Mormonism began with Joseph Smith Jr. who
was born on Dec. 23, 1805, in Vermont. He
was the fourth child of Lucy and Joseph Smith.
Joseph senior was known as a money digger
and sought after buried treasure, particularly
that of Captain Kidd. His mother was highly
superstitious.
Joseph Smith Jr. stated that he was disturbed
by all the different denominations of Christianity
and wondered which was true. In 1820, when
he was 14, he went into the woods to pray
concerning this and allegedly God the Father
and Jesus appeared to him and told him not
to join any of the denominational churches.
Three years later, on Sept. 21, 1823, when
he was 17 years old, an angel called Moroni,
who was supposed to be the son of Mormon,
the leader of the people called the Nephites
who had lived in the Americas, appeared to
him and told him that he had been chosen to
translate the book of Mormon which was compiled
by Moroni's father around the 4th century.
The book was written on golden plates hidden
near where Joseph was then living in Palmyra,
New York. Joseph Smith said that on Sept.
22, 1827 he received the plates and the angel
Moroni instructed him to begin the translation
process. The translation was finally published
in 1830 as the Book of Mormon. Joseph claimed
that during this translation process, John
the Baptist appeared to him and ordained him
to accomplish the divine work of restoring
the true church by preaching the true gospel
which, allegedly, had been lost from the earth.
The Book of Mormon is supposed to be the account
of people who came from the Middle-East to
the Americas. It covers the period of about
600 B.C. to 400 A.D. It tells of the Jaredites,
people from the Tower of Babel who came to
central America but perished because of their
own immorality. It also describes some Jews
who fled persecution in Jerusalem and came
to America led by a man called Nephi. The
Jews divided into two groups known as the
Nephites and Lamanites who fought each other.
The Nephites were defeated in 428 A.D. The
Lamanites continued and are known as the American
Indians. The Book of Mormon is the account
of the Nephite leader, Mormon, concerning
their culture, civilization, and appearance
of Jesus to the Americas.
After the publication of the Book of Mormon,
Mormonism began to grow. Because their religion
was so deviant from Christianity, i.e., plurality
of gods, polygamy (Joseph is said to have
had 27 wives), etc., persecution soon forced
them to move from New York to Ohio, then to
Missouri, and finally to Nauvoo, Illinois.
After being accused of breaking some laws
in Nauvoo (for destroying a printing press
that was publishing harmful information on
Mormonism), Joseph and his brother Hyrum ended
up in jail. A mob later broke into the jail
and killed Joseph and his brother.
After the shooting, the church divided into
two groups: One led by his widow which went
back to Independence Missouri. They are known
as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints. They claim to be the
true Church and lay claim to the legal succession
of the church presidency which was bestowed
upon Joseph's son by Joseph Smith himself.
The other group was led by Brigham Young and
they went to Utah where, in 1847, they ended
up in Salt Lake and founded Salt Lake City.
Brigham had 25 wives and accumulated much
wealth.
