New Religious Movements of
Nineteenth-Century America
Volume 2:
Latter-Day Saints
Latter-Day Saints
(a.k.a. Mormons)
An American Revealed Scriptural Religion
A Sacred History for the Americas
An American Version of the Exodus Narrative
Latter-Day Saints (LDS)
• The Latter-Day Saints’ cosmology addresses
some provocative questions that European
and European-American Protestants had been
asking themselves since the Reformation:
• If God was omniscient, why didn’t the Bible
contain mention of the Americas?
• If God spoke in ancient times through
revelation, why would God refrain from doing
so now?
• If God allowed multiple wives to the Prophets,
should modern Prophets receive the same?
Red Jacket/Sat-go-ye-wat-ha (17521830)
• Seneca chief and skilled orator
• Spoke against the plethora of
Christian missionaries sent to the
Seneca
• Used reasoned arguments against
proselytizing
• His speeches were well-known in
upstate New York, where Joseph
Smith grew up
• His most famous speech, in
opposition to Missionary Cram,
came in 1805
Speech to Missionary Cram
• “You have got our country, but are not
satisfied; you want to force your religion upon
us.”
• “You say that you are sent to instruct us how
to worship the Great Spirit agreeably to his
mind, and, if we do not take hold of the
religion which you white people teach, we
shall be unhappy hereafter. You say that you
are right and we are lost. How do we know
this to be true?”
Speech to Missionary Cram
• “We understand that your religion is written
in a book. If it was intended for us as well as
you, why has not the Great Spirit given to us,
and not only to us, but why did he not give to
our forefathers, the knowledge of that book,
with the means of understanding it rightly?
We only know what you tell us about it. How
shall we know when to believe, being so often
deceived by the white people?”
• “Brother, you say there is but one way to
worship and serve the Great Spirit. If there is
but one religion, why do you white people
differ so much about it? Why not all agreed,
as you can all read the book?”
Joseph Smith (1805-1844)
• Born in Vermont, but
grew up in upstate New
York during the Second
Great Awakening
• Confused by the
preachers from
different religions, he
followed Biblical advice
(James 1:5), asking God
what religion he should
join
First Grand Heirophany
• God the Father and
Jesus the Son appear to
him and tell Joseph
Smith that the perfect,
true religion will be
revealed to him if he
waits faithfully
Joseph Smith’s 2nd Grand Hierophany: A
Visit from Moroni in September 1823
• On the evening of the …
twenty-first of September,
after I had retired to my
bed for the night, I betook
myself to prayer and
supplication to Almighty
God for forgiveness of all
my sins and follies, and also
for a manifestation to me,
that I might know of my
state and standing before
him; for I had full
confidence in obtaining a
divine manifestation, as I
previously had one.
Joseph Smith’s Grand Hierophany: A
Visit from Moroni in September 1823
• While I was thus in the act of calling upon God, I
discovered a light appearing in my room, which
continued to increase until the room was lighter than
at noonday, when immediately a personage appeared
at my bedside, standing in the air, for his feet did not
touch the floor.
• He had on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness. It
was a whiteness beyond anything earthly I had ever
seen; nor do I believe that any earthly thing could be
made to appear so exceedingly white and brilliant. His
hands were naked, and his arms also, a little above
the wrist; so, also, were his feet naked, as were his
legs, a little above the ankles. His head and neck were
also bare. I could discover that he had no other
clothing on but this robe, as it was open, so that I
could see into his bosom.
Joseph Smith’s Grand Hierophany: A
Visit from Moroni in September 1823
• Not only was his robe exceedingly white, but his whole
person was glorious beyond description, and his
countenance truly like lightning. The room was exceedingly
light, but not so very bright as immediately around his
person. When I first looked upon him, I was afraid; but the
fear soon left me.
• He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a
messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that
his name was Moroni; that God had a work for me to do;
and that my name should be had for good and evil among all
nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both
good and evil spoken of among all people.
• He said there was a book deposited, written upon gold
plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this
continent, and the source from whence they sprang. He also
said that the fulness of the everlasting Gospel was contained
in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants;
Urim and Thummim
• Also, that there were two
stones in silver bows--and
these stones, fastened to a
breastplate, constituted what
is called the Urim and
Thummim--deposited with the
plates; and the possession and
use of these stones were what
constituted "seers" in ancient
or former times; and that God
had prepared them for the
purpose of translating the
book.
