Presentation about LDS Church delivered at Sinclair Community College.

1. The Mormons

2. Presentation Goals
Give an unbiased report on the LDS Church and their beliefs
Give a concise overview of the founder of the church Joseph Smith
Give a general account of the foundation of the LDS Church
Summarize Mormon history and their trek to the American west
Examine certain beliefs and temple practices by Mormons
Uncover Mormon controversies and church responses
Conclude with my relationship to the LDS Church

3. History of the LDS Church
The Mormons

4. Joseph Smith
•Born December 23, 1805 inVermont (fifth of
eleven children)
•Claimed to have first angelic visions
beginning in 1820
•In 1827 married Emma Hale (had nine children
and adopted two, only four of which survived
infancy; last child born five months after Smith
died)
•After the publication of the Book of Mormon
in 1830, organized the Church of Christ of
Latter-Day Saints
•Because of persecution left Kirtland, NY, and
led Mormons on a trek eventually settling in
Nauvoo, Ill, during his lifetime.
•Presided over church until he and his older
brother Hyrum were killed in June of 1844 by a
mob at Carthage Jail, in Carthage, Ill.

5. Smith’s Visions
In 1820 at the age fourteen, Smith claimed to have had a
heavenly vision while praying for guidance as to which church he
should join. Smith claims two angelic personages, God , and his
Son Jesus Christ, instructed him to join none of them, for the
true Church of Christ was not on the earth.
Smith shared the message of his vision with others and for
several years he was persecuted and was targeted as a fraud by
local religious leaders.
On 21st, 1823, Smith claimed to have received another visitation
from an angel who told him had been chosen to be a prophet of
God.
In 1827, he claimed that he was lead by an angel to the Hill
Cumorah near Palmyra, NewYork, where he found buried gold
plates with ancient engravings recording the history of a people
living in the Americas before and after the time of Christ. His
purported translation of these plates became The Book of
Mormon.
Smith claims, and Mormons believe, that he subsequently
revealed many other gospel truths.

6. The Angel Moroni & Smith
“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.”
Joseph Smith, Jr.
(1838, describing an 1823 vision)

7. Death of Joseph Smith
at Carthage Jail
One June 27, 1844, a mob of approximately 150 men stormed the upper room of
a Carthage Jail and killed Joseph Smith and his older brother Hyrum.The
brothers, along with two other church leaders who were hurt in the attack, were
being incarcerated on charges of riot and treason. Both Joseph Smith and his
brother Hyrum became martyrs to the members of the church.

8. Brigham Young
•Became President and Prophet of LDS
Church after death of Joseph Smith in 1844
•Participated in the creation of the Council of
Fifty – a church council devoted to
developing a government for a future
theocratic society
•Led Mormon pioneers on mass exodus from
Ill, establishing church in Salt Lake City,
earning him nickname “American Moses”
•Upon reaching the Salt LakeValley
purported to say, "This is the right place.
Drive on.”
•Had 55 wives
•Remained leader of church until his death in
1877
SOURCE: http://unicomm.byu.edu/about/brigham.aspx?content=brigham2

9. Mormon Pioneer Exodus
Beginning in 1846, through roughly 1869, nearly 70,000 Mormon pioneers
fromThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would cross the Great
Plains in wagons or handcarts. Mormon pioneers settled hundreds of
communities along the OregonTrail, stretching as far north as Canada and to
the south into Mexico.

10. Mormon Pioneers
After the death of Joseph Smith in 1844, the
Mormon pioneers were forced to leave Nauvoo
during one of the worst winters the area had seen
in years.
Weather delays pushed the trek to the far west
until the following spring of 1847. Using
experience gained from the previous year,
BrighamYoung led a group of Mormon pioneers
1,000 miles to what is now Salt Lake City in only
111 days.
While encamped in Iowa the United States army
requested a battalion of Mormons to fight in the
Mexican-American War. A group of 600 men,
women, and children joined the Army and
became known as the Mormon Battalion.
Members built roads and supported the troops,
but did not fight. Money earned bought supplies
for the Mormon pioneers going west.

