About Mormonism (about 1966)

by President Stephen L Richards

About Mormonism Sociological - Economic - Doctrinal Historical Aspects of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

By Stephen L Richards

SOCIOLOGICAL Many persons have associated the Mormon Church almost exclusively with the practice of polygamy. The facts regarding this matter are as follows: The Mormon Church is not a polygamous society. In the ¡ early days of the Church the doctrine of plural marriage was introduced through divine revelation. The practice of plural marriage has never been general in the Church and at no time have more than 3 per cent of the families in the Church been polygamous.

When the practice began it was believed not to contravene any of the laws of the territory under which the people lived. Subsequently, additional laws were enacted by the Federal Government declaring the practice illegal and prescribing severe penalties against the Church. These laws were contested in the courts and their constitutionality questioned.

The Mormons took the position that they constituted an infringement on the exercise of religious liberty and freedom of conscience.

The Supreme Court of the United States

denied their contention and upheld the validity of the laws.

Many persons in the Church who had contracted plural marriage were by this de~ cision branded as violators of the law.

Numerous prosecutions followed. There was much resistance to the attempts made to break up long-established and happy family relationships. Men refused to disown and cast off the children and their wives whose status the law had declared to be illegal. They went to jail by the scores rather than to renounce their obligations to their plural families. The prosecutions were very onerous and grievous to the people. They created untold hardships and much bitterness of feeling. They were directed against many of the Church leaders and were resented by the entire Church membership, although relatively few were engaged in the practice. In the heat of the controversy, the Federal Government went so far as to escheat the property of the Church. These were the darkest days in the Mormons' occupation of the west.

After the Supreme Court had sustained the constitutionality of the law forbidding plural marriage, the practice of entering into such marriages was substantially discontinued, although men with established plural families persisted in their avowed right and intention to claim and support these families. Something of tolerance for these situations was gradually brought about. In 1890, the Church issued a Manifesto declaring that it abandoned the practice of plural marriage and forbidding its members to enter into such relationships, without, however, disavowing the principle which had been given to it

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through revelation. Since that time. entering into plural marriage has been construed to be an offense against the laws of the Church, as well as those of the land, and the Church has prosecuted numbers of offenders against this injunction. This practice of entering into plural marriage is now. and for many years past, has not been tolerated.

Plural marriage was considered by the Church to be a very sacred principle. Only those who were regarded as being worthy and exemplary in life and conduct and devotion to the Church were permitted to enter into it. It was surrounded by the Church with many limitations and safeguards which were calculated to invest it with lofty. idealistic attributes. Women who became plural wives were never subjected to any compulsion whatsoever-the arrangement was one of mutual understanding and consent of all parties concerned, including the Church itself. Many of the most prominent and able members of the Church and citizens of the communities in which the Church is established are the product of these family relationships.

The society of the Mormon Church is noted for its solidarity and homogeneity in thought and purpose. This has been brought about in large measure by adherence to certain controlling spiritual principles and ideals, by an ~lmost universal deference and respect for Ch~'rch leaders and their counsel. by uniformity and standardization of living practices and, to some extent at least, by the persecution and opposition which the people of the Church have encountered during much of their history. The unity of the people and responsiveness to their leadership have con-

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tributed to many of their achievements in colonization, in the perfection of their organization and in the promulgation of their faith throughout the world.

The organization and government of the Church comprise general and local authorities and officers with territorial divisions of the membership. the latter having the right to vote and sustain or reject local officers and proposals. nominated and suggested by the proper presiding authorities. The right of nomination as a function of government is vested in the duly called and sustained auth0rities of the Church. but the right to sustain or receive the nominees is vested in the membership and no person can be rightly installed in office without the concurrence of authorized nomination and "common consent" or the sustaining vote of the people.