The Book of Mormon
• Moroni directed Smith to an additional volume of
sacred scripture at a hilltop in Palmyra, NY, known
in LDS lore as the Hill Cumorah
• Smith translates the ancient tablets with the Urim
and Thummim, and with the help of his wife Emma
• Published The Book of Mormon in 1830
Where are
the Tablets?
• After Smith translated The Book of Mormon,
God took the tablets into heaven to keep
them from falling into the hands of enemies
of the LDS.
The Testimony of Three Witnesses
Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto whom this work
shall come: That we, through the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ,
have seen the plates which contain this record, which is a record of the people of
Nephi, and also of the Lamanites, their brethren, and also of the people of Jared, who
came from the tower of which hath been spoken. And we also know that they have
been translated by the gift and power of God, for his voice hath declared it unto us;
wherefore we know of a surety that the work is true. And we also testify that we have
seen the engravings which are upon the plates; and they have been shown unto us by
the power of God, and not of man. And we declare with words of soberness, that an
angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that
we beheld and saw the plates, and the engravings thereon; and we know that it is by
the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that we beheld and bear
record that these things are true. And it is marvelous in our eyes. Nevertheless, the
voice of the Lord commanded us that we should bear record of it; wherefore, to be
obedient unto the commandments of God, we bear testimony of these things. And
we know that if we are faithful in Christ, we shall rid our garments of the blood of all
men, and be found spotless before the judgment-seat of Christ, and shall dwell with
him eternally in the heavens. And the honor be to the Father, and to the Son, and to
the Holy Ghost, which is one God. Amen.
Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, Martin Harris
The Contents of The Book of Mormon
• The sacred history of
the Americas
• Maintains that
monotheistic Hebrews
had lived in the
Americas from 600 BCE
to 421 CE
• Lehi led his family from
Palestine to America
Laman v. Nephi
• Laman, the eldest son,
not very interested in
matters religious, joins
the native people and
reverts to paganism
• Nephi, the youngest
son, is a prophet and a
believer in God
• Descendents of Laman,
called Lamanites =
Native Americans
Nephi disputing Laman and Lemeul
The Nephites
•
•
•
•
Descendants of Nephi
Upholders of revealed religion
Subject to frequent backsliding
Receive a string of remarkably accurate prophets, but
still weak in their faith
Christ Visits the Nephites
• The post-resurrection Jesus appears to the Nephites in 34
CE, around present-day Mexico City.
• He makes a series of prophecies, including predicting the
American Revolution and Joseph Smith’s prophethood.
3 Nephi 21
• Israel will be gathered when the Book of Mormon comes forth—The
Gentiles will be established as a free people in America—They will be
saved if they believe and obey; otherwise, they will be cut off and
destroyed—Israel will build the New Jerusalem, and the lost tribes will
return.
• “And verily I say unto you, I give unto you a sign, that ye
may know the time when these things shall be about to
take place—that I shall gather in, from their long
disperson, my people, O house of Israel, and shall
establish again among them my Zion;…(it) shall be made
known unto the Gentiles that they may know concerning
this people (Native Americans) who are a remnant of the
house of Jacob.” (3 Nephi 21: 1-2)
3 Nephi 21
• “For it is wisdom in the Father that they should be
established in this land (i.e. North America), and be
set up as a free people by the power of the Father
(i.e. the American Revolution), that these things
might come forth from them (the Gentiles) unto a
remnant of your seed (Native Americans)…” (verse 4)
• “Yea, wo be unto the Gentiles except they repent; for
it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Father, that
I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I
will destroy thy chariots…” (verse 14)
3 Nephi 21
• “And it shall come to pass that all lyings, and
deceivings, and envyings, and strifes, and priestcrafts,
and whoredoms, shall be done away. For it shall
come to pass, saith the Father, that at that day
whosoever will not repent and come unto my
Beloved Son, them will I cut off from among my
people, O house of Israel; And I will execute
vengeance and fury upon them…” (verses 19-21)
• “But if they will repent and hearken unto my words,
and harden not their hearts, I will establish my
church among them…” (verse 22)
• Despite receiving this
significant visit from Jesus,
the Nephites continue to
backslide
• They lose numerous
battles to the Lamanites,
until their territory,
inevitably, shrinks
• Under their leader
Mormon, the Nephites are
confined to “a land of
many waters, rivers, and
fountains” – upstate New
York (Mormon 6:4)
And yet…
Mormon
• 385 CE
• The Nephites take
the field with
220,024 men
• The Lamanites slay
220,000 Nephites in
battle
• The 24 survivors
include Mormon
and his son Moroni
• Mormon knows it is
the end of the
Nephites
• Asks Moroni to bury
the tablets
The Battle at Hill Cumorah
• “And my soul was rent
with anguish, because of
the slain of my people, and
I cried:
• O ye fair ones, how could
ye have departed from the
ways of the Lord! O ye fair
ones, how could ye have
rejected that Jesus, who
stood with open arms to
receive you!
