Who Founded Mormonism?
Mormonism and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was officially established on April 6, 1830 by Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith was born in Vermont on December, 23, 1805 to Lucy Mack Smith and Joseph Smith Sr. Joseph Smith.
In 1820, 14 year-old Joseph Smith Jr. prayed for guidance about which Church he should join. Smith claimed that while he was praying in a grove of trees in upstate New York, two “personages” identifying themselves as God the Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him. They allegedly told Smith that he was to join none of the currently existing churches. This is what began Smith’s establishment of the Mormon Church.
What Do Mormons Believe?
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe it had restored the doctrines of the early Church that were lost shortly after the death of the apostles. Latter-day Saints call this the “great apostasy”. Latter-day Saints (or Mormons) believe that this restoration began the moment Joseph Smith prayed for guidance on which Church he should join.
While both Mormons and Christians believe that God is “the Supreme and Absolute Being in whom we believe and whom we worship,” Catholics (and other Christians) disagree with Mormons over the physical nature of God. Joseph Smith believed God is not a spiritual being who created everything from nothing. Instead, he believed God was a man, with a flesh-and-blood body who organized pre-existing matter into the shape of our universe. According to Doctrines and Covenants 130:22,
The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s.
Furthermore, Mormons do not believe in the Triune God. Additionally, Mormons believe that God was once a man like us, but he has been exalted and now rules from within the universe in a glorified body. Since they believe God was once man, then many more gods can “come to be” or begin to exist—that human beings have the potential to become gods. This Mormon doctrine is called “eternal progression.”
Additionally, Mormons believe that Jesus was once an “intelligence” like us who existed from eternity past. They believe he was not always divine, and not always the Son of God. Instead, they believe God chose Jesus to become “the first-born” among the intelligences by giving him the first spirit body (Doctrine and Covenants 93:29-33).
Are Mormon’s Christians?
No. Mormons do not follow the God of Christianity—in that they do not subscribe to the Doctrine of the Trinity. Since Mormons believe in the existence of many gods, that God the Father was once a man, and that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are not fully divine, it follows that they do not worship the God of Christianity. Christians believe there is only one God, eternally existing as three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Although Mormons claim that they, too, believe in “one God,” what they mean is that they believe in one collection of Gods. For Mormons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three Gods who cooperate so perfectly that they might as well be one God. And while the Catholic Church recognizes baptism performed by other non-Catholic Christians—given they are baptized in the Trinitarian form with water—it does not recognize LDS baptisms, and thus does not consider Mormons as Christians.
What Is the Book of Mormon?
In 1823, Joseph Smith claimed an angel named Moroni appeared to him and revealed the location of a set of gold plates inscribed in a language Smith called “reformed Egyptian.” Smith met with this angel over a period of four years to prepare to translate the gold plates. Smith allegedly achieved this translation by putting his head inside a hat and using a set of “seer stones” to illuminate the reformed Egyptian characters on the plates. Smith would then dictate the translation he saw to a scribe.
In 1828, a wealthy farmer named Martin Harris offered to assist Smith in the translated manuscript Smith gave him, but Harris lost 116 pages of the translated manuscript Smith gave him. Smith then claimed that God was angry at the loss of the pages and would now allow Smith only to translate from another set of golden plates. These plates told the same story as the original plates but from a slightly different perspective.
In 1829, a schoolteacher named Oliver Cowdery helped Smith finish his translation, and on March 26, 1830, the Book of Mormon was published.
Why LDS and not Mormon?
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints prefers the term “LDS” as opposed to “Mormon.” This LDS church has made several attempts to promote the use of the church’s full name throughout the years—most notably after The Book of Mormon came out on Broadway. Several Mormon professors and educators wanted to emphasize Jesus being held in a high regard within the Mormon faith.
What Can Catholics Learn from Latter-Day Saints?
Theological disagreements aside, Latter-Day Saints are fearless in their pursuit of evangelization. As of 2024, there were 80,000 Mormon missionaries—this is a staggering number considering the global Mormon population is significantly smaller than the global Catholic population. Catholics make up roughly 1.46 billion of the world’s population, but only about 411,000 of that population are missionaries.
Mormons also value tithing. Roughly 70% of Mormons fulfill their “full tithe”, whereas only 42% of practicing Christians tithe at least 10% of their annual income.
As Catholics, we have a duty to evangelize, give charitably, and love others. These are practices we can learn from our Mormon neighbors. Additionally, when evangelizing, it is important to focus on our similarities rather than differences.
Commonly Asked Questions
- Are Latter-Day Saints and Mormons the same? Ultimately, yes. However, many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints prefer that others use the full name, rather than Mormon.
- Why can Mormons drink soda but not coffee? Doctrine and Covenants 89 state that Mormons may not consume wine (except at worship services), alcohol, tobacco, and “hot drinks.” “Hot drinks” are what Mormons consider to be coffee or tea.
- Are Mormons polygamous? Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints do not practice polygamy. However, some splinter groups, like FLDS (Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints) do practice polygamy.
- Do Mormons baptize the dead? They believe people who have died can be baptized by proxy, giving them the opportunity to become Mormon after their death.
Related Content
Articles
What You Need to Know About the Mormons
My Biggest Problem with the Book of Mormon
Mormonism Refutes Christianity?
Books
The Apostasy That Wasn’t: The Extraordinary Story of the Unbreakable Early Church
A Catholic Engagement with Latter-day Saints
Q & As
What’s The Book of Mormon About?