The men who preside as general and local authorities in the Church are selected from a body of men known as the Priesthood. The supreme power in the Church is vested in its President with his two Counselors who constitute the First Presidency. Next to the Presidency of the Church in general authority is the Council of the Twelve Apostles and following them come the Assistants to the Twelve, in number determined from time to time. Then follow seven men constituting the First Council of the Seventy and then the Presiding Bishop and two Counselors. A Patriarch to the Church is also numbered among those who constitute the General Authorities of the Church. whose jurisdiction is churchwide in all the world. These General Authorities of the Church are nominated by the President and sustained by the

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body of the Church in General Conference assembled.

The major territorial subdivisions are Stakes and Missions. A Stake is comJX>sed of from 4 to 15 wards. each ward having a membership of from 200 to 1000 people. The Stakes are presided over by a President and two Counselors who have the assistance of a High Council of 12 men who also constitute a judicial body. Each Ward is administered by a Bishop and two Counselors. The Stakes are organized in territories where usually from 2.000 to 10,000 members of the Church reside in comparatively close proximity. At this writing there are over 270 Stakes in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Hawaiian Islands, and New Zealand.

The Missions of the Church comprise more scattered areas of Church JX>pulation in America, Europe and many other foreign countries. Branches are organized within the Missions to take care of relatively small groups of the membership. Each Mission is officered by a President who has the assistance of local Branch Presidents and numerous traveling misSionaries who come chiefly from the Stakes. At the time of this writing, the membership of the Church is more than a million and a half.

In addition to the Priesthood organizations and authorities which have been mentioned, there are auxiliary organizations set up in the Church which operate under direction of the Priesthood to serve the needs of various groups of the membership. The Relief Society, a women's organization. with over 190,000 members. ministers to the needs of the poor, the sick and other unfortunates and carries

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forward a rather extensive program calculated to build up and maintain good homes.

The Sunday School Union, with a membership of over 1,360,()(X) , being substantially co-extensive with Church membership. conducts an elaborate educational program throughout the Church for the theological and religious training of the membership.

The Young Men's and Young Women's Mutual Improvement Associations carry forward activities to meet social, recreational. and religious requirements of adolescent youth and young manhood and womanhood.

There are approximately 215,()(X) in the Young Men's Association and 190,()(X) in the Young Women's Association. The Primary Association provides similar training for boys and girls up to the age of twelve. It has a membership of about 270,()(X).

There is also a Genealogical Society in the Church which fosters the practice of and provides facilities for the accumulation of data bearing on the lineage and ancestry of the people. Utilization of the information so obtained will be mentioned hereafter.

The Church maintains a Departme nt of Education . This Department, through Seminaries, provides religious and spiritual education to large numbers of Church-member students in the public high schools. More than SO,()(X) are enrolled in these religious seminaries at this time. Institutes of religion are also set up at several universities for college students. The Church also maintains several schools and colleges in continental United States, Hawaii, Mexico, and the South Sea Islands; and a major university. known as the Brigham Young University . located in

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Provo, Utah. The University was founded Oct. 16, 1875 and has an enrollment of more than 10,000 college students. coming from each state of the United States. 33 foreign countries and the Islands of the Pacific.

One of the noteworthy achievements of the Church in recent years has been the establishment of its Welfare Program where~ by it has sought to amplify its care for those of its number in need. Utilizing organizations of the Church. a system has been developed in which various projects are undertaken for the production and preservation of foodstuffs and the manufacture of clothing and other needed items. Not only those in need work on these projects, but the entire membership is expected to join hands in producing for the benefit of the less fortunate.

The program is of recent years. but it now provides to thousands employment , vocational training and material aid. It has also taught the value of thrift and conservation . In the various regions into which the Church has been divided. 147 commodious storehouses have been built and stocked with canned goods. meat. clothing and other things.

Modem grain elevators, with large storage capacities. have been set up. the chief one being maintained on Welfare Square in Salt Lake City.

The activities and facilities provided by the Church are so extensive as to cover su~ stantially every phase of social contact and endeavour. Most members are active partici~ pants and sometimes officers in several organizations. The genius of the organized efforts of the Church is universal participation in its activities.

