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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
- Sprache: Englisch
Explore one of the fastest-growing religions in the world
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the first Christian faith to be developed in America, and today the Church is home to millions—both inside and outside the United States. Mormonism For Dummies, 2nd Edition is a valuable tool for individuals interested in learning more about the beliefs and practices of the widely-practiced Latter-day Saint faith. In this informative book, you'll explore the different denominations of the Church, recent changes to the Church's customs and practices'which also covers why the Church encourages a shift away from the term “Mormon” and more.
Inside, you'll:
- Discover the history and origins of the Church of Latter-Day Saints
- Understand the Church's official stances on areas, including race, the status of women, and polygamy
- Examine subjects like religious fundamentalism and orthodoxy through the lens of practicing LDS members
A must-read for anyone interested in the rituals, customs, beliefs, and politics of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, Mormonism For Dummies, 2nd Edition gives you the straightforward and unbiased info you need to understand this nuanced faith.
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Seitenzahl: 643
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025
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Mormonism For Dummies®
To view this book's Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and search for “Mormonism For Dummies Cheat Sheet” in the Search box.
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Introduction
About This Book
Foolish Assumptions
Icons Used in This Book
Beyond the Book
Where to Go from Here
Part 1: What the Mormon Faith Is All About
Chapter 1: A New World Religion
Why Know about Mormonism?
The Mormon Worldview
Joseph Smith and Mormonism’s Beginnings
Day-to-Day Mormon Life
What Makes Mormonism Different?
Chapter 2: The Mormon Plan of Salvation
Mormon Karma: The Premortal Life
Acing the Test of Mortality
The Afterlife: Eternal Progression
Chapter 3: Heavenly Parents, Savior, and Holy Ghost
The Head Honcho: God the Father
Second Mate: Christ the Son
God’s Whisperer: The Holy Ghost
Chapter 4: Restoring the Priesthood and the Church
Gospel Comings and Goings
Beginning the Restoration
Bringing Back the Church Step by Step
Understanding the Priesthood
Chapter 5: Together Forever: The Eternal Importance of Family
The Eternal Family Unit
Shaking the Family Tree: Family History Work
God’s People: The Family of Israel
Personal Prophecy: Patriarchal Blessings
Part 2: Eternal Rituals and Endless Meetings
Chapter 6: Welcome to the Meetinghouse!
What’s a Ward?
Participating in the Ward
Participating in the Stake
Chapter 7: Sacred, Not Secret: Inside Mormon Temples
Distinguishing the Temple from the Meetinghouse
Temple Ordinances — Why Latter-day Saints Go to the Temple
Becoming Eligible for Temple Ordinances
Finally! Receiving Your Own Endowment
Sealing Families for Eternity
Chapter 8: In and Around Church Headquarters
A Tour of Church Headquarters
Governing the Church: General Authorities
A Two-Day Marathon: General Conference
LDS Welfare and Humanitarian Relief
Survival of the Smartest: Latter-day Saint Education
Part 3: Holy Books and Sacred History
Chapter 9: The Bible and the Book of Mormon
The Bible: True, with a Few Tweaks
Getting Acquainted with the Book of Mormon
How the Book of Mormon Came to Be
The Book of Mormon in Mormon Life
Chapter 10: Mormonism’s Other Scriptures
A Scriptural Hodgepodge: The Pearl of Great Price
Modern-Day Revelations in the D&C
The Beat Goes On: Recent Revelations Not Found in the D&C
Chapter 11: Searching for a Home
A Significant Pit Stop: Kirtland, Ohio
Seeking Zion in Missouri
Nauvoo, Illinois: A Refuge on the Mississippi
Chapter 12: Moving on to Utah with Brigham Young
A Crisis of Leadership
The Lion of the Lord: Brigham Young
Westward Ho! The Pioneer Experience
Chapter 13: Building the Kingdom in Utah
Building Zion
Conflicts with the Outside World
Polygamy: A Divine Principle (But an Outdated Practice)
Mormonism in Transition
Part 4: Mormonism Today
Chapter 14: Called to Serve: Missionaries and International Growth
Missionaries of All Shapes and Sizes
Enlisting in God’s Army
Living the Missionary Life
Rapid Growth: Mormonism Around the World
Chapter 15: Hot-Button Issues for Latter-day Saints
Are Latter-day Saints Christian?
