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.

References

• D. Michael Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power; Signature Books; ISBN 1-56085-056-6 (1994)
• Stephen E. Robinson; Are Mormons Christians?; Bookcraft, Inc.; ISBN 0-88494-784-X (Hardcover 1991)
• Jan Shipps, Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition; University of Illinois Press; ISBN 0-25201-159-7 (Hardcover 1985)
• Joseph Fielding Smith; Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith; Deseret Book Company; ISBN 0-87747-655-9 (Softcover 1976)
• John A. Widstoe; Discourses of Brigham Young; Deseret Book Company; ISBN 0-87747-664-0 (Softcover 1954)