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The great body of officers in the Church serve without salary. contributing their time and often their means to the prosecution of their work. Only the General Authorities of the Church and others who devote substantially all of their time to its work are compensated. In the main it operates without a paid ministry.

Notwithstanding the many organizations and agencies maintained by the Church for the benefit of its members, the foundation of its society is the home. Parental obligations and authority are basic in Church philosophy and practice. Substantially every Church institution is regarded as an ally of the home and has for its ultimate objective the building and maintenance of finer and more effective home life. The place and importance of domestic relations in the sociology of the Church will become clear when its doctrines are understood.

ECONOMIC "Holiness to the Lord" inscribed over the door of a mercantile house and the word "Zion" incorporated in the names of banking and other business institutions indicate an unusual and significant condition in the business world of the 20th Century. The names of presiding Church officers set out and advertised as corporate heads and officers of large business enterprises call attention to a situation which has few. if any counterparts throughout the country. Such evidences of Church participation in business are not uncommon in Mormon communities. It has been one of the chief concerns of the Church to advance the temporal and financial welfare

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of its members and the communities in which they reside.

In the days of the early development of the country when capital was very scarce the Church devoted large portions of its available means to assist the people in the making of roads, the building of bridges, the construction of reservoirs, ditches. and canals. the stocking of farms and ranches and. in some instances. the acquisition of the land itself. In later years it contributed liberally to the establishment of stores, factories. mines. banks. insurance companies. lighting plants, water systems. railroads. commercial buildings and substantially every other activity and enterprise involved in the economic development of a country and a people. Without its aid, many of the most productive industries which its people have enjoyed would not have been possible or at least their organization might have been long deferred.

Not only has it contributed to the capital outlay required for such industrial and commercial enterprises. but it has in many instances taken the initiative in their formation and has furnished invaluable counsel and supervision in the conduct of these affairs.

Through the allegiance, respect and esteem which the leaders of the Church have been accorded by its people, they have been able to unite and marshal the economic forces in such manner as to make possible achievements that otherwise would have been impossible.

The principle of co-operation has been utilized in almost every line of industrial endeavor.

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While the chief objectives of the Church in its business activities have ever been to further the interests of its people, it has, however, come to be possessed of large financial interests in many of the major business concerns of the intermountain west.

DOCTRINAL The Mormons believe in the Bible and accept the King James version as the standard translation. They have other volumes of scripture which they accredit with divine authenticity as they do the Bible. but these other scriptures do not, in any sense. contradict the Bible or detract from its authority and importance. The other volumes of scripture which they accept are: The Book of Mormon, which is an inspired translation of sacred plates, setting forth the history of prehistoric people who immigrated to, and settled portions of the Americas with an account of their religious, national and international experiences; the Doctrine and Covenants. which is a compilation of revelations on many subjects pertaining to the Church, divinely given to their prophet; and the Pearl of Great Price. containing the Book of Moses. the Book of Abraham and other inspired translations and writings of Joseph Smith. These four volumes -the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price-constitute what are called the standard works of the Church. These books amplify but they do not contradict each other.

In them are to be found authority and verification for substantially all of the theological and religious doctrines of the Church.

The Church is definitely and fully Chris-

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tian ¡in every possible interpretation of that characterization. It proclaims itself to be the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is so denominated. "Latter-day Saint" differentiates it from the Church of Jesus Christ of former days. It is the Church of the Savior restored in this Dispensation. The Priesthood which governs it and exercises the authority for the administration of all its ordinances and ceremonies is derived from the Redeemer of the world. The Gospel which it teaches is that which is set forth by the Savior Himself and the Christian virtues constitute the standards of living for its members.

Some of the tenets of Mormon faith are not unlike those of other Christian churches.

It believes in the Trinity. the Lordship and Atonement of Jesus Christ, resurrection from the dead and immortality of the soul. But the interpretation which it places on these and other commonly accepted doctrines and the contributions which it has made in new theological conception and principles have given it a very unique and distinctive place in the religious world. It asserts, however, that novel as some of its doctrines may appear to be, there is no principle or truth which it advocates which is not and has not always been part of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is not possible in the space allowed to make a comprehensive statement of its doctrines. Only a few of them can be set forth.

