes within sections. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 17:59, 19 March 2010 (CDT)

==Gold Plates==

Added counter-apologetics comment about the Seer stone. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 17:54, 19 March 2010 (CDT)

Added additional counter-apologetics with references. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:40, 24 March 2010 (CDT)

==Moroni==
==Missing 116 pages==
==Plagarism in the Book of Mormon==
Section added. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:56, 23 March 2010 (CDT)
=References=
Section added. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:43, 23 March 2010 (CDT)
=Counter-apologetics=
Section started. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:07, 18 March 2010 (CDT)

Section deleted after merging with other sections. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 17:59, 19 March 2010 (CDT)

=Things to be done=

Move the counter-apologetics into the individual sections in yellow text boxes. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:52, 19 March 2010 (CDT)

Book of Mormon

2010-03-24T21:40:05Z

Rabidwriter: /* References */

The '''Book of Mormon''' (abbreviated BoM) is, according to [[Mormons]], "another testament of Jesus Christ," written by the ancestors of the American Indians. The Book of Mormon claims that Native Americans are descended from [[Jews]], who escaped the destruction of Jerusalem and crossed the sea to populate North and South America. This tome is a saga that spans from approximately 600BC to 421AD.

The Book of Mormon has 15 books, named for their authors, which are divided into chapter and verse much like the Bible. It is written from the perspective of prophets who handed the book down through the generations. The prose is Old English, much like the King James version of the Bible, and borrows at length from biblical authors such as Isaiah. In fact, the book of 2 Nephi contains large passages quoted verbatim from Isaiah ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/2_ne/11-24 2 Nephi 11-24],{{bible|Isaiah 7-14}}).

The Book of Mormon was first printed in 1830.

==Gold plates==

[[Joseph Smith]] claimed to have translated the book from a language he labeled as "reformed Egyptian." The book was written on gold plates, which Smith claimed to have received from an [[angel]]. Joseph described the plates thus: "...each plate was six inches wide and eight inches long and not quite so thick as common tin... The volume was something near six inches in thickness....”(Joseph Smith, Times and Seasons, v3:9, March 1, 1842, 707.) Smith told his followers and family that he was forbidden to show the plates to anyone, or they would be stricken dead.

{{Comment-box1|text=Scholars have pointed out that, if Smith's description were true, the gold plates would have weighed around 200 pounds. Yet, Smith claims that he "ran, with the plates tucked under his arm" through the woods, to his home.

Smith's wife, [[Emma Smith]], later recalled that she "occasionally lifted the plates, covered in cloth" to dust underneath.

Joseph Smith allowed others, including Martin Harris, to lift the box that the gold plates were supposedly in. Harris estimated the plates to weight 40 to 50 pounds (Brodie 1945).}}

Joseph probably got the idea for buried metal plates from a story that appeared in a Palmyra paper in 1821, describing the discovery of brass plates found in Canada (Brodie 1945).

==Moroni==

Joseph Smith claimed that he was shown the "golden tablets", during his second vision, after his first visitation from God and Christ. The angel, Moroni, appeared to him on the Smith farm in 1823 (although this date changes depending on the source), and revealed the location where the plates were buried. Moroni also instructed Joseph in the use of the [[Urim and Thummim]], seer stones which Smith used to translate the tablets. Moroni appeared to Smith three times that night, cautioning Joseph that he should not try to make any money off of the golden plates.

The next day, Joseph claimed to have found the golden plates buried on the hillside as Moroni had dictated. Each year, for four years, Joseph claims to have revisited the spot (where the plates were buried), only to be turned away by Moroni. Finally, in 1827, Joseph was allowed to unearth and take home the plates.

A translation of the gold plates began in 1829. He allegedly used the Urim and Thummim to translate them, but eyewitnesses also claimed that they saw Joseph place a seer stone (presumably the same one he used during his [[money-digging]] exploits) into a hat, cover his head with a cloth, and then dictate the translation to transcribers.

{{Comment-box1|text=If Smith was using the same seer stone to translate the plates that he previously admitted in court to having used for nefarious money-digging and scams, then God apparently approved of those activities. In fact, if God led Joseph to find the seer stone, then God is complicit in the bilking money from Smith's neighbors.}}

==Missing 116 pages==

After 116 pages of the Book of Mormon had been transcribed, Martin Harris asked Joseph if he might take copies of those pages to his wife, Lucy. Lucy was skeptical of Smith's claims about the gold plates and wanted to see the work for herself. Smith agreed to let Harris take the 116 pages home to Lucy. Upon receiving the pages, the pages supposedly disappeared. Mrs. Harris told her husband that, if Smith was genuinely translating, then he should be able to reproduce the pages.

{{Comment-box1|text=If Smith was actually translating these plates, there is no reason that he shouldn't have been able to reproduce those 116 pages. The fact that he took a few days and then claimed a revelation that God ()didn't want them retranslated indicates that he had been dictating from the top of his head. He would have been exposed as a fraud had the pages surfaced later and been shown to contradict the new pages. Good for Mrs. Harris for recognizing a con and trying to expose it, even if she did end up joining the Mormon ranks later on.}}

Harris returned to Smith with great trepidation and told him about the theft. Smith was furious. He spent two days in secluded prayer. When he emerged from prayer, he told Harris and Emma Smith, that an angel had appeared before him and told him not to re-write the missing 116 pages. The angel had instructed him to cease work on the "Book of Lehi" and instead write the "Book of Nephi". The Book of Nephi would be similar to the Book of Lehi, but since they were written from different points of view, there would be a few differences. Smith thus side-stepped being exposed as a fraud.

{{Comment-box1|text=Smith prayed three times, asking God to let him lend the manuscript to Martin Harris. Twice he was denied. The third time, God apparently changed his mind and told Joseph to let Harris have the pages. Then, when the pages disappeared, he condemned Joseph and Martin for doing what he gave them permission to do. Either God isn't omnipotent, and didn't forsee the theft of the pages, or he planned on them being stolen, and therefore apparently meant for that portion of the Book of Mormon never to be read.

It's likely that Smith felt pressured by Harris, who was financing the translation and supporting Smith and his wife. Harris was also under pressure from his wife and family (who probably assumed he was being swindled) to substantiate some of the claims that Smith was making. Smith was probably afraid of losing Harris' patronage, and was probably confident that he would be able to convince the rest of the Harris family, just as he had convinced his own. He miscalculated, and the revelation regarding the pages loss ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/10 D&C 10]) is a scramble to maintain his facade of divine guidance.}}

==Plagarism in the Book of Mormon==

It is likely that Joseph Smith got his ideas for the story of the Book of Mormon from several contemporary sources, including Ethan Smith's book: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/View_of_the_Hebrews ''View of the Hebrews'']. Ethan Smith's book speculated that Native Americans were descended from Hebrew settlers. The view was popular among scholars at the time (Brodie 1945). The book also compared copper breast plates found in New England burial mounds with the ephod (part of the ceremonial garb) of Hebrew high priests, including the Urim and Thumim. This may also be what spawned the breastplate and seer stones that constituted the Urim and Thumim which Joseph Smith sometimes used when "translating" the gold plates.

=References=
* Brodie, Fawn. ''No Man Knows My History''. New York, 1945. Vintage Books: New York, 1995. ISBN: 679-73054-0
*#Smith likely read and borrowed from Ethan Smith's ''View of the Hebrews''. The concept of Native Americans as descendents of the Hebrew people was common at the time, but was soon replaced with the theory of migration from east Asia (Ch 3, pp 46).
*#Martin Harris estimated the gold plates (which he did not see, but lifted the box that held them) to weigh 40 to 50 pounds (Ch 4, pp 50).
*#Martin Harris insisted on taking a copy of the "reformed Egyptian" characters from the plates to an expert (Ch 4, pp 50).

[[Category:Religion]][[Category:Holy books]]

Book of Mormon

2010-03-24T21:36:31Z

Rabidwriter: /* Gold plates */

The '''Book of Mormon''' (abbreviated BoM) is, according to [[Mormons]], "another testament of Jesus Christ," written by the ancestors of the American Indians. The Book of Mormon claims that Native Americans are descended from [[Jews]], who escaped the destruction of Jerusalem and crossed the sea to populate North and South America. This tome is a saga that spans from approximately 600BC to 421AD.

The Book of Mormon has 15 books, named for their authors, which are divided into chapter and verse much like the Bible. It is written from the perspective of prophets who handed the book down through the generations. The prose is Old English, much like the King James version of the Bible, and borrows at length from biblical authors such as Isaiah. In fact, the book of 2 Nephi contains large passages quoted verbatim from Isaiah ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/2_ne/11-24 2 Nephi 11-24],{{bible|Isaiah 7-14}}).

The Book of Mormon was first printed in 1830.

==Gold plates==

[[Joseph Smith]] claimed to have translated the book from a language he labeled as "reformed Egyptian." The book was written on gold plates, which Smith claimed to have received from an [[angel]]. Joseph described the plates thus: "...each plate was six inches wide and eight inches long and not quite so thick as common tin... The volume was something near six inches in thickness....”(Joseph Smith, Times and Seasons, v3:9, March 1, 1842, 707.) Smith told his followers and family that he was forbidden to show the plates to anyone, or they would be stricken dead.

{{Comment-box1|text=Scholars have pointed out that, if Smith's description were true, the gold plates would have weighed around 200 pounds. Yet, Smith claims that he "ran, with the plates tucked under his arm" through the woods, to his home.

Smith's wife, [[Emma Smith]], later recalled that she "occasionally lifted the plates, covered in cloth" to dust underneath.

Joseph Smith allowed others, including Martin Harris, to lift the box that the gold plates were supposedly in. Harris estimated the plates to weight 40 to 50 pounds (Brodie 1945).}}

Joseph probably got the idea for buried metal plates from a story that appeared in a Palmyra paper in 1821, describing the discovery of brass plates found in Canada (Brodie 1945).

==Moroni==

Joseph Smith claimed that he was shown the "golden tablets", during his second vision, after his first visitation from God and Christ. The angel, Moroni, appeared to him on the Smith farm in 1823 (although this date changes depending on the source), and revealed the location where the plates were buried. Moroni also instructed Joseph in the use of the [[Urim and Thummim]], seer stones which Smith used to translate the tablets. Moroni appeared to Smith three times that night, cautioning Joseph that he should not try to make any money off of the golden plates.

The next day, Joseph claimed to have found the golden plates buried on the hillside as Moroni had dictated. Each year, for four years, Joseph claims to have revisited the spot (where the plates were buried), only to be turned away by Moroni. Finally, in 1827, Joseph was allowed to unearth and take home the plates.

A translation of the gold plates began in 1829. He allegedly used the Urim and Thummim to translate them, but eyewitnesses also claimed that they saw Joseph place a seer stone (presumably the same one he used during his [[money-digging]] exploits) into a hat, cover his head with a cloth, and then dictate the translation to transcribers.

{{Comment-box1|text=If Smith was using the same seer stone to translate the plates that he previously admitted in court to having used for nefarious money-digging and scams, then God apparently approved of those activities. In fact, if God led Joseph to find the seer stone, then God is complicit in the bilking money from Smith's neighbors.}}

==Missing 116 pages==

After 116 pages of the Book of Mormon had been transcribed, Martin Harris asked Joseph if he might take copies of those pages to his wife, Lucy. Lucy was skeptical of Smith's claims about the gold plates and wanted to see the work for herself. Smith agreed to let Harris take the 116 pages home to Lucy. Upon receiving the pages, the pages supposedly disappeared. Mrs. Harris told her husband that, if Smith was genuinely translating, then he should be able to reproduce the pages.

{{Comment-box1|text=If Smith was actually translating these plates, there is no reason that he shouldn't have been able to reproduce those 116 pages. The fact that he took a few days and then claimed a revelation that God ()didn't want them retranslated indicates that he had been dictating from the top of his head. He would have been exposed as a fraud had the pages surfaced later and been shown to contradict the new pages. Good for Mrs. Harris for recognizing a con and trying to expose it, even if she did end up joining the Mormon ranks later on.}}

Harris returned to Smith with great trepidation and told him about the theft. Smith was furious. He spent two days in secluded prayer. When he emerged from prayer, he told Harris and Emma Smith, that an angel had appeared before him and told him not to re-write the missing 116 pages. The angel had instructed him to cease work on the "Book of Lehi" and instead write the "Book of Nephi". The Book of Nephi would be similar to the Book of Lehi, but since they were written from different points of view, there would be a few differences. Smith thus side-stepped being exposed as a fraud.

{{Comment-box1|text=Smith prayed three times, asking God to let him lend the manuscript to Martin Harris. Twice he was denied. The third time, God apparently changed his mind and told Joseph to let Harris have the pages. Then, when the pages disappeared, he condemned Joseph and Martin for doing what he gave them permission to do. Either God isn't omnipotent, and didn't forsee the theft of the pages, or he planned on them being stolen, and therefore apparently meant for that portion of the Book of Mormon never to be read.

It's likely that Smith felt pressured by Harris, who was financing the translation and supporting Smith and his wife. Harris was also under pressure from his wife and family (who probably assumed he was being swindled) to substantiate some of the claims that Smith was making. Smith was probably afraid of losing Harris' patronage, and was probably confident that he would be able to convince the rest of the Harris family, just as he had convinced his own. He miscalculated, and the revelation regarding the pages loss ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/10 D&C 10]) is a scramble to maintain his facade of divine guidance.}}

==Plagarism in the Book of Mormon==

It is likely that Joseph Smith got his ideas for the story of the Book of Mormon from several contemporary sources, including Ethan Smith's book: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/View_of_the_Hebrews ''View of the Hebrews'']. Ethan Smith's book speculated that Native Americans were descended from Hebrew settlers. The view was popular among scholars at the time (Brodie 1945). The book also compared copper breast plates found in New England burial mounds with the ephod (part of the ceremonial garb) of Hebrew high priests, including the Urim and Thumim. This may also be what spawned the breastplate and seer stones that constituted the Urim and Thumim which Joseph Smith sometimes used when "translating" the gold plates.

=References=
* Brodie, Fawn. ''No Man Knows My History''. New York, 1945. Vintage Books: New York, 1995. ISBN: 679-73054-0
*#Smith likely read and borrowed from Ethan Smith's ''View of the Hebrews''. The concept of Native Americans as descendents of the Hebrew people was common at the time, but was soon replaced with the theory of migration from east Asia (Ch 3, pp 46).

[[Category:Religion]][[Category:Holy books]]

Talk:Mormonism

2010-03-24T21:31:06Z

Rabidwriter: /* Eternal progression */

Definition and summary expanded.--[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 17:45, 12 March 2010 (CST)
Link to main Wikipedia article added. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:59, 16 March 2010 (CDT)

Counter-apologetics moved into comment boxes. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 17:47, 19 March 2010 (CDT)
==Church History==
===Great Migration to Salt Lake City===

Moved under Church History--[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 17:19, 12 March 2010 (CST)

Initial paragraph added. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 14:46, 16 March 2010 (CDT)

==Prophets==
===Joseph Smith===

May I suggest that Joseph Smith's bio be moved to a page dedicated to him? I'm feeling too lazy to work out the restructuring myself right now...

--[[User:Kazim|Kazim]] 14:49, 3 August 2006 (MST)

Major edits. Section mainly rewritten. Much of this section belongs in the Joseph Smith page. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 14:29, 16 March 2010 (CDT)

===Brigham Young===

==Holy Books==

Separated from Church doctrine section. Bold titles, such as '''Book of Mormon''', changed to subheadings.--[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 17:07, 12 March 2010 (CST)

Section intro edited. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:41, 17 March 2010 (CDT)

===Book of Mormon===

Link added: [[Book of Mormon]]--[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 17:37, 12 March 2010 (CST)

Separate [[Book of Mormon]] main page started. Bulk of the section moved there and expanded. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:30, 17 March 2010 (CDT)

===Doctrine and Covenants===

Link added: [[Doctrine and Covenants]]--[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 17:37, 12 March 2010 (CST)

===Pearl of Great Price===

Link added [[Pearl of Great Price]]--[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 17:37, 12 March 2010 (CST)

The bulk of this section was moved to the main page for Pearl of Great Price. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:58, 17 March 2010 (CDT)

===Counter-apologetics===

Section added. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 13:53, 16 March 2010 (CDT)

Changing doctrines argument added. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:44, 17 March 2010 (CDT)

==Other official Mormon publications==
===Journal of Discourses===

===Holy Bible: Joseph Smith translation===
Section added.--[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 17:00, 16 March 2010 (CDT)

==Church doctrine==

Separated from Holy Books section. The following sections have been grouped under this heading: Mormon world view, Polygamy, Temples and ceremonies, Womens roles in Mormonism, Adam-God doctrine, Eternal progression and Family forever (renamed Eternal Families).--[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 17:19, 12 March 2010 (CST)

===The Mormon godhead===
Section added. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 15:36, 22 March 2010 (CDT)

===Mormon world view===

Deleted previous sections, and created a summary. Most of what was there is covered in Eternal progression and will be covered in Polygamy. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:01, 15 March 2010 (CDT)

===Polygamy===
===Temples and ceremonies===

Section added. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:06, 15 March 2010 (CDT)

=== The Priesthood ===

Section added. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:49, 11 March 2010 (CST)

===Women's roles in Mormonism===

Section added. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 17:11, 11 March 2010 (CST)

===Eternal progression===

Section added. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:49, 11 March 2010 (CST)

Counter-apologetics added, including links. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 15:34, 15 March 2010 (CDT)

Paragraph added about the [[Euthyphro dilema]]. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 13:51, 16 March 2010 (CDT)

Counter-apologetics moved into comment boxes. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:31, 24 March 2010 (CDT)

===Eternal families===

Section added. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:49, 11 March 2010 (CST)

==Things to be done...==

Information! Information! Information! And some formatting!

--[[User:Gunther01|Gunther01]] 04:20, 3 August 2006 (MST)

Reduce the Holy Books section, moving most of it to specific individual pages for the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, Journal of Discourses. Counter-apologetics can then be added with references to individual passages on those passages, with the main ideas being part of the main Mormonism page in a smaller Holy Books section. Other official Mormon publications, such as Ensign magazine can also be mentioned.

--[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:21, 11 March 2010 (CST)

Church Doctrine should be a separate section from the Holy Books section. The following sections should be subsections of Church Doctrine: Mormon World View, Temples and Ceremonies, The Priesthood, Women's roles in Mormonism, Adam-God doctrine, Eternal progression and Family forever. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 17:16, 11 March 2010 (CST)

The Church doctrine sections could easily fill individual pages on their own. I plan on systematically creating the individual pages, dissecting them from an counter-apologetics and moving a bulk of the deep explanations away from the main page.--[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 14:52, 18 March 2010 (CDT)

== Noted ==

Read the two comments:
Kazim, I'm not sure how to move pages around and do formatting. But, please, anyone who DOES know how is entirely welcome to do so.

I'm working on getting the information completed. Sorry it's taking so long. I'm also trying to figure out how to embed pictures.
----
I moved all of the content from the Joseph Smith section to its own page and shortened the entry on this page. The new page will need to be formatted a bit, to maintain consistency with other bios. [[User:Sans Deity|Sans Deity]] 15:23, 19 August 2006 (MST)

Mormonism

2010-03-24T21:30:22Z

Rabidwriter: /* Eternal progression */

{{wikipedia|Mormonism}}
'''Mormonism''', is a religious movement founded by [[Joseph Smith]] in the early 1800's. The official name of the church today is '''The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints''', sometimes shortened to '''LDS''' to refer to both the church or its members. Mormonism is one of the few young religions, based on [[Christianity]], along with [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] and [[Scientology]], to have survived with any significant membership.

