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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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Smith also described many other visions involving angels. Some of his earliest visitations involved
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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
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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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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.
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The Book of Mormon was much more ambitious than being just a purported history of Native Americans.
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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
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"secret combinations" of people who meet secretly and use secret signs and oaths "to carry out the
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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
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time he teaches them in person about the meaning of his death and resurrection.
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Shared experiences by Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, and restoration of the priesthood
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Some of the early movement's most important charismatic experiences were shared between Joseph
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Smith and Oliver Cowdery, who joined the movement during the translation of the Book of Mormon.
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During the translation of the Golden Plates, Smith and Cowdery determined that they needed to
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obtain the Priesthood, or the authority to act in God's name, which they believed had been lost
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from the earth during the Great Apostasy. According to an account by Cowdery in 1834, they went
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into the woods near Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania on May 15, 1829, were
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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"
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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
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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
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a formal church organization. Nevertheless, this community of believers referred to themselves as
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"the Church of Christ", and included converts in three New York towns: Fayette, Manchester, and
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Colesville.
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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
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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
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"church of God, or the church of Christ".
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Some time between June and December 1829, Joseph Smith, David Whitmer and Oliver Cowdery said they
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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
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should ordain priests and teachers "according to the gifts & callings of God unto men". The church
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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".
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On April 6, 1830, Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, and a group of approximately 50 believers met to
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formally organize the Church of Christ into a legal institution. By later accounts, this meeting
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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
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Covenants of the Church of Christ", Painesville Telegraph, April 19, 1831).
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Movement in Ohio
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The movement more than doubled in size with the conversion of Sidney Rigdon, a former Campbellite
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minister, who led several congregations of Restorationists in Ohio's Western Reserve area, causing
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hundreds of his adherents to follow him into Mormonism. A fiery orator, Rigdon was called to be
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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
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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
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added a number of new doctrines and leadership offices. An attempt to establish a communitarian
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economy known as the "Law of Consecration" was established in 1831. The Latter Day Saint
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understanding of the priesthood was elaborated by the separation of the higher or Melchizedek
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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
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elaborated as the High Council of Zion, the Travelling High Council (or Quorum of the Twelve) and
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Stake high councils — Seventies, patriarchs, high priests, and bishops.
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During the Kirtland era, many charismatic experiences were reported, many involving visitations of
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angels or communication from God through stones. However, some Church members claimed to receive
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revelations that contradicted those received by Joseph Smith. He and several followers prayed about
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the issue, and Joseph recorded a series of revelations, which included a description of several
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real spiritual gifts, a statement that only Joseph Smith, as the Prophet, could receive new
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doctrines and commandments for the Church, and a warning that not all supernatural experiences come
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from God. This effort to balance charismatic experience with order and stability became a lasting
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characteristic of the Latter Day Saint Movement.
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Kirtland also was the site of the construction of the movement's first temple. Latter Day Saints
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reported a great outpouring of spiritual experiences in connection with the Kirtland Temple's
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dedication. The temple was associated with the Kirtland-era "endowment", and with the temple
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ceremonies of "foot washing" and "solemn assembly." The movement also established the "School of
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the Prophets" which met in the temple. At Kirtland, Smith reported many revelations including the
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"Word of Wisdom" — advocating temperance and dietary restrictions. He acquired Egyptian papyrus
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scrolls which he said contained the writings of the Biblical patriarchs Abraham and Joseph.
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According to some reports, it was in Kirtland that Smith first began to practice the doctrine of
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plural marriage when he married Fanny Alger as his first plural wife in 1833.
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In 1837 Smith and Rigdon founded an "anti-bank" called the Kirtland Safety Society. When it
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failed, some 300 of the Kirtland membership became disillusioned, including a third of the church
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leadership. The result was the movement's first major schism. A new organization led by Smith's
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former secretary, Warren Parish, along with Martin Harris and others, vied for control of the
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church in Kirtland. Re-establishing the original "Church of Christ" name, these "reformed Latter