History of Mormonism
The history of the Mormon Church is both inspiring and tragic. It is a story of faith and sacrifice deeply interwoven with the history of America and increasingly with the history of the world. From the earliest days of Mormon history until today, faithful Mormons have had to overcome tremendous obstacles to remain faithful. While Mormons do not face violent mobs today as they once did, members must confront a busy, secularized world that attacks the core values of faith in God.
Purpose of this site
This website aims to share that history with the world, so that their stories of faith in God, dedication to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to one another can inspire others. As this site grows it will include a detailed history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as the Mormon Church is properly known, from its founding by the Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1830 up to the current time. Biographies of important leaders and prominent members will show the human side of Mormon history and the ways in which the Lord works among people today to spread the good news of the Gospel to the whole world. Other articles will help those who are new to the story of Mormonism in understanding the teachings and practices of the Mormon Church.
An invitation
We invite you to read the stories of the faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and to ponder the faith and belief which inspired them to give up everything they had to follow God, even at the risk of losing their own lives. We invite to read their stories and draw inspiration from their courage and dedication in building up the Kingdom of God here on earth.
Hi. Thanks for your work on this website. During my visit, I saw that the Joseph Smitht link at the top has a typo. Best wishes!
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karenrose Reply:
January 28th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Thanks, I don’t see it; perhaps it was fixed.
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I’m a none denomination Christian.Mormanism didn’t start until the 1800’s.This has to do with other religions such as the luthern baptist and so on. These churches started long after Christ was put on the cross.
Christianity is not a religion but a reality. Each one of these religions branched off and started there own groups and started their own traditions and this is against Gods teachings.Believe Gods teachings and not the teachings of man.
It’s like the Rapture, there is no place in the Bible that teaches this. This was started in England in the 1830’s by a woman that was mentally ill. Her name was Margaret McCDonald.
I just don’t understand why that different groups would creat their own church and change the word of our God.
Christianity is open to everyone,not having secret places and secret ceremonies with in the church. Jesus and his diciples taught to everyone not just to a few or in a secret place but to all.
When you go to church or watch it on tv all you
hear is maybe one or two verses and the preacher goes off on talking about something else or asking for more money. If a church is blessed they shouldn’t have to go begging. Jesus told his disiples not to take a begging bag with them.
Thank you for reading
God Bless You All
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Rameumptom Reply:
May 15th, 2009 at 10:31 am
Steve,
Thanks for your comments. We believe that Christianity is a large tent, also. We believe that Christ’s salvation will come to almost all mankind, except for those who fully reject him and become allies to Satan.
We also believe that there are levels of heaven and salvation, such as was believed by early Jews and Christians (see 2 Corinthians 12:1-4 as an example).
We do not believe in the Rapture, either.
As for Christ’s teaching. Many of the things he taught WERE in secret to his apostles. He took Peter, Jame and John to the Mount of Transfiguration, where they saw and heard many marvelous things. Upon descending, Jesus commanded them to keep it a secret. There are many early Christian writings that include statements that there were secret teachings from Jesus and his apostles, which were saved for those who were fully initiated/prepared.
Many Christian churches actively ask for money, because they pay the salaries of the preachers from it, among other things. In the LDS Church, a few of the top leaders receive a stipend, paid for from investments the Church makes. All of the other positions, including bishops and pastors on all levels, do it for free. They all have their regular jobs, and then serve in Christ’s Church for the hope of blessing God’s children, and serving God the best way they can.
I’m glad to see we agree on many things with you and your beliefs. I can see that your worship of Christ has greatly blessed and benefited you, as it has for me.
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Chris Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:35 am
Well the bible does speak of a “rapture” in several places, but is it not before the tribulation. Its at the 7th trumpet right before the bowls of Gods wrath. just wanted to agree with you and add that in there cause i saw where you were going
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What exactly do you believe in and why? I mean what makes your religion unique????
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Mormonism is unique in all the world, because it is the restoration of Christ’s ancient Church. As a restoration of the true gospel, the church was restored under the personal direction of Jesus Christ through modern prophets. Christ has given these prophets the authority to act in His name, and this is the only church that has that priesthood authority. This authority brings power, the power to heal, the power to receive revelation, and all the spiritual gifts, and the power to attain joy; the power to seal families together forever to be reunited in heaven. Mormons are the happiest people on earth.