==Church History==

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (known commonly as the Mormon church) was orginized on April 6th, 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr. and several of his followers in Palmyra, New York. Joseph proclaimed himself as a prophet, receiving visions and other revelations from [[God]], [[angels]], biblical figures and even claimed to encounter the [[Devil]]. Furthermore, Joseph Smith proclaimed that God and [[Jesus]] (although this version of the revelation would be changed many times) told him that he had been chosen by God to restore God's "true church" on this earth. This first revelation is usually set in the Spring of 1820, though the initial versions were not written down until 1828 at the earliest.

Church members are known as Mormons, or amoung themselves the saints. The Mormon Church is officially known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Church headquarters are located in Salt Lake City, Utah.

(need to add more detail and expound)

===Great Migration to Salt Lake City===

Following the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Joseph_Smith,_Jr. death of Joseph Smith], the Mormons moved westwared and eventually settled in the Salt Lake Valley in what would eventually become the Utah Territory and then the State of Utah. In the decades following, converts to Mormonism migrated to Utah, which is still largely dominated politically by the religion.

==Prophets==

===Joseph Smith===
[[Joseph Smith]] Jr. was born in Sharon, Vermont, to Lucy Mack and Joseph Smith, on December 23, 1805. Smith grew up on a series of tenant farms in Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York. Smith's education consisted of a very limited exposure to the reading, writing, and arithmetic. It is known however that his Father Joseph Sr. was a school teacher.

In 1823, Joseph Smith said he was visited by an angel named Moroni, who told him of an ancient record containing God's dealings with the former inhabitants of the American continent. These writings served as the foundation of the Mormon religion, with Joseph Smith as prophet.

====Counter-apologetics====

{{Comment-box1|text=Because of their living prophets, Mormons' doctrine has changed over time, including temple ceremonies and the church's policy of denying the priesthood to racial minorities. Most Mormons are unaware of these significant changes.
}}

===Brigham Young===

[[Brigham Young]] became the second prophet, or president, of the Mormon church after Joseph Smith was killed in 1844. He led the great migration from Illinois to the Salt Lake Valley.

==Holy Books==
Mormons do not rely solely upon the Bible as a basis for their beliefs. According to Mormonism's Articles of Faith (see [[Articles of Faith (Mormonism)]]), Mormons "believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly" (Articles of Faith, 8). In fact, Joseph Smith did hazard a retranslation of the Bible. Because Mormons believe in a living prophet and continuing revelation, other official church publications are considered to be part of church doctrine.

===Book of Mormon===
Initially printed in 1830, the [[Book of Mormon]] is the primary holy book of Mormonism, though much of the church's structure and rituals are derived from the Doctrine and Covenants, which were written later. The book is similar in style and content to the Bible, but describes God's dealings with the inhabitants of the Americas, the ancestors of Native Americans. It includes the description of Christ's visit to these people after his death and resurrection, as well as the source of the "dark skin" which they received as a curse.

A foreword to the Book of Mormon contains the promise that readers may pray to God for a confirmation of it's authenticity. This promise is used extensively by Mormons (especially missionaries) in proselytizing.

===Doctrine and Covenants===

The [[Doctrine and Covenants]] is a collection of "revelations" that Joseph recieved from Jesus Christ. It contains amoung other things instructions for how the church should be run. It was originally called the "Book of Commandments"

A key section is D&C 132 which gives the requirements for Polygamy. Specificly versus 61-65.

===Pearl of Great Price===
The [[Pearl of Great Price]] is a collection of books, including the Articles of Faith, supposed translations from Egyptian papyri and the official Joseph Smith History. These books include some of the most exotic Mormon doctrines, including the plurality of gods, the potential for humans to become gods and a different portrayal of the creation story from the Old Testament book of [[Genesis]].

===Counter-apologetics===

{{Comment-box1|text=Because Mormons have many more writings, there exist more opportunities to find contradictions. Also, their world-view provides much less wiggle room for Mormon apologists. The nature of God and the way the universe works, as described in Mormon scripture, is so much more detailed that Mormons have a much harder time dealing with arguments like the [[problem of evil]], or retreating into an ill-defined [[deism]], without violating their own doctrines.}}

==Other official Mormon publications==

====Journal of Discourses====

The [[Journal of Discourses]] (often abbreviated J.D.) is a 26-volume collection of public sermons by early leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The first editions of the Journal were published in England by George D. Watt, the stenographer of Brigham Young. Publication began in 1854, with the endorsement of the church's First Presidency, and ended in 1886. The Journal is one of the richest sources of early Mormon theology and thinking. It includes 1,438 sermons given by 55 church leaders, including most numerously Brigham Young, John Taylor, Orson Pratt, Heber C. Kimball, and George Q. Cannon.

While the J.D. is not considered scripture by the modern church it is still important to it's history.

====Holy Bible: Joseph Smith Translation====

Joseph Smith also performed a "re-translation" of the King James version of the Holy Bible. Mormon's include these translations as footnotes in their versions of the Bible. In his translation, Smith attempts to clarify contradictory passages to fit more precisely with the Book of Mormon and his other writings.

==Church Doctrine==

===The Mormon godhead===

Mormons reject the concept of the [[Trinity]], and thus believe that God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost are three distinct beings. God and Christ both have resurrected bodies of "flesh and bone" ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/130/22#22 D&C 130:22]), but not blood. The Holy Ghost is made of "spirit" ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/130/22#22 D&C 130:22]). Christ, the Holy Ghost and all human souls are considered the literal "spiritual offspring" of God, the Father.

{{Comment-box1|text=Because God and Christ are corporeal, it is impossible for Mormons to claim to be deists. Mormons cannot argue that their claims relate to a supernatural realm, because they believe that "There is no such thing as immaterial matter" (D&C 130:22). Claims made by Mormons are therefore subject to scientific inquiry and falsification.}}

===Mormon world view===

Mormons believe that human beings have the potential, if they follow God's plan, to become gods themselves([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/132/20#20 D&C 132:20]). In the Mormon world view, the purpose of the existence of this world is as a training ground for new gods. According to that view, human souls or intelligences existed in heaven, with God, before birth. Receiving a physical body, and eventually a perfected body after the final [[resurrection]], is part of becoming like God the Father and Jesus Christ, who both have bodies of "flesh and bones" ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/130/22#22 D&C 130:22])

===Polygamy===
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the largest church devoted to the Latter-Day Saint movement, openly endorsed and encouraged polygamous relationships for nearly the first century of its existence. Early church leaders such as Brigham Young and Joseph Smith, Jr. had as many as 50 wives, and preached that it was the only way to enter heaven. As the Utah Territory, settled by Mormon pioneers, fought the government of the United States for recognition as a state, the Church came under criticism for its practice of polygamy. In 1890, Church president Wilford Woodruff issued a manifesto that renounced the practice, as a condition of Utah's statehood.

Today, practice of polygamy can lead to disfellowship ([[excommunication]]) from the LDS church, and the church claims it works with the government to stop those who practice polygamy. Nevertheless, many Latter-Day Saint sects, collectively known as ''fundamentalist Mormons'', continue the practice of polygamy. The largest of these groups is the [[Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]] (FLDS Church), which is based in Texas and has approximately 10,000 members across North America.

===Temples and ceremonies===

As of 2010, the Mormon church had built 160 temples, with 22 more announced or under construction ([http://www.lds.org/temples/chronological/0,11206,1900-1,00.html LDS.org]). Mormon temples are the setting for many of the church's secretive rituals, including marriages, sealings and the mysterious [[Endownment]] ceremonies. Mormons also perform all these ceremonies, by proxy, for their ancestors who died before Mormonism came into being. Temples are also the setting for [[baptism for the dead]].

The church claims that ceremonies for the dead are limited to people for whom Mormons have discovered as ancestors through the church's extensive geneology program. But the church has been criticized in the past for posthumously baptizing people outside of their members' family trees, including many of the Founding Fathers and Jews who perished in the Holocaust.

Only Mormons, who have been screened by local priesthood leaders for a "temple recommend," may enter the temple to perform ceremonies.

===The Priesthood===
The two priesthoods that the Mormons claim are the [[Aaronic priesthood]] and the [[Melchizedek priesthood]], referred to collectively as simply the Priesthood. Both of these priesthoods are constituted by various offices and priviledges, called keys, that constitute the Mormon leadership heirarchy. The priesthood is passed, by the laying on of hands, from one priesthood holder higher up on the heirarchy.

Mormons believe that these priesthoods are the only authentic priesthoods on Earth, and that all other churches claiming divine authority from God are without authority. Mormons believe that Peter, one of Jesus's original apostles, was given the priesthood keys. But they believe that the chain of heirarchy was broken and that the [[Catholic]] church is bereft of any authority. God supposedly restored these priesthoods to the earth through Joseph Smith.

All the rituals of the Mormon church are conducted by authorized priesthood holders, including baptisms, temple weddings (known as sealings), and general-purpose blessings.

===Women's roles in Mormonism===

Mormon society, like most of Christianity, is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarchy patriarchy]. Women are subordinate to men in the organization of the church and family structures. Women are prohibited from holding either of the church's two priesthoods, and thus are prohibited from holding priesthood based callings or leadership positions within the church. Women do hold leadership positions in the church's women's organizations, such as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relief_Society Relief Society].

During the Mormon church's bi-annual broadcasts, known as general conference, the majority of the speakers are the male leaders of the church.

As children, girls and boys are separated by gender into separate Sunday school classes. They also share co-ed classes and meetings as part of the regular three hour block of Sunday meetings.

Church leaders repeatedly recommend that women, when possible, should stay at home and rear children rather than pursue professional carreers.

===Adam-God doctrine===

Brigham Young (who was the 2nd prophet of the LDS church) taught that Adam and God where in fact the same being. He taught that God came with one of his many wives to the Garden of Eden, and he was Adam. - Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, p. 50

===Eternal progression===

Eternal progression refers to as the continual development of the soul. Mormons consider each human soul to be the spiritual offspring of God, the Father. All humans who have lived, or will live on Earth, are considered to have been spiritually conceived, as spirit children, by God and one or more of his presumed wives. Jehovah is considered the firstborn spirit child of God. Satan and his followers are also spirit children. Mormons also believe that there are other habitable planets (such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolob Kolob]) in the universe, also inhabited by God's children, though Christ lived, died and was resurrected only on this planet. Thus, Mormons believe that Jesus died for the sins of all human mortals, on all planets in the universe. Presumably, there would be other gods' children in the universe, all with their own saviours, going through the same cycle of eternal progression. Whether Mormons consider these humans, belonging to other gods, to be in a separate universe of ours is the matter of some debate.

All spirit children have the potential, through eternal progression, to become gods in their own right, provided they follow God's plan. God himself is considered by Mormons to have once been a spirit child of yet other gods, an also passed through a mortal life, gaining a physical body and following his own eternal progression to his current state of godhood. Gods are thought to be eternally progressing, even though they are considered perfect, through the maturation of their spiritual progeny.

{{Comment-box1|text=The concept of Eternal progression, and of humans as gods in the making, runs into the [[infinite regress]] of [[Who created God?]].}}

The cycle of spiritual death, physical death and redemption from both through a messianic sacrifice is continual according to this model. The goals of the cycle for each individual include: baptism by immersion, receving the [[gift of the Holy Ghost]], achieving the highest levels of the Mormon priesthood and the various Mormon temple rites. Those who follow God's plan will eventually live with God and Christ in the Celestial kingdom. Those who do not follow that plan will receive lesser [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degrees_of_glory degrees of glory] and live in either the Terrestrial kingdom, Telestial kingdom or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_darkness#Usage_in_The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints Outer darkness].

{{Comment-box1|text=According to this view -- gods as fully matured human beings -- God is following his plan and issuing his commandments according to the conditions required to nurture his human children into gods. This means that Mormons believe that the "good" is good, not becuase God declares it so, but because he is operating according to a set of requirements or rules not of his making (see the [[Euthyphro dilemma]]). This makes it harder for Mormons to explain away immoral actions taken by their god, including murdering millions in the [[Flood]].}}

===Eternal families===

Mormons believe that marital and familial bonds can continue beyond death if those family members are sealed in a Mormon temple by a priesthood holder designated as a sealer. Sealed families will remain families in the afterlife, and will be together if they all go to the same kingdom. Deceased family members may also be sealed, provide they have been baptised posthumously, by proxy.

{{Comment-box1|text=The doctrine of eternal families is problematic, as the Mormon church does grant petitions to divorced couples to have their sealings annulled. Also, only those who have been baptised into the Mormon church and are vetted through an interview process may enter a temple to perform temple rituals. So Mormons, who's spouses are not baptized, may not be sealed to their children.}}

{{Christianity}}

[[Category: Religions]]
[[Category: Religious doctrine]]

Mormonism

2010-03-24T21:27:03Z

Rabidwriter: /* Journal of Discourses */

{{wikipedia|Mormonism}}
'''Mormonism''', is a religious movement founded by [[Joseph Smith]] in the early 1800's. The official name of the church today is '''The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints''', sometimes shortened to '''LDS''' to refer to both the church or its members. Mormonism is one of the few young religions, based on [[Christianity]], along with [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] and [[Scientology]], to have survived with any significant membership.

==Church History==

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (known commonly as the Mormon church) was orginized on April 6th, 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr. and several of his followers in Palmyra, New York. Joseph proclaimed himself as a prophet, receiving visions and other revelations from [[God]], [[angels]], biblical figures and even claimed to encounter the [[Devil]]. Furthermore, Joseph Smith proclaimed that God and [[Jesus]] (although this version of the revelation would be changed many times) told him that he had been chosen by God to restore God's "true church" on this earth. This first revelation is usually set in the Spring of 1820, though the initial versions were not written down until 1828 at the earliest.

Church members are known as Mormons, or amoung themselves the saints. The Mormon Church is officially known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Church headquarters are located in Salt Lake City, Utah.

(need to add more detail and expound)

===Great Migration to Salt Lake City===

Following the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Joseph_Smith,_Jr. death of Joseph Smith], the Mormons moved westwared and eventually settled in the Salt Lake Valley in what would eventually become the Utah Territory and then the State of Utah. In the decades following, converts to Mormonism migrated to Utah, which is still largely dominated politically by the religion.

==Prophets==

===Joseph Smith===
[[Joseph Smith]] Jr. was born in Sharon, Vermont, to Lucy Mack and Joseph Smith, on December 23, 1805. Smith grew up on a series of tenant farms in Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York. Smith's education consisted of a very limited exposure to the reading, writing, and arithmetic. It is known however that his Father Joseph Sr. was a school teacher.

In 1823, Joseph Smith said he was visited by an angel named Moroni, who told him of an ancient record containing God's dealings with the former inhabitants of the American continent. These writings served as the foundation of the Mormon religion, with Joseph Smith as prophet.

====Counter-apologetics====

{{Comment-box1|text=Because of their living prophets, Mormons' doctrine has changed over time, including temple ceremonies and the church's policy of denying the priesthood to racial minorities. Most Mormons are unaware of these significant changes.
}}

===Brigham Young===

[[Brigham Young]] became the second prophet, or president, of the Mormon church after Joseph Smith was killed in 1844. He led the great migration from Illinois to the Salt Lake Valley.

==Holy Books==
Mormons do not rely solely upon the Bible as a basis for their beliefs. According to Mormonism's Articles of Faith (see [[Articles of Faith (Mormonism)]]), Mormons "believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly" (Articles of Faith, 8). In fact, Joseph Smith did hazard a retranslation of the Bible. Because Mormons believe in a living prophet and continuing revelation, other official church publications are considered to be part of church doctrine.

===Book of Mormon===
Initially printed in 1830, the [[Book of Mormon]] is the primary holy book of Mormonism, though much of the church's structure and rituals are derived from the Doctrine and Covenants, which were written later. The book is similar in style and content to the Bible, but describes God's dealings with the inhabitants of the Americas, the ancestors of Native Americans. It includes the description of Christ's visit to these people after his death and resurrection, as well as the source of the "dark skin" which they received as a curse.

A foreword to the Book of Mormon contains the promise that readers may pray to God for a confirmation of it's authenticity. This promise is used extensively by Mormons (especially missionaries) in proselytizing.

===Doctrine and Covenants===

The [[Doctrine and Covenants]] is a collection of "revelations" that Joseph recieved from Jesus Christ. It contains amoung other things instructions for how the church should be run. It was originally called the "Book of Commandments"

A key section is D&C 132 which gives the requirements for Polygamy. Specificly versus 61-65.

===Pearl of Great Price===
The [[Pearl of Great Price]] is a collection of books, including the Articles of Faith, supposed translations from Egyptian papyri and the official Joseph Smith History. These books include some of the most exotic Mormon doctrines, including the plurality of gods, the potential for humans to become gods and a different portrayal of the creation story from the Old Testament book of [[Genesis]].

===Counter-apologetics===

{{Comment-box1|text=Because Mormons have many more writings, there exist more opportunities to find contradictions. Also, their world-view provides much less wiggle room for Mormon apologists. The nature of God and the way the universe works, as described in Mormon scripture, is so much more detailed that Mormons have a much harder time dealing with arguments like the [[problem of evil]], or retreating into an ill-defined [[deism]], without violating their own doctrines.}}

==Other official Mormon publications==

====Journal of Discourses====

The [[Journal of Discourses]] (often abbreviated J.D.) is a 26-volume collection of public sermons by early leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The first editions of the Journal were published in England by George D. Watt, the stenographer of Brigham Young. Publication began in 1854, with the endorsement of the church's First Presidency, and ended in 1886. The Journal is one of the richest sources of early Mormon theology and thinking. It includes 1,438 sermons given by 55 church leaders, including most numerously Brigham Young, John Taylor, Orson Pratt, Heber C. Kimball, and George Q. Cannon.

While the J.D. is not considered scripture by the modern church it is still important to it's history.

====Holy Bible: Joseph Smith Translation====

Joseph Smith also performed a "re-translation" of the King James version of the Holy Bible. Mormon's include these translations as footnotes in their versions of the Bible. In his translation, Smith attempts to clarify contradictory passages to fit more precisely with the Book of Mormon and his other writings.

==Church Doctrine==

===The Mormon godhead===

Mormons reject the concept of the [[Trinity]], and thus believe that God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost are three distinct beings. God and Christ both have resurrected bodies of "flesh and bone" ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/130/22#22 D&C 130:22]), but not blood. The Holy Ghost is made of "spirit" ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/130/22#22 D&C 130:22]). Christ, the Holy Ghost and all human souls are considered the literal "spiritual offspring" of God, the Father.

