What Religion Is Most Similar To Mormonism
While Mormonism and Islam certainly have many similarities, there are also significant, fundamental differences between the two religions. MormonMuslim relations have historically been cordial recent years have seen increasing dialogue between adherents of the two faiths, and cooperation in charitable endeavors.
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Why Is Family Life So Central To Latter
- about genealogy and the Mormon archives.
Mormons believe that the family is an eternal unit and central to God’s plan. In fact, eternal progression toward Godhood is limited to those who marry for time and eternity in a ceremony conducted by a properly ordained member of the LDS priesthood in a Mormon temple. Church President Hinckley has also stressed the importance of the family during mortal life, saying, “If you want to reform a nation, you begin with families, with parents who teach their children principles and values that are positive and affirmative and will lead them to worthwhile endeavors. That is the basic failure that has taken place in America. And we are making a tremendous effort to bring about greater solidarity in families. Parents have no greater responsibility in this world than the bringing up of their children in the right way, and they will have no greater satisfaction as the years pass than to see those children grow in integrity and honesty and make something of their lives, adding to society because they are a part of it.” To strengthen families, many Mormons observe “family home evening.” This is one night a week — generally Monday — that a family spends together praying, learning about scripture, sharing things from their lives, and playing games or engaging in other fun at-home activities.
What Is The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter
FX’s true crime show Under the Banner of Heaven explores how religious fundamentalism led to the tragic deaths of 24-year-old Brenda Wright Lafferty and her 15-month-old daughter Erica.
The drama, which is based on Jon Krakauer’s nonfiction book of the same name, examines this case in light of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the LDS church or Mormon church.
It does so by recounting the faith’s founding and also how Mormon detective Jeb Pyre struggles with his beliefs while investigating the horrific 1984 murders.
Here is everything you need to know about the Christian faith and its origins.
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Cosmology And Plan Of Salvation
The Mormon cosmology and plan of salvation include the doctrines of a pre-mortal life, an earthly mortal existence, three degrees of heaven, and exaltation.
According to these doctrines, every human spirit is a spiritual child of a Heavenly Father, and each has the potential to continue to learn, grow, and progress in the eternities, eventually achieving eternal life, which is to become one with God in the same way that Jesus Christ is one with the Father, thus allowing the children of God to become divine beings that is, gods themselves. This view on the doctrine of theosis is also referred to as becoming a “joint-heir with Christ”. The process by which this is accomplished is called exaltation, a doctrine which includes the reunification of the mortal family after the resurrection and the ability to have spirit children in the afterlife and inherit a portion of God’s kingdom. To obtain this state of godhood, the church teaches that one must have faith in Jesus Christ, repent of his or her sins, strive to keep the commandments faithfully, and participate in a sequence of ceremonial covenants called ordinances, which include baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, the endowment, and celestial marriage.
Religious Authority And Ritual
Smith’s teachings were rooted in . He taught that the restored through him was a of the early Christian faith, which had been lost in the . At first, Smith’s church had little sense of hierarchy his religious authority was derived from visions and revelations. Though Smith did not claim exclusive prophethood, an early revelation designated him as the only prophet allowed to issue commandments “as Moses”. This religious authority encompassed economic and political as well as spiritual matters. For instance, in the early 1830s, he temporarily instituted a form of , called the , that required Latter Day Saints to give to the church all their property, to be divided among the faithful. He also envisioned that the theocratic institutions he established would have a role in the worldwide political organization of the Millennium.
Smith taught that the High Priesthood’s endowment of heavenly power included the powers of , allowing High Priests to effect binding consequences in the afterlife. For example, this power would enable proxy baptisms for the dead and that would be effective into the afterlife. Elijah’s sealing powers also enabled the , or “fulness of the priesthood”, which, according to Smith, sealed married couples to their .
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Brigham Young’s Later Years
The church had attempted unsuccessfully to institute the United Order numerous times, most recently during the Mormon Reformation. In 1874, Young once again attempted to establish a permanent Order, which he now called the “United Order of Enoch” in at least 200 Mormon communities, beginning in St. George, Utah on February 9, 1874.In Young’s Order, producers would generally deed their property to the Order, and all members of the order would share the cooperative’s net income, often divided into shares according to how much property was originally contributed. Sometimes, the members of the Order would receive wages for their work on the communal property. Like the United Order established by Joseph Smith, Young’s Order was short-lived. By the time of Brigham Young’s death in 1877, most of these United Orders had failed. By the end of the 19th century, the Orders were essentially extinct.
