Mormonism was founded by Joseph Smith in 1920 after he had written (and published) the Book of Mormon.
He wrote it to make money, but could not sell it. Some of his followers (he always had plenty of those) took it to Industrial England, where the workers there took an immediate fancy to it. And proclaimed the writer a Prophet of God.
England had a literary establishment, who had no interest in the Book of Mormon. But it also had many industrial workers, who could barely read but could understand the book's simple messages. And they needed a Prophet.
They boarded a steamboat (that had just been invented) and become more of Smith's followers. They also had a message, "You are a Prophet!" And a Prophet he became. This was a powerful idea and caused his death in 1844.
It is worth examining just what this idea was. It made its believers important, and they were willing to die for it. It made its believer's religious fanatics. It created a new religion: Mormonism, or Latter-Day Saints (LDS).
After Smith's death, another Prophet, Brigham Young, led them across the Rocky Mountains, in the longest religious journey in history.
And it sees no sign of weakening.
No comments:
Post a Comment