{{Comment-box1|text=Because God and Christ are corporeal, it is impossible for Mormons to claim to be deists. Mormons cannot argue that their claims relate to a supernatural realm, because they believe that "There is no such thing as immaterial matter" (D&C 130:22). Claims made by Mormons are therefore subject to scientific inquiry and falsification.}}

===Mormon world view===

Mormons believe that human beings have the potential, if they follow God's plan, to become gods themselves([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/132/20#20 D&C 132:20]). In the Mormon world view, the purpose of the existence of this world is as a training ground for new gods. According to that view, human souls or intelligences existed in heaven, with God, before birth. Receiving a physical body, and eventually a perfected body after the final [[resurrection]], is part of becoming like God the Father and Jesus Christ, who both have bodies of "flesh and bones" ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/130/22#22 D&C 130:22])

===Polygamy===
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the largest church devoted to the Latter-Day Saint movement, openly endorsed and encouraged polygamous relationships for nearly the first century of its existence. Early church leaders such as Brigham Young and Joseph Smith, Jr. had as many as 50 wives, and preached that it was the only way to enter heaven. As the Utah Territory, settled by Mormon pioneers, fought the government of the United States for recognition as a state, the Church came under criticism for its practice of polygamy. In 1890, Church president Wilford Woodruff issued a manifesto that renounced the practice, as a condition of Utah's statehood.

Today, practice of polygamy can lead to disfellowship ([[excommunication]]) from the LDS church, and the church claims it works with the government to stop those who practice polygamy. Nevertheless, many Latter-Day Saint sects, collectively known as ''fundamentalist Mormons'', continue the practice of polygamy. The largest of these groups is the [[Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]] (FLDS Church), which is based in Texas and has approximately 10,000 members across North America.

===Temples and ceremonies===

As of 2010, the Mormon church had built 160 temples, with 22 more announced or under construction ([http://www.lds.org/temples/chronological/0,11206,1900-1,00.html LDS.org]). Mormon temples are the setting for many of the church's secretive rituals, including marriages, sealings and the mysterious [[Endownment]] ceremonies. Mormons also perform all these ceremonies, by proxy, for their ancestors who died before Mormonism came into being. Temples are also the setting for [[baptism for the dead]].

The church claims that ceremonies for the dead are limited to people for whom Mormons have discovered as ancestors through the church's extensive geneology program. But the church has been criticized in the past for posthumously baptizing people outside of their members' family trees, including many of the Founding Fathers and Jews who perished in the Holocaust.

Only Mormons, who have been screened by local priesthood leaders for a "temple recommend," may enter the temple to perform ceremonies.

===The Priesthood===
The two priesthoods that the Mormons claim are the [[Aaronic priesthood]] and the [[Melchizedek priesthood]], referred to collectively as simply the Priesthood. Both of these priesthoods are constituted by various offices and priviledges, called keys, that constitute the Mormon leadership heirarchy. The priesthood is passed, by the laying on of hands, from one priesthood holder higher up on the heirarchy.

Mormons believe that these priesthoods are the only authentic priesthoods on Earth, and that all other churches claiming divine authority from God are without authority. Mormons believe that Peter, one of Jesus's original apostles, was given the priesthood keys. But they believe that the chain of heirarchy was broken and that the [[Catholic]] church is bereft of any authority. God supposedly restored these priesthoods to the earth through Joseph Smith.

All the rituals of the Mormon church are conducted by authorized priesthood holders, including baptisms, temple weddings (known as sealings), and general-purpose blessings.

===Women's roles in Mormonism===

Mormon society, like most of Christianity, is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarchy patriarchy]. Women are subordinate to men in the organization of the church and family structures. Women are prohibited from holding either of the church's two priesthoods, and thus are prohibited from holding priesthood based callings or leadership positions within the church. Women do hold leadership positions in the church's women's organizations, such as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relief_Society Relief Society].

During the Mormon church's bi-annual broadcasts, known as general conference, the majority of the speakers are the male leaders of the church.

As children, girls and boys are separated by gender into separate Sunday school classes. They also share co-ed classes and meetings as part of the regular three hour block of Sunday meetings.

Church leaders repeatedly recommend that women, when possible, should stay at home and rear children rather than pursue professional carreers.

===Adam-God doctrine===

Brigham Young (who was the 2nd prophet of the LDS church) taught that Adam and God where in fact the same being. He taught that God came with one of his many wives to the Garden of Eden, and he was Adam. - Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, p. 50

===Eternal progression===

Eternal progression refers to as the continual development of the soul. Mormons consider each human soul to be the spiritual offspring of God, the Father. All humans who have lived, or will live on Earth, are considered to have been spiritually conceived, as spirit children, by God and one or more of his presumed wives. Jehovah is considered the firstborn spirit child of God. Satan and his followers are also spirit children. Mormons also believe that there are other habitable planets (such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolob Kolob]) in the universe, also inhabited by God's children, though Christ lived, died and was resurrected only on this planet. Thus, Mormons believe that Jesus died for the sins of all human mortals, on all planets in the universe. Presumably, there would be other gods' children in the universe, all with their own saviours, going through the same cycle of eternal progression. Whether Mormons consider these humans, belonging to other gods, to be in a separate universe of ours is the matter of some debate.

All spirit children have the potential, through eternal progression, to become gods in their own right, provided they follow God's plan. God himself is considered by Mormons to have once been a spirit child of yet other gods, an also passed through a mortal life, gaining a physical body and following his own eternal progression to his current state of godhood. Gods are thought to be eternally progressing, even though they are considered perfect, through the maturation of their spiritual progeny.

The cycle of spiritual death, physical death and redemption from both through a messianic sacrifice is continual according to this model. The goals of the cycle for each individual include: baptism by immersion, receving the [[gift of the Holy Ghost]], achieving the highest levels of the Mormon priesthood and the various Mormon temple rites. Those who follow God's plan will eventually live with God and Christ in the Celestial kingdom. Those who do not follow that plan will receive lesser [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degrees_of_glory degrees of glory] and live in either the Terrestrial kingdom, Telestial kingdom or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_darkness#Usage_in_The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints Outer darkness].

====Counter-apologetics====

The concept of Eternal progression, and of humans as gods in the making, runs into the [[infinite regress]] of [[Who created God?]].

According to this view -- gods as fully matured human beings -- God is following his plan and issuing his commandments according to the conditions required to nurture his human children into gods. This means that Mormons believe that the "good" is good, not becuase God declares it so, but because he is operating according to a set of requirements or rules not of his making (see the [[Euthyphro dilemma]]). This makes it harder for Mormons to explain away immoral actions taken by their god, including murdering millions in the [[Flood]].

===Eternal families===

Mormons believe that marital and familial bonds can continue beyond death if those family members are sealed in a Mormon temple by a priesthood holder designated as a sealer. Sealed families will remain families in the afterlife, and will be together if they all go to the same kingdom. Deceased family members may also be sealed, provide they have been baptised posthumously, by proxy.

{{Comment-box1|text=The doctrine of eternal families is problematic, as the Mormon church does grant petitions to divorced couples to have their sealings annulled. Also, only those who have been baptised into the Mormon church and are vetted through an interview process may enter a temple to perform temple rituals. So Mormons, who's spouses are not baptized, may not be sealed to their children.}}

{{Christianity}}

[[Category: Religions]]
[[Category: Religious doctrine]]

Talk:Melchizedek priesthood

2010-03-24T21:21:38Z

Rabidwriter:

Page started. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:21, 24 March 2010 (CDT)

=Melchizedek priesthood and Jesus' apostles=

=Restoratio of the Melchizedek priesthood=

Melchizedek priesthood

2010-03-24T21:20:16Z

Rabidwriter:

{{Template:stub}}
The '''Melchizedek priesthood''' is the "higher" [[priesthood]] claimed by members of the [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]. It is named for Melchizedek, a contemporary of Abraham, who was king of Salem and called "priest of God Most High" ({{Bible|Genesis 16:18}}).

=Melchizedek priesthood and Jesus' apostles=

=Restoration of the Melchizedek priesthood=

[[Category:Religion]][[Category:Religious doctrine]]

Mormonism

2010-03-24T21:03:42Z

Rabidwriter: /* Pearl of Great Price */

{{wikipedia|Mormonism}}
'''Mormonism''', is a religious movement founded by [[Joseph Smith]] in the early 1800's. The official name of the church today is '''The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints''', sometimes shortened to '''LDS''' to refer to both the church or its members. Mormonism is one of the few young religions, based on [[Christianity]], along with [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] and [[Scientology]], to have survived with any significant membership.

==Church History==

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (known commonly as the Mormon church) was orginized on April 6th, 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr. and several of his followers in Palmyra, New York. Joseph proclaimed himself as a prophet, receiving visions and other revelations from [[God]], [[angels]], biblical figures and even claimed to encounter the [[Devil]]. Furthermore, Joseph Smith proclaimed that God and [[Jesus]] (although this version of the revelation would be changed many times) told him that he had been chosen by God to restore God's "true church" on this earth. This first revelation is usually set in the Spring of 1820, though the initial versions were not written down until 1828 at the earliest.

Church members are known as Mormons, or amoung themselves the saints. The Mormon Church is officially known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Church headquarters are located in Salt Lake City, Utah.

(need to add more detail and expound)

===Great Migration to Salt Lake City===

Following the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Joseph_Smith,_Jr. death of Joseph Smith], the Mormons moved westwared and eventually settled in the Salt Lake Valley in what would eventually become the Utah Territory and then the State of Utah. In the decades following, converts to Mormonism migrated to Utah, which is still largely dominated politically by the religion.

==Prophets==

===Joseph Smith===
[[Joseph Smith]] Jr. was born in Sharon, Vermont, to Lucy Mack and Joseph Smith, on December 23, 1805. Smith grew up on a series of tenant farms in Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York. Smith's education consisted of a very limited exposure to the reading, writing, and arithmetic. It is known however that his Father Joseph Sr. was a school teacher.

In 1823, Joseph Smith said he was visited by an angel named Moroni, who told him of an ancient record containing God's dealings with the former inhabitants of the American continent. These writings served as the foundation of the Mormon religion, with Joseph Smith as prophet.

====Counter-apologetics====

{{Comment-box1|text=Because of their living prophets, Mormons' doctrine has changed over time, including temple ceremonies and the church's policy of denying the priesthood to racial minorities. Most Mormons are unaware of these significant changes.
}}

===Brigham Young===

[[Brigham Young]] became the second prophet, or president, of the Mormon church after Joseph Smith was killed in 1844. He led the great migration from Illinois to the Salt Lake Valley.

==Holy Books==
Mormons do not rely solely upon the Bible as a basis for their beliefs. According to Mormonism's Articles of Faith (see [[Articles of Faith (Mormonism)]]), Mormons "believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly" (Articles of Faith, 8). In fact, Joseph Smith did hazard a retranslation of the Bible. Because Mormons believe in a living prophet and continuing revelation, other official church publications are considered to be part of church doctrine.

===Book of Mormon===
Initially printed in 1830, the [[Book of Mormon]] is the primary holy book of Mormonism, though much of the church's structure and rituals are derived from the Doctrine and Covenants, which were written later. The book is similar in style and content to the Bible, but describes God's dealings with the inhabitants of the Americas, the ancestors of Native Americans. It includes the description of Christ's visit to these people after his death and resurrection, as well as the source of the "dark skin" which they received as a curse.

A foreword to the Book of Mormon contains the promise that readers may pray to God for a confirmation of it's authenticity. This promise is used extensively by Mormons (especially missionaries) in proselytizing.

===Doctrine and Covenants===

The [[Doctrine and Covenants]] is a collection of "revelations" that Joseph recieved from Jesus Christ. It contains amoung other things instructions for how the church should be run. It was originally called the "Book of Commandments"

A key section is D&C 132 which gives the requirements for Polygamy. Specificly versus 61-65.

===Pearl of Great Price===
The [[Pearl of Great Price]] is a collection of books, including the Articles of Faith, supposed translations from Egyptian papyri and the official Joseph Smith History. These books include some of the most exotic Mormon doctrines, including the plurality of gods, the potential for humans to become gods and a different portrayal of the creation story from the Old Testament book of [[Genesis]].

===Counter-apologetics===

{{Comment-box1|text=Because Mormons have many more writings, there exist more opportunities to find contradictions. Also, their world-view provides much less wiggle room for Mormon apologists. The nature of God and the way the universe works, as described in Mormon scripture, is so much more detailed that Mormons have a much harder time dealing with arguments like the [[problem of evil]], or retreating into an ill-defined [[deism]], without violating their own doctrines.}}

==Other official Mormon publications==

====Journal of Discourses====

The Journal of Discourses (often abbreviated J.D.) is a 26-volume collection of public sermons by early leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The first editions of the Journal were published in England by George D. Watt, the stenographer of Brigham Young. Publication began in 1854, with the endorsement of the church's First Presidency, and ended in 1886. The Journal is one of the richest sources of early Mormon theology and thinking. It includes 1,438 sermons given by 55 church leaders, including most numerously Brigham Young, John Taylor, Orson Pratt, Heber C. Kimball, and George Q. Cannon.

While the J.D. is not considered scripture by the modern church it is still important to it's history.

====Holy Bible: Joseph Smith Translation====

Joseph Smith also performed a "re-translation" of the King James version of the Holy Bible. Mormon's include these translations as footnotes in their versions of the Bible. In his translation, Smith attempts to clarify contradictory passages to fit more precisely with the Book of Mormon and his other writings.

==Church Doctrine==

===The Mormon godhead===

Mormons reject the concept of the [[Trinity]], and thus believe that God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost are three distinct beings. God and Christ both have resurrected bodies of "flesh and bone" ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/130/22#22 D&C 130:22]), but not blood. The Holy Ghost is made of "spirit" ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/130/22#22 D&C 130:22]). Christ, the Holy Ghost and all human souls are considered the literal "spiritual offspring" of God, the Father.

{{Comment-box1|text=Because God and Christ are corporeal, it is impossible for Mormons to claim to be deists. Mormons cannot argue that their claims relate to a supernatural realm, because they believe that "There is no such thing as immaterial matter" (D&C 130:22). Claims made by Mormons are therefore subject to scientific inquiry and falsification.}}

===Mormon world view===

Mormons believe that human beings have the potential, if they follow God's plan, to become gods themselves([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/132/20#20 D&C 132:20]). In the Mormon world view, the purpose of the existence of this world is as a training ground for new gods. According to that view, human souls or intelligences existed in heaven, with God, before birth. Receiving a physical body, and eventually a perfected body after the final [[resurrection]], is part of becoming like God the Father and Jesus Christ, who both have bodies of "flesh and bones" ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/130/22#22 D&C 130:22])

===Polygamy===
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the largest church devoted to the Latter-Day Saint movement, openly endorsed and encouraged polygamous relationships for nearly the first century of its existence. Early church leaders such as Brigham Young and Joseph Smith, Jr. had as many as 50 wives, and preached that it was the only way to enter heaven. As the Utah Territory, settled by Mormon pioneers, fought the government of the United States for recognition as a state, the Church came under criticism for its practice of polygamy. In 1890, Church president Wilford Woodruff issued a manifesto that renounced the practice, as a condition of Utah's statehood.

Today, practice of polygamy can lead to disfellowship ([[excommunication]]) from the LDS church, and the church claims it works with the government to stop those who practice polygamy. Nevertheless, many Latter-Day Saint sects, collectively known as ''fundamentalist Mormons'', continue the practice of polygamy. The largest of these groups is the [[Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]] (FLDS Church), which is based in Texas and has approximately 10,000 members across North America.

===Temples and ceremonies===

As of 2010, the Mormon church had built 160 temples, with 22 more announced or under construction ([http://www.lds.org/temples/chronological/0,11206,1900-1,00.html LDS.org]). Mormon temples are the setting for many of the church's secretive rituals, including marriages, sealings and the mysterious [[Endownment]] ceremonies. Mormons also perform all these ceremonies, by proxy, for their ancestors who died before Mormonism came into being. Temples are also the setting for [[baptism for the dead]].

The church claims that ceremonies for the dead are limited to people for whom Mormons have discovered as ancestors through the church's extensive geneology program. But the church has been criticized in the past for posthumously baptizing people outside of their members' family trees, including many of the Founding Fathers and Jews who perished in the Holocaust.

Only Mormons, who have been screened by local priesthood leaders for a "temple recommend," may enter the temple to perform ceremonies.

===The Priesthood===
The two priesthoods that the Mormons claim are the [[Aaronic priesthood]] and the [[Melchizedek priesthood]], referred to collectively as simply the Priesthood. Both of these priesthoods are constituted by various offices and priviledges, called keys, that constitute the Mormon leadership heirarchy. The priesthood is passed, by the laying on of hands, from one priesthood holder higher up on the heirarchy.

Mormons believe that these priesthoods are the only authentic priesthoods on Earth, and that all other churches claiming divine authority from God are without authority. Mormons believe that Peter, one of Jesus's original apostles, was given the priesthood keys. But they believe that the chain of heirarchy was broken and that the [[Catholic]] church is bereft of any authority. God supposedly restored these priesthoods to the earth through Joseph Smith.

All the rituals of the Mormon church are conducted by authorized priesthood holders, including baptisms, temple weddings (known as sealings), and general-purpose blessings.

===Women's roles in Mormonism===

Mormon society, like most of Christianity, is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarchy patriarchy]. Women are subordinate to men in the organization of the church and family structures. Women are prohibited from holding either of the church's two priesthoods, and thus are prohibited from holding priesthood based callings or leadership positions within the church. Women do hold leadership positions in the church's women's organizations, such as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relief_Society Relief Society].

During the Mormon church's bi-annual broadcasts, known as general conference, the majority of the speakers are the male leaders of the church.

As children, girls and boys are separated by gender into separate Sunday school classes. They also share co-ed classes and meetings as part of the regular three hour block of Sunday meetings.

Church leaders repeatedly recommend that women, when possible, should stay at home and rear children rather than pursue professional carreers.

===Adam-God doctrine===

Brigham Young (who was the 2nd prophet of the LDS church) taught that Adam and God where in fact the same being. He taught that God came with one of his many wives to the Garden of Eden, and he was Adam. - Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, p. 50

===Eternal progression===

Eternal progression refers to as the continual development of the soul. Mormons consider each human soul to be the spiritual offspring of God, the Father. All humans who have lived, or will live on Earth, are considered to have been spiritually conceived, as spirit children, by God and one or more of his presumed wives. Jehovah is considered the firstborn spirit child of God. Satan and his followers are also spirit children. Mormons also believe that there are other habitable planets (such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolob Kolob]) in the universe, also inhabited by God's children, though Christ lived, died and was resurrected only on this planet. Thus, Mormons believe that Jesus died for the sins of all human mortals, on all planets in the universe. Presumably, there would be other gods' children in the universe, all with their own saviours, going through the same cycle of eternal progression. Whether Mormons consider these humans, belonging to other gods, to be in a separate universe of ours is the matter of some debate.

All spirit children have the potential, through eternal progression, to become gods in their own right, provided they follow God's plan. God himself is considered by Mormons to have once been a spirit child of yet other gods, an also passed through a mortal life, gaining a physical body and following his own eternal progression to his current state of godhood. Gods are thought to be eternally progressing, even though they are considered perfect, through the maturation of their spiritual progeny.

The cycle of spiritual death, physical death and redemption from both through a messianic sacrifice is continual according to this model. The goals of the cycle for each individual include: baptism by immersion, receving the [[gift of the Holy Ghost]], achieving the highest levels of the Mormon priesthood and the various Mormon temple rites. Those who follow God's plan will eventually live with God and Christ in the Celestial kingdom. Those who do not follow that plan will receive lesser [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degrees_of_glory degrees of glory] and live in either the Terrestrial kingdom, Telestial kingdom or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_darkness#Usage_in_The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints Outer darkness].