Brigham Young died in August 1877. After the death of Brigham Young, the First Presidency was not reorganized until 1880, when Young was succeeded by President John Taylor, who in the interim had served as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
Common Questions About Mormonism
Q: How was the Mormon religion founded?
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was started in 1830 by Joseph Smith, based on a vision he saw while living in New York.
Q: What are the beliefs of the Mormon religion?
Although there is some overlap between Mormonism and Christianity, with Mormons attending services on Sundays as Christians do and sharing a belief in Christ, Mormons are generally stricter than most Christians and do not consume alcohol or coffee. Contrary to popular belief, only a small percentage of Mormons are polygamists .
Q: How is Mormonism different from Christianity?
Despite the many similarities between Mormonism and Christianity, they share several differences as well. Most significantly, Mormons do not believe that the Bible is a flawless document and that everything in the Bible should be followed as the word of God. Instead, they believe in restoring Jesuss original teachings, many of which apparently was lost in translation in the Bible.
Q: Do Mormons believe in birth control?
When it comes to birth control, the Mormons seem to believe that the decision of when and how many children to have should be left up to the couple. However, prominent books and documents such as the 1958 edition of Bruce McConkies book Mormon Doctrine and the 1968 as well as recent church pamphlets, explicitly condemn the use of birth control as it neglects humans god-given gift of procreation.
This article was updated on July 24, 2020
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Brigham Young’s Early Theocratic Leadership
Following the death of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young stated that the Church should be led by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles #Conference_of_August_8,_1844″ rel=”nofollow”> Succession Crisis). Later, after the migration to Utah had begun, Brigham Young was sustained as a member of the First Presidency on December 25, 1847, , and then as President of the Church on October 8, 1848. .
One of the reasons the Saints had chosen the Great Basin as a settling place was that the area was at the time outside the territorial borders of the United States, which Young had blamed for failing to protect Mormons from political opposition from the states of Missouri and Illinois. However, in the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico ceded the area to the United States. As a result, Brigham Young sent emissaries to Washington, D.C. with a proposal to create a vast State of Deseret, of which Young would naturally be the first governor. Instead, Congress created the much smaller Utah Territory in 1850, and Young was appointed governor in 1851. Because of his religious position, Young exercised much more practical control over the affairs of Mormon and non-Mormon settlers than a typical territorial governor of the time.
For most of the 19th century, the LDS Church maintained an ecclesiastical court system parallel to federal courts, and required Mormons to use the system exclusively for civil matters, or face church discipline.
There Are A Few Different Sects Of The Mormon Church
A common misconception is that all Mormons are part of the LDS church. The LDS church is the main group with its roots with Joseph Smith. Another group of Mormons that are not affiliated with the official LDS church is the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This sect came to media attention with the conviction of church leader Warren Jeffs. The FLDS do practice polygamy, which was suspended by the LDS church in 1890.
Another different offshoot of Mormonism is the Apostolic United Brethren, which has members in many states. This group came about when their leader, Joseph W. Musser, split with other Mormon fundamentalists. This group practices polygamy as well.
Another Arizona sect, called Centennial Park group, came from conflict over leadership in the 1980s leadership of the FLDS church. The Centennial Park group, unlike other sects of the FLDS church, advocates spreading the groups message. While they do practice polygamy, they are against underage girls being forced to marry.
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Lineage Of Brigham Young
Sometimes called “Rocky Mountain Saints,” “Brighamites,” or “Mormons”, tracing their leadership or influence through Brigham Young.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
| Name | ||
|---|---|---|
| Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints | 16.8 million members as of 2021 | The largest Latter Day Saint denomination. Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. Often colloquially referred to as the Mormon Church. Adherents are popularly called Mormons or Latter-day Saints. Resulted from Latter Day Saints that followed Joseph Smith. Practiced plural marriage until it was discontinued in 1890. Disincorporated in 1877 by the EdmundsâTucker Act, reorganized in 1923 as the Corporation of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |
Churches upholding polygamy after the Manifesto of 1890
Churches that believe they are strictly following the revelations and teachings of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, including the practice of plural marriage, which was discontinued by the LDS Church in the late-19th century after the Manifesto.
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Responses To Abuse Allegations
Reacting to accusations of abuse by teachers,Boy Scouts leaders, clergy, etc., social welfare activists have campaigned for more robust of measures toward greater prevention of abuse of individuals served by counselors and other professionals, advocating greater transparency and quicker referral of allegations to criminal investigators.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests and others have criticized one-on-one interviews between LDS pastoral leaders and adolescent congregants, believing them “an invitation” for abuse. An editorial in the sectarian Deseret News responded:
The LDS Church has a zero tolerance policy concerning sexual misconduct. It also gives specific instruction on conducting one-on-one interviews with youths, including encouraging them to have parents or other trustworthy adults sit directly outside the room. Church leaders are to avoid any situation that could be misinterpreted.
