Mormonism and Christianity

Mormonism has had an uneasy relationship with traditional Christianity since its earliest days in the 1820s, when its founder Joseph Smith, Jr., a fourteen year old boy, claimed to have had a vision of God the Father and Jesus Christ, who told him the creeds of Christianity were "an abomination." In 1830, Smith published a new work of scripture called the Book of Mormon, which he said he translated from a buried set of Golden Plates, and preached a divine restoration of the original church established by Jesus Christ, with its gifts, priesthood, and doctrine.

How early Mormonism diverged from mainstream Christianity

Mormonism arose in the Burned-over district of New York in the early 19th Century, primarily under the impetus of Joseph Smith, Jr., with the support of his father's family, David Whitmer and his father's family, trusted associate Oliver Cowdery, and later Sidney Rigdon (a former Campbellite pastor).

Related Topics:
Mormonism - Burned-over district - New York - 19th Century - Joseph Smith, Jr. - David Whitmer - Oliver Cowdery - Sidney Rigdon - Campbellite

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Smith and the early Mormons were by most accounts typical early American Christians. Until the early 1830s, many (and some have argued most) American Christians, including prominent Protestant ministers and political leaders, practiced or at least accepted a brand of Christian faith that also allowed room for a kind of folk spirituality that included visions, heavenly visitations, faith healing, spells, talismans, and divinations with seer stones and dowsing rods. (see Quinn, 1994). Thus, the beginnings of Mormonism, which incorporated many such supernatural elements (particularly visions, visitations, and seer stones), were not necessarily inconsistent with the folk Christianity of the time. However, some Christians of the time viewed all visions and other supernatural occurrences as satanic, including a local Methodist minister who warned Smith that his First Vision was of the devil.

Related Topics:
1830 - Faith healing - Talismans - Seer stone - Dowsing rods - Methodist - First Vision

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The Book of Mormon and early criticism of American Christianity

One of the first significant events in early Mormonism that created a marked departure from early American Christianity was the production of a new volume of scripture, which Smith claimed to have translated by divine power from buried Golden Plates. This Book of Mormon, published in 1830, purported to introduce a parallel history of Christianity on the American continent, including a description of civilizations and appearances by Jesus as mentioned in the Bible (see John 10:16). The book was seen by some as a competitor to the Bible, although Latter Day Saints themselves saw it as a companion and complement to the Bible (see Ezekial 37:16-17). Joseph Smith taught that the Bible contains the word of God, "as far as it is translated correctly" (Articles of Faith No. 8). According to the Book of Mormon, referring to the Bible, "And after they go forth by the hand of the twelve apostles of the Lamb...they have taken away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious" (1 Nephi 13: 26). Smith dictated the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible ("inspired translation") to clarify difficult passages and to "restore" these "plain and precious truths."

Related Topics:
Mormonism - Scripture - Golden Plates - Book of Mormon - 1830 - Bible - Latter Day Saints - Articles of Faith - Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible

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The publishing of the Book of Mormon prompted some organized Protestant denominations to attempt to discount Smith's credibility, in some cases citing his supposed skills with divination. They also attacked the doctrines taught by Smith including continuous revelation.

Related Topics:
Protestant - Continuous revelation

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The Book of Mormon largely mirrors the teachings of the Bible; however, it also contains bold stands on many Christian controversies, such as infant baptism, the religious status of Native Americans, and the relationship between religion and atheism. The book also castigates modern churches for their "incorrect" teaching of doctrines. For example, the Book of Mormon holds the view of many contemporary frontier Restorationists, such as groups in Ohio, that there had been an apostasy after the death of Jesus Christ and His apostles. The book indicted modern churches, saying of them:

Related Topics:
Infant baptism - Native American - Restorationists - Apostasy

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They wear stiff necks and high heads; yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations, and whoredoms, they have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men.... But behold, that great and abominable church, the whore of all the earth, must tumble to the earth, and great must be the fall thereof. (2 Nephi 28:14, 18.)

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"The great and abominable church" as quoted in this passage is not understood to designate a particular denomination. Any individual or group that has the indicated characteristics of pride and wickedness is a part of the great and abominable church.

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The need for a "Restoration" of the original Christian church

Smith began to organize a church that would embody the new insights about Christianity found in the Book of Mormon and later in Smith's revelations. This new church was deemed necessary because the Christian tradition had centuries before lost its authority, which could not be recovered without a restoration. Therefore, on April 6, 1830, Smith formed the Church of Christ, which purported to be a restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, and a continuation of "true" original Christianity. With its criticism of modern Christianity, the Book of Mormon found an enthusiastic audience with certain Restorationists whom Smith and his followers soon attempted to proselytize, such as Sidney Rigdon and his Disciples of Christ congregation in Ohio, baptized in September, 1830.