====Counter-apologetics====

The concept of Eternal progression, and of humans as gods in the making, runs into the [[infinite regress]] of [[Who created God?]].

According to this view -- gods as fully matured human beings -- God is following his plan and issuing his commandments according to the conditions required to nurture his human children into gods. This means that Mormons believe that the "good" is good, not becuase God declares it so, but because he is operating according to a set of requirements or rules not of his making (see the [[Euthyphro dilemma]]). This makes it harder for Mormons to explain away immoral actions taken by their god, including murdering millions in the [[Flood]].

===Eternal families===

Mormons believe that marital and familial bonds can continue beyond death if those family members are sealed in a Mormon temple by a priesthood holder designated as a sealer. Sealed families will remain families in the afterlife, and will be together if they all go to the same kingdom. Deceased family members may also be sealed, provide they have been baptised posthumously, by proxy.

{{Comment-box1|text=The doctrine of eternal families is problematic, as the Mormon church does grant petitions to divorced couples to have their sealings annulled. Also, only those who have been baptised into the Mormon church and are vetted through an interview process may enter a temple to perform temple rituals. So Mormons, who's spouses are not baptized, may not be sealed to their children.}}

{{Christianity}}

[[Category: Religions]]
[[Category: Religious doctrine]]

Talk:Book of Mormon

2010-03-23T21:56:59Z

Rabidwriter:

Page moved from the main [[Mormonism]] page. Edited and expanded. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:21, 17 March 2010 (CDT)

Added categories. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:52, 19 March 2010 (CDT)

Counter-apologetics moved into text boxes within sections. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 17:59, 19 March 2010 (CDT)

==Gold Plates==

Added counter-apologetics comment about the Seer stone. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 17:54, 19 March 2010 (CDT)

==Moroni==
==Missing 116 pages==
==Plagarism in the Book of Mormon==
Section added. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:56, 23 March 2010 (CDT)
=References=
Section added. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:43, 23 March 2010 (CDT)
=Counter-apologetics=
Section started. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:07, 18 March 2010 (CDT)

Section deleted after merging with other sections. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 17:59, 19 March 2010 (CDT)

=Things to be done=

Move the counter-apologetics into the individual sections in yellow text boxes. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:52, 19 March 2010 (CDT)

Book of Mormon

2010-03-23T21:56:22Z

Rabidwriter:

The '''Book of Mormon''' (abbreviated BoM) is, according to [[Mormons]], "another testament of Jesus Christ," written by the ancestors of the American Indians. The Book of Mormon claims that Native Americans are descended from [[Jews]], who escaped the destruction of Jerusalem and crossed the sea to populate North and South America. This tome is a saga that spans from approximately 600BC to 421AD.

The Book of Mormon has 15 books, named for their authors, which are divided into chapter and verse much like the Bible. It is written from the perspective of prophets who handed the book down through the generations. The prose is Old English, much like the King James version of the Bible, and borrows at length from biblical authors such as Isaiah. In fact, the book of 2 Nephi contains large passages quoted verbatim from Isaiah ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/2_ne/11-24 2 Nephi 11-24],{{bible|Isaiah 7-14}}).

The Book of Mormon was first printed in 1830.

==Gold plates==

[[Joseph Smith]] claimed to have translated the book from a language he labeled as "reformed Egyptian." The book was written on gold plates, which Smith claimed to have received from an [[angel]]. Joseph described the plates thus: "...each plate was six inches wide and eight inches long and not quite so thick as common tin... The volume was something near six inches in thickness....”(Joseph Smith, Times and Seasons, v3:9, March 1, 1842, 707.) Smith told his followers and family that he was forbidden to show the plates to anyone, or they would be stricken dead.

{{Comment-box1|text=Scholars have pointed out that, if Smith's description were true, the gold plates would have weighed around 200 pounds. Yet, Smith claims that he "ran, with the plates tucked under his arm" through the woods, to his home. His wife, [[Emma Smith]], later recalled that she "occasionally lifted the plates, covered in cloth" to dust underneath.}}

Joseph probably got the idea for buried metal plates from a story that appeared in a Palmyra paper in 1821, describing the discovery of brass plates found in Canada (Brodie 1945).

==Moroni==

Joseph Smith claimed that he was shown the "golden tablets", during his second vision, after his first visitation from God and Christ. The angel, Moroni, appeared to him on the Smith farm in 1823 (although this date changes depending on the source), and revealed the location where the plates were buried. Moroni also instructed Joseph in the use of the [[Urim and Thummim]], seer stones which Smith used to translate the tablets. Moroni appeared to Smith three times that night, cautioning Joseph that he should not try to make any money off of the golden plates.

The next day, Joseph claimed to have found the golden plates buried on the hillside as Moroni had dictated. Each year, for four years, Joseph claims to have revisited the spot (where the plates were buried), only to be turned away by Moroni. Finally, in 1827, Joseph was allowed to unearth and take home the plates.

A translation of the gold plates began in 1829. He allegedly used the Urim and Thummim to translate them, but eyewitnesses also claimed that they saw Joseph place a seer stone (presumably the same one he used during his [[money-digging]] exploits) into a hat, cover his head with a cloth, and then dictate the translation to transcribers.

{{Comment-box1|text=If Smith was using the same seer stone to translate the plates that he previously admitted in court to having used for nefarious money-digging and scams, then God apparently approved of those activities. In fact, if God led Joseph to find the seer stone, then God is complicit in the bilking money from Smith's neighbors.}}

==Missing 116 pages==

After 116 pages of the Book of Mormon had been transcribed, Martin Harris asked Joseph if he might take copies of those pages to his wife, Lucy. Lucy was skeptical of Smith's claims about the gold plates and wanted to see the work for herself. Smith agreed to let Harris take the 116 pages home to Lucy. Upon receiving the pages, the pages supposedly disappeared. Mrs. Harris told her husband that, if Smith was genuinely translating, then he should be able to reproduce the pages.

{{Comment-box1|text=If Smith was actually translating these plates, there is no reason that he shouldn't have been able to reproduce those 116 pages. The fact that he took a few days and then claimed a revelation that God ()didn't want them retranslated indicates that he had been dictating from the top of his head. He would have been exposed as a fraud had the pages surfaced later and been shown to contradict the new pages. Good for Mrs. Harris for recognizing a con and trying to expose it, even if she did end up joining the Mormon ranks later on.}}

Harris returned to Smith with great trepidation and told him about the theft. Smith was furious. He spent two days in secluded prayer. When he emerged from prayer, he told Harris and Emma Smith, that an angel had appeared before him and told him not to re-write the missing 116 pages. The angel had instructed him to cease work on the "Book of Lehi" and instead write the "Book of Nephi". The Book of Nephi would be similar to the Book of Lehi, but since they were written from different points of view, there would be a few differences. Smith thus side-stepped being exposed as a fraud.

{{Comment-box1|text=Smith prayed three times, asking God to let him lend the manuscript to Martin Harris. Twice he was denied. The third time, God apparently changed his mind and told Joseph to let Harris have the pages. Then, when the pages disappeared, he condemned Joseph and Martin for doing what he gave them permission to do. Either God isn't omnipotent, and didn't forsee the theft of the pages, or he planned on them being stolen, and therefore apparently meant for that portion of the Book of Mormon never to be read.

It's likely that Smith felt pressured by Harris, who was financing the translation and supporting Smith and his wife. Harris was also under pressure from his wife and family (who probably assumed he was being swindled) to substantiate some of the claims that Smith was making. Smith was probably afraid of losing Harris' patronage, and was probably confident that he would be able to convince the rest of the Harris family, just as he had convinced his own. He miscalculated, and the revelation regarding the pages loss ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/10 D&C 10]) is a scramble to maintain his facade of divine guidance.}}

==Plagarism in the Book of Mormon==

It is likely that Joseph Smith got his ideas for the story of the Book of Mormon from several contemporary sources, including Ethan Smith's book: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/View_of_the_Hebrews ''View of the Hebrews'']. Ethan Smith's book speculated that Native Americans were descended from Hebrew settlers. The view was popular among scholars at the time (Brodie 1945). The book also compared copper breast plates found in New England burial mounds with the ephod (part of the ceremonial garb) of Hebrew high priests, including the Urim and Thumim. This may also be what spawned the breastplate and seer stones that constituted the Urim and Thumim which Joseph Smith sometimes used when "translating" the gold plates.

=References=
* Brodie, Fawn. ''No Man Knows My History''. New York, 1945. Vintage Books: New York, 1995. ISBN: 679-73054-0
*#Smith likely read and borrowed from Ethan Smith's ''View of the Hebrews''. The concept of Native Americans as descendents of the Hebrew people was common at the time, but was soon replaced with the theory of migration from east Asia (Ch 3, pp 46).

[[Category:Religion]][[Category:Holy books]]

Talk:Book of Mormon

2010-03-23T21:43:57Z

Rabidwriter:

Page moved from the main [[Mormonism]] page. Edited and expanded. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:21, 17 March 2010 (CDT)

Added categories. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:52, 19 March 2010 (CDT)

Counter-apologetics moved into text boxes within sections. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 17:59, 19 March 2010 (CDT)

==Gold Plates==

Added counter-apologetics comment about the Seer stone. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 17:54, 19 March 2010 (CDT)

==Moroni==
==Missing 116 pages==
=References=
Section added. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:43, 23 March 2010 (CDT)
=Counter-apologetics=
Section started. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:07, 18 March 2010 (CDT)

Section deleted after merging with other sections. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 17:59, 19 March 2010 (CDT)

=Things to be done=

Move the counter-apologetics into the individual sections in yellow text boxes. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:52, 19 March 2010 (CDT)

Book of Mormon

2010-03-23T21:43:02Z

Rabidwriter:

The '''Book of Mormon''' (abbreviated BoM) is, according to [[Mormons]], "another testament of Jesus Christ," written by the ancestors of the American Indians. The Book of Mormon claims that Native Americans are descended from [[Jews]], who escaped the destruction of Jerusalem and crossed the sea to populate North and South America. This tome is a saga that spans from approximately 600BC to 421AD.

The Book of Mormon has 15 books, named for their authors, which are divided into chapter and verse much like the Bible. It is written from the perspective of prophets who handed the book down through the generations. The prose is Old English, much like the King James version of the Bible, and borrows at length from biblical authors such as Isaiah. In fact, the book of 2 Nephi contains large passages quoted verbatim from Isaiah ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/2_ne/11-24 2 Nephi 11-24],{{bible|Isaiah 7-14}}).

The Book of Mormon was first printed in 1830.

==Gold plates==

[[Joseph Smith]] claimed to have translated the book from a language he labeled as "reformed Egyptian." The book was written on gold plates, which Smith claimed to have received from an [[angel]]. Joseph described the plates thus: "...each plate was six inches wide and eight inches long and not quite so thick as common tin... The volume was something near six inches in thickness....”(Joseph Smith, Times and Seasons, v3:9, March 1, 1842, 707.) Smith told his followers and family that he was forbidden to show the plates to anyone, or they would be stricken dead.

{{Comment-box1|text=Scholars have pointed out that, if Smith's description were true, the gold plates would have weighed around 200 pounds. Yet, Smith claims that he "ran, with the plates tucked under his arm" through the woods, to his home. His wife, [[Emma Smith]], later recalled that she "occasionally lifted the plates, covered in cloth" to dust underneath.}}

Joseph probably got the idea for buried metal plates from a story that appeared in a Palmyra paper in 1821, describing the discovery of brass plates found in Canada (Brodie 1945).

==Moroni==

Joseph Smith claimed that he was shown the "golden tablets", during his second vision, after his first visitation from God and Christ. The angel, Moroni, appeared to him on the Smith farm in 1823 (although this date changes depending on the source), and revealed the location where the plates were buried. Moroni also instructed Joseph in the use of the [[Urim and Thummim]], seer stones which Smith used to translate the tablets. Moroni appeared to Smith three times that night, cautioning Joseph that he should not try to make any money off of the golden plates.

The next day, Joseph claimed to have found the golden plates buried on the hillside as Moroni had dictated. Each year, for four years, Joseph claims to have revisited the spot (where the plates were buried), only to be turned away by Moroni. Finally, in 1827, Joseph was allowed to unearth and take home the plates.

A translation of the gold plates began in 1829. He allegedly used the Urim and Thummim to translate them, but eyewitnesses also claimed that they saw Joseph place a seer stone (presumably the same one he used during his [[money-digging]] exploits) into a hat, cover his head with a cloth, and then dictate the translation to transcribers.

{{Comment-box1|text=If Smith was using the same seer stone to translate the plates that he previously admitted in court to having used for nefarious money-digging and scams, then God apparently approved of those activities. In fact, if God led Joseph to find the seer stone, then God is complicit in the bilking money from Smith's neighbors.}}

==Missing 116 pages==

After 116 pages of the Book of Mormon had been transcribed, Martin Harris asked Joseph if he might take copies of those pages to his wife, Lucy. Lucy was skeptical of Smith's claims about the gold plates and wanted to see the work for herself. Smith agreed to let Harris take the 116 pages home to Lucy. Upon receiving the pages, the pages supposedly disappeared. Mrs. Harris told her husband that, if Smith was genuinely translating, then he should be able to reproduce the pages.

{{Comment-box1|text=If Smith was actually translating these plates, there is no reason that he shouldn't have been able to reproduce those 116 pages. The fact that he took a few days and then claimed a revelation that God ()didn't want them retranslated indicates that he had been dictating from the top of his head. He would have been exposed as a fraud had the pages surfaced later and been shown to contradict the new pages. Good for Mrs. Harris for recognizing a con and trying to expose it, even if she did end up joining the Mormon ranks later on.}}

Harris returned to Smith with great trepidation and told him about the theft. Smith was furious. He spent two days in secluded prayer. When he emerged from prayer, he told Harris and Emma Smith, that an angel had appeared before him and told him not to re-write the missing 116 pages. The angel had instructed him to cease work on the "Book of Lehi" and instead write the "Book of Nephi". The Book of Nephi would be similar to the Book of Lehi, but since they were written from different points of view, there would be a few differences. Smith thus side-stepped being exposed as a fraud.

{{Comment-box1|text=Smith prayed three times, asking God to let him lend the manuscript to Martin Harris. Twice he was denied. The third time, God apparently changed his mind and told Joseph to let Harris have the pages. Then, when the pages disappeared, he condemned Joseph and Martin for doing what he gave them permission to do. Either God isn't omnipotent, and didn't forsee the theft of the pages, or he planned on them being stolen, and therefore apparently meant for that portion of the Book of Mormon never to be read.

It's likely that Smith felt pressured by Harris, who was financing the translation and supporting Smith and his wife. Harris was also under pressure from his wife and family (who probably assumed he was being swindled) to substantiate some of the claims that Smith was making. Smith was probably afraid of losing Harris' patronage, and was probably confident that he would be able to convince the rest of the Harris family, just as he had convinced his own. He miscalculated, and the revelation regarding the pages loss ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/10 D&C 10]) is a scramble to maintain his facade of divine guidance.}}

=References=
* Brodie, Fawn. "No Man Knows My History". New York, 1945. Vintage Books: New York, 1995. ISBN: 679-73054-0

[[Category:Religion]][[Category:Holy books]]

Book of Mormon

2010-03-23T21:40:12Z

Rabidwriter: /* Gold plates */

The '''Book of Mormon''' (abbreviated BoM) is, according to [[Mormons]], "another testament of Jesus Christ," written by the ancestors of the American Indians. The Book of Mormon claims that Native Americans are descended from [[Jews]], who escaped the destruction of Jerusalem and crossed the sea to populate North and South America. This tome is a saga that spans from approximately 600BC to 421AD.

The Book of Mormon has 15 books, named for their authors, which are divided into chapter and verse much like the Bible. It is written from the perspective of prophets who handed the book down through the generations. The prose is Old English, much like the King James version of the Bible, and borrows at length from biblical authors such as Isaiah. In fact, the book of 2 Nephi contains large passages quoted verbatim from Isaiah ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/2_ne/11-24 2 Nephi 11-24],{{bible|Isaiah 7-14}}).

The Book of Mormon was first printed in 1830.

==Gold plates==

[[Joseph Smith]] claimed to have translated the book from a language he labeled as "reformed Egyptian." The book was written on gold plates, which Smith claimed to have received from an [[angel]]. Joseph described the plates thus: "...each plate was six inches wide and eight inches long and not quite so thick as common tin... The volume was something near six inches in thickness....”(Joseph Smith, Times and Seasons, v3:9, March 1, 1842, 707.) Smith told his followers and family that he was forbidden to show the plates to anyone, or they would be stricken dead.

{{Comment-box1|text=Scholars have pointed out that, if Smith's description were true, the gold plates would have weighed around 200 pounds. Yet, Smith claims that he "ran, with the plates tucked under his arm" through the woods, to his home. His wife, [[Emma Smith]], later recalled that she "occasionally lifted the plates, covered in cloth" to dust underneath.}}

Joseph probably got the idea for buried metal plates from a story that appeared in a Palmyra paper in 1821, describing the discovery of brass plates found in Canada (Brodie 1945).

==Moroni==

Joseph Smith claimed that he was shown the "golden tablets", during his second vision, after his first visitation from God and Christ. The angel, Moroni, appeared to him on the Smith farm in 1823 (although this date changes depending on the source), and revealed the location where the plates were buried. Moroni also instructed Joseph in the use of the [[Urim and Thummim]], seer stones which Smith used to translate the tablets. Moroni appeared to Smith three times that night, cautioning Joseph that he should not try to make any money off of the golden plates.

The next day, Joseph claimed to have found the golden plates buried on the hillside as Moroni had dictated. Each year, for four years, Joseph claims to have revisited the spot (where the plates were buried), only to be turned away by Moroni. Finally, in 1827, Joseph was allowed to unearth and take home the plates.

A translation of the gold plates began in 1829. He allegedly used the Urim and Thummim to translate them, but eyewitnesses also claimed that they saw Joseph place a seer stone (presumably the same one he used during his [[money-digging]] exploits) into a hat, cover his head with a cloth, and then dictate the translation to transcribers.

{{Comment-box1|text=If Smith was using the same seer stone to translate the plates that he previously admitted in court to having used for nefarious money-digging and scams, then God apparently approved of those activities. In fact, if God led Joseph to find the seer stone, then God is complicit in the bilking money from Smith's neighbors.}}

==Missing 116 pages==

After 116 pages of the Book of Mormon had been transcribed, Martin Harris asked Joseph if he might take copies of those pages to his wife, Lucy. Lucy was skeptical of Smith's claims about the gold plates and wanted to see the work for herself. Smith agreed to let Harris take the 116 pages home to Lucy. Upon receiving the pages, the pages supposedly disappeared. Mrs. Harris told her husband that, if Smith was genuinely translating, then he should be able to reproduce the pages.

{{Comment-box1|text=If Smith was actually translating these plates, there is no reason that he shouldn't have been able to reproduce those 116 pages. The fact that he took a few days and then claimed a revelation that God ()didn't want them retranslated indicates that he had been dictating from the top of his head. He would have been exposed as a fraud had the pages surfaced later and been shown to contradict the new pages. Good for Mrs. Harris for recognizing a con and trying to expose it, even if she did end up joining the Mormon ranks later on.}}

Harris returned to Smith with great trepidation and told him about the theft. Smith was furious. He spent two days in secluded prayer. When he emerged from prayer, he told Harris and Emma Smith, that an angel had appeared before him and told him not to re-write the missing 116 pages. The angel had instructed him to cease work on the "Book of Lehi" and instead write the "Book of Nephi". The Book of Nephi would be similar to the Book of Lehi, but since they were written from different points of view, there would be a few differences. Smith thus side-stepped being exposed as a fraud.