Becoming Like Our Heavenly Parents
DNA Science versus the Book of Mormon
Getting Seer-Stoned
One Vision, Several Versions
Women and the Priesthood
What About Heavenly Mother?
Crimes of Violence
Puh-puh-puh … Polygamy
Racial Rapprochement
Mummy’s the Word
LDS versus LGBTQ+
Chapter 16: Earthly Sacrifices for Heavenly Blessings
Chase and Be Chaste: The Law of Chastity
Whaddya Mean, No Coffee? Living the Word of Wisdom
Tithing: Paying the Lord’s Tax
Fast Sunday: The Slowest Sabbath of the Month
Chapter 17: Connecting with God and Each Other
What Latter-day Saints Do Daily … Ideally
What Latter-day Saints Do Weekly … Ideally
What Latter-day Saints Do Monthly … Ideally
Chapter 18:
In
the World but Not
of
the World
Becoming Self-Reliant
Journaling, Scrapbooking, and Other Mormon Pastimes
Taking in a Bit of Culture
Part 5: The Part of Tens
Chapter 19: Quick Answers to Ten Common Questions About Mormonism
Are Latter-day Saints Christian?
How Can Latter-day Saints Give Up 10 Percent of Their Income?
What Happens Inside an LDS Temple?
Why Don’t Latter-day Saints Drink Alcohol or Coffee?
Why Do Latter-day Saints Have Such Large, Strong Families?
Do Latter-day Saints Believe in the Bible or Just the Book of Mormon?
Do Latter-day Saints Really Believe that Humans Can Become Gods?
Why Can’t Women Hold Priesthood Offices?
Do Latter-day Saints Still Practice Polygamy?
Why Do Latter-day Saints Revere Joseph Smith?
Chapter 20: Ten Mormon Places to Visit
Sharon, Vermont
Palmyra, New York
Kirtland, Ohio
Missouri
Nauvoo and Carthage, Illinois
Winter Quarters, Nebraska, and Council Bluffs, Iowa
Martin’s Cove, Wyoming
Salt Lake City, Utah
Provo, Utah
Polynesian Cultural Center, Hawaii
Chapter 21: Ten Famous Latter-day Saints You’ve Probably Never Heard Of
Martha Hughes Cannon
Walker Lewis
Floyd Gottfredson
Philo T. Farnsworth
John Held Jr.
Frank E. “Ted” Moss
May Swenson
Samuel W. Taylor
Esther Peterson
Gladys Knight
Index
About the Authors
Connect with Dummies
End User License Agreement
List of Tables
Chapter 3
TABLE 3-1 Mormon View of God versus Other Christian Views
TABLE 3-2 Mormon View of Christ versus Other Christian Views
Chapter 8
TABLE 8-1 LDS Humanitarian Aid in 2023
Chapter 9
TABLE 9-1 Significant Bible Teachings for Latter-day Saints
TABLE 9-2 A Sampling of Joseph Smith’s Bible Revisions
TABLE 9-3 A Beginner’s Book of Mormon Timeline
TABLE 9-4 Spiritual Questions Answered by the Book of Mormon
Chapter 14
TABLE 14-1 Church Growth, 1950 to 2023
List of Illustrations
Chapter 2
FIGURE 2-1: An overview of the Mormon plan of salvation.
Chapter 4
FIGURE 4-1: Mormonism’s founding prophet, Joseph Smith.
Chapter 6
FIGURE 6-1: An early Mormon meetinghouse (left) and a contemporary one (right).
Chapter 7
FIGURE 7-1: The Washington, D.C. Temple is one of the LDS church’s largest.
FIGURE 7-2: Temple baptismal fonts are patterned after Old Testament fonts.
Chapter 9
FIGURE 9-1: An artist’s rendition of what the golden plates may have looked lik...
Chapter 11
FIGURE 11-1: The Kirtland Temple, dedicated in 1836, is now a popular tourist d...
FIGURE 11-2: Map of the Mormon migrations from New York to Ohio, Missouri, and ...
FIGURE 11-3: Nauvoo Temple sunstone.
Chapter 12
FIGURE 12-1: A portrait of Brigham Young, an effective leader in difficult time...
FIGURE 12-2: Map of the Mormon trek from Illinois to Utah.
