A Christian sect that allows polygamy but prohibits coffee and alcohol
Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or the Church of Mormons, is depicted as a well-dressed white man with brown hair and blue eyes that make him quite distinctive.
But how did a farmer’s son establish a new Christian church in nineteenth-century America?
Historian and philosopher Gerson Leyte from Sao Paulo says that Mormonism is an American product that arose out of the circumstances and events of this century.
It was at this time that various religious groups emerged which are now called sects. The difference is that the church that Smith gave birth to became a power that spread throughout the world.
According to the data released by the church, by the end of 2022, it has 1.7 million members worldwide. America, Mexico and Brazil have the highest number of people belonging to this sect.
Gerson says that although the sect was a purely American product, it borrowed many features from other religions such as Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.
According to him, this sect changed over time. Some things were removed, some were changed in meaning.
‘Corrupt’ religions
The story of this cult begins with a time when a young Joseph Smith was very religious. At the age of fourteen, according to the denomination, Joseph asked God which church he should join.
Keith Erickson is director of historical research at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They say that Joseph read the Bible a lot and thought about whether he was living the way God said. In the spring of 1820 he prayed profusely to God for guidance.
Smith is said to have received a reply. According to Erickson, “God and Jesus appeared to Joseph and Jesus told Joseph Smith that his sins were forgiven.”
According to Joseph’s own account, he saw two figures of indescribable majesty suspended in the air. “One spoke to me and calling me by name, pointing to another figure, said, ‘This is my dear son, listen to him.’
According to Joseph, he was told not to join any sect because they were all wrong.
New revelation
Erickson says that Joseph’s family, which included eleven children, was quite religious.
He read the Bible regularly, went to church. Joseph’s mother and three of his brothers belonged to the Presbyterian Church, but all joined when Joseph built his own church.
According to Joseph, three years later, in September 1823, he had another dream in which an angel named Moroni appeared.
He told me that there is a book written on gold plates, which contains the stories of the ancient inhabitants of this continent. I was told that this book contains all the things that the representatives of God told the natives in ancient times.
According to Joseph, the angel told him that with the book he would receive two stones prepared for the translation of the book, but he was told not to show the gold plate to anyone.
According to Joseph, this angel visited and taught him for four years, after which he found the book near Manchester, New York.
According to Joseph, the gold plates were enclosed in a stone box.
Holy book
The book was called the Book of Mormon because it was said to have been written by an ancient prophet named Mormon, and hence the name Mormon became popular among those belonging to this sect.
Joseph translated the book into English. According to him, this book was written in an ancient script that was similar to the Egyptian language.
According to Erickson, this book contained the story of settlers from the Middle East who arrived in America six hundred years before the birth of Jesus.
According to Erickson, the Messiah appeared to these people and is mentioned in this book.
According to Joseph, after the translation of the book was completed, he handed over the book to a heavenly being.
Gerson says that the Book of Mormon takes precedence over the Bible for those who follow this sect. Venicius Kyoto is a scholar of religious sciences and a monk of the Church of the Nazarene. He agrees with Gerson.
He says that Mormons value the Bible, the Old and New Testaments, but they think the Book of Mormon is the best.
Where a Mormon’s beliefs conflict with the Bible, the Book of Mormon is more important to them.
Prohibition of alcohol and coffee
But if according to the Bible, Jesus drank alcohol, why is there a complete ban on drinking alcohol in the Mormon sect?
A member of the Mormon Church responded that we have to think about our time. Today we know that alcohol is harmful.
The same is the case with coffee. Joseph wrote that on February 27, 1833, he was told in an inspiration that “wine, tobacco, and hot drinks are not permitted.” The Mormon interpretation of this includes coffee.
Erickson says that people were told to take care of their bodies so that they could live healthy lives and enjoy spiritual rewards such as wisdom and knowledge.
He says that’s why the Book of Mormon also identifies things that are beneficial to good health, such as eating fruits.
The practice of polygamy
The most controversial practice associated with this sect is the defense of polygamy. Although this practice was quite high in the past, it has declined now.
Joseph Smith’s biographers claim that he had forty wives.
According to the church’s own information, from 1852 to 1890, the church supported polygamy and most people lived in the US state of Utah. These men and women were aware of problems, but they also found love and happiness in their families.
They believed that it was God’s commandment which would bring them prosperity.
Erickson says many people mistakenly believe that polygamy is the main characteristic of Mormonism.
In the last years of his life, Joseph Smith presented to a small group of people close to him the commandment he had received from God to begin the practice of one man marrying more than one woman.
He noted that many prophets in the Bible followed this practice, including Moses, Abraham, and Jacob. After his death, the practice was announced publicly and was enforced for about 50 years, but after 1904 the celebration of multiple marriages was banned.
There were regular socio-historical reasons for this thought and idea. They wanted to increase the number of children to settle the new land and the female population was much higher than the male population.
As the legislation provided for confiscation of property, government officials threatened to confiscate the temples of these religious people. In the early 1890s a movement to end the practice began in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which culminated in 1904.
Religious intolerance
Ten years after Joseph Smith’s first vision or thought in 1830, a new Christian denomination emerged.
“Joseph Smith was led by God to establish the church,” says Erickson.
By this time, Smith had married his first wife, Emma Hale Smith, and lived with her in Harmony, now Oakland, Pennsylvania. As founders, became the main target.
He was arrested more than once for promoting disorder. Due to which he had to change the city several times. He always brought new followers and many times he created new centers for his church.
On June 25, 1844, Smith was charged with sedition. He was arrested again. Just two days after his arrest, an armed mob stormed the Cartago prison where he was being held. Smith tried to escape by jumping out of a window, but was shot in the process and was shot by a police squad as he fell to the ground.
Because of his death, the local press portrayed him as a religious fanatic, but the Mormon community remembered him as one who died in the cause of God, and not only that, but his sacrifice promoted the growth of the church. will
‘There is a lot of controversy about it (the founding of the Church), all this history including the fact that no one can see the original book, but Smith was a man who through a very difficult and difficult time. created a new church and many people joined him despite the contradictions.
The leadership of the church then passed into the hands of Brigham Young, who led the Mormons to the American West.
Eventually, members of the church founded Salt Lake City and settled in the state of Utah, where the majority of their followers and the organization’s headquarters remain today.
‘Interestingly, there is a narrative throughout this process that facilitates the construction of the identity of people who are persecuted for practicing their faith, but then the same group,’ says Morris. led a new land and made it his abode.’
And they behave like great leaders, they are faithful, hardworking, they testify. Prosperity appeared in a beautiful way that gave rise to the belief that they were on the side of goodness, doing the right thing and earning God’s pleasure.’