{{Comment-box1|text=Smith prayed three times, asking God to let him lend the manuscript to Martin Harris. Twice he was denied. The third time, God apparently changed his mind and told Joseph to let Harris have the pages. Then, when the pages disappeared, he condemned Joseph and Martin for doing what he gave them permission to do. Either God isn't omnipotent, and didn't forsee the theft of the pages, or he planned on them being stolen, and therefore apparently meant for that portion of the Book of Mormon never to be read.

It's likely that Smith felt pressured by Harris, who was financing the translation and supporting Smith and his wife. Harris was also under pressure from his wife and family (who probably assumed he was being swindled) to substantiate some of the claims that Smith was making. Smith was probably afraid of losing Harris' patronage, and was probably confident that he would be able to convince the rest of the Harris family, just as he had convinced his own. He miscalculated, and the revelation regarding the pages loss ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/10 D&C 10]) is a scramble to maintain his facade of divine guidance.}}

[[Category:Religion]][[Category:Holy books]]

Joseph Smith

2010-03-23T21:21:17Z

Rabidwriter: /* References */

{{wikify|suggest=more links in the later sections}}
{{wikipedia}}
'''Joseph Smith, Jr.''' (December 23, 1805 – June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader. He is the purported translator of the [[Book of Mormon]], a "lost testament" of [[Jesus|Jesus Christ's]] apparition to indigenous peoples of the Americas, and is the founder of the modern [[Mormonism|Latter-Day Saint]] movement.

==Early life==

Smith was born in [[Wikipedia:Sharon, Vermont|Sharon, Vermont]], to Lucy and Joseph Smith, Sr. on December 23, 1805. He grew up on a series of tenant farms in Vermont, [[Wikipedia:New Hampshire|New Hampshire]], and [[Wikipedia:New York|New York]]. Smith's education consisted of a very limited exposure to reading, writing, and arithmetic. In Lucy Smith's diaries, she later recalled that Joseph was alternately "studious and given to meditation" and "uneducated."

==First vision==

In addition to seeing visions of treasure, gold mines and lost tools, Joseph Smith also claimed visits from angels, the devil, John the Baptist, Elijah and other characters from the Bible and Book of Mormon. The most significant of these visions, and the most often repeated by Mormons, is called the First Vision. The official version of the First Vision evolved significantly over time. The earliest versions were written in 1838, 18 years after the event supposedly took place, and the details vary with each version (Brodie 1945).

In the official version, now circulated by the Mormon church, Joseph recalls being confused in 1820 by the varying claims made by Revivalist preachers who flooded New York and Pennsylvania. He encountered {{Bible|James 1:5}}, instructing any who lacked wisdom to "ask of God". Early one morning in the spring of 1820, Joseph said he retired to the secluded woods near his Palmyra home to ask God which church he should join. The following is a direct quote from the official account:

<blockquote>It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally ... I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction. But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction -- not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being -- just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I beheld two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name, and said -- pointing to the other -- "''This is my beloved Son, hear Him''."
My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therfor, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right -- and which I should join. I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong, and the personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in His sight: that those professors were all corrupt; that "they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; they teach for doctrines the comandments of men: having a form of godliness, but they deny the power therof." He again forbade me to join with any of them: and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again, I found myself lying on my back, looking up into heaven. (History of the Church, Vol. I, pp. 5-7)</blockquote>

Although Joseph Smith claimed that he told others of this vision, and was harshly persecuted by neighbors and the local clergy, there is no mention of any such local uproar or the vision in local papers or even family documents of the time (Brodie 1945).

The First Vision is a major proselyting tool for [[Mormon missionaries]].

==Treasure hunts==

History provides us with evidence suggesting that Joseph Smith had a great interest in treasure hunting or [[money-digging]]. He even claimed to be able to use [[seer stones]] and [[diving rods]] to find lost treasures. The only documented "find" that Joseph ever made is categorized as "lost tools". Usually, Joseph would approach local farmers, claim to have the ability to find treasure, dig a few holes, and then try to collect his fee. An ex-Mormon, named Hurlbut, collected 100 affidavits from Smith's neighbors regarding his various cons, including precursors to his claims about finding golden plates, which evolved into the Book of Mormon story (Brodie 1945).

Joseph Smith claimed he was visited by an angel named Moroni in 1823, who told him of an ancient record containing God's dealings with the former inhabitants of the American continent.

During the years between 1823 and 1827, Joseph and his family were engaged in many treasure hunts, throughout the north-eastern United States. It should be noted that none of those hunts resulted in the discovery of any significant treasures—other than the preported discovery of the Book of Mormon. When questioned about the lack of discovery, Smith would often claim that the treasures "had sunk lower" because of a lack of spirituality on the part of the seekers.
===Bainbridge court trial===
Court records from Bainbridge, in Chenango County, New York, show that on March 20, 1826, Joseph Smith Jr. was tried and convicted of disorderly conduct and of being an imposter in relation to an event where he pretended to be able to find buried gold and treasure through the use of a magic stone or by looking into a hat. Court records show that in that same year Joseph Smith Jr. was tried in Norwich, New York for the misdemeanor crime of "glass looking" (treasure-hunting). Contrary to claims by the Mormon church history, Joseph was convicted (Brodie 1945).

Joseph testified in court that he had a seer stone, which he pretended to look into, divining the location of buried money, treasure and artifacts. In the event in question, Joseph had been working for a Josiah Stoal (a.k.a. "Stowel"), who paid him to look into the stone. Ironically, Stoal's impassioned testimony at the Bainbridge trial revealed damning details of Joseph's deceptive practices. It was obvious that Stoal had been taken in, and Smith was convicted.

==Book of Mormon==

There is discrepancy in the record of when Joseph retrieved the Book of Mormon. Some accounts place the discovery as early as 1823, while others place the discovery closer to the time at which Smith transribed the account, inscribed on thin golden plates. Smith claimed that the angel, Moroni, had shown him the place where the account had been buried and asked him to dig it up. Martin Harris met Smith in Harmony, Pennsylvania, in February of 1828. They "purposed to transcribe" the plates and record the Book of Mormon. Joseph used two seer stones, the [[Urim and Thummim]] (deposited with the plates), and a hat, to translate the plates. Martin Harris would sit on the other side of a curtain and record Joseph's words. This first account, transcribed by [[Martin Harris]], was lost when Harris took the chapters home to his wife. Harris' wife claimed that "if Joseph is telling the truth, then re-writing these chapters should not prove difficult." It is unknown what Mrs. Harris did to the original transcription, but it is thought that she threw it into the fire. Martin Harris had to return to Smith and tell him what his wife had done. Joseph spent a few days in a "melancholy state" (according to the diaries of Lucy Smith) and then told Harris that God had decided that Smith should no longer translate the story of Lehi, but would translate the story of Nephi and Mosiah, through the book of Moroni. Thus, any rediscovery of the original 116 "lost pages" would not contradict the latter translations. They are simply a different testimony. The resulting manuscript, the Book of Mormon, was published in March 1830. On April 6, 1830, Joseph Smith organized The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and became its first president.

==Later life==

Joseph married Emma Hale on January 18, 1827, and was described as a loving and devoted husband. Emma Hale and Joseph Smith had eleven children (two adopted), only five of whom lived past infancy. During the thirty-nine years of his life, Joseph established thriving cities in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois; produced volumes of scripture; sent missionaries throughout the world; orchestrated the building of temples; served as mayor of Nauvoo, one of the largest cities in Illinois, and as general of its militia, the Nauvoo Legion; and was a candidate for the presidency of the United States. Joseph also created the idea of plural marriage, as one of God's holy ordinances, and had at least thirty-three wives. He was a controversial figure in American history—beloved of his followers and hated by his detractors. Joseph was killed along with his brother Hyrum by a mob in Carthage, Illinois, on June 27, 1844. Hyrum was shot. Joseph likely succumbed to two mortal wounds: a gun shot and blunt force trauma (sustained upon impact with the ground, after jumping out of a second story window).

==References==

#Brodie, Fawn. No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith. New York: Vintage Books, 1945. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Man_Knows_My_History No Man Knows My History]
#*No mention of Joseph Smith's "First Vision" or denouncement by religious leaders during the time he claimed (Ch 2, pp 23).
#*Earlier versions of Joseph's first vision include only one personage, angels and finally God and Christ (Ch 1).
#*Joseph didn't start is autobiography until 1838 (Ch 2, pp 25).

[[Category:People|Smith, Joseph]]
[[Category:Christians|Smith, Joseph]]
[[Category:Mormons|Smith, Joseph]]

Joseph Smith

2010-03-23T21:08:52Z

Rabidwriter: /* Treasure hunts */

{{wikify|suggest=more links in the later sections}}
{{wikipedia}}
'''Joseph Smith, Jr.''' (December 23, 1805 – June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader. He is the purported translator of the [[Book of Mormon]], a "lost testament" of [[Jesus|Jesus Christ's]] apparition to indigenous peoples of the Americas, and is the founder of the modern [[Mormonism|Latter-Day Saint]] movement.

==Early life==

Smith was born in [[Wikipedia:Sharon, Vermont|Sharon, Vermont]], to Lucy and Joseph Smith, Sr. on December 23, 1805. He grew up on a series of tenant farms in Vermont, [[Wikipedia:New Hampshire|New Hampshire]], and [[Wikipedia:New York|New York]]. Smith's education consisted of a very limited exposure to reading, writing, and arithmetic. In Lucy Smith's diaries, she later recalled that Joseph was alternately "studious and given to meditation" and "uneducated."

==First vision==

In addition to seeing visions of treasure, gold mines and lost tools, Joseph Smith also claimed visits from angels, the devil, John the Baptist, Elijah and other characters from the Bible and Book of Mormon. The most significant of these visions, and the most often repeated by Mormons, is called the First Vision. The official version of the First Vision evolved significantly over time. The earliest versions were written in 1838, 18 years after the event supposedly took place, and the details vary with each version (Brodie 1945).

In the official version, now circulated by the Mormon church, Joseph recalls being confused in 1820 by the varying claims made by Revivalist preachers who flooded New York and Pennsylvania. He encountered {{Bible|James 1:5}}, instructing any who lacked wisdom to "ask of God". Early one morning in the spring of 1820, Joseph said he retired to the secluded woods near his Palmyra home to ask God which church he should join. The following is a direct quote from the official account:

<blockquote>It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally ... I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction. But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction -- not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being -- just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I beheld two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name, and said -- pointing to the other -- "''This is my beloved Son, hear Him''."
My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therfor, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right -- and which I should join. I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong, and the personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in His sight: that those professors were all corrupt; that "they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; they teach for doctrines the comandments of men: having a form of godliness, but they deny the power therof." He again forbade me to join with any of them: and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again, I found myself lying on my back, looking up into heaven. (History of the Church, Vol. I, pp. 5-7)</blockquote>

Although Joseph Smith claimed that he told others of this vision, and was harshly persecuted by neighbors and the local clergy, there is no mention of any such local uproar or the vision in local papers or even family documents of the time (Brodie 1945).

The First Vision is a major proselyting tool for [[Mormon missionaries]].

==Treasure hunts==

History provides us with evidence suggesting that Joseph Smith had a great interest in treasure hunting or [[money-digging]]. He even claimed to be able to use [[seer stones]] and [[diving rods]] to find lost treasures. The only documented "find" that Joseph ever made is categorized as "lost tools". Usually, Joseph would approach local farmers, claim to have the ability to find treasure, dig a few holes, and then try to collect his fee. An ex-Mormon, named Hurlbut, collected 100 affidavits from Smith's neighbors regarding his various cons, including precursors to his claims about finding golden plates, which evolved into the Book of Mormon story (Brodie 1945).

Joseph Smith claimed he was visited by an angel named Moroni in 1823, who told him of an ancient record containing God's dealings with the former inhabitants of the American continent.

During the years between 1823 and 1827, Joseph and his family were engaged in many treasure hunts, throughout the north-eastern United States. It should be noted that none of those hunts resulted in the discovery of any significant treasures—other than the preported discovery of the Book of Mormon. When questioned about the lack of discovery, Smith would often claim that the treasures "had sunk lower" because of a lack of spirituality on the part of the seekers.
===Bainbridge court trial===
Court records from Bainbridge, in Chenango County, New York, show that on March 20, 1826, Joseph Smith Jr. was tried and convicted of disorderly conduct and of being an imposter in relation to an event where he pretended to be able to find buried gold and treasure through the use of a magic stone or by looking into a hat. Court records show that in that same year Joseph Smith Jr. was tried in Norwich, New York for the misdemeanor crime of "glass looking" (treasure-hunting). Contrary to claims by the Mormon church history, Joseph was convicted (Brodie 1945).

Joseph testified in court that he had a seer stone, which he pretended to look into, divining the location of buried money, treasure and artifacts. In the event in question, Joseph had been working for a Josiah Stoal (a.k.a. "Stowel"), who paid him to look into the stone. Ironically, Stoal's impassioned testimony at the Bainbridge trial revealed damning details of Joseph's deceptive practices. It was obvious that Stoal had been taken in, and Smith was convicted.

==Book of Mormon==

There is discrepancy in the record of when Joseph retrieved the Book of Mormon. Some accounts place the discovery as early as 1823, while others place the discovery closer to the time at which Smith transribed the account, inscribed on thin golden plates. Smith claimed that the angel, Moroni, had shown him the place where the account had been buried and asked him to dig it up. Martin Harris met Smith in Harmony, Pennsylvania, in February of 1828. They "purposed to transcribe" the plates and record the Book of Mormon. Joseph used two seer stones, the [[Urim and Thummim]] (deposited with the plates), and a hat, to translate the plates. Martin Harris would sit on the other side of a curtain and record Joseph's words. This first account, transcribed by [[Martin Harris]], was lost when Harris took the chapters home to his wife. Harris' wife claimed that "if Joseph is telling the truth, then re-writing these chapters should not prove difficult." It is unknown what Mrs. Harris did to the original transcription, but it is thought that she threw it into the fire. Martin Harris had to return to Smith and tell him what his wife had done. Joseph spent a few days in a "melancholy state" (according to the diaries of Lucy Smith) and then told Harris that God had decided that Smith should no longer translate the story of Lehi, but would translate the story of Nephi and Mosiah, through the book of Moroni. Thus, any rediscovery of the original 116 "lost pages" would not contradict the latter translations. They are simply a different testimony. The resulting manuscript, the Book of Mormon, was published in March 1830. On April 6, 1830, Joseph Smith organized The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and became its first president.

==Later life==

Joseph married Emma Hale on January 18, 1827, and was described as a loving and devoted husband. Emma Hale and Joseph Smith had eleven children (two adopted), only five of whom lived past infancy. During the thirty-nine years of his life, Joseph established thriving cities in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois; produced volumes of scripture; sent missionaries throughout the world; orchestrated the building of temples; served as mayor of Nauvoo, one of the largest cities in Illinois, and as general of its militia, the Nauvoo Legion; and was a candidate for the presidency of the United States. Joseph also created the idea of plural marriage, as one of God's holy ordinances, and had at least thirty-three wives. He was a controversial figure in American history—beloved of his followers and hated by his detractors. Joseph was killed along with his brother Hyrum by a mob in Carthage, Illinois, on June 27, 1844. Hyrum was shot. Joseph likely succumbed to two mortal wounds: a gun shot and blunt force trauma (sustained upon impact with the ground, after jumping out of a second story window).

==References==

*Brodie, Fawn. No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith. New York: Vintage Books, 1945. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Man_Knows_My_History No Man Knows My History]

[[Category:People|Smith, Joseph]]
[[Category:Christians|Smith, Joseph]]
[[Category:Mormons|Smith, Joseph]]

Mormonism

2010-03-23T20:59:53Z

Rabidwriter: /* Holy Books */

{{wikipedia|Mormonism}}
'''Mormonism''', is a religious movement founded by [[Joseph Smith]] in the early 1800's. The official name of the church today is '''The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints''', sometimes shortened to '''LDS''' to refer to both the church or its members. Mormonism is one of the few young religions, based on [[Christianity]], along with [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] and [[Scientology]], to have survived with any significant membership.

==Church History==

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (known commonly as the Mormon church) was orginized on April 6th, 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr. and several of his followers in Palmyra, New York. Joseph proclaimed himself as a prophet, receiving visions and other revelations from [[God]], [[angels]], biblical figures and even claimed to encounter the [[Devil]]. Furthermore, Joseph Smith proclaimed that God and [[Jesus]] (although this version of the revelation would be changed many times) told him that he had been chosen by God to restore God's "true church" on this earth. This first revelation is usually set in the Spring of 1820, though the initial versions were not written down until 1828 at the earliest.

Church members are known as Mormons, or amoung themselves the saints. The Mormon Church is officially known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Church headquarters are located in Salt Lake City, Utah.

(need to add more detail and expound)

===Great Migration to Salt Lake City===

Following the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Joseph_Smith,_Jr. death of Joseph Smith], the Mormons moved westwared and eventually settled in the Salt Lake Valley in what would eventually become the Utah Territory and then the State of Utah. In the decades following, converts to Mormonism migrated to Utah, which is still largely dominated politically by the religion.

==Prophets==

===Joseph Smith===
[[Joseph Smith]] Jr. was born in Sharon, Vermont, to Lucy Mack and Joseph Smith, on December 23, 1805. Smith grew up on a series of tenant farms in Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York. Smith's education consisted of a very limited exposure to the reading, writing, and arithmetic. It is known however that his Father Joseph Sr. was a school teacher.

In 1823, Joseph Smith said he was visited by an angel named Moroni, who told him of an ancient record containing God's dealings with the former inhabitants of the American continent. These writings served as the foundation of the Mormon religion, with Joseph Smith as prophet.

====Counter-apologetics====

{{Comment-box1|text=Because of their living prophets, Mormons' doctrine has changed over time, including temple ceremonies and the church's policy of denying the priesthood to racial minorities. Most Mormons are unaware of these significant changes.
}}

===Brigham Young===

[[Brigham Young]] became the second prophet, or president, of the Mormon church after Joseph Smith was killed in 1844. He led the great migration from Illinois to the Salt Lake Valley.

==Holy Books==
Mormons do not rely solely upon the Bible as a basis for their beliefs. According to Mormonism's Articles of Faith (see [[Articles of Faith (Mormonism)]]), Mormons "believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly" (Articles of Faith, 8). In fact, Joseph Smith did hazard a retranslation of the Bible. Because Mormons believe in a living prophet and continuing revelation, other official church publications are considered to be part of church doctrine.

===Book of Mormon===
Initially printed in 1830, the [[Book of Mormon]] is the primary holy book of Mormonism, though much of the church's structure and rituals are derived from the Doctrine and Covenants, which were written later. The book is similar in style and content to the Bible, but describes God's dealings with the inhabitants of the Americas, the ancestors of Native Americans. It includes the description of Christ's visit to these people after his death and resurrection, as well as the source of the "dark skin" which they received as a curse.