Related Topics:
Restoration - April 6 - 1830 - Church of Christ - Book of Mormon - Restorationists - Sidney Rigdon - Disciples of Christ - Ohio

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Joseph Smith's belief in the need for a church restoration was a departure from traditional Christian thought. Although most Christians acknowledge corruption and mistakes with the Christian tradition, and indeed, several branches of Christianity accepted the idea of a Great Apostasy to some extent, only the Restorationists viewed traditional Christianity as so fundamentally broken that a restoration was required, rather than a mere reformation (see Protestant Reformation). To non-Restorationist Christians, past failures and departures from the truth were seen as continuously being overcome, through councils and decrees. But despite the failures, the fundamental "apostolic succession" made by Catholic and Orthodox branches, or the broader "apostolic tradition" claimed by most Protestant denominations, remained intact. See Restorationism.

Related Topics:
Restoration - Great Apostasy - Restorationists - Protestant Reformation - Apostolic succession - Protestant

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Mormon political, economic, and social practices create conflict with the larger culture

In addition to Joseph Smith's controversial doctrine, the rapid growth of the church, a result of vigorous proselytizing by Smith and his followers, upset many ministers of traditional Christian churches. Under the leadership of Smith, church members gathered in a central location, called "Zion", first in Kirtland, Ohio and then in Independence, Missouri. The gathering of so many church members in one area created friction with local residents. To make matters worse, church members tended to vote as a bloc, magnifying the electoral effect of their already large population. Church members, who by and large were "Yankees," clashed with Missouri residents on matters large and small. For instance, Smith and most church members opposed slavery, a stand that did little to endear them to their Missouri neighbors.

Related Topics:
Joseph Smith's - Zion - Kirtland, Ohio - Independence, Missouri - Missouri

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In the end, after repeated instances of mob violence against Mormon communities by local residents (see Mormon War) and the issuance of an extermination order by Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs, church members were forced to flee the state.

Related Topics:
Mormon War - Extermination order - Lilburn Boggs

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Similar tensions with local residents continued as church members established yet another gathering point in Nauvoo, Illinois. Smith began building Nauvoo into a secular power, negotiating (with the help of John C. Bennett) a city charter that gave the city a considerable amount of independence, building the Nauvoo Legion into a military force that rivaled others in the area, and leveraging the city's voting bloc to make it a powerful force in state politics.

Related Topics:
Nauvoo, Illinois - John C. Bennett

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The end result of all this was a series of showdowns, involving both the organized political forces of the state and self-organized mobs, that in 1844 finally left Smith dead and the remaining church members powerless and under siege. Two years later, 12,000 Saints abandoned their homes in Nauvoo and tens of thousands more left neighboring areas with a feeling that they were being forced from their homes and out of the United States.

Related Topics:
1844 - Dead

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In the end, it is very difficult to determine the exact importance of the religious aspect of this conflict between the Mormons and their neighbors in comparison with the social, economic, political and practical factors. For instance, the conflict that ended Joseph Smith's life began when Smith and other Nauvoo city leaders (most of whom were, not coincidentally, also Church leaders) ordered the destruction of a press operated by former church members who were opposed to the secret practice of plural marriage within the Mormon community (see Nauvoo Expositor). This led to a complicated series of legal, political, and military maneuvers on both sides culminating in the arrest of Smith, his incarceration (neglectfully guarded by the unfriendly militia of a neighboring town), and his murder at the hands of an unruly mob of citizens who broke into the jail.

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The confluence of so many religious, political, and social factors is, in fact, no coincidence, because though the LDS Church has always been a strong supporter of the separation of church and state, it considered itself (and still does) the Kingdom of God on Earth. The Church reached quite deliberately beyond the traditional domain of religion to encompass the social, political, economic, and family lives of its adherents. Here, as much or even more than in disputes about purely doctrinal matters, lay the divide between the LDS movement and the rest of American culture.

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The next 150 years of Mormon history can be seen to a great degree as the playing out on a larger scale of the ideas embodied in these early conflicts. The early Utah years saw the attempt to raise the ante by creating an independent and isolated State of Deseret where everything from the economy to the legal system to family life was built around and centered on the sometimes idiosyncratic LDS ideals and beliefs.

