Who Are Mormons? Origins And Beliefs Of This Religion
Those popularly known as Mormons, officially called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are a variant of Christianity whose members consider their set of beliefs and rituals an update of the “original” idea of Christianity.
The essential particularity of the Mormons is the staging of their appearance. Contrary to the mythology and mysticism that surrounds the recognized prophets of the three great religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), its founder and also considered a Mormon Prophet, was a normal and ordinary person who lived during the modern age: Joseph Smith Jr
It happens that in every new branch of a monotheistic religion, controversy appears and expands from time to time. In the case of the appearance of the Mormons, their emergence from someone of flesh and blood was at the time a great cause for controversy.
One of the curiosities of Mormons is their recent creation and in a relatively recent environment. Shortly after the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America, a humble boy of farmer parents settled in the town of Palmyra, New York, began to have revelations when he was still a teenager, at the age of 14.
According to his direct testimony, Joseph Smith Jr. had witnessed how Jesus of Nazareth himself had approached him to grant him the privileged title of “prophet on Earth” to spread God’s last message and the restoration of the “Primitive Church of Jesus Christ” with a new prism, detaching itself from the Christian postulates and the official Catholic Church. It just so happens that all of this takes place during a time of national construction and identity construction in the United States.
This doctrine originates from “The First Vision” that Joseph Smith had in 1820 A few years later, while Joseph Smith Jr. was praying, he had another apparition of the angel Moroni (son of the prophet Moron), which would give him the popular name we know today. It is at that moment where theologians establish the most discussed controversy.
The testimony left by the Mormon prophet is that the angel gave him specific geographical indications to collect plates of pure gold on which the true commandments of Jesus Christ were engraved. Smith did not hesitate to obey in the search for evidence. After several failed attempts at digging land, he finally got hold of those plates and was impressed by the event he had just witnessed.
The Mormon Text Controversy
Taking into account other aspects of Mormonism that we will discuss later, the essential basis of the controversy between this religion and the rest of the variants of Christianity lies in the discovery of the works buried in a field on the outskirts of New York. Without evidence or testimony beyond Smith himself (as happens with other religions), Mormons defend the idea that the plates were, as the angel Moroni had revealed, next to some “seer” stones that would help translate the manuscripts. .
Then the mother of all suspicions arises: These texts were intelligible, the language was unknown and, according to Joseph himself, it was a mixture of Greek and Hebrew However, the solution was found in a type of mask with lenses that allowed him to translate the writings found into English. This is how it led to the publication of the Book of Mormon in the year 1830. However, further hampering the credibility of the Mormon prophet, historians claim that he barely knew how to read and write. How could he then transcribe the original texts?
To the further frustration of the defenders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Smith could not finish translating the entire contents of the Book because the angel who had designated him heir of its message took away all the elements that he ordered to be exhumed. along with all complementary accessories. Likewise, Joseph was given time to flesh out the 15-volume work with relevant chapters and verses identical in structure to any other religious book, but with a greater number of volumes.
Main differences with other branches of Christianity
Mormons They have some very profound differential characteristics with the rest of Christians, especially when it comes to marriage In their fundamental bases, Mormons allowed polygamy, as happens with Islam, but with a greater number of spouses. Joseph Smith himself consummated a total of 40 marriages and had around fifty parents.
As could be expected, he was the subject of another host of suspicions about the true purposes of the Mormon prophet, whose detractors accused him of being a deceiver and manipulator with women with the sole objective of maintaining sexual relations through the new prophecy he disseminated. In fact, historians suppose, Mormons had to rethink that discordant element, and currently only monogamy is allowed
In the same way, the Primitive Gospel Movement currently has the characteristic of accepting and adopting homosexual and transgender members, and they have even explicitly offered support for protection laws against the LGBT community in the United States, especially by the hand of Mitt Romney, being the first Mormon candidate for president of the country in 2012.
Persecution, expansion and current influence of this religion
Mormons were victims of persecution from the beginning of their founding Joseph Smith was charged with crimes of public disorder, sectarianism and sedition. In fact, the prophet and his followers had to found their own city to avoid persecution.
So that, The persecution led to the birth of Nauvoo (The Beautiful, in Hebrew) in the year 1839, current state of Illinois, USA. There they wanted to settle and establish their headquarters after the Mormon War in Missouri, from where they were exiled.
After countless escapes, accusations, lynchings and a long history of both political and religious accusations, Joseph Smith was murdered in 1844 by a group of anti-Mormons in the prison where he was held in the city of Carthage, Illinois. With some internal tensions and divisions, the Mormons soon appointed their new prophet, a disciple of Smith, Brigham Young, nicknamed “the American Moses,” as he helped continue expanding the creed throughout the country.
Today, this branch of Christianity continues to grow gradually throughout the Globe. It has about 10 million parishioners and according to some studies and reports, a growth of 120% is estimated by the year 2080. Its headquarters are located in Salt Lake City, in the State of Utah, whose founder was Smith’s successor.