A foreword to the Book of Mormon contains the promise that readers may pray to God for a confirmation of it's authenticity. This promise is used extensively by Mormons (especially missionaries) in proselytizing.

===Doctrine and Covenants===

The [[Doctrine and Covenants]] is a collection of "revelations" that Joseph recieved from Jesus Christ. It contains amoung other things instructions for how the church should be run. It was originally called the "Book of Commandments"

A key section is D&C 132 which gives the requirements for Polygamy. Specificly versus 61-65.

===Pearl of Great Price===
The [[Pearl of Great Price]] is a collection of books, including the [[Articles of Faith (Mormonism),]] translations from Egyptian papyri and the official Joseph Smith History. These books include some of the most exotic Mormon doctrines, including the plurality of gods, the potential for humans to become gods and a different portrayal of the creation story from the Old Testament book of [[Genesis]].

===Counter-apologetics===

{{Comment-box1|text=Because Mormons have many more writings, there exist more opportunities to find contradictions. Also, their world-view provides much less wiggle room for Mormon apologists. The nature of God and the way the universe works, as described in Mormon scripture, is so much more detailed that Mormons have a much harder time dealing with arguments like the [[problem of evil]], or retreating into an ill-defined [[deism]], without violating their own doctrines.}}

==Other official Mormon publications==

====Journal of Discourses====

The Journal of Discourses (often abbreviated J.D.) is a 26-volume collection of public sermons by early leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The first editions of the Journal were published in England by George D. Watt, the stenographer of Brigham Young. Publication began in 1854, with the endorsement of the church's First Presidency, and ended in 1886. The Journal is one of the richest sources of early Mormon theology and thinking. It includes 1,438 sermons given by 55 church leaders, including most numerously Brigham Young, John Taylor, Orson Pratt, Heber C. Kimball, and George Q. Cannon.

While the J.D. is not considered scripture by the modern church it is still important to it's history.

====Holy Bible: Joseph Smith Translation====

Joseph Smith also performed a "re-translation" of the King James version of the Holy Bible. Mormon's include these translations as footnotes in their versions of the Bible. In his translation, Smith attempts to clarify contradictory passages to fit more precisely with the Book of Mormon and his other writings.

==Church Doctrine==

===The Mormon godhead===

Mormons reject the concept of the [[Trinity]], and thus believe that God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost are three distinct beings. God and Christ both have resurrected bodies of "flesh and bone" ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/130/22#22 D&C 130:22]), but not blood. The Holy Ghost is made of "spirit" ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/130/22#22 D&C 130:22]). Christ, the Holy Ghost and all human souls are considered the literal "spiritual offspring" of God, the Father.

{{Comment-box1|text=Because God and Christ are corporeal, it is impossible for Mormons to claim to be deists. Mormons cannot argue that their claims relate to a supernatural realm, because they believe that "There is no such thing as immaterial matter" (D&C 130:22). Claims made by Mormons are therefore subject to scientific inquiry and falsification.}}

===Mormon world view===

Mormons believe that human beings have the potential, if they follow God's plan, to become gods themselves([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/132/20#20 D&C 132:20]). In the Mormon world view, the purpose of the existence of this world is as a training ground for new gods. According to that view, human souls or intelligences existed in heaven, with God, before birth. Receiving a physical body, and eventually a perfected body after the final [[resurrection]], is part of becoming like God the Father and Jesus Christ, who both have bodies of "flesh and bones" ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/130/22#22 D&C 130:22])

===Polygamy===
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the largest church devoted to the Latter-Day Saint movement, openly endorsed and encouraged polygamous relationships for nearly the first century of its existence. Early church leaders such as Brigham Young and Joseph Smith, Jr. had as many as 50 wives, and preached that it was the only way to enter heaven. As the Utah Territory, settled by Mormon pioneers, fought the government of the United States for recognition as a state, the Church came under criticism for its practice of polygamy. In 1890, Church president Wilford Woodruff issued a manifesto that renounced the practice, as a condition of Utah's statehood.

Today, practice of polygamy can lead to disfellowship ([[excommunication]]) from the LDS church, and the church claims it works with the government to stop those who practice polygamy. Nevertheless, many Latter-Day Saint sects, collectively known as ''fundamentalist Mormons'', continue the practice of polygamy. The largest of these groups is the [[Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]] (FLDS Church), which is based in Texas and has approximately 10,000 members across North America.

===Temples and ceremonies===

As of 2010, the Mormon church had built 160 temples, with 22 more announced or under construction ([http://www.lds.org/temples/chronological/0,11206,1900-1,00.html LDS.org]). Mormon temples are the setting for many of the church's secretive rituals, including marriages, sealings and the mysterious [[Endownment]] ceremonies. Mormons also perform all these ceremonies, by proxy, for their ancestors who died before Mormonism came into being. Temples are also the setting for [[baptism for the dead]].

The church claims that ceremonies for the dead are limited to people for whom Mormons have discovered as ancestors through the church's extensive geneology program. But the church has been criticized in the past for posthumously baptizing people outside of their members' family trees, including many of the Founding Fathers and Jews who perished in the Holocaust.

Only Mormons, who have been screened by local priesthood leaders for a "temple recommend," may enter the temple to perform ceremonies.

===The Priesthood===
The two priesthoods that the Mormons claim are the [[Aaronic priesthood]] and the [[Melchizedek priesthood]], referred to collectively as simply the Priesthood. Both of these priesthoods are constituted by various offices and priviledges, called keys, that constitute the Mormon leadership heirarchy. The priesthood is passed, by the laying on of hands, from one priesthood holder higher up on the heirarchy.

Mormons believe that these priesthoods are the only authentic priesthoods on Earth, and that all other churches claiming divine authority from God are without authority. Mormons believe that Peter, one of Jesus's original apostles, was given the priesthood keys. But they believe that the chain of heirarchy was broken and that the [[Catholic]] church is bereft of any authority. God supposedly restored these priesthoods to the earth through Joseph Smith.

All the rituals of the Mormon church are conducted by authorized priesthood holders, including baptisms, temple weddings (known as sealings), and general-purpose blessings.

===Women's roles in Mormonism===

Mormon society, like most of Christianity, is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarchy patriarchy]. Women are subordinate to men in the organization of the church and family structures. Women are prohibited from holding either of the church's two priesthoods, and thus are prohibited from holding priesthood based callings or leadership positions within the church. Women do hold leadership positions in the church's women's organizations, such as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relief_Society Relief Society].

During the Mormon church's bi-annual broadcasts, known as general conference, the majority of the speakers are the male leaders of the church.

As children, girls and boys are separated by gender into separate Sunday school classes. They also share co-ed classes and meetings as part of the regular three hour block of Sunday meetings.

Church leaders repeatedly recommend that women, when possible, should stay at home and rear children rather than pursue professional carreers.

===Adam-God doctrine===

Brigham Young (who was the 2nd prophet of the LDS church) taught that Adam and God where in fact the same being. He taught that God came with one of his many wives to the Garden of Eden, and he was Adam. - Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, p. 50

===Eternal progression===

Eternal progression refers to as the continual development of the soul. Mormons consider each human soul to be the spiritual offspring of God, the Father. All humans who have lived, or will live on Earth, are considered to have been spiritually conceived, as spirit children, by God and one or more of his presumed wives. Jehovah is considered the firstborn spirit child of God. Satan and his followers are also spirit children. Mormons also believe that there are other habitable planets (such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolob Kolob]) in the universe, also inhabited by God's children, though Christ lived, died and was resurrected only on this planet. Thus, Mormons believe that Jesus died for the sins of all human mortals, on all planets in the universe. Presumably, there would be other gods' children in the universe, all with their own saviours, going through the same cycle of eternal progression. Whether Mormons consider these humans, belonging to other gods, to be in a separate universe of ours is the matter of some debate.

All spirit children have the potential, through eternal progression, to become gods in their own right, provided they follow God's plan. God himself is considered by Mormons to have once been a spirit child of yet other gods, an also passed through a mortal life, gaining a physical body and following his own eternal progression to his current state of godhood. Gods are thought to be eternally progressing, even though they are considered perfect, through the maturation of their spiritual progeny.

The cycle of spiritual death, physical death and redemption from both through a messianic sacrifice is continual according to this model. The goals of the cycle for each individual include: baptism by immersion, receving the [[gift of the Holy Ghost]], achieving the highest levels of the Mormon priesthood and the various Mormon temple rites. Those who follow God's plan will eventually live with God and Christ in the Celestial kingdom. Those who do not follow that plan will receive lesser [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degrees_of_glory degrees of glory] and live in either the Terrestrial kingdom, Telestial kingdom or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_darkness#Usage_in_The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints Outer darkness].

====Counter-apologetics====

The concept of Eternal progression, and of humans as gods in the making, runs into the [[infinite regress]] of [[Who created God?]].

According to this view -- gods as fully matured human beings -- God is following his plan and issuing his commandments according to the conditions required to nurture his human children into gods. This means that Mormons believe that the "good" is good, not becuase God declares it so, but because he is operating according to a set of requirements or rules not of his making (see the [[Euthyphro dilemma]]). This makes it harder for Mormons to explain away immoral actions taken by their god, including murdering millions in the [[Flood]].

===Eternal families===

Mormons believe that marital and familial bonds can continue beyond death if those family members are sealed in a Mormon temple by a priesthood holder designated as a sealer. Sealed families will remain families in the afterlife, and will be together if they all go to the same kingdom. Deceased family members may also be sealed, provide they have been baptised posthumously, by proxy.

{{Comment-box1|text=The doctrine of eternal families is problematic, as the Mormon church does grant petitions to divorced couples to have their sealings annulled. Also, only those who have been baptised into the Mormon church and are vetted through an interview process may enter a temple to perform temple rituals. So Mormons, who's spouses are not baptized, may not be sealed to their children.}}

{{Christianity}}

[[Category: Religions]]
[[Category: Religious doctrine]]

Talk:Articles of Faith (Mormonism),

2010-03-23T20:59:45Z

Rabidwriter: Talk:Articles of Faith (Mormonism), moved to Talk:Articles of Faith (Mormonism): Edited title.

#REDIRECT [[Talk:Articles of Faith (Mormonism)]]

Articles of Faith (Mormonism),

2010-03-23T20:59:45Z

Rabidwriter: Articles of Faith (Mormonism), moved to Articles of Faith (Mormonism): Edited title.

#REDIRECT [[Articles of Faith (Mormonism)]]

Talk:Articles of Faith (Mormonism)

2010-03-23T20:59:45Z

Rabidwriter: Talk:Articles of Faith (Mormonism), moved to Talk:Articles of Faith (Mormonism): Edited title.

Page begun. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 15:45, 22 March 2010 (CDT)

=The 13 Articles of Faith=

Counter-apologetics added to several articles of faith. --[[User:Rabidwriter|Rabidwriter]] 16:12, 22 March 2010 (CDT)

Articles of Faith (Mormonism)

2010-03-23T20:59:45Z

Rabidwriter: Articles of Faith (Mormonism), moved to Articles of Faith (Mormonism): Edited title.

The '''Articles of Faith''' are 13 statements that for an early [[creed]] of the [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (a.k.a. [[Mormonism]]). They were authored by [[Joseph Smith]], although they existed in an earlier form, written by [[Oliver Cowdery]].
=The 13 Articles of Faith=

1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.

{{Comment-box1|text=This is contradictory with the Mormon view of the [[Fall]]. Even if God doesn't hold all humans responsible or Adam's transgression, all humans still suffer from the effects of that sin, which is still a punishment.}}

3. We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

5. We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.

6. We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.

7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.

8. We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.

9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.

10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.

{{Comment-box1|text=As we see here, Mormons do believe in a theocracy. Some of them are waiting until Jesus comes again to rule over the Earth, but some aren't, as evidenced by Mormon involvement in politice, including the church's effort to pass [[Proposition 8]] in California in 2008.}}

11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

{{Comment-box1|text=While they say they want to "allow men the same privilege," the actions of Mormons indicate otherwise. For example: Mormons are big proponents of [[abstinence-only education]]. They not only want the option to opt out of sex education in public schools, but want to ban it altogether.}}

12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in cobeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.

13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing egood to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we fhope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.
Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith

2010-03-23T20:54:59Z

Rabidwriter: /* Treasure hunts */

{{wikify|suggest=more links in the later sections}}
{{wikipedia}}
'''Joseph Smith, Jr.''' (December 23, 1805 – June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader. He is the purported translator of the [[Book of Mormon]], a "lost testament" of [[Jesus|Jesus Christ's]] apparition to indigenous peoples of the Americas, and is the founder of the modern [[Mormonism|Latter-Day Saint]] movement.

==Early life==

Smith was born in [[Wikipedia:Sharon, Vermont|Sharon, Vermont]], to Lucy and Joseph Smith, Sr. on December 23, 1805. He grew up on a series of tenant farms in Vermont, [[Wikipedia:New Hampshire|New Hampshire]], and [[Wikipedia:New York|New York]]. Smith's education consisted of a very limited exposure to reading, writing, and arithmetic. In Lucy Smith's diaries, she later recalled that Joseph was alternately "studious and given to meditation" and "uneducated."

==First vision==

In addition to seeing visions of treasure, gold mines and lost tools, Joseph Smith also claimed visits from angels, the devil, John the Baptist, Elijah and other characters from the Bible and Book of Mormon. The most significant of these visions, and the most often repeated by Mormons, is called the First Vision. The official version of the First Vision evolved significantly over time. The earliest versions were written in 1838, 18 years after the event supposedly took place, and the details vary with each version (Brodie 1945).

In the official version, now circulated by the Mormon church, Joseph recalls being confused in 1820 by the varying claims made by Revivalist preachers who flooded New York and Pennsylvania. He encountered {{Bible|James 1:5}}, instructing any who lacked wisdom to "ask of God". Early one morning in the spring of 1820, Joseph said he retired to the secluded woods near his Palmyra home to ask God which church he should join. The following is a direct quote from the official account:

<blockquote>It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally ... I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction. But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction -- not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being -- just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I beheld two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name, and said -- pointing to the other -- "''This is my beloved Son, hear Him''."
My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therfor, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right -- and which I should join. I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong, and the personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in His sight: that those professors were all corrupt; that "they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; they teach for doctrines the comandments of men: having a form of godliness, but they deny the power therof." He again forbade me to join with any of them: and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again, I found myself lying on my back, looking up into heaven. (History of the Church, Vol. I, pp. 5-7)</blockquote>

Although Joseph Smith claimed that he told others of this vision, and was harshly persecuted by neighbors and the local clergy, there is no mention of any such local uproar or the vision in local papers or even family documents of the time (Brodie 1945).

The First Vision is a major proselyting tool for [[Mormon missionaries]].

==Treasure hunts==

History provides us with evidence suggesting that Joseph Smith had a great interest in treasure hunting or [[money-digging]]. He even claimed to be able to use [[seer stones]] and [[diving rods]] to find lost treasures. The only documented "find" that Joseph ever made is categorized as "lost tools". Usually, Joseph would approach local farmers, claim to have the ability to find treasure, dig a few holes, and then try to collect his fee. An ex-Mormon, named Hurlbut, collected 100 affidavits from Smith's neighbors regarding his various cons, including precursors to his claims about finding golden plates, which evolved into the Book of Mormon story (Brodie 1945).

Joseph Smith claimed he was visited by an angel named Moroni in 1823, who told him of an ancient record containing God's dealings with the former inhabitants of the American continent.

During the years between 1823 and 1827, Joseph and his family were engaged in many treasure hunts, throughout the north-eastern United States. It should be noted that none of those hunts resulted in the discovery of any significant treasures—other than the preported discovery of the Book of Mormon. When questioned about the lack of discovery, Smith would often claim that the treasures "had sunk lower" because of a lack of spirituality on the part of the seekers. Court records from Bainbridge, in Chenango County, New York, show that on March 20, 1826, Joseph Smith Jr. was tried and convicted of disorderly conduct and of being an imposter in relation to an event where he pretended to be able to find buried gold and treasure through the use of a magic stone or by looking into a hat. Court records show that in that same year Joseph Smith Jr. was tried in Norwich, New York for the misdemeanor crime of "glass looking" (treasure-hunting). It's unclear whether Smith was convicted and set free, or merely acquitted of the latter charge.

==Book of Mormon==

There is discrepancy in the record of when Joseph retrieved the Book of Mormon. Some accounts place the discovery as early as 1823, while others place the discovery closer to the time at which Smith transribed the account, inscribed on thin golden plates. Smith claimed that the angel, Moroni, had shown him the place where the account had been buried and asked him to dig it up. Martin Harris met Smith in Harmony, Pennsylvania, in February of 1828. They "purposed to transcribe" the plates and record the Book of Mormon. Joseph used two seer stones, the [[Urim and Thummim]] (deposited with the plates), and a hat, to translate the plates. Martin Harris would sit on the other side of a curtain and record Joseph's words. This first account, transcribed by [[Martin Harris]], was lost when Harris took the chapters home to his wife. Harris' wife claimed that "if Joseph is telling the truth, then re-writing these chapters should not prove difficult." It is unknown what Mrs. Harris did to the original transcription, but it is thought that she threw it into the fire. Martin Harris had to return to Smith and tell him what his wife had done. Joseph spent a few days in a "melancholy state" (according to the diaries of Lucy Smith) and then told Harris that God had decided that Smith should no longer translate the story of Lehi, but would translate the story of Nephi and Mosiah, through the book of Moroni. Thus, any rediscovery of the original 116 "lost pages" would not contradict the latter translations. They are simply a different testimony. The resulting manuscript, the Book of Mormon, was published in March 1830. On April 6, 1830, Joseph Smith organized The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and became its first president.

==Later life==

Joseph married Emma Hale on January 18, 1827, and was described as a loving and devoted husband. Emma Hale and Joseph Smith had eleven children (two adopted), only five of whom lived past infancy. During the thirty-nine years of his life, Joseph established thriving cities in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois; produced volumes of scripture; sent missionaries throughout the world; orchestrated the building of temples; served as mayor of Nauvoo, one of the largest cities in Illinois, and as general of its militia, the Nauvoo Legion; and was a candidate for the presidency of the United States. Joseph also created the idea of plural marriage, as one of God's holy ordinances, and had at least thirty-three wives. He was a controversial figure in American history—beloved of his followers and hated by his detractors. Joseph was killed along with his brother Hyrum by a mob in Carthage, Illinois, on June 27, 1844. Hyrum was shot. Joseph likely succumbed to two mortal wounds: a gun shot and blunt force trauma (sustained upon impact with the ground, after jumping out of a second story window).

==References==

*Brodie, Fawn. No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith. New York: Vintage Books, 1945. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Man_Knows_My_History No Man Knows My History]

[[Category:People|Smith, Joseph]]
[[Category:Christians|Smith, Joseph]]
[[Category:Mormons|Smith, Joseph]]

Joseph Smith

2010-03-23T20:53:05Z

Rabidwriter: /* Book of Mormon */

{{wikify|suggest=more links in the later sections}}
{{wikipedia}}
'''Joseph Smith, Jr.''' (December 23, 1805 – June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader. He is the purported translator of the [[Book of Mormon]], a "lost testament" of [[Jesus|Jesus Christ's]] apparition to indigenous peoples of the Americas, and is the founder of the modern [[Mormonism|Latter-Day Saint]] movement.

