New Religious movements Joseph Smith is the founder of Mormonism Disadvantaged background NY Part of Methodist church for a while but wasn t satisfied with any of the denominations at the time First Vision around 14 goes out to the woods to pray to ask God which of the churches is right and he is visited by God the father and Jesus Christ as material beings Not important to early Mormonism but very important to contemporary Mormonism Got arrested for treasure hunting with magic disorderly person As a young man he is visited 3 times by an angel who tells him the story about golden plates buried by his home with a record of people that Jesus visited used them to translate the book of Mormon Kept them hidden only person who saw them but others know they existed The book was translated by the plates sitting near by him covered by a linen and him looking into his hat and speaking what he read A lot of Mormons spend time making archaeological digs to Book of Mormon confirmed that God still worked in the world and confirm this converted many Ongoing revelation is necessary and the authority rests in the prophet expect to receive messages from God Utah was established to create a kingdom on Earth 3 Mormon wars occurred in threats to get rid of them establish celestial marriage a different kind of covenant sealed to each other for eternity polygamy only about 20 participate in this work against romantic love more humanitarian more focus on community than loving relationships a real sacrifice for the good of the community to create large families Mormon Cosmology From earth to paradise or prison holding areas until resurrection and to either 3 levels of heaven if you reach the highest you can visit the other 2 The outer darkness is for those who did really bad If you re single you re a servant to those who are on their way to obtaining God The point is to become a God and create your own universe Heaven is whatever you want it to be Mormon Restorations Restore powers of the early church Radical Joseph Smith decides to run for president and creates his own army Murdered in prison Becomes a martyr for Mormons Decades of anti Mormon legislation to rid the U S of Mormonism Utah War 1 3 of state troops are sent Forgotten about due to civil war But later denied the right to vote because of polygamy Reynolds Case practiced polygamy and went to court saying his freedom of religion was violated court found the freedom of religion to apply to only what you believe not what you practice
View Full Document
Unlocking...