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Towards the turn of the 20th Century, increasing clashes with westward-moving American civilization--particularly over the practice of plural marriage--threatened to destroy the LDS Church. Plural marriage was abandoned (with reluctance by some) after the 1890 Manifesto, and Utah was granted statehood, with all the political and economic changes that entailed. In a few short years, the Latter-day saints' Kingdom of God went from literal to figurative and, outwardly at least, the Church moved from the model of independent, all-encompassing theocracy to the rather limited sphere of an ordinary American religious denomination.

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A new set of practices and policies gradually received emphasis, practices that allowed LDS church members to live peacefully within the mainstream culture while still maintaining the necessary separation from that culture as a separate and distinct religious tradition. These very accommodations made it possible for proseltyzing efforts of the LDS missionary program to continue to reap an exponentially growing number of converts throughout the 20th Century.

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In the latter half of the 20th century, the greater American culture began to become more sensitive to racial inequities that had persisted from the American slavery era. But in the LDS church, the priesthood and its blessings continued to be denied to people of African descent. The Book of Mormon discussed relations between dark-skinned and light-skinned people. This, together with passages in the Book of Abraham (another new scripture published by Smith in the late 1830s) and certain unofficial statements by Brigham Young and his successors, helped form many Mormon traditions regarding the social and spiritual status of Black people and Black skin. Most significantly, they formed the source for the idea that the Africans' dark skin was originally the result of a curse upon Cain and Caanan. This idea eventually resulted in the priesthood being denied to people of African descent starting in 1849 (some blacks were ordained prior to this time). It wasn't until 1978 that this ban was lifted. By then, the race issue had become a source of friction with greater society as the LDS church grew. (See Blacks and Mormonism)

Related Topics:
Priesthood - Book of Abraham - Blacks and Mormonism

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The very increase in the numbers of the LDS membership (280,000 in 1900 to 12.3 million today) led to a degree of acceptance within the larger American culture, epitomized by laudatory articles in such publications as Reader's Digest. At the same time, the Church's size and growth threatened Christian denominations on another level, leading to campaigns to inform and inoculate mainstream Christians against the LDS Church's message and, to a lesser degree, to confront or re-convert LDS Church members.

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Latter-day saints are fond of saying that they are "a peculiar people" and "in the world but not of the world". The LDS subculture has been (half-jokingly) described as "Mormo-American" 1. In fact, LDS culture is similar to ethnic subcultures in America: African-Americans, Chinese-Americans, Latino-Americans, and so on. These subcultures partly mix with the mainstream, but partly take pride cultivating distinctive traits and traditions from their own history, traits and traditions that help maintain their boundaries as separate and distinct social groups.

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Early Mormon antagonism toward mainstream Christianity

Early Latter Day Saints were expected to be tolerant of other religions and religious lifestyles. In Joseph Smith's The Wentworth Letter, he listed the following as the 11th Article of Faith:

Related Topics:
Latter Day Saints - The Wentworth Letter - Article of Faith

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We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

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On occasion, early leaders and members of the Latter Day Saint movement voiced criticisms concerning other Christian churches (generally as a whole). Much of this, however, had to do with the sometimes violent and deadly conflicts that early Latter Day Saints had suffered at the hands of mainstream Christians.

Related Topics:
Latter Day Saint movement - Conflicts

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The Church's founder and first prophet, Joseph Smith, Jr., expressed what he saw as important flaws in Christianity. He once said:

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We may look at the Christian world and see the apostasy there has been from the apostolic platform; and who can look at this and not exclaim, in the language of Isaiah, "The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, and broken the everlasting covenant"? (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg 15)

Related Topics:
Apostasy - Isaiah

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In another instance, Smith said:

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The teachers of the day say that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God, and they are all in one body and one God. Jesus prayed that those that the Father had given him out of the world might be made one in them, as they were one . If I were to testify that the Christian world were wrong on this point, my testimony would be true" (Ibid, pg 311).

Related Topics:
Father - Son - Holy Ghost

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Regarding Catholicism and Protestantism, Smith had these words:

Related Topics:
Catholicism - Protestantism

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Here is a principle of logic...I will illustrate by an old apple tree. Here jumps off a branch and says, I am the true tree, and you are corrupt. If the whole tree is corrupt, are not its branches corrupt? If the Catholic religion is a false religion, how can any true religion come out of it? (Ibid, pg 375).

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Smith's criticism regarding other religions was primarily doctrinal in nature. Smith's personal, or secular, point of view, however, showed considerable tolerance and acceptance for the members of other faiths:

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I am bold to declare before Heaven that I am just as ready to die in defending the rights of a Presbyterian, a Baptist, or a good man of any denomination; for the same principle which would trample upon the rights of the Latter-day Saints would trample upon the rights of the Roman Catholics, or of any other denomination who may be unpopular and too weak to defend themselves (Ibid, pg 313).

