Research Paper on "Mormonism the Religious Faith"

Research Paper 8 pages (2581 words) Sources: 8

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Mormonism

The religious faith of Mormonism since its founding in 1829 has been provocative in its policies -- particularly regarding polygamy -- and on the other hand has had extraordinary success in building a large congregation of believers. This paper reviews the major tenets of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, including the theological foundation of Mormonism, and points to the differences between Mormonism and the traditional orthodox Christian faith.

The Founding of the Mormon Faith

As Christian-based faiths go, the Mormon faith is very new, and takes its original spiritual guidance from events that happened to Joseph Smith on September 21, 1823. According to the accounts given by the Mormon founder Smith, he was about to say his prayers when a "light" appeared in his room, brighter than the noonday sun, and following the light a "personage" with a robe of "exquisite whiteness" showed up beside his bed. The personage did not stand on the floor next to the bed, he floated in thin air, according to Smith's account (Hardy, 2005, p. 633).

Smith described this personage (apparition) in great detail in Hardy's book, The Book of Mormon: A Reader's Edition. The apparition was "glorious beyond description" and the countenance of the figure was "truly like lightning" and upon first glance Smith said he was afraid. "But fear soon left me" Smith went on, when the apparition called his name and stated that he was "a messenger sent from the presence of God to me… [and] that God had work for me to do" (Hardy, 633).

The description of this event is lengthy, heavily detailed, and the tone is mystical. Clearly Smith was stunned and mesmerized by this event -- as any human would be. The pivotal part of the messenger's visit though was to tell Smith that there was a "book deposited, written upon gold plates" that offered an account of indigenous peoples that reportedly lived on the North American continent at some ancient time. This book was "delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants" of the continent and that there would be translations available, Hardy continues (634). Smith was urged not to show the plates to anyone, and that later he would be "commanded to show them" to certain persons.

When all the pertinent information had been passed to Smith, the light in the room "began to gather immediately around the person… until the room was again left dark except just around him" (634). At that point a "conduit" opened up that went "right up to heaven, and he ascended until he entirely disappeared" and the room returned to normal (Hardy, 634). A few moments went by and suddenly the messenger appeared again and according to Hardy's account, which is presented in the book as an official excerpt, the "personage" re-appeared and emphasized the same points he had earlier made. He explained that "great judgments" were about to be brought to earth, "with great desolations by famine, sword, and pestilence; and that these grievous judgments would come on the earth in this generation" (Hardy, 634).

The plates that Smith uncovered in northern New York State -- represented today in the title page of the Book of Mormon -- came in several "classes." The Plates of Nephi (the large plates in this category were devoted to the "secular history of the peoples concerned; the smaller plates in the Nephi category contained "mostly… sacred records") (Hardy, 656). The second class was called The Plates of Mormon (these plates contain "commentaries and a continuation of the history" of ancient peoples that populated the continent, by Nephi) (Hardy, 656). The third series of plates, The Plates of Ether, contained a history of "the Jaredites" and was abridged by Moroni, who "inserted comments of his own" and incorporated the general history of Moroni. And the fourth set of plates were called The Brass Plates of Laban reportedly brought by "the people of Lehi from Jerusalem"; these plates contain Hebrew scriptures and genealogies, according to Hardy on page 656.

How Can Researchers in the Twenty-First Century Verify the Veracity of Smith?

In Hardy's book he quotes "The Testimony of Three Witnesses" from the original edition of the Book of Mormon. The "witnesses" were Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris; "Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people…That we, through the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, have seen the plates which contain this record," the testimony explains (Hardy, 632). The three assert they know these plates have been translated by the "gift and power of God, for his voice hath declared it unto us" (Hardy, 632). And the witnesses did not just see the plates, they "declare with words of soberness, that an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and the engravings thereon" (Hardy, 632). There is also the testimony of eight witnesses in Hardy's book; the eight pretty much echoed what the three witnesses had said, adding, "And we lie not, God bearing witness of it" (Hardy, 633).

In James Snowden's book (The Truth about Mormonism) the author takes issue with some of the assertions of the Mormon Church vis-a-vis how Smith was instructed to launch the denomination and also Snowden questions the veracity of the gold plates. While this paper is not intended as an investigative piece to verify or deny the establishment of Mormonism, it is worthy to include some of the research that Snowden offers. It is worthy because Mormonism has been attacked throughout its history as a religion that borrows from Christianity and has promoted polygamy. On page 97 of his book, Snowden quotes from Divine Authenticity, written by Orson Pratt, who was an original member of the Quorum of The Twelve Apostles under Mormon founder Joseph Smith and who served as a missionary for the Mormon faith to Australia, Europe, and in various states in the U.S.

"The witnesses of the Book of Mormon are not only equal in number," Pratt wrote, "but superior in certainty to those which this generation have of Christ's resurrection… [and] this generation have more than one thousand times the amount of evidence to demonstrate and forever establish the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon than they have in favor of the Bible" (Snowden quoting Pratt on page 97).

Pratt went on to assert that the "nature of the message in the Book of Mormon is such that, if true, none can be saved who reject it, and, if false, none can be saved who receive it" (Snowden, 97).

Meantime, iconic philosopher John Stuart Mill has written extensively about the value of keeping an open mind, and whether or not a certain belief is false or true -- in this case, Mormonism -- "it may well have utility" because "not all beliefs can be empirically verified" (Tunick, 2005, p. 839). Mill stated that reason is not always "determinative," and where reason appears to have reached its limits, humans need imagination -- "religion being one shape that the imagination takes" (Tunick, 839). Author Tunick quotes from John Stuart Mill's position on "miracles" in which Mill does not insist that reports of miracles are false:

"What can be said with truth on the side of miracles amounts to only this: there is nothing so inherently impossible or absolutely incredible in this supposition [that there is some evidence of the reality of a Creator] as to preclude any one from hoping that it may perhaps be true…" (Tunick quoting Mill, 839).

Mormon Migration Westward

Dean L. May -- whose essay appears in the book Mormons and Mormonism: An Introduction to an American World Religion -- explains that the Mormons are likely the "only American ethnic group whose principal migration began as an effort to move out of the United States" (May, 2001, p. 47). What he means by that is the Mormons saw themselves as being persecuted and misunderstood as the Jews were in the Old Testament. As the main body of Mormons migrated from Illinois to the Rocky Mountains in the late 1940s, that movement "imprinted upon the group a self-consciousness gained through prior experience in the Midwest"; in fact the Mormons were influenced during that trek by ritual tales of "privation, wandering, and delivery under God's hand," much like the Jews have been influenced by their stories of the Exodus (May, 47).

It is little wonder that the Mormons were subjected to criticism and persecution because they adopted the practice of what May calls "plural marriage" (think polygamy) and they built temples along the way and had "an elaborate temple ritual" (48).

May continues, citing the fact that Smith was jailed in Missouri in 1838 following a series of bitter hostility between the Mormons and "non-Mormons" in Missouri; it was so bitter and hostile that the governor of Missouri ordered that the Mormons be "exterminated or driven from the state" (49). Several dozen deaths occurred… READ MORE

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