The Church believes in faith , repentance, baptism by immersion, and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. It believes that men must be called of God and ordained by those in authority to preach the

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Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof. It believes in the same organization and the same gifts of the Gospel as existed in the primitive Church of Christ. It believes in modem and continuing revelations from the Lord-that Zion will be built on the American continent and that Christ will reign personally upon the earth. It claims the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of conscience and allows to all men the same privilege. It believes in being subject to the Civil authorities of all lands in which its members reside and in obeying. honoring and sustaining the law. It believes in pre-existence, mortal probation and eternal life hereafter with free agency or full freedom of choice in every man to select or determine the course of his life. It advocates no compulsion but only persuasion through kindness and love. It ascribes spirituality to all things. there having been a spiritual creation of the universe preceding the physical creation, with God as the Creator and Master Intelligence.

The human body is regarded as a tabernacle wherein is housed the spirit of man.

There can be no pollution of the body by taking into it any unclean or unwholesome substance detrimental to health without injury to the spirit which inhabits it, so that contamination of the body has both religious and temporal significance. It is therefore against religious principles and practices to take into the body alcohol. tobacco, tea, coffee, and other stimulants, narcotics, and poisons which militate against organic efficiency. It is God's will to conserve health, intelligence, and spirituality. This doctrine is

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set forth in a revelation known as "The Word of Wisdom."

It is the belief of the Church that in the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man it is the function of Christ's Church to endeavour to save the whole human family -that no one can be saved in ignorance of the Gospel plan and that the truth must be brought to all men before they can exercise intelligently the right of election. To this end the Church has devoted a very large portion of all its resources. energies, and power to the dissemination of its message. It takes the position that through the spirit of the Lord which strives with all men, every person may know the truth when it is brought to him, if he will but receive it with open mind and heart and conform his life to its teachings.

All truly converted members of the Church have "testimonies, " or individual knowledge of the divine attributes of the Church, which they ascribe to the operation of the Holy Spirit on their own spiritual nature. They believe implicitly in the reality and power of faith and spiritual influence.

They accept readily the acquisition of truth through science, but they differentiate clearly between the province of science and that of faith. The realm of the spirit is as real and genuine to them as is that of the physical universe.

In their conception, the spirit of man not only never dies, but it lives through stages of eternal progression. Whatever is learned or acquired in one's life is taken on to a succeeding life. Condemnation or "damning" is but a retardation ¡in progress. Goodness acceler-

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ates progression -badness retards it. There is no conceivable limitation to the achievements of the good. Through such eternal progression they may acquire unlimited intelligence and ultimately obtain the perfection which the Lord has promised to the truly faithful.

The universe and all beings within it are governed by invariable and eternal laws. Men must subscribe and conform to governing laws to realize the blessings of eternity.

All men are equal before the law and all are to have the opportunity. even the dead. to accept the Gospel and receive the promised blessings. but all must know and understand, and the dead who have gone on "into the spirit world without knowledge of the Gospel are to be hereafter given an election to embrace it through vicarious works done for them by their descendants and other friends in the brotherhood of the Church. This work is done within the Temples provided for that purpose. There can be no injustice to any in the Kingdom of God. As before mentioned, the Genealogical facilities are used for this purpose.

Within these sacred temples. ordinances and ceremonies of an unusual character are performed for the living as well. By virtue of the Holy Priesthood. a man and woman may here be sealed to each other as husband and wife. not only for time but for all eternity.

A marriage compact that shall endure forever is thu~ created. into which are born the children. The family is established as a sacred, religious institution, the perpetuation of which in righteousness and in the order of the

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Church constitutes the highest of blessings possible of attainment. Men cannot enter into such eternal relationships unless they hold the Priesthood of God and women must be faithful and worthy. The projection of such homes into eternity is no small part of the Heaven which members of the Church envisage. This is called the principle of celestial marriage and is not to be confused with plural marriage.

