Welcome to I Am Your Target Demographic and today we’re discussing the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, which some people might recognize as Mormonism.
We’re going to cover what followers believe and how their beliefs might differentiate
from other branches of Christianity.
Now I want to start by saying that, like most religions, there are various branches within
Mormonism itself, so most of this video is focusing on the most dominant branch, which
is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, making up nearly 16 million members
worldwide, and this is a number that’s greatly increased in the last few decades.
There are smaller denominations that get incredibly small, such as the Cutlerite branch in Missouri,
totaling about 12 people, as of 2010.
But we’re getting too specific, let’s zoom out and discuss the origin of the Latter Day Saint movement.
In the early 1800s, a man in New York named Joseph Smith claimed to have seen visions
of two entities, assumed to be God and Jesus Christ.
These entities and other angelic beings led Smith to a series of gold plates that were
buried, which told of a people that had migrated from Jerusalem to the North American continent,
about 600 years before the birth of Christ.
These people lived in North America, grew and flourished, and then split into several
groups, often warring with each other.
There is also a tale of Jesus visiting these tribes, after his ascension to Heaven.
Mormon is the name of one of the authors of these books, whose son Moroni became the angel
that led Joseph Smith to the plates.
So Joseph Smith now has these golden plates, which are written in an ancient Egyptian language,
and is gifted the ability to translate them, which he does.
Now, the reason for a whole new belief set arises when Smith now believes, due to what’s
written, that the Christianity of their time is false.
Too many leaders have been corrupted and the church as it exists now is too far separated
from the nature of God.
So in this time, the Latter-day Saint movement begins.
Now, why is it called that, you wonder?
All members of the church are referred to as Saints and we are considered to be in the
latter-days, as opposed to biblical time, so members are considered latter-day saints.
We also need to look at this origin of the church in relation to other religious texts.
LDS members do believe in the Bible, like other Christians, but they recognize the errors
that thousands of years of translations might have caused.
They complement the old and new testament with the newer Book of Mormon, as well as
documents written by various church leaders over time, considered to also be the word of God.
When the documents don’t align, they favor the newer documents, which are seen as more
pure and translated more correctly.
There are 13 articles of faith that LDS members believe, so let’s cover those quickly.
Article one is that there are three distinct beings of God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost,
and that God and Jesus both have physical bodies, while the Holy Ghost does not.
The second article says that men will be punished for their own sins, not the sins of Adam.
Mormonism does not believe in the original sin concept as some other Christian denominations do.
The third article specifies that Jesus atoned for all sin so that mankind can be saved,
through the ordinances listed in article four, which include baptism, faith, repentance,
and a confirmation that usually follows baptism that is considered a gift from the holy ghost.
Articles five and six talk about church structure, that man should be called by prophecy to lead
the church and should be authorized by past leadership to preach the gospel and administer
the ordinances we just talked about.
The organizational structure should also resemble the church of old, including roles like apostles,
prophets, teachers, etc.
Article seven through nine talk about more concrete beliefs, such as the belief in the
gift of tongues, prophecies, visions, healing, and more.
As I mentioned earlier, they believe that the Bible is the word of God, as long as it’s
been translated correctly, and that the Book of Mormon is also the word of God.
They also believe that God is always revealing truths to mankind, so everything he has, is
currently, and will reveal all pertains to the everlasting kingdom of god.
Article ten says that they believe that Israel, meaning all the followers of Christ, will
be united and gathered in America, ruled over by Jesus himself.
Article eleven talks about religious freedom, that people may believe in different things
than you and may worship in different ways, but to respect them still.
Article twelve specifies that they believe in obeying rulers and following the laws.
The last article, number thirteen, calls followers to be honest, true, and virtuous, doing good to all men.
It says if there is anything lovely or good, seek after those things.
Most LDS followers live their lives by these articles and some even memorize them.
Now that we have a basis for what they believe, let’s continue our journey through history.
In these early days of the church, the idea of polygamy was popularized, called “plural marriage."
A long time has passed so there’s little evidence to show what actually happened but
it’s believed that members and leaders in the church practiced polygamy though it’s
unclear at what point it was popularized, people point to different leaders in the church
at different times.
We do know that Joseph Smith was called out for his supposed polygamy and other seemingly
hypocritical acts by a newspaper in Illinois, where the church was based at the time.
Smith called this libel and used the city council to shut down this newspaper, which
then returned with claims of treason, resulting in Smith surrendering himself to the police,
where a mob attacked the jail and killed both Smith and his brother, who would have been
second in command to replace him.
This is a good time to talk about persecution of the Mormons.
Prior to Smith being killed himself, many other Mormons were killed throughout Illinois
and Missouri, started with an executive order in Missouri called now the Extermination Order,
that defined Mormons as enemies of the state and that they should be expelled violently.
Militias used this order to attack a Mormon settlement called Haun’s Mill, where 18 Mormons were killed.
This was in the 1830s, the order was not officially rescinded until 1976, nearly 150 years later,
alongside an apology from the governor of Missouri for the pain it caused.
