Latter Day Saints (Mormons): Key facts

Latter Day Saints (Mormons)

Latter Day Saints (Mormons): Key facts

Christian Sects

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Information: This section contains a brief summary of the history and key beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons). A version of this article was originally published on the website www.faithnet.org.uk.

'I asked [God] who stood above me in the light, which of all the [churches] was right - and which I should join. I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong.' (Joseph Smith)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was founded by Joseph Smith in New York in 1820, after he was told by God that he had been called to restore the church, which they believe had fallen away from true teachings of Jesus Christ (also know as apostasy).

Having thus been called, he was then directed to a set of golden plates by the Angel Moroni (after which the Book of Mormon is named), upon which God's true revelation was said to be written. These plates had been buried in Cumorah Hill near New York, and were written in hieroglyphics.

Unable to read the plates at first, Joseph Smith translated them using special glasses, which had the stones Urim and Thummim set in them as lenses. Smith was soon joined by a man called Oliver Cowdrey who helped him write down the translation from the plates. It is said that both these men were later initiated into the 'Aaronic priesthood' by John the Baptist.

The Book of Mormon was published in 1830.

Front cover of The Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon (Another testament of Jesus Christ)

From 1831-1838 the church was based in Kirtland, Ohio. It was also there that members built the first temple. In 1938 the church moved to Nauvoo, Illinois, where a new temple was built.

In 1844 Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were murdered (martyred) by a mob, whilst awaiting trial in a jail in Carthage, Illinois. They had been charged with destroying a printing press.

Death masks of Joseph (left) and Hyrum Smith

After a brief 'succession crisis', in 1847 Brigham Young and the Twelve Apostles (Quorum of the Twelve) were recognised (by most members) as the authorised leaders of the newly reformed church.

In 1846, due to ongoing opposition in Illinois, Brigham Young led church from Illinois to the shores of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. They arrived there in July 1847.

In 1853 they began work on a new temple (Salt Lake Temple), which was finally completed forty years later in 1893.

Salt Lake City temple

The Salt Lake City temple, Utah

It was also under the leadership of Brigham Young that Mormons publicly practiced polygamy (plural marriage), something eventually outlawed by the fourth church president Wilford Woodruff in 1890.

According to the teachings of the church members are to preserve their bodies, and are not to drink alcohol, caffeine based products (E.g. Coca-Cola) or use tobacco. Each member of the church is also required to give a tenth of their income (tithe) to the church, and young people between the ages of 19 and 21 are encouraged to spend two years doing missionary work on a self-supporting basis.

'Mormons' have a practical religion of good works and clean living, and a number many powerful and influential people amongst their converts (E.g. 2008 US presidential candidate Mitt Romney). In emphasising the importance of missionary activity the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has become internationally famous on both radio and TV.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have a number of beliefs which run contrary to those of the mainstream Christian church. Apart from holding that the King James Version is the only correctly translated version of the Bible, they also recognise three other books as being Divinely 'revealed': There are The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price.

The Book of Mormon gives an account of groups of people who left the Ancient Near East, and their journey and life in North America. The Book of Mormon also says that after his crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus Christ visited the Lamenites and Nephites in North America, amongst whom he instigated the rites of baptism and communion. However, these two groups were wiped out before they could implement this new order (begun again under Joseph Smith).

For 'Mormons' the Book of Mormon does not supersede the Bible, but is another (complementary) testimony to the truth of the Christian gospel. The phrase 'Latter Day Saints' also indicates that 'Mormons' believe they are a latter day restoration of the church Jesus Christ originally set up on earth.

Within ten years of being formed in 1830, membership in the church increased to over 16,000 members. In 2006, the church recorded over 12 million members worldwide and was growing at a rate of 300,000 new members a year (See Membership history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Wikipedia). Although it does not publish its financial accounts, it has been suggested that the church has accumulated assets worth over $2 billion (US dollars).

Worldwide LDS church headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah