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indicate Smith was also told that all Christian denominations had become corrupt and further
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clarify that Smith saw multiple heavenly beings, including Jesus and God the Father.
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Early visits by angels, Urim and Thummim, and the Book of Mormon
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9827_77
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Smith also described many other visions involving angels. Some of his earliest visitations involved
|
9827_78
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a Nephite prophet-warrior, who called himself Moroni. Smith said this angel appeared to him many
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times, and showed him where to find a set of buried Golden Plates containing ancient writings that
|
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the prophet-warrior had sealed in a stone box before his death, together with other artifacts. The
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writings on the Golden Plates, according to Smith, contained an account of the various nations that
|
9827_82
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inhabited ancient America, and described how they were led to the New World by Jesus, but
|
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eventually lost their Christian faith through a series of wars and corruption.
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9827_84
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After he said he received the Golden Plates, Smith began to dictate their translation to his wife
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Emma Hale Smith and various associates of his, including Martin Harris and, for most of the later
|
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translation, Oliver Cowdery. Smith said he translated the text through the gift and power of God
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and through the aid of the Urim and Thummim, or seer stone. The resulting writings were published
|
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in March 1830 as the Book of Mormon.
|
9827_89
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The Book of Mormon was much more ambitious than being just a purported history of Native Americans.
|
9827_90
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Mormons quickly adopted the book as a work of scripture of similar importance to the Bible. The
|
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book's title page described it as an attempt to show Native Americans "what great things the Lord
|
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has done for their fathers", and to convince "Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal
|
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God." (Book of Mormon, title page.) The book contained doctrinal discussions on numerous themes,
|
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including how the pride of the wealthy leads to the downfall of civilization, the dangers of
|
9827_95
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"secret combinations" of people who meet secretly and use secret signs and oaths "to carry out the
|
9827_96
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evil purposes of the group", and God's mercy and protection over his followers. Latter Day Saints
|
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consider the crowning moment of the book to be Jesus' visit to the ancient Americans, during which
|
9827_98
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time he teaches them in person about the meaning of his death and resurrection.
|
9827_99
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Shared experiences by Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, and restoration of the priesthood
|
9827_100
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Some of the early movement's most important charismatic experiences were shared between Joseph
|
9827_101
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Smith and Oliver Cowdery, who joined the movement during the translation of the Book of Mormon.
|
9827_102
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During the translation of the Golden Plates, Smith and Cowdery determined that they needed to
|
9827_103
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obtain the Priesthood, or the authority to act in God's name, which they believed had been lost
|
9827_104
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from the earth during the Great Apostasy. According to an account by Cowdery in 1834, they went
|
9827_105
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into the woods near Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania on May 15, 1829, were
|
9827_106
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visited by an angel who gave them the "Holy Priesthood". (Messenger and Advocate, 1(1), Oct. 1,
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1834.) In 1835, Smith and Cowdery stated that the angel was John the Baptist, and that the "Holy
|
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Priesthood" was specifically the Priesthood of Aaron", which included the power to baptize. Today
|
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this area is preserved as the Aaronic Priesthood Restoration Site.
|
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Smith and Cowdery further elaborated for the 1835 publication of the Doctrine and Covenants that
|
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they were also later visited by Peter, James, and John, who restored the "keys of your ministry"
|
9827_112
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and the "keys of the kingdom". Neither Smith nor Cowdery ever gave a date for this visitation.
|
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Organization of the Church of Christ
|
9827_114
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After the restoration of the Priesthood, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery began baptizing dozens of
|
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people, as early as June 1829. (History of the Church 1:6, p. 59). These converts did not belong to
|
9827_116
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a formal church organization. Nevertheless, this community of believers referred to themselves as
|
9827_117
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"the Church of Christ", and included converts in three New York towns: Fayette, Manchester, and
|
9827_118
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Colesville.
|
9827_119
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There is no known record of an early Mormon concept of the Lord's church prior to Smith's
|
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translation of the Book of Mormon from April to June 1829. Some time in April 1829, Smith dictated
|
9827_121
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a story of Alma the Elder, the former priest of a wicked king, who baptized his followers by
|
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immersion, "having authority from the Almighty God", and called his community of believers the
|
9827_123
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"church of God, or the church of Christ".
|
9827_124
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Some time between June and December 1829, Joseph Smith, David Whitmer and Oliver Cowdery said they
|
9827_125
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received a revelation about "how he should build up his church & the manner thereof". This
|
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revelation was called the "Articles of the Church of Christ", and it indicated that the church
|
9827_127
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should ordain priests and teachers "according to the gifts & callings of God unto men". The church
|
9827_128
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was to meet regularly to partake of bread and wine. Cowdery was described as "an Apostle of Jesus
|
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Christ".