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Hi Gale, I feel compelled to share with you that Mormonism is not the “restored church”. For one the books of Revelations says do not change the Bible which Joseph Smith did, even adding a verse to predict his own coming in Genesis 50. Many Mormons will state that he was referring to the book of Revelation only. There are two problems with that, One, John in Revelation is in the future looking backwards which means the collection of Books in the Bible had already been constructed so he is actually referencing the entire Bible. Second, Joseph Smith did change the book of Revelation. Chapter 22:18-19 state clearly the consequences of doing so. The Bible is God breathed – inspired and was done so before a couple thousand years before Joseph Smith. This God inspired and guided (by the Holy Spirit) book. It took 1500 years and 40 people to contribute to the Bible all of different classes, occupations, and areas yet there are no contradictions. The Dead Sea Scrolls have shown that the error rate was minimal, about 40 changes and none of them significant to the doctrine. Why? Because not even Satan has the power to surpress God’s word, so the restoration of God’s word via the Inspired Bible is unwarranted as are the changes. It took those people that long to convey God’s word and 1,000 of well versed Greek and Hebrew scholars years to translate their work yet Joseph Smith translated it in three years. Simple logic shows us the fallacy here. This combined with the fact that Jesus himself used scripture to counteract evil including Satan himself shows that scripture as it has been translated for years is sufficient alone. America was not included because it was pretty much irrelevant to the holy land. The only real plausible existence of America in scripture is in the book of Revelation where John is describing the three beasts – Bear, Lion, and Leopard. The Book of Mormon is not the most perfect book for there are several thousand changes including significant doctrinal ones. Be wary of anyone especially an organization (Not Scripturally supported) who says Satan is tempting you if you decide to investigate the true history of a religion so you won’t do it. This is an obvious sign that the individuals are no good. Remember scripture is sufficient alone for anyone to know Christ and determine correct teachings. To say that God’s word was somehow surpressed is to denounce its divinity and inspiration as such. This is blashpemy in a way. I am willing to speak to anyone and provide scriptural support so that we can stop Satan’s greatest weapon, False Christianity. Please let me show you Christ’s love. Raemeumpton, there are three degress of heaven (Atmospheric, Stellar, Cellestial), but they are not in the form that the Mormons proclaim as the scriptures notes. Thank you for allowing me to post and I look forward to any civilized discussion on how scripture supports unity in one Christian faith and what that entails. We can use any Bible you’d like, including the Jehovah Witness Bible which is an organization that stems from the same roots as Mormonism, or even the Inspired KJV Bible. Do not take your salvation lightly, investigate all who claim to have the truth, especially ones that previously claimed to have to ONLY true religion for their are many.
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jj Reply:
June 17th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Rob,
I would love to opportunity to discuss this with you. I appreciate your intent, as I hope it is sincere. I would hope that you would be a little more humble in your opinions or statements of purported fact. There is much of biblical history here that is not correct or stretched to support your perspective, taking no thought for the reality that exists. You are terribly critical of the veracity of the Book of Mormon and address its changes, but speak nothing to the hundreds of thousands of changes, which man has made to our current bible. You seem willing to accept any bible, so long as it is called such, but could care less of the differences in content. You seem to live in a world where to you the Bible is without flaw and is perfect and nothing can change that. Having said this, I love the Bible and am an avid student of it and believer; nevertheless, I do not live in a fantasy where I presume that the Bible is perfect and that God has ceased speaking to His children.
I would love to hear your chronological history of John the Beloved and when his books were written. You may be interested to know that Revelations is believed by most biblical scholars to be the first book he wrote followed by the books of John, followed by the Gospel. Now if you read what John says in Revelations he says: “adds to the Book of THIS PROPHESY“, not the Bible. It wasn’t assembled. I would also be interested to know your thoughts on Deuteronomy 4 and why Moses would say the same thing in the Old Testament. Should we then be Jews? Should we be rid of the New Testament? It is believed that Moses was the author of Deuteronomy. If so, did he not also see the future? Where is your argument then?
I would love the opportunity to respond to any other respectful question that you may have.
Jonathan
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