Related Topics:
Presbyterian - Baptist - Latter-day Saints - Roman Catholics

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Reaction to Joseph Smith's distinctive assertions concerning the nature of God

Part of the reaction against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by traditional Christians arose from Joseph Smith's relatively radical doctrinal assertions concerning the nature of God. The last of these assertions, made shortly before Smith's death, was significantly different from the Trinitarianism of most modern Catholics and Protestants. Although it is not always evident in the day-to-day life of a Christian church, many Christians have been historically typified by a fervent and relentless commitment to developing and distinguishing the doctrine of the Trinity from its rival doctrines such as modalism and arianism. Those Christians who view the Trinitarian nature of God as the central defining element of Christianity believe, as they say, that all Christian doctrines are systematically related to the doctrine of Trinity "like water from a fountain." To these Christians, the LDS Church's departure from the "apostolic faith" always ultimately centers upon the doctrine of the Trinity.

Related Topics:
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - The nature of God - Trinitarianism - Catholic - Protestants - Modalism - Arianism

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Joseph Smith's most radical assertions concerning the nature of God include the teaching that God the Father was once mortal, as Christ was. A possible implication of this teaching is the existence of other divine beings, a form of henotheism. Nevertheless, God the Father (of the New Testament) is the only God worshipped by Mormons; Christ, as the mediator between mortals and the Father, is worshipped as Lord and Savior. The Holy Ghost, as third member of the Godhead, is worshipped as well.

Related Topics:
Henotheism - Godhead

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In addition, though there is no incontrovertible evidence that Joseph Smith taught this, some Mormons, particularly Latter-day Saints, believe that God is married to an exalted woman, whom they speculatively call a Heavenly Mother. Her existence is referred to briefly in the Church hymn titled "O My Father" (Hymn number 292), and it is alluded to in , which says that each person is "a spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents." Her existence is acknowledged by Church members and leadership, but She is not worshipped and rarely mentioned.

Related Topics:
Latter-day Saints - Heavenly Mother - Hymn

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Reaction to Smith's proposed relationship between God and humanity

In the 1840s, Joseph Smith made significant and unusual assertions concerning the nature of humanity and its relationship with God. For example, Smith argued that the human soul was in the beginning with God, that God is an exalted Man, that God is the literal Father of the human spirit, and that mankind has the intended destiny of becoming like their Father, subordinate to his authority, but equal to him in divinity.

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Thus, most Latter-day saints believe in a preexistence, in which humans are literally the spirit children of God, and that some element of the human spirit, called intelligence, has existed eternally with God, even before God organized them as spirit children. Smith taught, "Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be" (Doctrine and Covenants 93:29). This may also explain the Church's teaching that man and God are co-eternal (carefully distinguishing "co-eternal" from "equal"). Traditional Christianity is generally silent on anything prior to birth or beyond the resurrection of the dead, and has always taught that man is made or created.

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Regarding the afterlife, many denominations of Mormonism teach of a deification or exaltation of humanity. In particular, Latter-day Saints consider this tenet to correspond with Biblical teachings, including Jesus Christ's citation in John of Psalms 82:6, "Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?" and Paul's promise in Romans 8:17 that believers would be "joint-heirs with Christ," and thus receive the fullness of the Father. The oft-quoted saying (by Lorenzo Snow) that captures this idea is, "As man is, God once was; as God is, man may be."

Related Topics:
Afterlife - Deification - Exaltation - Latter-day Saints - John - Psalms - Paul's - Romans - Lorenzo Snow

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This doctrine of deification differs significantly from the theosis of Orthodox Christianity. In the LDS Church it is usually referred to as exaltation or eternal life. The focus of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. All men will be saved from death through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Those who have faith and repent will be saved from sin. Those who fully accept the Atonement of Jesus Christ before judgment will be exalted.

Related Topics:
Theosis - Exaltation - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Atonement - Death - Sin - Judgment

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Reaction to Mormon rituals and priesthood

Mormonism has claimed from the day the church was first organized on April 6, 1830 to have sole earthly priesthood authority to administer the ordinances (sacraments) of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. At no time has the LDS Church accepted either the authority or the sacraments of other churches. LDS missionaries carry as a central part of their message, explicitly or implicitly, that holders of the priesthood in the LDS Church alone are authorized by God to baptize, and that other clergy (Christian or otherwise) are not. Likewise, the LDS Church claims (as do many other Mormon sects) that it alone is authorized as the Church of Jesus Christ. While the LDS Church participates in interfaith activities where possible, the matter of Christian ecumenism is an uncompromisible position in Mormonism, even among its various sects. This contrasts with the practices of some Protestant denominations which accept each other's sacraments (but often not those of the LDS Church).