The death of Smith led to the appointment of Brigham Young, who led the church on a
migration west, where they might be safe, and they founded the city of Salt Lake City,
which was at the time outside of the United States boundary.
Utah didn’t become a state until 1896, only after the church officially denounced polygamy,
though it’s believed that people still practiced in secret until another document in 1904 said
that anyone still practicing would be excommunicated.
This is true for the largest sect of the LDS movement, other divisions under Mormonism
may have stopped polygamy earlier and some fundamentalist groups still practice polygamy
today, though it is rare and is by no means indicative of the current state of Mormonism as a whole.
While Utah is still the center of Mormonism in the United States, LDS members have relocated
all around the country and even around the world.
There is a high focus on missionary work, where young members of the church travel for
up to two years, sometimes with the focus of spreading the gospel and sometimes with
a focus on humanitarian aid.
They are not paid for this work and it’s voluntary, though highly encouraged.
You might see missionaries in your neighborhoods, in same-gender pairs, going door-to-door.
The latest info from 2016 shows that over 240,000 people converted to Mormonism due
to door-to-door conversations.
This was likely the first place that one might encounter a member of the church.
For a while, the slang term of “Mormon” was used to describe an LDS member, seen as
a derogatory term, but the term has been embraced by the LDS community and the negative connotation
has mostly faded away.
Members of smaller facets of the LDS movement seem to be less likely to use the “Mormon”
adjective as opposed to members of the larger Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
which is usually acknowledged as the “Mormon Church” unofficially.
So what makes Mormonism different from other Christian religions?
One of the biggest differences is the afterlife.
While other Christian religions tend to see Heaven and Hell only, with the deciding factor
being the embracing of Jesus Christ, it gets a little more complicated for LDS members.
In the Book of Mormon, it’s explained that every person will get a moment, either in
life or in the afterlife, to either accept their salvation or deny it.
It’s said that a very small amount of people will at the very end not only deny salvation
but actively resist it, ending up in a place called outer darkness for eternity.
Everyone else will be separated into three tiers, called kingdoms.
The highest of the kingdoms is the celestial kingdom, of which the highest tier is reserved
for people that have followed Christ, continually repented, received ordinances such as baptism,
and have lived faithfully by their commandments.
These people can enjoy the presence of God in the highest way.
There has been some mild controversy and debate over this idea of heaven, as the actual texts
say very little but only allude to the believer becoming exalted in the highest kingdom, which
some have translated as becoming a God yourself.
You also get to live in this heaven with your family, which is why tight bonds with
family is one of the cornerstones of the church today.
The second kingdom is the terrestrial kingdom for those who did good works but were swayed
by Earthly means and maybe didn’t accept salvation during their time on Earth.
They may be visited by Jesus Christ here, but not God himself.
The third kingdom is the telestial kingdom, which contains people who did not accept the
gospel when given the chance.
These inhabitants must serve time in what’s called a spirit prison, with punishment equal to their crimes.
During this time, people on Earth may do ordinances on their behalf, such as being baptized in their place.
Now, it’s a standard that this is only done by the family’s request, though the church
was criticized for doing this act for over 300,000 Holocaust victims.
Jewish organizations criticized the church many times over this, until a joint statement
was put out in 2010 that both parties were happy with the resolution to do this by request only.
There are also people chosen to minister as missionaries to these waiting in spirit prison.
However, this time of imprisonment comes to an end eventually, and they’re allowed to
live in this lowest kingdom for eternity, which does not include God or Jesus, but is
still said to be much beyond comprehension.
There’s a complex relationship between Mormonism and Christianity.
Those that are LDS claim the Christian adjective since Christ is so vital to their theology.
However Christians often don’t include Mormonism under their umbrella and even often have missionaries
to convert Mormons into other denominations of Christianity.
To be fair, Mormons have also created specific missionaries for other Christian
denominations as well.
Part of this tension, and even part of why the LDS community is seen as mysterious to
the mainstream audience as well, stems from the church’s secrecy, something that other
Christian churches tend to point to as a concern.
For example, only church members are allowed inside the temples and do not discuss what
happens inside the temples.
This includes events like weddings, where guests must sit in a waiting room and watch
an educational video about what’s happening in the real ceremony.
But while this is seen as secrecy to a common observer, these temples are deemed sacred places.
Many ex-Mormons have come out and said that the casual passerby might even be disappointed
by the events inside, they’re not especially scandalous or crazy, just ceremonies honoring
God for their eyes only.
There are even open houses before these temples are dedicated in which you can tour the space
completely for yourself, if you’re able to find a new temple opening near you.
Now, if you look, you can definitely find stories from ex-Mormons about rituals and
traditions, but after doing my video on Scientology, maybe my threshold for the bizarre is set
much higher, so nothing really rattled me in looking through those stories.
So this video has gotten a little longer than I was anticipating but hopefully it gives
you a good look into the foundational beliefs, the history, and some controversies surrounding
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In the comments, feel free to discuss and ask questions, I’m sure both believers and
skeptics will be down there, if my Scientology and Catholicism videos are any indicator.
Make sure to subscribe for more educational videos and thank you for watching!