The Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter day Saints

What is the Mormon Church?

Joseph Smith

• Founder of The Church of Jesus Christ and The latter day saints (the Mormon Church)

• Born in 1805 • Lived in Palmyra, NY• Loose catholic background

Smith the Prophet

• In the Spring of 1820 Smith, walking in the woods, had a vision from God

• In that vision Smith saw two bright glorious images, god and Jesus. God personally introduced smith to his ‘beloved son’

Smith struggles to reach God, and finds Moroni

• In 1827 Smith again experienced divine revelation in the form of the messenger angel, Moroni

• Each September for four years Smith was visited and taught about God and Jesus by the Angel Moroni

The tablets

• After four years, Moroni gave Smith two golden tablets with text written in ‘reformed Hebrew’

• Smith translated the tablets, and gave them back to Moroni when he was finished

• Smith’s translation is the book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon depicts..

• 600 bc. Nephi, a Jewish prophet, has visions of the future church and the birth of Christ

• Nephi is told by God to sail his family to ‘a Promise land”

• The promise land is America, the book of Mormon is about Jesus in America

• http://youtu.be/Jfc77nkm4Dw

Smith expands church, young takes over

• Smith expanded the church, one new member was Brigham Young

• Brigham Young, an agnostic man from upstate NY encountered the book of Mormon and was convinced CJLDS was the true church.

• When Smith is killed, Young becomes the president of the church

Death of Smith

• Mormons face a lot of prosecution due to political and religious differences with there neighbors in NY

• They traveled around the country looking for refuge

• Smith created Nauvoo, a Mormon community in Missouri, but still faced prosecution

• Smith and his brother were murdered by an angry mob of non supporters in June 1844 at Nauvoo

Young goes out west

• The US was unwelcoming, Young decided to take the Church to Mexican territory

• Brigham Young and 1600 LDS went to west• They settled by the salt Lake, In what is now

Utah• The Mormon temple was built in Salt Lake City

in 1892

Structure Of Mormon church

• The president is a modern day prophet• President and 2 councillors form the first

presidency-Major and ultimate decision makers for church

• Twelve apostle beneath them form the quorem of the twelve-assisting and minor decision makers

Thomas Monson is the current prophet

Smaller scale structure

• The seventies- eight groups of seventy people around the world assisting the apostles

• Wards are local places of worship• Wards are run by bishops, who are ordinary

members of the church. • Gender roles in church structure: Only men

can be apostles, prophets, church leaders, and bishops.

LDS community projects, and gender roles in community

• Relief society: a charitable organization helping the poor, ran exclusively by women

• Sunday School, where children learn from an early age about the church, taught by older members of their community

• Boys and Girls clubs. Older children are taught about their roles in the church and at home.

Progressive Mormonism!

– In the past• Mormons practiced polygamy• Mormons thought black people are the

descendants of Cain – Now

• Only fundamentalists believe these thingsMore Progress now: Mormons are beginning to accept gay rights!

Jesus

• Jesus is savior• Christ is only path to God• Resurrection allowed people to have eternal

life• Saved man from death, and sin

Baptism and the Holy ghost

• Represents LDS respect and gratitude to Jesus for suffering for their sins

• Must be baptized to exit the spirit prison or paradise and enter into heaven after death

• The holy ghost is received after baptism• Holy ghost helps people see truth, make

decisions, keep faith, and find comfort.

Gods Plan

• Before birth, people lived in spirit form with God as his spirit children

• God sent his children (everyone on earth to experience having a physical body, and the emotions that come with it)

Adam and Eve

• The fall from Eden allowed them to have emotions

• Gave them ability to have children• All of Adam and Eve’s children are God’s spirit

children • LDS believe we all descend from Adam and Eve,

and are all Gods spirit children• As Gods spirit children, he will reward us in our

lives to come

The Spirit World

When we die, we go to the spirit worldYou either go straight to spirit paradise if you have been baptized, or to spirit prison f you have notA living person must get baptized in your place if you have not been baptized to get into spirit paradiseThis is why Mormons ‘Baptize the dead”

The Plan of salvation

3 layers of heaven

• Celestial kingdom: live with God and Jesus, get to have your own spirit children, and give them a world

• Terrestrial Kingdom: Don’t live with God, but Jesus visits. Must live without spirit family, and be alone

• Telestial Kingdom: must live alone without God or Jesus, only Angels visit