• Behold, if ye had not done
this, ye would not have
fallen. But behold, ye are
fallen, and I mourn your
loss.” (Mormon 6:16-18)
Mormon’s
Lament
Mormon instructing Moroni
regarding the tablets
Claims of the Book of Mormon
• With the recovery of the Book of Mormon –
considered Another Testament by the LDS –
we are in the Latter-Days, the last era before
the Second Coming of Christ
• The LDS are yet another eschatologicallybased new denomination of Christianity
• If we obey God’s simple commands, we will
be blessed; if we disobey, we will be
destroyed (cp. Winthrop’s covenant)
Opposition to the Book of Mormon
• When Smith published The Book
of Mormon, he was met with
ridicule and persecution from his
New York State neighbors
• He was tarred and feathered, as
illustrated here
• At the same time, he started to
grow the Church, and gain
converts
• Soon he was able to establish
missions to Europe
Organizing the LDS Community
• As with other NRMs of
the 19th century,
Smith’s vision for the
LDS was communal
• He established the LDS
community first in
Kirtland, Ohio, near
Cleveland
Peregrinations of the LDS Community
• Persecution and
economic
turmoil caused
the Latter-Day
Saints to move
from NY to Ohio
to Missouri to
Nauvoo, Illinois
between 1830
and 1844
The Missouri prophecies and
persectuions
• Joseph Smith had a revelation predicting the
Second Coming of Christ would happen in
Missouri
• Latter-Day Saints moved to Missouri sites in
the 1830s
• The LDS clashed with Southern immigrants to
Missouri
• This led to an infamous 1838 law…
Missouri law against the LDS
• Missouri Executive Order 44 stated “The
Mormons must be treated as enemies, and
must be exterminated or driven from the state
if necessary for the public peace--their
outrages are beyond all description.”
• The Order was not formally rescinded until
June 1976!
Ending the Missouri Extermination!
• WHEREAS, on October 27, 1838, the Governor of the State of Missouri,
Lilburn W. Boggs, signed an order calling for the extermination or expulsion
of Mormons from the State of Missouri; and
• WHEREAS, Governor Boggs' order clearly contravened the rights to life,
liberty, property and religious freedom as guaranteed by the Constitution of
the United States, as well as the Constitution of the State of Missouri; and
• WHEREAS, in this bicentennial year as we reflect on our nation's heritage,
the exercise of religious freedom is without question one of the basic tenets
of our free democratic republic;
• Now, THEREFORE, I, CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, Governor of the State of
Missouri, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the
laws of the State of Missouri, do hereby order as follows:
• Expressing on behalf of all Missourians our deep regret for the injustice and
undue suffering which was caused by the 1838 order, I hereby rescind
Executive Order Number 44, dated October 27, 1838, issued by Governor W.
Boggs.
• In witness I have hereunto set my hand and caused to be affixed the great
seal of the State of Missouri, in the city of Jefferson, on this 25 day of June,
1976.
