Richard Bushman's Mormonism: A Short Introduction

Joseph Smith lived during the Second Great Awakening and based on his revelations founded the first modern religion on American soil. He was supported in founding: The Church of Latter-day Saints of Jesus Christ, better known as Mormonism. Believers consider themselves “a peculiar people with an overarching identity.” In Mormonism: A Very Short Introduction, Richard Bushman, historian and professor emeritus, wrote that generally, members place their faith community “above race, national origin, class, or vocation.” He also illustrates that Mormonism is “an organization with an intense concentration of authority at the center coupled with the diffusion of administrative authority to every active adult,” thus encouraging continual member engagement.

She describes the organization of local congregations, called branches, which grow into wards, and once numerous enough, each region is organized into a group called a stake. Rick Phillips, sociologist and associate professor, discusses the Church statistically and geographically in his article “Sources of Mormon Religious Activity in the United States: How Latter-day Saint Communities Function where LDS Predominate and Where They Are Sparse.” Phillips explains that “a religious market functions like the market for any other good or service” thus membership rules should correlate with minority religions. Instead, he found a skew in active member numbers, especially since those who are active take the place of formal clergy thus “smaller ward rosters evince higher rates of religious activity, and larger ward rosters evince lower rates.” The structure provides for the skew and is a view of the involvement among LDS

This is only one of several “distinctive doctrines and practices” to which LDS adhere, “among them [a] belief in a scripture supplemental to the Bible known as the Book of Mormon, the source of the movement’s nickname.” David Seely, professor of ancient scripture, penned the article “We Believe the Bible to Be the Word of God, as Far as It Is Translated Correctly: Latter-day Saints and Historical Biblical Criticism.” In it he explains with the Old and New Testaments, LDS “accept three other books as canonized scripture” calling them all “the standard works,” which they believe are incomplete and with future revelation “can be added to.” Further, Seely expounds that the LDS belief of an inspired reinforces their belief in revelation which is the connection between the authority of Church leaders to the adaptability of the