Founded in 1830 (during the Great Awakening) by one Joseph Smith Jr., an inhabitant of the so-called Burned-Over District in New York, after he went into a grove of trees and prayed to God to find out what church he should join. God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him and told him that none of the churches were right, but he should form his own. Later he was led to a set of golden plates buried in a hill, which, when translated with the aid of the biblical Urim and Thummim (which were in the hill along with the plates), yielded the Book of Mormon.
Unique things about this church:
We do not believe in original sin.
We believe in the Book of Mormon.
We believe in baptisms for the dead, giving those who have already passed on an opportunity to accept a baptism and become a member of the church in the spirit world.
We believe that the physical body is part of the soul.
Why you should consider joining: The Book of Mormon contains an iron-clad guarantee. Moroni 10:3-4 "Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts. And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost."
In other words, once you've read the Book of Mormon, if you ask God in prayer *sincerely* whether it is true, its truth will be manifested to you.
More information available at www.mormon.org. I'm taking off to play some ET, but I think Slacktime is around as well.
Spencer |
