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Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints #1 Introduction:
We have heard a lot recently on the news about the “Mormons” in I)
Facts A)
One of the fastest growing religions in the world B)
Average 800 conversions per day over the last 10 years C)
4th largest religious group in the D)
70% of those in the Mormon church today were not reared in the religion E)
13 million Mormons in the world II)
Religious Climate of the early 1800’s A)
The Restoration Movement 1.
Away from the Catholic Church 2.
The Bible was more available and people were studying it for themselves B)
Resulting in the formation of denominations and religious confusion 1.
Upstate 2.
This was also a time when men like Barton Stone and Thomas Campbell sought to by
pass denominations and “only be Christians” III)
The Beginning of the Mormons A)
Joseph Smith 1.
Born December 13, 1805 in 2.
1815, when he was 10 years old, his parent moved to 3.
1820, at the age of 15, he has the first of many “visions” out in the woods
a. “When the light rested upon me I saw two personages, whose
brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of
them spake unto me, calling me by name, and said, pointing to the others,
“This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!” –The
Prophet Joseph Smith’s Testimony, pp. 4-5
b. He ask which church wasright and was told to join none of them but to
restore to earth the Church originally organized by Jesus Christ, with all of
its truth and priesthood authority – “History”
www.lds.org 4.
1823 the
a. Supposedly Jesus appeared to the Indians in
b. Lehi was supposedly a Jew that left
c. One of the last record keepers was an ancient American prophet named
Mormon who recorded the events, prophesies of Jesus, and visions on gold
tablets.
d. The angel
e. This was not revealed by Joseph Smith until 1839. 5.
1825 Joseph Smith and his father got involved in treasure hunting, looking for
gold, and buried treasure.
a. They did not find treasure but found a way to make money
b. Through the use of rods and “seer stones” they pretended to locate
places of buried treasure 6.
1826 in 7.
1828 Joseph Smith and his family were still members at the 8.
1829 Oliver Cowdery and Smith translated the gold tablets
a. How was this done? Smith was on one side of a curtain and told
Cowderly what to write.
b. In the front of the Book of Mormon there are three witnesses listed.
Two of the three later on admit to never seeing the tablets. 9.
1830 the Book on Mormon is published. April 6, 1830 the Mormon church was
organized, using the name “The
Church of Christ” 10.
1833 due to persecution they move to 11.
1834 under the urging to Sidney Rigdon the name is change to “The Church of
Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints” 12.
1835 Doctrines and Covenants is published 13.
1836 the construct a large temple. Today there are at least 114 temples. Most
ceremonies in temples are for the dead. 14.
1836 Smith forms a bank but is quickly accused of sexual and financial
indiscretions 15
1836 an attempt is made to move to
a. Oliver Cowdery accuses Smith of adultery and is excommunicated from
the church by Smith. Later on, after Smith’s vision allowing multiple
marriages, he marries the woman named by Cowdery. 16.
1838 Smith and his followers are driven out of Independency at gunpoint. 17.
1838 Smith arrested for treason, sentenced to death, escapes 18.
1839
a. Total population of 20,000 of which 5,000 were Mormons.
b. Smith becomes mayor of the city
c. Church membership climbs to 100,000 members nationwide
d. Smith raised his own militia 19.
1843 Smith reveals the doctrine of plural marriages
a. Brigham Young is originally against the doctrine but eventually has 20
wives.
b. Emma Hale Smith, Joseph Smith’s wife, is against the doctrine but
Smith’s vision specifically mentions her name and tells her to accept it.
c. In 1887, LDS Historian Andre Jensen listed 27 wives of Smith.
d. Nauvoo temple records record names of 30 women sealed for eternity to
him 21.
1843 baptism for the dead is taught 22.
1844, a newspaper, the Nauvoo Expositor publishes affidavits of 16 respectable
women charging Smith and other Mormon leaders of trying to seduce them into
polygamy
a. Smith tells his followers to destroy the printing company and runs the
publishers out of town.
b.
c. Smith flees but is later arrested and take to
d. A riot develops and Smith along with his brother, Hyrum, is shot and
killed. Different accounts of what happened. Some say Smith and his brother were
trying to escape when shot; others say the mob shot them in cold blood, and
others say Smith had a gun and shot at least two people before being killed. 23.
1845 the church is in disgrace and disarray. B)
Brigham Young 1.
1846 Brigham Young succeeds Joseph Smith and moves the group to 2.
1851 Brigham Young is name 1st governor of the 3.
1852 President James Buchannan is concerned with Brigham Young acting as ruler
of 4.
1857 Fancher Party is massacred also called the Mountain Meadow massacre. A
group of 120 men, women, and children traveling from 5.
1862 6.
1890 Wilford Woodruff ends the practice of polygamy. III)
The Foundation Is Joseph Smith A)
Claimed to be a prophet 1.
“Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus
only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived
in it” (Doctrine and Covenants, 135:3. 2.
(25) Brethren, I have many things to say to you on the subject;
but shall now close for the present, and continue the subject another time. I
am, as ever, your humble servant and never deviating friend, JOSEPH SMITH.
--Letter from Joseph Smith to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
Nauvoo, Illinois, September 6, 1842. History of the Church 5:148-53. B)
If He was a prophet he was a false prophet 1.
World would end by 1890, Joseph Smith would live to be 85. 2.
Slavery would not end. 3.
He said their were people living on the moon and described them. 4.
Brigham Young also prophesied falsely. Conclusion:
We are told to not accept any other gospel, Galatians 1.6-9 to test the spirits,
I John 4.1. There is nothing to back up the claims of Joseph Smith. Not one
piece of archeological evidence. 1.
No city peculiar to the Book of Mormon has ever been located 2.
No names peculiar to the Book of Mormon has ever been found in 3.
No genuine inscriptions have ever been found in Egyptian or anything similar
which could correspond to the “reformed Egyptian tongue” 4.
No ancient copies of the Book of Mormon have ever been found 5.
No mention of people, nations or places peculiar to the Book of Mormon have ever
been found Yet we are told to accept the Book of Mormon as a latter day revelation of Jesus Christ. We must either accept the Bible or the book of Mormon, we can not accept both.
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