|
9827_130
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On April 6, 1830, Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, and a group of approximately 50 believers met to
|
9827_131
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formally organize the Church of Christ into a legal institution. By later accounts, this meeting
|
9827_132
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was a charismatic event, in which members of the congregation had visions, prophesied, spoke in
|
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tongues, ecstatically shouted praises to the Lord, and fainted (Joseph Smith History, 1839 draft).
|
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Also, the church formally ordained a lay ministry. Smith and Cowdery, according to their 1831
|
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account, were each ordained as "an apostle of Jesus Christ, an elder of the church". ("Articles and
|
9827_136
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Covenants of the Church of Christ", Painesville Telegraph, April 19, 1831).
|
9827_137
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Movement in Ohio
|
9827_138
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The movement more than doubled in size with the conversion of Sidney Rigdon, a former Campbellite
|
9827_139
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minister, who led several congregations of Restorationists in Ohio's Western Reserve area, causing
|
9827_140
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hundreds of his adherents to follow him into Mormonism. A fiery orator, Rigdon was called to be
|
9827_141
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Smith's spokesman, and immediately became one of the movement's leaders. By 1831 the church's
|
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headquarters were established in Kirtland, Ohio, and Smith urged the membership to gather there or
|
9827_143
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to a second outpost of the church in Far West, Missouri (see below).
|
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While based in Kirtland, the church changed its name to the "Church of the Latter Day Saints", and
|
9827_145
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added a number of new doctrines and leadership offices. An attempt to establish a communitarian
|
9827_146
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economy known as the "Law of Consecration" was established in 1831. The Latter Day Saint
|
9827_147
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understanding of the priesthood was elaborated by the separation of the higher or Melchizedek
|
9827_148
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Priesthood offices from the lesser or Aaronic Priesthood offices and by the restoration of the
|
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Patriarchal Priesthood. Also established were the First Presidency, the High Council — later
|
9827_150
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elaborated as the High Council of Zion, the Travelling High Council (or Quorum of the Twelve) and
|
9827_151
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Stake high councils — Seventies, patriarchs, high priests, and bishops.
|
9827_152
|
During the Kirtland era, many charismatic experiences were reported, many involving visitations of
|
9827_153
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angels or communication from God through stones. However, some Church members claimed to receive
|
9827_154
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revelations that contradicted those received by Joseph Smith. He and several followers prayed about
|
9827_155
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the issue, and Joseph recorded a series of revelations, which included a description of several
|
9827_156
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real spiritual gifts, a statement that only Joseph Smith, as the Prophet, could receive new
|
9827_157
|
doctrines and commandments for the Church, and a warning that not all supernatural experiences come
|
9827_158
|
from God. This effort to balance charismatic experience with order and stability became a lasting
|
9827_159
|
characteristic of the Latter Day Saint Movement.
|
9827_160
|
Kirtland also was the site of the construction of the movement's first temple. Latter Day Saints
|
9827_161
|
reported a great outpouring of spiritual experiences in connection with the Kirtland Temple's
|
9827_162
|
dedication. The temple was associated with the Kirtland-era "endowment", and with the temple
|
9827_163
|
ceremonies of "foot washing" and "solemn assembly." The movement also established the "School of
|
9827_164
|
the Prophets" which met in the temple. At Kirtland, Smith reported many revelations including the
|
9827_165
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"Word of Wisdom" — advocating temperance and dietary restrictions. He acquired Egyptian papyrus
|
9827_166
|
scrolls which he said contained the writings of the Biblical patriarchs Abraham and Joseph.
|
9827_167
|
According to some reports, it was in Kirtland that Smith first began to practice the doctrine of
|
9827_168
|
plural marriage when he married Fanny Alger as his first plural wife in 1833.
|
9827_169
|
In 1837 Smith and Rigdon founded an "anti-bank" called the Kirtland Safety Society. When it
|
9827_170
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failed, some 300 of the Kirtland membership became disillusioned, including a third of the church
|
9827_171
|
leadership. The result was the movement's first major schism. A new organization led by Smith's
|
9827_172
|
former secretary, Warren Parish, along with Martin Harris and others, vied for control of the
|
9827_173
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church in Kirtland. Re-establishing the original "Church of Christ" name, these "reformed Latter
|
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