==Early life==

Smith was born in [[Wikipedia:Sharon, Vermont|Sharon, Vermont]], to Lucy and Joseph Smith, Sr. on December 23, 1805. He grew up on a series of tenant farms in Vermont, [[Wikipedia:New Hampshire|New Hampshire]], and [[Wikipedia:New York|New York]]. Smith's education consisted of a very limited exposure to reading, writing, and arithmetic. In Lucy Smith's diaries, she later recalled that Joseph was alternately "studious and given to meditation" and "uneducated."

==First vision==

In addition to seeing visions of treasure, gold mines and lost tools, Joseph Smith also claimed visits from angels, the devil, John the Baptist, Elijah and other characters from the Bible and Book of Mormon. The most significant of these visions, and the most often repeated by Mormons, is called the First Vision. The official version of the First Vision evolved significantly over time. The earliest versions were written in 1838, 18 years after the event supposedly took place, and the details vary with each version (Brodie 1945).

In the official version, now circulated by the Mormon church, Joseph recalls being confused in 1820 by the varying claims made by Revivalist preachers who flooded New York and Pennsylvania. He encountered {{Bible|James 1:5}}, instructing any who lacked wisdom to "ask of God". Early one morning in the spring of 1820, Joseph said he retired to the secluded woods near his Palmyra home to ask God which church he should join. The following is a direct quote from the official account:

<blockquote>It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally ... I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction. But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction -- not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being -- just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I beheld two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name, and said -- pointing to the other -- "''This is my beloved Son, hear Him''."
My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therfor, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right -- and which I should join. I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong, and the personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in His sight: that those professors were all corrupt; that "they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; they teach for doctrines the comandments of men: having a form of godliness, but they deny the power therof." He again forbade me to join with any of them: and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again, I found myself lying on my back, looking up into heaven. (History of the Church, Vol. I, pp. 5-7)</blockquote>

Although Joseph Smith claimed that he told others of this vision, and was harshly persecuted by neighbors and the local clergy, there is no mention of any such local uproar or the vision in local papers or even family documents of the time (Brodie 1945).

The First Vision is a major proselyting tool for [[Mormon missionaries]].

==Treasure hunts==

History provides us with evidence suggesting that Joseph Smith had a great interest in treasure hunting or [[money-digging]]. He even claimed to be able to use seer stones and diving rods to find lost treasures. The only documented "find" that Joseph ever made is categorized as "lost tools". Usually, Joseph would approach local farmers, claim to have the ability to find treasure, dig a few holes, and then try to collect his fee. An ex-Mormon, named Hurlbut, collected 100 affidavits from Smith's neighbors regarding his various cons, including precursors to his claims about finding golden plates, which evolved into the Book of Mormon story (Brodie 1945).

Joseph Smith claimed he was visited by an angel named Moroni in 1823, who told him of an ancient record containing God's dealings with the former inhabitants of the American continent.

During the years between 1823 and 1827, Joseph was engaged in many treasure hunts, throughout the north-eastern United States. It should be noted that none of those hunts resulted in the discovery of any significant treasures—other than the preported discovery of the Book of Mormon. When questioned about the lack of discovery, Smith would often claim that the treasures "had sunk lower" because of a lack of spirituality on the part of the seekers. Court records from Bainbridge, in Chenango County, New York, show that on March 20, 1826, Joseph Smith Jr. was tried and convicted of disorderly conduct and of being an imposter in relation to an event where he pretended to be able to find buried gold and treasure through the use of a magic stone or by looking into a hat. Court records show that in that same year Joseph Smith Jr. was tried in Norwich, New York for the misdemeanor crime of "glass looking" (treasure-hunting). It's unclear whether Smith was convicted and set free, or merely acquitted of the latter charge.

==Book of Mormon==

There is discrepancy in the record of when Joseph retrieved the Book of Mormon. Some accounts place the discovery as early as 1823, while others place the discovery closer to the time at which Smith transribed the account, inscribed on thin golden plates. Smith claimed that the angel, Moroni, had shown him the place where the account had been buried and asked him to dig it up. Martin Harris met Smith in Harmony, Pennsylvania, in February of 1828. They "purposed to transcribe" the plates and record the Book of Mormon. Joseph used two seer stones, the [[Urim and Thummim]] (deposited with the plates), and a hat, to translate the plates. Martin Harris would sit on the other side of a curtain and record Joseph's words. This first account, transcribed by [[Martin Harris]], was lost when Harris took the chapters home to his wife. Harris' wife claimed that "if Joseph is telling the truth, then re-writing these chapters should not prove difficult." It is unknown what Mrs. Harris did to the original transcription, but it is thought that she threw it into the fire. Martin Harris had to return to Smith and tell him what his wife had done. Joseph spent a few days in a "melancholy state" (according to the diaries of Lucy Smith) and then told Harris that God had decided that Smith should no longer translate the story of Lehi, but would translate the story of Nephi and Mosiah, through the book of Moroni. Thus, any rediscovery of the original 116 "lost pages" would not contradict the latter translations. They are simply a different testimony. The resulting manuscript, the Book of Mormon, was published in March 1830. On April 6, 1830, Joseph Smith organized The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and became its first president.

==Later life==

Joseph married Emma Hale on January 18, 1827, and was described as a loving and devoted husband. Emma Hale and Joseph Smith had eleven children (two adopted), only five of whom lived past infancy. During the thirty-nine years of his life, Joseph established thriving cities in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois; produced volumes of scripture; sent missionaries throughout the world; orchestrated the building of temples; served as mayor of Nauvoo, one of the largest cities in Illinois, and as general of its militia, the Nauvoo Legion; and was a candidate for the presidency of the United States. Joseph also created the idea of plural marriage, as one of God's holy ordinances, and had at least thirty-three wives. He was a controversial figure in American history—beloved of his followers and hated by his detractors. Joseph was killed along with his brother Hyrum by a mob in Carthage, Illinois, on June 27, 1844. Hyrum was shot. Joseph likely succumbed to two mortal wounds: a gun shot and blunt force trauma (sustained upon impact with the ground, after jumping out of a second story window).

==References==

*Brodie, Fawn. No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith. New York: Vintage Books, 1945. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Man_Knows_My_History No Man Knows My History]

[[Category:People|Smith, Joseph]]
[[Category:Christians|Smith, Joseph]]
[[Category:Mormons|Smith, Joseph]]

Joseph Smith

2010-03-23T20:50:45Z

Rabidwriter: /* Early life */

{{wikify|suggest=more links in the later sections}}
{{wikipedia}}
'''Joseph Smith, Jr.''' (December 23, 1805 – June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader. He is the purported translator of the [[Book of Mormon]], a "lost testament" of [[Jesus|Jesus Christ's]] apparition to indigenous peoples of the Americas, and is the founder of the modern [[Mormonism|Latter-Day Saint]] movement.

==Early life==

Smith was born in [[Wikipedia:Sharon, Vermont|Sharon, Vermont]], to Lucy and Joseph Smith, Sr. on December 23, 1805. He grew up on a series of tenant farms in Vermont, [[Wikipedia:New Hampshire|New Hampshire]], and [[Wikipedia:New York|New York]]. Smith's education consisted of a very limited exposure to reading, writing, and arithmetic. In Lucy Smith's diaries, she later recalled that Joseph was alternately "studious and given to meditation" and "uneducated."

==First vision==

In addition to seeing visions of treasure, gold mines and lost tools, Joseph Smith also claimed visits from angels, the devil, John the Baptist, Elijah and other characters from the Bible and Book of Mormon. The most significant of these visions, and the most often repeated by Mormons, is called the First Vision. The official version of the First Vision evolved significantly over time. The earliest versions were written in 1838, 18 years after the event supposedly took place, and the details vary with each version (Brodie 1945).

In the official version, now circulated by the Mormon church, Joseph recalls being confused in 1820 by the varying claims made by Revivalist preachers who flooded New York and Pennsylvania. He encountered {{Bible|James 1:5}}, instructing any who lacked wisdom to "ask of God". Early one morning in the spring of 1820, Joseph said he retired to the secluded woods near his Palmyra home to ask God which church he should join. The following is a direct quote from the official account:

<blockquote>It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally ... I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction. But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction -- not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being -- just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I beheld two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name, and said -- pointing to the other -- "''This is my beloved Son, hear Him''."
My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therfor, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right -- and which I should join. I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong, and the personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in His sight: that those professors were all corrupt; that "they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; they teach for doctrines the comandments of men: having a form of godliness, but they deny the power therof." He again forbade me to join with any of them: and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again, I found myself lying on my back, looking up into heaven. (History of the Church, Vol. I, pp. 5-7)</blockquote>

Although Joseph Smith claimed that he told others of this vision, and was harshly persecuted by neighbors and the local clergy, there is no mention of any such local uproar or the vision in local papers or even family documents of the time (Brodie 1945).

The First Vision is a major proselyting tool for [[Mormon missionaries]].

==Treasure hunts==

History provides us with evidence suggesting that Joseph Smith had a great interest in treasure hunting or [[money-digging]]. He even claimed to be able to use seer stones and diving rods to find lost treasures. The only documented "find" that Joseph ever made is categorized as "lost tools". Usually, Joseph would approach local farmers, claim to have the ability to find treasure, dig a few holes, and then try to collect his fee. An ex-Mormon, named Hurlbut, collected 100 affidavits from Smith's neighbors regarding his various cons, including precursors to his claims about finding golden plates, which evolved into the Book of Mormon story (Brodie 1945).

Joseph Smith claimed he was visited by an angel named Moroni in 1823, who told him of an ancient record containing God's dealings with the former inhabitants of the American continent.

During the years between 1823 and 1827, Joseph was engaged in many treasure hunts, throughout the north-eastern United States. It should be noted that none of those hunts resulted in the discovery of any significant treasures—other than the preported discovery of the Book of Mormon. When questioned about the lack of discovery, Smith would often claim that the treasures "had sunk lower" because of a lack of spirituality on the part of the seekers. Court records from Bainbridge, in Chenango County, New York, show that on March 20, 1826, Joseph Smith Jr. was tried and convicted of disorderly conduct and of being an imposter in relation to an event where he pretended to be able to find buried gold and treasure through the use of a magic stone or by looking into a hat. Court records show that in that same year Joseph Smith Jr. was tried in Norwich, New York for the misdemeanor crime of "glass looking" (treasure-hunting). It's unclear whether Smith was convicted and set free, or merely acquitted of the latter charge.

==Book of Mormon==

There is discrepancy in the record of when Joseph retrieved the Book of Mormon. Some accounts place the discovery as early as 1823, while others place the discovery closer to the time at which Smith transribed the account, inscribed on thin golden plates. Smith claimed that the angel, Moroni, had shown him the place where the account had been buried and asked him to dig it up. Martin Harris met Smith in Harmony, Pennsylvania, in February of 1828. They "purposed to transcribe" the plates and record the Book of Mormon. Joseph used two seer stones, the Urim and Thummim (deposited with the plates), and a hat, to translate the plates. Martin Harris would sit on the other side of a curtain and record Joseph's words. This first account, transcribed by Martin Harris, was lost when Harris took the chapters home to his wife. Harris' wife claimed that "if Joseph is telling the truth, then re-writing these chapters should not prove difficult." It is unknown what Mrs. Harris did to the original transcription, but it is thought that she threw it into the fire. Martin Harris had to return to Smith and tell him what his wife had done. Joseph spent a few days in a "melancholy state" (according to the diaries of Lucy Smith) and then told Harris that God had decided that Smith should no longer translate the story of Lehi, but would translate the story of Nephi and Mosiah, through the book of Moroni. Thus, any rediscovery of the original 116 "lost pages" would not contradict the latter translations. They are simply a different testimony. The resulting manuscript, the Book of Mormon, was published in March 1830. On April 6, 1830, Joseph Smith organized The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and became its first president.

==Later life==

Joseph married Emma Hale on January 18, 1827, and was described as a loving and devoted husband. Emma Hale and Joseph Smith had eleven children (two adopted), only five of whom lived past infancy. During the thirty-nine years of his life, Joseph established thriving cities in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois; produced volumes of scripture; sent missionaries throughout the world; orchestrated the building of temples; served as mayor of Nauvoo, one of the largest cities in Illinois, and as general of its militia, the Nauvoo Legion; and was a candidate for the presidency of the United States. Joseph also created the idea of plural marriage, as one of God's holy ordinances, and had at least thirty-three wives. He was a controversial figure in American history—beloved of his followers and hated by his detractors. Joseph was killed along with his brother Hyrum by a mob in Carthage, Illinois, on June 27, 1844. Hyrum was shot. Joseph likely succumbed to two mortal wounds: a gun shot and blunt force trauma (sustained upon impact with the ground, after jumping out of a second story window).

==References==

*Brodie, Fawn. No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith. New York: Vintage Books, 1945. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Man_Knows_My_History No Man Knows My History]

[[Category:People|Smith, Joseph]]
[[Category:Christians|Smith, Joseph]]
[[Category:Mormons|Smith, Joseph]]

Joseph Smith

2010-03-23T20:50:13Z

Rabidwriter: /* Treasure hunts */

{{wikify|suggest=more links in the later sections}}
{{wikipedia}}
'''Joseph Smith, Jr.''' (December 23, 1805 – June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader. He is the purported translator of the [[Book of Mormon]], a "lost testament" of [[Jesus|Jesus Christ's]] apparition to indigenous peoples of the Americas, and is the founder of the modern [[Mormonism|Latter-Day Saint]] movement.

==Early life==

Smith was born in [[Wikipedia:Sharon, Vermont|Sharon, Vermont]], to Lucy and Joseph Smith, on December 23, 1805. He grew up on a series of tenant farms in Vermont, [[Wikipedia:New Hampshire|New Hampshire]], and [[Wikipedia:New York|New York]]. Smith's education consisted of a very limited exposure to reading, writing, and arithmetic. In Lucy Smith's diaries, she later recalled that Joseph was alternately "studious and given to meditation" and "uneducated."

==First vision==

In addition to seeing visions of treasure, gold mines and lost tools, Joseph Smith also claimed visits from angels, the devil, John the Baptist, Elijah and other characters from the Bible and Book of Mormon. The most significant of these visions, and the most often repeated by Mormons, is called the First Vision. The official version of the First Vision evolved significantly over time. The earliest versions were written in 1838, 18 years after the event supposedly took place, and the details vary with each version (Brodie 1945).

In the official version, now circulated by the Mormon church, Joseph recalls being confused in 1820 by the varying claims made by Revivalist preachers who flooded New York and Pennsylvania. He encountered {{Bible|James 1:5}}, instructing any who lacked wisdom to "ask of God". Early one morning in the spring of 1820, Joseph said he retired to the secluded woods near his Palmyra home to ask God which church he should join. The following is a direct quote from the official account:

<blockquote>It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally ... I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction. But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction -- not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being -- just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I beheld two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name, and said -- pointing to the other -- "''This is my beloved Son, hear Him''."
My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therfor, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right -- and which I should join. I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong, and the personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in His sight: that those professors were all corrupt; that "they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; they teach for doctrines the comandments of men: having a form of godliness, but they deny the power therof." He again forbade me to join with any of them: and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again, I found myself lying on my back, looking up into heaven. (History of the Church, Vol. I, pp. 5-7)</blockquote>

Although Joseph Smith claimed that he told others of this vision, and was harshly persecuted by neighbors and the local clergy, there is no mention of any such local uproar or the vision in local papers or even family documents of the time (Brodie 1945).

The First Vision is a major proselyting tool for [[Mormon missionaries]].

==Treasure hunts==

History provides us with evidence suggesting that Joseph Smith had a great interest in treasure hunting or [[money-digging]]. He even claimed to be able to use seer stones and diving rods to find lost treasures. The only documented "find" that Joseph ever made is categorized as "lost tools". Usually, Joseph would approach local farmers, claim to have the ability to find treasure, dig a few holes, and then try to collect his fee. An ex-Mormon, named Hurlbut, collected 100 affidavits from Smith's neighbors regarding his various cons, including precursors to his claims about finding golden plates, which evolved into the Book of Mormon story (Brodie 1945).

Joseph Smith claimed he was visited by an angel named Moroni in 1823, who told him of an ancient record containing God's dealings with the former inhabitants of the American continent.

During the years between 1823 and 1827, Joseph was engaged in many treasure hunts, throughout the north-eastern United States. It should be noted that none of those hunts resulted in the discovery of any significant treasures—other than the preported discovery of the Book of Mormon. When questioned about the lack of discovery, Smith would often claim that the treasures "had sunk lower" because of a lack of spirituality on the part of the seekers. Court records from Bainbridge, in Chenango County, New York, show that on March 20, 1826, Joseph Smith Jr. was tried and convicted of disorderly conduct and of being an imposter in relation to an event where he pretended to be able to find buried gold and treasure through the use of a magic stone or by looking into a hat. Court records show that in that same year Joseph Smith Jr. was tried in Norwich, New York for the misdemeanor crime of "glass looking" (treasure-hunting). It's unclear whether Smith was convicted and set free, or merely acquitted of the latter charge.

==Book of Mormon==

There is discrepancy in the record of when Joseph retrieved the Book of Mormon. Some accounts place the discovery as early as 1823, while others place the discovery closer to the time at which Smith transribed the account, inscribed on thin golden plates. Smith claimed that the angel, Moroni, had shown him the place where the account had been buried and asked him to dig it up. Martin Harris met Smith in Harmony, Pennsylvania, in February of 1828. They "purposed to transcribe" the plates and record the Book of Mormon. Joseph used two seer stones, the Urim and Thummim (deposited with the plates), and a hat, to translate the plates. Martin Harris would sit on the other side of a curtain and record Joseph's words. This first account, transcribed by Martin Harris, was lost when Harris took the chapters home to his wife. Harris' wife claimed that "if Joseph is telling the truth, then re-writing these chapters should not prove difficult." It is unknown what Mrs. Harris did to the original transcription, but it is thought that she threw it into the fire. Martin Harris had to return to Smith and tell him what his wife had done. Joseph spent a few days in a "melancholy state" (according to the diaries of Lucy Smith) and then told Harris that God had decided that Smith should no longer translate the story of Lehi, but would translate the story of Nephi and Mosiah, through the book of Moroni. Thus, any rediscovery of the original 116 "lost pages" would not contradict the latter translations. They are simply a different testimony. The resulting manuscript, the Book of Mormon, was published in March 1830. On April 6, 1830, Joseph Smith organized The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and became its first president.

==Later life==

Joseph married Emma Hale on January 18, 1827, and was described as a loving and devoted husband. Emma Hale and Joseph Smith had eleven children (two adopted), only five of whom lived past infancy. During the thirty-nine years of his life, Joseph established thriving cities in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois; produced volumes of scripture; sent missionaries throughout the world; orchestrated the building of temples; served as mayor of Nauvoo, one of the largest cities in Illinois, and as general of its militia, the Nauvoo Legion; and was a candidate for the presidency of the United States. Joseph also created the idea of plural marriage, as one of God's holy ordinances, and had at least thirty-three wives. He was a controversial figure in American history—beloved of his followers and hated by his detractors. Joseph was killed along with his brother Hyrum by a mob in Carthage, Illinois, on June 27, 1844. Hyrum was shot. Joseph likely succumbed to two mortal wounds: a gun shot and blunt force trauma (sustained upon impact with the ground, after jumping out of a second story window).

