Mormonism Essay

Despite Mormonism being a fairly popular modern religion, its beliefs and traditions are still unknown to most of society. Joseph Smith Jr. founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or the Mormon Church, on April 6, 1830 in Fayette, New York. In the 1820s during the Second Awakening, Joseph Smith received a vision, known as the “First Vision,” in which God the Father and his son Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph and instructed him to join none of the existing churches because they were all wrong, and thus became the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. According to the cosmology of the religion, there was a pre-mortal life in which human spirits were children of heavenly parents living in Heaven. God the Father, also

Experientially, Mormons attend weekly religious services where they partake in singing hymns, sharing sermons and testimonies, and receive sacraments similar to receiving communion. Mythically, Joseph Smith’s revelations are inspiring and important to Mormons as they are the conception of the Church of LDS. Doctrinally, there are many scriptures Mormons refer to as stated earlier. These include the significant Book of Mormon which is comparable to the Bible in which it depicts “the ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains the fullness of the everlasting gospel” (Church of Jesus Christ). Ethically, there are many principles that are taught in the scripture, Doctrine and Covenants, such as the avoidance of consuming alcohol, tobacco, coffee, tea, as well as the importance of chastity and celibacy before marriage. Ritually, baptisms, covenants, and many symbolic ceremonies occur within the religious services. Socially, there are 15 apostles that lead the Church. There is a senior apostle and the president of the Church who then selects two counselors and twelve individuals to form the Quorum of the Twelve. There are also leaders of local congregations called bishops and presidents of groups of congregations called stake presidents. As one can see, there are countless administrative positions involved in the Church of LDS. Materialistically, the Church of LDS is famous for their Gothic architectural temples. Their temples are extremely ornate as they are meant to represent the house of God, as well as the bridge between heaven and earth. In conclusion, researching about this famous yet somewhat secretive religion was very fascinating. It is interesting to recognize the similarities between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to other religions like Christianity. Having seen Mormonism in many aspects of society whether that be positively or negatively through pop-culture