11. Mormon Beliefs and Doctrine

12. The Standard LDS Works
•The Bible- Old and NewTestament
•The Book of Mormon- historical account of
Christ’s dealings with the people of the
Americas (published 1830)
•The Doctrine and Covenants- lectures from
Smith setting forth the basic church
doctrine; followed by a compilation of
important revelations, or "covenants" of the
church (printed 1835- part of BOM)
•The Pearl of Great Price- selection of
materials touching many significant aspects
of the faith and doctrine produced by Joseph
Smith (canonized in 1880- part of BOM)

13. The Articles of Faith
(THERE ARE 13 ARTICLES-THESE ARE THE KEY POINTS)
•We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ,
and in the Holy Ghost.
•We believe that through the atonement of Christ, all mankind
may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the
Gospel.
•We believe in the same organization that existed in the
Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers,
evangelists, and so forth.
•We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions,
healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.
•We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is
translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be
the word of God.
Joseph Smith, Jr. , 1842
SOURCE: History of the Church, Vol.4, pp. 535-541

14. Mormons and the Trinity
God is Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ is His Son, and the
Holy Ghost is a spirit sent by God to teach truth, inspire,
and comfort.
Each of these is a distinct, individual being.
God is the father of all and our relationship with Him is like
that of a Father/child.
God is not immaterial but has a body of flesh and bone.
Mormons believe we were created in the literal image of
God.
Mormons reject theTrinity because they believe the concept itself is not Biblical.
The idea of a "three in one" Godhood was formed during the First Council of Nicea
in 325 A.D., in an attempt to distance Christians from polytheistic (more than one
god) religions.They believe that many Biblical scriptures point to the notion that
the 3 are one in purpose, not necessarily one in the same.
SOURCE: http://www.suite101.com/content/the-mormon-alternative-to-the-trinity-a126543

15. Pre-Existence
The OldTestament teaches that upon our death our spirits “return” to God.
They interpret this to mean that if we returning to God, then we must have
existed with God before we came to earth.
Ecclesiastes 12:7: Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was:
and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
God told the prophet Jeremiah that He knew him before his birth,
suggesting a pre-mortal existence.
Jeremiah 1:5: Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and
before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I
ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
As most Christian religions refer to humans as children of God, Mormons
believe that before we came to live a mortal life on earth, we lived in
Heaven with God as spirit children.

16. 3 Degrees of Heavenly Glory
The Celestial Kingdom- the highest glory, where the faithful dwell with The Father, and Christ
Requirements:
•Receive and be valiant in a testimony of Jesus Christ
•Be baptized in the name of Christ and receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost
•Obey the commandments of God and be washed and cleansed from all sins
•Overcome by faith and endure to the end
•Be sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise
TheTerrestrial Kingdom- can receive Christ’s presences in Heaven, but notThe Father
•They died without God’s law
•They received a testimony of Christ after this life but rejected it while on the earth
•They were honorable people who allowed themselves to be blinded by the wickedness of
the world
•They were not valiant in their testimonies of Jesus Christ
TheTelestial Kingdom- cannot receive either The Father’s or Christ’s presence in Heaven
•Rejected the gospel, the testimony of Jesus, the prophets, and the everlasting covenant
•Were liars, adulterers, murderers, thieves, and all others who flouted God's
commandments
SOURCE: Doctrine and Covenants 131. 1-2 ; 137. 1-4
M. Russell Ballard, “Is It Worth It?” New Era, June 1984, 38

17. Mormon Myths and Reality

18. The LDS Church Today

19. Church Organization
Thomas S. Monson, President of LDSChurch
Ordained in 2008
Congregations
28,424
Members
13,824,854

20. Temples
Presently there are 134 temples in over 40 countries in operation around the
world. Of those in operation, over 60% have been dedicated during the last
decade
Salt Lake CityTemple Washington DCTemple

21. Temples Ordinances
Endowment Ceremony- One of the primary ordinances in the Mormon temple is the
endowment ceremony. During this ceremony, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints come to the temple to make covenants with God.
Sealing (marriage ceremony)- Nearly all marriage ceremonies include the words “till
death do us part.” These words essentially mean that while that marriage is binding in this
life, the marriage is dissolved upon death. On the other hand, members of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that marriages can be for time and all
eternity. There is no “till death do us part” in the marriage ceremony but rather the
marriage contract is established to continue forever.
Proxy Baptism for the Dead- Another ordinance performed in Mormon temples is
baptism for the dead. Mormons believe that through God’s plan, every person who ever
has lived, is living, or will live on the earth will have a fair and equal chance to hear about
the gospel of Jesus Christ. However, Mormons believe, like many other Christian religions,
that man must be baptized on Earth.This ceremony allows those who have died without
being baptized in the Mormon faith to accept be “saved” in the “spirit world” to be
“saved.”