It is a theological conception of the Church that God is the giver of all that men possess and that it is the duty of men to consecrate all that they have to the advancement of God's kingdom. In this consecration, it is not the practice of members of the Church to turn all property into the treasury of the Church, but it is their duty to contribute to the Church a tithe or one-tenth of all they earn in recognition of the Lord's goodness and to assist in the prosecution of His work.

The remainder of their earnings and all their possessions they are expected wisely and reverently to devote to the maintenance of the home. the rearing and education of the children and such other wise and useful purposes as will help in the establishment of our Father's Kingdom. Members of the Church are also expected to make contributions for the missionary service, for the care of the poor, for the construction and maintenance of places of worship and other Church purposes.

They believe in the principle of fasting. and it is their custom to abstain from at least two meals on the first Sunday in each month and contribute substantially the cost of the

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meals so saved to an account used in the care of the worthy poor. Aside from the advantages in the contribution, they feel thai: fasting, in reducing the energy of the physical body. brings humility and consequent development of the spirit.

The Mormons accept the power of the Priesthood as a direct delegation from God. All of the ordinances of the Gospel are administered under its authority. A man may receive this authority by ordination from those who hold it but he can exercise the authority only in humility and in righteousness. Whenever he seeks to utilize the authority for any selfish or ulterior purposes, it becomes of no avail.

It is not to be used in compulsion or in any degree of umighteousness but only by persuasion in meekness and kindness, and love and faith. It is a divine endowment and may only be used for divine purposes.

It is frequently used in the blessing and healing of the sick and afflicted, and in giving inspired counsel. Every man who holds it is entitled to divine inspiration for his own guidance and the guidance and blessing of his family, but the men who are appointed and sustained as officers in the Church are entitled to receive inspiration for the direction and blessing of the Church.

The ordained patriarchs of the Church administer blessings to its members. depicting. under inspiration, their lineage and their future potentialities. Such blessings have been attended with remarkable verity of prediction and have offered untold encouragement , comfort and faith to the people.

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HISTORICAL Mormonism had its beginning in the early part of the Nineteenth Century. In 1820 a young man fourteen years of age. residing in the western part of New York state, became much interested in and agitated and confused by religious discussions and contentions carried on by religious sects in the neighborhood of his home. Religion was popular at the time and everyone was expected to ally himself with one church or another. This young man was very serious in the consideration of the choice he was to make. He was careful and he wanted to be right. The investigations he was able to make did not satisfy him. He was not educated-h is family was poor and could not afford schooling for him. but he was intelligent and he had some knowledge of the Bible.

In his perplexity, he read the passage from James, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God. that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." He believed that he could rely on this promise and he went into nearby woods to pray. He wrote a rather minute account of his experience. The substance of it only may be given here.

He said that when he knelt down and began to pray, he was suddenly seized by an unexpected and terrific force that threw him violently to the ground and seemed to threaten his life. After struggling with it for what seemed to him a long period and when he felt he was about to be overcome by it. he suddenly beheld in vision, two glorified personages in the forms of men, standing in the

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air near to him. He was made aware that one was God, the Father. who introduced the other as His Son. These personages communed with him and he was told that none of the churches seeking his allegiance was the true Church, but that the Gospel in its purity was again to be restored and that he was to be selected to be an instrument in its restoration and in the establishment of the true Church of Christ. He was bidden to make preparation for the work he should be required to do and promised that he should be visited thereafter.

Almost completely overcome by this tremendous experience, he made his way with great difficulty back to his home and told his parents. During the several years that followed. while he led the life ordinary with a farmer's boy. he had several heavenly visitations. and in 1823 he was directed by a heavenly messenger to a hill not far from the place of his residence. known now as the Hill Cumorah. where there was disclosed to him a stone box in which were hidden plates of gold with engravings thereon and instruments for their translation. all of ancient origin.