In 2018 over 800 protesters gathered and marched to the LDS Church headquarters to deliver a petition with over 55,000 signatures asking for an end to semiannual, closed-door, one-on-one interviews between adult male local church leaders and children and teens during which many members have been asked about their sexual behaviors and thoughts in ways they felt were harmful.
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Are Mormon Marriages Different Is Divorce Allowed
Mormon marriages are different from most marriages because they are considered eternal. If a husband and wife are sealed together in the temple, they can be together on into the celestial kingdom. However, the church does have a process for annulment and sees divorce as an unfortunately necessary evil. In Mormon President Gordon Hinckleys words: There is now and again a legitimate cause for divorce. I am not one to say that it is never justified. But I say without hesitation that this plague among us, which seems to be growing everywhere, is not of God, but rather is the work of the adversary of righteousness and peace and truth.
Just as a civil marriage does not automatically translate into a temple sealing for a Mormon couple, a civil divorce does not unseal them. If a divorcing couple wishes to become unsealed, they must receive a cancellation of sealing, which requires approval from high-ranking church officials. A Mormon woman must receive a cancellation of sealing prior to remarrying if she wishes her next marriage to be sealed in the temple. However, because men are permitted to be sealed to more than one woman, they do not have to cancel a previous sealing in order to remarry in the temple.
Transfers To Foreign Institutions
Charities in Canada are allowed to transfer donations to foreign charities and universities as long as those institutions are on the CRA’s list of “qualified donees.”
If a school regularly enrols Canadian students, it can make the list.
Established by Brigham Young, LDS president from 1847 to 1877, Brigham Young University is a private institution, owned and operated by the church and headquartered in Salt Lake City.
Three BYU schools in Utah, Idaho and Hawaii are popular among Mormons. As many as 98 per cent of students at those schools are members of the church.
The number of Canadian students fluctuates, but by any measure is small. According to available data, in the fall of 2018, there were 1,394 Canadian students in the three LDS schools, representing 1.6 per cent of the student body that semester.
Other U.S. universities on the CRA’s “qualified donees” list include well-known schools such as Harvard, Berkeley and Stanford, along with some lesser-known universities such as Loma Linda University, a part of the Seventh Day Adventist church, and Yeshiva University, a private Orthodox Jewish school.
However, none gets the same amounts of money as BYU.
LISTEN | Mormon Church moves $1 billion in tithing money out of Canada tax free:
The Fifth Estate also collected the list from CRA of the money Canadian charities have sent to all foreign universities in the same 15 years.
That’s what Kennett was expecting the church to do with his donations.
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Why Is Mormonism Sometimes Described As A Secretive Religion
The most common and visible target for charges of suspicious secrecy in the Mormon religion are the temples. After dedication, these buildings are closed to the public and church members do not talk openly about the rituals that take place within. The church holds that the temple and its rituals are sacred and therefore private, not secret. They maintain that early Christianity featured similar special practices and bodies of knowledge that were kept quiet to preserve their sacred nature.
Church finances are also kept confidential, provoking criticism that there is no way for church members or outsiders to know where money from tithing and other revenue goes. And the church has also been questioned about the secrecy surrounding their defense of doctrine. Latter-day Saints can face excommunication if, after being warned, they continue to publicly discuss problematic or provocative elements of Mormon theology that the church chooses not to draw attention to. Because disciplinary councils that can lead to excommunication are always private, the process of gathering information and the closed meetings that consider the fate of a disciplined member add to the perception of Mormon secrecy.
What Is The Book Of Mormon
In addition to the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, the Book of Mormon, named after one of its ancient prophets, is another testament of Jesus Christ. It contains the writings of prophets, giving an account of Gods dealings with the peoples who lived anciently on the American continent. For Latter-day Saints it stands alongside the Old and New Testaments of the Bible as holy scripture.
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Why Does The Church Send Out Missionaries
The missionary effort of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is based on the New Testament pattern of missionaries serving in pairs, teaching the gospel and baptizing believers in the name of Jesus Christ . Missionary work is voluntary, with most missionaries funding their own missions. They receive their assignment from Church headquarters and are sent only to countries where governments allow the Church to operate. In some parts of the world, missionaries are sent only to serve humanitarian or other specialized missions.