Related Topics:
April 6 - 1830 - Priesthood - Ordinances - Sacraments - Missionaries - Baptize - Clergy - Christian ecumenism

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The hierarchical nature of the priesthood in the LDS Church can be contrasted with the Protestant doctrine of the Priesthood of all believers. Despite this hierarchy, a direct relationship with God without an intermediary priest is a fundamental principle of the LDSChurch. Latter-day Saints consider the First Vision an important event in part because it is a model of a direct, personal relationship and revelation to which everyone should aspire. The lay clergy in the Church is also a reflection in part that every worthy member is entitled to and should become a "priest" or "priestess" to God. Moses's cry, "Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets" (Numbers 11:29), is taken as a personal encouragement and challenge.

Related Topics:
Priesthood - Priesthood of all believers - First Vision - Numbers

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Another observation with regards to the Mormon priesthood is that some teachings and practices are taught or practiced only in LDS Temples, to which access is tightly controlled. The LDS Church, for instance, requires a member to be in "good standing" before access is permitted. Those who are given access are instructed to not reveal what goes on within the temple, because of the sacred nature of the rites that are performed there.

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Reaction to Smith's teachings concerning vicarious ordinances for the dead

Joseph Smith also instituted the idea of baptism and other ordinances for the dead. In LDS theology, based on the saying of Jesus Christ in John 3:5, personal baptism is an ordinance required for a fullness of salvation in the afterlife. This belief supports the LDS doctrine of baptism for the dead, as mentioned by the apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 15:29). The performance of baptisms for the dead, as well as other vicarious ordinances for the dead, is a good example of a doctrine and a practice that institutionalizes the tension between Mormonism and other Christian traditions. Baptism for the dead was mentioned in some of Joseph Smith's earliest writings and prophecies, was practiced before Smith's death, and continues to be practiced by the LDS church and the Strangites.

Related Topics:
Baptism - Ordinances - John - Baptism for the dead - Apostle - Paul - 1 Corinthians - Strangites

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The 19th Century LDS Church preached and practiced this doctrine, but did not pursue it in a large-scale or systematic way — church members would typically perform vicarious ordinances only for recently deceased members of their own immediate families.

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Vicarious ordinance work has become an increasingly important focus of the LDS Church; during the latter half the 20th Century it came to be considered as one part of the threefold mission of the Church ("Proclaim the Gospel, Perfect the Saints, and Redeem the Dead"). Assisting in the redemption of the dead through the vicarious completion of necessary ordinances entails a long process. After genealogical research to identify individuals and family relationships, baptisms and other ordinances such as marriages, are performed for these deceased persons by proxy in LDS Temples. The completion of these ordinances does not assure one's entry into exaltation. According to LDS doctrine, in the spirit world the person has the choice to either accept or reject the ordinances performed on their behalf.

Related Topics:
Genealogical research - Temples - Spirit world

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The increasing importance of this vicarious ordinance work was further emphasized beginning in the last quarter of the 20th Century by a greatly accelerated program of building LDS Temples throughout the world. The temple-building program has been accompanied by an increasing emphasis on the duty of LDS Church members to visit the temple often so as to perform ordinance work for the dead there.

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In the temple, deceased Catholics, Orthodox, Jews, Muslims, and members of all other Christian and non-Christian denominations are baptized by proxy. Members of the LDS Church act as a representatives for each of the deceased.

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The practice of vicarious ordinance work for the dead, then, shows how ingrained the LDS belief is in the essential illegitimacy of other Christian churches — the belief that no other church has the priesthood authority to act in the name of God, and that no other church has the authority to perform the essential ordinances such as baptism. It has also led to animosity and antagonism from living relatives of the deceased (Latter-day saints are only supposed to complete ordinance work on behalf of their own ancestors, with the permission of the closest living relative; sometimes this adjuration is ignored or forgotten).

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Furthermore, it is of little surprise that doctrines that emphasize the separation between Mormonism and other Christian religions, such as vicarious ordinance work and the Word of Wisdom, came to the forefront just as the physical isolation of the Utah saints and the distinctive and controversial practice of plural marriage came to an end. The LDS Church seems to seek a certain degree of separation from other Christian traditions, wishing to remain in doctrine--but just as important, in practice--at just the right distance, neither too close nor too far from the mainstream.

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