Chapter 17
FIGURE 17-1: A Mormon family kneels in prayer.
Chapter 18
FIGURE 18-1: The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.
Chapter 20
FIGURE 20-1: The reconstructed Nauvoo Temple, dedicated in 2002.
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Begin Reading
Index
About the Authors
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Mormonism For Dummies®, 2nd Edition
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Introduction
If you’re picking up this book, you may already know that Mormonism’s largest denomination, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is one of the world’s fastest-growing religions. The Church has about 7 million members in the United States and another 10 million people on the rolls around the world. Almost all this growth has happened in the last 50 years, making Mormonism a hot topic that many people want to understand better.
In this book, we focus on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You’ll find the basics here for most everything you need to understand about the Church. We don’t assume that you have any background. At the same time, even if you are a Latter-day Saint, you may find information in this book that helps you understand your religion more thoroughly and with a fresh perspective.
About This Book
Don’t feel you have to read this book straight through from cover to cover. Each chapter is a self-contained unit designed to give you information about a particular topic. Where relevant, we also include cross-references to show you where to find more information. This way, you can find what you want quickly and skip over the stuff that seems less important to you.
One more thing: Although we’re both practicing members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the views you find in this book are unofficial and don’t necessarily represent the opinions of the Church’s leadership.
Furthermore, although we tried our best to capture the broadest cross-section possible and present a range of viewpoints, we certainly can’t claim that every Latter-day Saint you meet will agree with everything we say. Throughout the book, we refer you to a few other books that the Church does produce and sanction, and we also point you to the Church’s official website, www.churchofjesuschrist.org.
In addition, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has some style preferences that we adopted for this book. You won’t see the term Mormon church here because Mormon is a nickname, and the Church would rather have people use its official name. We do use LDS church for short, instead of spelling out the whole name each time, and we refer to Church members as Latter-day Saints. From time to time, you’ll also see the word Mormon used as an adjective or a noun.
You may also notice a bit of fuss about the capitalization of church. Here’s the deal: Whenever we’re referring to other denominations or to churches in general, we use little c. But when we say “the Church” to mean the LDS church as a specific denomination, we use capital C. However, when we say “LDS church,” we keep the c lower-case so it’s clear that it’s not an official name.
When it comes to the Bible, we stick with what Latter-day Saints still use: the good ol’ King James Version (KJV for short). Because the Church’s other scriptures are distinctively Mormon, they only come in one lingo — and it reads very much like the KJV. When we reference a particular verse or range of verses in any of the scriptures, we follow the standard: For example, in the Bible, Matthew 10:1 refers to Matthew as the book, 10 as the chapter number, and 1 as the verse.
Foolish Assumptions
While writing this book, we assumed that many of our readers aren’t going to be Latter-day Saints, but some will be. Maybe you fit into one of these groups:
You’ve got friends, neighbors, relatives, or coworkers who are Latter-day Saints and you’re naturally curious about their faith.
You’ve heard something or read an article about Mormonism, and it made you wonder what Latter-day Saints believe.
You’re thinking of joining the LDS Church and want to know more about it.
You’re a new Mormon convert trying to better understand what you’ve gotten yourself into.
You’re an established Latter-day Saint, and you want to give this book to someone else who fits in one of the first four categories. Or maybe you like to read different perspectives on your own faith.
Icons Used in This Book
This book uses the following icons to help you find the information you need or to highlight ideas you may find particularly helpful.
This icon points to hands-on information to help you make sense of Mormon belief or practice.
You find this icon next to significant information you’ll want to remember.
This icon appears next to most quotes from the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, or Pearl of Great Price.
This icon points to areas of disagreement within the Latter-day Saint community or among outsiders who have criticized the Mormon faith.
Beyond the Book
In addition to what you’re reading right now, this product also comes with a free access-anywhere Cheat Sheet that provides even more information about Mormonism and the LDS church. To access this Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and search for “Mormonism For Dummies Cheat Sheet” in the Search box.
Where to Go from Here
Mormonism For Dummies is like a big Sunday buffet at Grandma’s house. You can eat as many of the yeast rolls as you want, and you don’t have to touch the peas if you don’t want to. In other words, in this book, we bring a little bit of everything to the table: history, doctrine, fun facts, spiritual disciplines, culture, and scripture. You can go to any section and discover The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its people, choosing what interests you the most.
