Mormonism

Mormonism

Anne M Cunningham

HUM/130

March 7, 2010

Andrea Lynch

Mormonism

In 1820 a young man by the name of Joseph Smith Jr. had a vision that would bring about a change to the religious world as it was known at that time. A new religion was created with ties to the Bible but also with a new book, The Book of Mormon. This new religious movement brought on by the visions of Joseph Smith had beliefs that had not been practiced for many years and the followers would suffer great persecution for these beliefs. But through it all Mormonism would survive and has become one of the largest religions in the world today and continues to grow at an astounding rate.

Joseph Smith’s Visions

Joseph Smith Jr. was born in Sharon, Vermont on December 23, 1805. His parents Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith were tenant farmers and Joseph Smith Jr. spent most of his time working on the family farm. He had no formal education but did know how to read, write and also knew some arithmetic. Early on in his young life Joseph Smith Jr. became disillusioned by the religions in the area believing that over time they had changed to meet the needs of the followers. Joseph longed to know what the true religion was as all of the different churches seemed to teach something different. He was confused. While reading in his Bible Joseph came across a passage that changed his life forever. The epistle of James 1:5, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him”. Acting upon this revelation, when he was fourteen years old Joseph Smith Jr. went to a secluded area in the woods of upstate New York where he and his family now lived, and prayed to God that he would show him the way and tell him which church he should join and which religion was the right one. According to Joseph he was visited by two beings that identified themselves as God and his son Jesus Christ. Joseph was told that he should not follow any...