After a time. the contents of the box were placed in his possession and he spent many arduous and eventful months in making a translation of the ancient characters engraved on the plates. He made the translation. as he testifies, with the aid of the instruments which were with the plates and with certain spiritual endowments which were given to him. He had assistance in the writing of the translation. and a number of other persons saw the plates and handled them. He caused a book to be printed and published in Palmyra. New

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York. from the translations which he made, which was called the Book of Mormon. the name being derived from that of a prophet who liv.ed among the early inhabitants of the Americas of whom the book is an historical record.

During the time he was engaged in the translation of the plates and subsequent to the publication of the book. he was subjected to a great deal of persecution. many indignities and much public abuse because of the claims and assertions which he made that he had had divine revelation and had received the ministration of angelic beings. He and his family had been of no prominence in the community where they lived, but he was hounded from place to place and obliged to resort to many secret devices in order to complete the work to which he was assigned. He confided in his own family and comparatively few other friends but the whole countryside was aroused in antagonism against him.

Shortly after the publication of the Book of Mormon. pursuant to direction which he had received from divine sources. he caused to be organized the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 6, 1830, with six charter members. under the laws of the State of New York. He stated that divine messengers had conferred upon him and an associate the authority of the Holy Priesthood which had existed in the Primitive Church and that under that Priesthood and a commission of the Lord. Jesus Christ, he and his associates had been baptized and confirmed in the true Church of Christ. By this authority others were baptized into the Church and within a period of a year. about

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• 1500 members. believing his story, were brought into the Church.

This young man was but 25 years of age when the Church was organized and he lived only until he was 39. During the brief course of his life he caused the new adherents to the .,, Church to go on missions to many parts of the world, from which new converts came until, before he died. the Church had a membership of more than 20,00(fpeople. Through revelation. he perfected the organization of the Church in substantially the same form as it had existed in the time of the Savior and as it exists today. He received revelations and set them down in volumes of scripture. He prophesied. he blessed the people. he directed their movements, he organized businesses. he established cities and became an almost incomparable leader of his own people and a person of consequence in the country where he lived. He predicted that his name would be known for good or ill in all the world. His prediction has come true.

Among the people who accepted his teachings. he was revered as Prophet and Revelator and Organizer of the Church of Christ. Those in the w~rld who did not understand him have branded him as an impostor and deceiver. Never during his eventful career did he have peace. Seemingly without provocation enemies followed him and persecuted him and his followers. He stood trial on unfounded charges more than 40 times during his life. each time being acquitted. He went into a hostile jurisdiction to face a charge under guarantee of adequate protection on the part of the governor of the state. The promised protection failed and he

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• was assassinated in cold blood by a mob. martyr to the cause he espoused. This man was Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Founder of the Mormon Church. The story of his life reads like the history of the Savior whose representative his followers claim him to be.

The fast growing church which Joseph Smith estab!ished did not die with him. but the opposition and persecution which he encountered persisted against it. After it had been driven from New York to Ohio. from Ohio to Missouri. and from Missouri to Illinois. it was forced to abandon the beautiful city of Nauvoo. then the largest dty in Illinois. and its leaders under Brigham Young conducted it westward to the Rocky Mountains.

Joseph Smith had predicted that it would be estab~ished there. Its settlement of the deserts of the West is pretty generally known. From its headquarters in the valley of the Great Salt Lake. it has sent missionaries to nearly all parts of the civilized world. The Church has grown by hundreds of thousands of members and is today reported in government statistics to be one of the fastest growing churches in America according to its population.

In more than a century and a quarter it has never departed from the organization and principles given to it by the Prophet Joseph Smith. All of its leaders have built upon the foundations which he laid. Its elaborate social system. its extensive holdings of Church and commercial property. its important place in the life and development of communities, its unique and characteri stic doctrines. the allegiance and fidelity of its members. and its almost unparalleled history of sacrifice and

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• consecration are all attributable primarily to the inspiration, revelation, devotion and spiritual power of a humble, faithful. unschooled young man - Joseph Smith, the Latter-day Prophet.

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