==References==

*Brodie, Fawn. No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith. New York: Vintage Books, 1945. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Man_Knows_My_History No Man Knows My History]

[[Category:People|Smith, Joseph]]
[[Category:Christians|Smith, Joseph]]
[[Category:Mormons|Smith, Joseph]]

Joseph Smith

2010-03-23T20:43:35Z

Rabidwriter: /* First vision */

{{wikify|suggest=more links in the later sections}}
{{wikipedia}}
'''Joseph Smith, Jr.''' (December 23, 1805 – June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader. He is the purported translator of the [[Book of Mormon]], a "lost testament" of [[Jesus|Jesus Christ's]] apparition to indigenous peoples of the Americas, and is the founder of the modern [[Mormonism|Latter-Day Saint]] movement.

==Early life==

Smith was born in [[Wikipedia:Sharon, Vermont|Sharon, Vermont]], to Lucy and Joseph Smith, on December 23, 1805. He grew up on a series of tenant farms in Vermont, [[Wikipedia:New Hampshire|New Hampshire]], and [[Wikipedia:New York|New York]]. Smith's education consisted of a very limited exposure to reading, writing, and arithmetic. In Lucy Smith's diaries, she later recalled that Joseph was alternately "studious and given to meditation" and "uneducated."

==First vision==

In addition to seeing visions of treasure, gold mines and lost tools, Joseph Smith also claimed visits from angels, the devil, John the Baptist, Elijah and other characters from the Bible and Book of Mormon. The most significant of these visions, and the most often repeated by Mormons, is called the First Vision. The official version of the First Vision evolved significantly over time. The earliest versions were written in 1838, 18 years after the event supposedly took place, and the details vary with each version (Brodie 1945).

In the official version, now circulated by the Mormon church, Joseph recalls being confused in 1820 by the varying claims made by Revivalist preachers who flooded New York and Pennsylvania. He encountered {{Bible|James 1:5}}, instructing any who lacked wisdom to "ask of God". Early one morning in the spring of 1820, Joseph said he retired to the secluded woods near his Palmyra home to ask God which church he should join. The following is a direct quote from the official account:

<blockquote>It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally ... I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction. But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction -- not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being -- just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I beheld two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name, and said -- pointing to the other -- "''This is my beloved Son, hear Him''."
My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therfor, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right -- and which I should join. I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong, and the personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in His sight: that those professors were all corrupt; that "they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; they teach for doctrines the comandments of men: having a form of godliness, but they deny the power therof." He again forbade me to join with any of them: and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again, I found myself lying on my back, looking up into heaven. (History of the Church, Vol. I, pp. 5-7)</blockquote>

Although Joseph Smith claimed that he told others of this vision, and was harshly persecuted by neighbors and the local clergy, there is no mention of any such local uproar or the vision in local papers or even family documents of the time (Brodie 1945).

The First Vision is a major proselyting tool for [[Mormon missionaries]].

==Treasure hunts==

History provides us with evidence suggesting that Joseph Smith had a great interest in treasure hunting. He even claimed to be able to use seer stones and diving rods to find lost treasures. The only documented "find" that Joseph ever made is categorized as "lost tools". Usually, Joseph would approach local farmers, claim to have the ability to find treasure, dig a few holes, and then try to collect his fee. An ex-Mormon, named Hurlbut, collected 100 affidavits from Smith's neighbors regarding his various cons, including precursors to his claims about finding golden plates, which evolved into the Book of Mormon story (Brodie 1945).

In 1823, Joseph Smith said he was visited by an angel named Moroni, who told him of an ancient record containing God's dealings with the former inhabitants of the American continent.

During the years between 1823 and 1827, Joseph was engaged in many tresure hunts, throughout the north-eastern United States. It should be noted that none of those hunts resulted in the discovery of any significant treasures—other than the preported discovery of the Book of Mormon. When questioned about the lack of discovery, Smith would often claim that the treasures "had sunk lower" because of a lack of spirituality on the part of the seekers. Court records from Bainbridge, in Chenango County, New York, show that on March 20, 1826, Joseph Smith Jr. was tried and convicted of disorderly conduct and of being an imposter in relation to an event where he pretended to be able to find buried gold and treasure through the use of a magic stone or by looking into a hat. Court records show that in that same year Joseph Smith Jr. was tried in Norwich, New York for the misdemeanor crime of "glass looking" (treasure-hunting). It's unclear whether Smith was convicted and set free, or merely acquitted of the latter charge.

==Book of Mormon==

There is discrepancy in the record of when Joseph retrieved the Book of Mormon. Some accounts place the discovery as early as 1823, while others place the discovery closer to the time at which Smith transribed the account, inscribed on thin golden plates. Smith claimed that the angel, Moroni, had shown him the place where the account had been buried and asked him to dig it up. Martin Harris met Smith in Harmony, Pennsylvania, in February of 1828. They "purposed to transcribe" the plates and record the Book of Mormon. Joseph used two seer stones, the Urim and Thummim (deposited with the plates), and a hat, to translate the plates. Martin Harris would sit on the other side of a curtain and record Joseph's words. This first account, transcribed by Martin Harris, was lost when Harris took the chapters home to his wife. Harris' wife claimed that "if Joseph is telling the truth, then re-writing these chapters should not prove difficult." It is unknown what Mrs. Harris did to the original transcription, but it is thought that she threw it into the fire. Martin Harris had to return to Smith and tell him what his wife had done. Joseph spent a few days in a "melancholy state" (according to the diaries of Lucy Smith) and then told Harris that God had decided that Smith should no longer translate the story of Lehi, but would translate the story of Nephi and Mosiah, through the book of Moroni. Thus, any rediscovery of the original 116 "lost pages" would not contradict the latter translations. They are simply a different testimony. The resulting manuscript, the Book of Mormon, was published in March 1830. On April 6, 1830, Joseph Smith organized The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and became its first president.

==Later life==

Joseph married Emma Hale on January 18, 1827, and was described as a loving and devoted husband. Emma Hale and Joseph Smith had eleven children (two adopted), only five of whom lived past infancy. During the thirty-nine years of his life, Joseph established thriving cities in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois; produced volumes of scripture; sent missionaries throughout the world; orchestrated the building of temples; served as mayor of Nauvoo, one of the largest cities in Illinois, and as general of its militia, the Nauvoo Legion; and was a candidate for the presidency of the United States. Joseph also created the idea of plural marriage, as one of God's holy ordinances, and had at least thirty-three wives. He was a controversial figure in American history—beloved of his followers and hated by his detractors. Joseph was killed along with his brother Hyrum by a mob in Carthage, Illinois, on June 27, 1844. Hyrum was shot. Joseph likely succumbed to two mortal wounds: a gun shot and blunt force trauma (sustained upon impact with the ground, after jumping out of a second story window).

==References==

*Brodie, Fawn. No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith. New York: Vintage Books, 1945. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Man_Knows_My_History No Man Knows My History]

[[Category:People|Smith, Joseph]]
[[Category:Christians|Smith, Joseph]]
[[Category:Mormons|Smith, Joseph]]

Talk:Articles of Faith (Mormonism)

2010-03-22T21:12:14Z

Rabidwriter:

Rabidwriter: /* Joseph Smith */

{{wikipedia|Mormonism}}
'''Mormonism''', is a religious movement founded by [[Joseph Smith]] in the early 1800's. The official name of the church today is '''The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints''', sometimes shortened to '''LDS''' to refer to both the church or its members. Mormonism is one of the few young religions, based on [[Christianity]], along with [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] and [[Scientology]], to have survived with any significant membership.

==Church History==

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (known commonly as the Mormon church) was orginized on April 6th, 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr. and several of his followers in Palmyra, New York. Joseph proclaimed himself as a prophet, receiving visions and other revelations from [[God]], [[angels]], biblical figures and even claimed to encounter the [[Devil]]. Furthermore, Joseph Smith proclaimed that God and [[Jesus]] (although this version of the revelation would be changed many times) told him that he had been chosen by God to restore God's "true church" on this earth. This first revelation is usually set in the Spring of 1820, though the initial versions were not written down until 1828 at the earliest.

Church members are known as Mormons, or amoung themselves the saints. The Mormon Church is officially known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Church headquarters are located in Salt Lake City, Utah.

(need to add more detail and expound)

===Great Migration to Salt Lake City===

Following the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Joseph_Smith,_Jr. death of Joseph Smith], the Mormons moved westwared and eventually settled in the Salt Lake Valley in what would eventually become the Utah Territory and then the State of Utah. In the decades following, converts to Mormonism migrated to Utah, which is still largely dominated politically by the religion.

==Prophets==

===Joseph Smith===
[[Joseph Smith]] Jr. was born in Sharon, Vermont, to Lucy Mack and Joseph Smith, on December 23, 1805. Smith grew up on a series of tenant farms in Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York. Smith's education consisted of a very limited exposure to the reading, writing, and arithmetic. It is known however that his Father Joseph Sr. was a school teacher.

In 1823, Joseph Smith said he was visited by an angel named Moroni, who told him of an ancient record containing God's dealings with the former inhabitants of the American continent. These writings served as the foundation of the Mormon religion, with Joseph Smith as prophet.

====Counter-apologetics====

{{Comment-box1|text=Because of their living prophets, Mormons' doctrine has changed over time, including temple ceremonies and the church's policy of denying the priesthood to racial minorities. Most Mormons are unaware of these significant changes.
}}

===Brigham Young===

[[Brigham Young]] became the second prophet, or president, of the Mormon church after Joseph Smith was killed in 1844. He led the great migration from Illinois to the Salt Lake Valley.

==Holy Books==
Mormons do not rely solely upon the Bible as a basis for their beliefs. According to Mormonism's [[Articles of Faith]], Mormons "believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly" (Articles of Faith, 8). In fact, Joseph Smith did hazard a retranslation of the Bible. Because Mormons believe in a living prophet and continuing revelation, other official church publications are considered to be part of church doctrine.

===Book of Mormon===
Initially printed in 1830, the [[Book of Mormon]] is the primary holy book of Mormonism, though much of the church's structure and rituals are derived from the Doctrine and Covenants, which were written later. The book is similar in style and content to the Bible, but describes God's dealings with the inhabitants of the Americas, the ancestors of Native Americans. It includes the description of Christ's visit to these people after his death and resurrection, as well as the source of the "dark skin" which they received as a curse.

A foreword to the Book of Mormon contains the promise that readers may pray to God for a confirmation of it's authenticity. This promise is used extensively by Mormons (especially missionaries) in proselytizing.

===Doctrine and Covenants===

The [[Doctrine and Covenants]] is a collection of "revelations" that Joseph recieved from Jesus Christ. It contains amoung other things instructions for how the church should be run. It was originally called the "Book of Commandments"

A key section is D&C 132 which gives the requirements for Polygamy. Specificly versus 61-65.

===Pearl of Great Price===
The [[Pearl of Great Price]] is a collection of books, including translations from Egyptian papyri and the official Joseph Smith History. These books include some of the most exotic Mormon doctrines, including the plurality of gods, the potential for humans to become gods and a different portrayal of the creation story from the Old Testament book of [[Genesis]].

===Counter-apologetics===

{{Comment-box1|text=Because Mormons have many more writings, there exist more opportunities to find contradictions. Also, their world-view provides much less wiggle room for Mormon apologists. The nature of God and the way the universe works, as described in Mormon scripture, is so much more detailed that Mormons have a much harder time dealing with arguments like the [[problem of evil]], or retreating into an ill-defined [[deism]], without violating their own doctrines.}}

==Other official Mormon publications==

====Journal of Discourses====

The Journal of Discourses (often abbreviated J.D.) is a 26-volume collection of public sermons by early leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The first editions of the Journal were published in England by George D. Watt, the stenographer of Brigham Young. Publication began in 1854, with the endorsement of the church's First Presidency, and ended in 1886. The Journal is one of the richest sources of early Mormon theology and thinking. It includes 1,438 sermons given by 55 church leaders, including most numerously Brigham Young, John Taylor, Orson Pratt, Heber C. Kimball, and George Q. Cannon.

While the J.D. is not considered scripture by the modern church it is still important to it's history.

====Holy Bible: Joseph Smith Translation====

Joseph Smith also performed a "re-translation" of the King James version of the Holy Bible. Mormon's include these translations as footnotes in their versions of the Bible. In his translation, Smith attempts to clarify contradictory passages to fit more precisely with the Book of Mormon and his other writings.

==Church Doctrine==

===Mormon world view===

Mormons believe that human beings have the potential, if they follow God's plan, to become gods themselves([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/132/20#20 D&C 132:20]). In the Mormon world view, the purpose of the existence of this world is as a training ground for new gods. According to that view, human souls or intelligences existed in heaven, with God, before birth. Receiving a physical body, and eventually a perfected body after the final [[resurrection]], is part of becoming like God the Father and Jesus Christ, who both have bodies of "flesh and bones" ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/130/22#22 D&C 130:22])

===Polygamy===
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the largest church devoted to the Latter-Day Saint movement, openly endorsed and encouraged polygamous relationships for nearly the first century of its existence. Early church leaders such as Brigham Young and Joseph Smith, Jr. had as many as 50 wives, and preached that it was the only way to enter heaven. As the Utah Territory, settled by Mormon pioneers, fought the government of the United States for recognition as a state, the Church came under criticism for its practice of polygamy. In 1890, Church president Wilford Woodruff issued a manifesto that renounced the practice, as a condition of Utah's statehood.

Today, practice of polygamy can lead to disfellowship ([[excommunication]]) from the LDS church, and the church claims it works with the government to stop those who practice polygamy. Nevertheless, many Latter-Day Saint sects, collectively known as ''fundamentalist Mormons'', continue the practice of polygamy. The largest of these groups is the [[Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]] (FLDS Church), which is based in Texas and has approximately 10,000 members across North America.

===Temples and ceremonies===

As of 2010, the Mormon church had built 160 temples, with 22 more announced or under construction ([http://www.lds.org/temples/chronological/0,11206,1900-1,00.html LDS.org]). Mormon temples are the setting for many of the church's secretive rituals, including marriages, sealings and the mysterious [[Endownment]] ceremonies. Mormons also perform all these ceremonies, by proxy, for their ancestors who died before Mormonism came into being. Temples are also the setting for [[baptism for the dead]].

The church claims that ceremonies for the dead are limited to people for whom Mormons have discovered as ancestors through the church's extensive geneology program. But the church has been criticized in the past for posthumously baptizing people outside of their members' family trees, including many of the Founding Fathers and Jews who perished in the Holocaust.

Only Mormons, who have been screened by local priesthood leaders for a "temple recommend," may enter the temple to perform ceremonies.

===The Priesthood===
The two priesthoods that the Mormons claim are the [[Aaronic priesthood]] and the [[Melchizedek priesthood]], referred to collectively as simply the Priesthood. Both of these priesthoods are constituted by various offices and priviledges, called keys, that constitute the Mormon leadership heirarchy. The priesthood is passed, by the laying on of hands, from one priesthood holder higher up on the heirarchy.

Mormons believe that these priesthoods are the only authentic priesthoods on Earth, and that all other churches claiming divine authority from God are without authority. Mormons believe that Peter, one of Jesus's original apostles, was given the priesthood keys. But they believe that the chain of heirarchy was broken and that the [[Catholic]] church is bereft of any authority. God supposedly restored these priesthoods to the earth through Joseph Smith.

All the rituals of the Mormon church are conducted by authorized priesthood holders, including baptisms, temple weddings (known as sealings), and general-purpose blessings.

===Women's roles in Mormonism===

Mormon society, like most of Christianity, is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarchy patriarchy]. Women are subordinate to men in the organization of the church and family structures. Women are prohibited from holding either of the church's two priesthoods, and thus are prohibited from holding priesthood based callings or leadership positions within the church. Women do hold leadership positions in the church's women's organizations, such as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relief_Society Relief Society].

During the Mormon church's bi-annual broadcasts, known as general conference, the majority of the speakers are the male leaders of the church.

As children, girls and boys are separated by gender into separate Sunday school classes. They also share co-ed classes and meetings as part of the regular three hour block of Sunday meetings.

Church leaders repeatedly recommend that women, when possible, should stay at home and rear children rather than pursue professional carreers.

===Adam-God doctrine===

Brigham Young (who was the 2nd prophet of the LDS church) taught that Adam and God where in fact the same being. He taught that God came with one of his many wives to the Garden of Eden, and he was Adam. - Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, p. 50

===Eternal progression===

Eternal progression refers to as the continual development of the soul. Mormons consider each human soul to be the spiritual offspring of God, the Father. All humans who have lived, or will live on Earth, are considered to have been spiritually conceived, as spirit children, by God and one or more of his presumed wives. Jehovah is considered the firstborn spirit child of God. Satan and his followers are also spirit children. Mormons also believe that there are other habitable planets (such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolob Kolob]) in the universe, also inhabited by God's children, though Christ lived, died and was resurrected only on this planet. Thus, Mormons believe that Jesus died for the sins of all human mortals, on all planets in the universe. Presumably, there would be other gods' children in the universe, all with their own saviours, going through the same cycle of eternal progression. Whether Mormons consider these humans, belonging to other gods, to be in a separate universe of ours is the matter of some debate.

All spirit children have the potential, through eternal progression, to become gods in their own right, provided they follow God's plan. God himself is considered by Mormons to have once been a spirit child of yet other gods, an also passed through a mortal life, gaining a physical body and following his own eternal progression to his current state of godhood. Gods are thought to be eternally progressing, even though they are considered perfect, through the maturation of their spiritual progeny.

The cycle of spiritual death, physical death and redemption from both through a messianic sacrifice is continual according to this model. The goals of the cycle for each individual include: baptism by immersion, receving the [[gift of the Holy Ghost]], achieving the highest levels of the Mormon priesthood and the various Mormon temple rites. Those who follow God's plan will eventually live with God and Christ in the Celestial kingdom. Those who do not follow that plan will receive lesser [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degrees_of_glory degrees of glory] and live in either the Terrestrial kingdom, Telestial kingdom or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_darkness#Usage_in_The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints Outer darkness].

====Counter-apologetics====

The concept of Eternal progression, and of humans as gods in the making, runs into the [[infinite regress]] of [[Who created God?]].

According to this view -- gods as fully matured human beings -- God is following his plan and issuing his commandments according to the conditions required to nurture his human children into gods. This means that Mormons believe that the "good" is good, not becuase God declares it so, but because he is operating according to a set of requirements or rules not of his making (see the [[Euthyphro dilemma]]). This makes it harder for Mormons to explain away immoral actions taken by their god, including murdering millions in the [[Flood]].

===Eternal families===

Mormons believe that marital and familial bonds can continue beyond death if those family members are sealed in a Mormon temple by a priesthood holder designated as a sealer. Sealed families will remain families in the afterlife, and will be together if they all go to the same kingdom. Deceased family members may also be sealed, provide they have been baptised posthumously, by proxy.

The doctrine of eternal families is problematic, as the Mormon church does grant petitions to divorced couples to have their sealings annulled. Also, only those who have been baptised into the Mormon church and are vetted through an interview process may enter a temple to perform temple rituals. So Mormons, who's spouses are not baptized, may not be sealed to their children.

{{Christianity}}

[[Category: Religions]]
[[Category: Religious doctrine]]