• (Signed) Christopher S. Bond, Governor
The LDS in Nauvoo
• Smith moves the center of LDS life to Nauvoo,
Illinois
• Smith becomes politically popular
• Smith secretly introduces plural marriage
• Smith has enemies, including ex-LDS
• His enemies bait him with rumors
• He destroys their printing press
• The governor of Illinois moves to arrest Smith
The Assassination of Joseph Smith
• June 27, 1844
• Jail cell in
Carthage, IL
• Mob had been
told when to
strike
• Smith’s brother
Hyrum also killed
• John Taylor,
future president
of church, an eyewitness
Brigham Young (1801-1877)
• Born in Vermont
• Joined the LDS in 1832
• Successful missionary to
England
• Succeeds Smith as
President of the Church
• Leads LDS community to
Great Salt Lake valley
• Nicknamed “American
Moses” for leading the
Exodus
The Journey
Note that the Salt Lake was part of Mexico in 1847
The Exodus Narrative
• We have now seen three
distinct American
communities who see
themselves re-enacting the
Exodus narrative from the
Bible:
– Winthrop and the Puritans
– Enslaved African-Americans
– The Latter-Day Saints
The Exodus Narrative
• Three distinct American
communities see
themselves re-enacting the
Exodus narrative from the
Bible:
– Winthrop and the Puritans
– Enslaved African-Americans
– The Latter-Day Saints
• Harriet Tubman, the Moses
of her people
The Exodus Narrative
• Three distinct American
communities who see
themselves re-enacting the
Exodus narrative from the
Bible:
– Winthrop and the Puritans
– Enslaved African-Americans
– The Latter-Day Saints
Why the California Gull is
the State Bird of Utah
• California Gulls arrived at the
Salt Lake just in time to eat a
plague of locusts that had
descended upon, and were
devouring, the Mormon settlers’
first set of crops.
• This sculpture in Temple Square
in Salt Lake City commemorates
that event.
• California Gulls are common in
the South Bay here, too!
Latter-day Saint Polygamy
• Doctrine of plural
marriage a component
of a cosmology of many
levels of existence
• Instituted secretly by
Joseph Smith, practice
openly announced by
Brigham Young and
church leaders in 1853
• Mostly church leaders
and elite who had
multiple wives
The War Against the Mormons
• President Buchanan
sent troops to fight
against the LDS in the
so-called Utah War of
1857-58
• The Republican
platform of 1856 called
for “Wiping Out the
Twin Relics of
Barbarism: Slavery and
Polygamy”
President James Buchanan, 15th president of the
United States. Fortunately the only President Buchanan we’ve ever had
• LDS argued/lobbied for
biblical and social
bases for polygamy,
and religious freedom
• Supreme Court,
presidents, and both
houses of Congress set
to defend marriage
• LDS officially gives up
polygamy in 1890
• Renegade groups still
practice polygamy, but
they are not recognized
by LDS church
leadership
Polygamy Ends
Wilford Woodruff, President of LDS when polygamy ended
LDS
Practices:
Missions
• All young men are
required to go on a
two-year mission
• These are often to
foreign countries
• There are many
products for sale
CTR = Choose the Right, an LDS tag line
at LDS stores for
About proper behavior and moral rectitude
missionaries (and
their mothers!)
• The LDS has
retained communal
ideals from the 19th
century, such as
mutual aid and
welfare
• Marriage and childrearing are
considered
cosmological linchpins, and generate
community support
LDS Community
• Families move through
eternity together
• Babies are waiting to
be born into this
physical existence
• Marriage, and having
children, is not just a
good idea – it is a
Godly ideal and a
cosmic duty
• This doctrine accounts
for the consistent LDS
resistance to same-sex
marriage
LDS Cosmology
of the Family
LDS Cosmology of Race, Then and Now
• Through much of the
19th and 20th centuries,
the LDS excluded
African-Americans from
being full members of
the church, due to their
reading of the curse of
Ham
• In 1978, the church
leadership received a
revelation from God,
removing this doctrine
and allowing for full
African-American
participation
LDS Cosmology of Race, Then and Now
• The Book of Mormon
makes references to the
Lamanites (Native
Americans) as swarthy,
dark, and savage
• Joseph Smith suggested
that LDS ought to
intermarry with
Lamanites to make their
progeny more white
• Despite the apparent
prejudice, the LDS
church has had a better
record of proselytizing
success with Native
Americans than most
Christian groups,
because they have a
plausible historic
narrative of God’s
actions that includes
Native Americans.
LDS Temples and Baptisms
• Video from CNN, April
2012
• LDS Temple Kansas City