22. Mormon Missionaries
There are roughly 55,000 Mormon
missionaries serving in 165 countries
around the world today.
•Serve two year missions
•Young men and women serve
•Learn foreign languages in 2 months at
training center in Provo, UT
•All expenses paid by family or self
•No contact with family, other than letters
and phone calls on Christmas and Mother’s
Day

23. Mormon Controversies

24. Mormon Polygamy
Though Joseph Smith prohibited the practice of
polygamy in his writings [Doctrine and Covenants] and
publically condemned the practice, he along with other
top church officials began practicing plural marriage in
secret in the 1840s.
During the 1880s, church President JohnTaylor
claimed to receive revelations that priesthood leaders
must live plural marriages in order to qualify to hold
church positions.
Under extreme pressure from the U.S. Govt and the
threat of an invasion of Utah by U.S. troops, the LDS
church officially abandoned the practice in 1890, and in
1904 adopted a policy of excommunication of
members found practicing or promoting new
polygamous marriages.
Today, the practice of plural marriage continues
among tens of thousands of Mormon fundamentalists
(FLDS), however the LDS church does not recognize
these people as members.
BrighamYoung’s family; he is believed
have had as many as 55 wives during his
lifetime.

25. Garments -“Magic Underwear”
Mormon underwear, called garments by church members, is a source of curiosity and
ridicule for some outside the LDS faith.They derogatorily refer to the clothing as
“magic,” “special,” and “secret” underwear.
Among Mormons, this underwear is a sacred matter they typically do not discuss
outside of the temple.They point to the fact that many cultures have special clothing
for social and religious ceremonies, including weddings, baptisms and other
ceremonies. Some religions like Judaism have sacred clothing to help the faithful
remember their obligations or duties toward God. Mormon underwear is likewise worn
to show daily and constant worship.
They acknowledge that the guidelines for wearing garments may seem a bit odd to
some, but believe it is an act of faith and devotion and is a symbol of the covenant
between themselves and God.

26. Becoming God Like
Many Mormon leaders, including Joseph Smith, made statements indicating that
God once was a man on some other earth. In 1840, LDS President Lorenzo Snow
wrote, "As man is,God once was; as God is, man may become.”
Because of this and other statements some claim that Mormon’s believe in
multiple gods. Some Mormons interpret this to mean that if they live a faithful life
their eternal inheritance will make them God like.
The controversy lies in that both the Bible and Book of Mormon clearly state that
there is only one God; the contradiction is frequently cited by critics of the church.

27. Blacks Holding Priesthood
In June of 1978, the leadership of the Mormon
Church announced that “…in God's eternal
plan, all of our brethren who are worthy may
receive the priesthood…”.
Before this time, male members of African
decent were not allowed to hold the
priesthood in the church. Since this doctrinal
change in 1978, the church has
grown from around 3 million to nearly 13.5
million worldwide.
SOURCE: "Revelation on Priesthood Accepted, Church Officers Sustained", Ensign, Nov, 1978, p16

28. Reorganized LDS Church
Community of Christ
A split in the Mormon church occurred when Joseph Smith died. Smith’s family
members believed that the presidency of the LDS church should be passed on to and
kept within the Smith family, namely his son. Other church members disagreed with
this notion and named BrighamYoung as Joseph Smith’s successor.
Today, the Reorganized LDS church, based in Independence, MO, is called the
Community of Christ and claims roughly 250,000 members worldwide. Membership
and support dropped drastically when church leaders announced that women
and homosexuals would be allowed to be ordained priests in the church. However, many
doctrinal beliefs and leadership structures are similar to the actual LDS church.
SOURCE: http://www.cofchrist.org/ourfaith/mission.asp

29. In Conclusion:
A main point about LDS doctrine and the church is that its always evolving.While
many religions base their beliefs on ancient texts, just as Mormons do also, the LDS
church is also constantly evolving through new “revelations” from who they consider
modern day prophets.
Many question whether God would speak through a prophet today, but the question
that Mormons ask is “why not?” If God spoke to the prophets of old in the Bible, why
would this form of communication cease today?
The bottom line for anyone who is Mormon or is investigating the LDS church is
really whether or not you believe that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God. If you
think he was, then logic dictates that the LDS church is the one and only true church
and the doctrine must prevail. If on the other hand you do not believe that Smith was
a prophet, then the foundations of the LDS doctrine and the church itself is nothing
more than a large scale hoax.