If you’re coming to this book with a specific question in mind, feel free to look up that topic in the index or table of contents and start with that section. Others may want to start with Chapter 1, which gives an overview of the whole Mormon topic. There’s no wrong way to eat this buffet — just enjoy the meal.
Part 1
What the Mormon Faith Is All About
IN THIS PART …
Here you find out the basics about what Mormons believe, including important stuff about God, Jesus Christ, the premortal life, the plan of salvation, and the afterlife. You also discover what happened in the 19th century when Joseph Smith was called as a prophet to restore the church of Jesus Christ and how the Mormon priesthood is organized and used today. Finally, you get to know more about the family: Why is the family such an important concept in Mormonism? Why do Mormons tend to have larger-than-usual families? Why are they so into genealogy?
Chapter 1
A New World Religion
IN THIS CHAPTER
Understanding the reasons for studying Mormonism
Seeing life through Latter-day Saint eyes: The past, present, and future
Discovering Mormonism from its beginnings
Finding out what it’s like to be a Latter-day Saint
Exploring how Latter-day Saints are different from other Christians
Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, traditional branches of Christianity — and Mormonism? If you ask some demographers and sociologists, the idea of Mormonism emerging as the newest major world religion isn’t far-fetched. In the Christian sector, although Protestantism grew out of Catholicism, Mormonism bills itself as a completely fresh start, with enough distinctive beliefs and practices to back up that claim.
Mormonism isn’t the newest kid on the religious block, but its start during the 1820s seems relatively recent — in fact, compared to other world religions, Mormonism is a toddler, still maturing in terms of culture, identity, growth, government, and other aspects. As a blueprint for the rest of the book, this opening chapter gives an overview of what it means to be a Mormon.
Why Know about Mormonism?
If you ask Mormon missionaries why you should find out more about Mormonism, they’ll tell you that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS church, is the restoration of the Savior’s true church, and he wants you to convert. However, we suspect this answer won’t satisfy many of our non-Mormon readers, so here are some other reasons:
It’s the quintessential U.S. religion.
Increasingly, historians are acknowledging that Mormonism is perhaps the most successful, significant homegrown U.S. religion, founded just 54 years after the Declaration of Independence. In many ways, the story of Mormonism mirrors the story of the United States, and the faith reflects many American ideals and traits. In fact, Latter-day Saints believe God inspired the formation of the United States partly as a suitable homeland for the gospel’s restoration. (For an overview of early Mormon history, see
Chapters 4
,
11
,
12
, and
13
.)
It’s one of the fastest-growing religions.
Chances are that one or more of your friends, neighbors, or relatives has already joined the LDS church or soon will. Consider these statistics:
As of December 31, 2023, the worldwide Church had 17,255,394 members; 31,490 congregations; 67,871 full-time teaching missionaries; and materials published in 188 languages. To illustrate typical Church growth, in 2023 the Church added 251,763 baptized converts and 93,594 children of record. (For more on missionary work and Church growth around the world, see
Chapter 14
.)
The LDS church is consistently ranked among the five largest U.S. religious bodies, larger than mainline Protestant denominations such as Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Episcopalian. According to the National Council of Churches, the LDS church is the second-fastest-growing church in the United States.
It teaches good principles and practices.
Even for those people who don’t embrace Mormonism as a religion, the faith yields many useful ideas that you can adapt to fit any worldview. Following are some highlights:
Strengthening families:
Latter-day Saints are known for their large, tight-knit, super-functional families. One main reason is that Latter-day Saints believe families can be together forever (for more on this idea, see
Chapter 5
). Also, the LDS church teaches practical techniques for strengthening families, such as family home evening (for more information on this, see
Chapter 17
).
Providing for the needy:
Marshalling its organizational might, the LDS church has created one of the world’s most admired systems for helping people provide for their own material needs. Church-owned farms, ranches, canneries, storehouses, and other enterprises provide not only essential goods but also employment. Increasingly, the Church shares its bounty with people outside the faith. (For more on the Church’s welfare program and humanitarian efforts, see
Chapter 8
.)
Maintaining health:
When founding prophet Joseph Smith introduced Mormonism’s health code, known as the
Word of Wisdom,
little did he know that science would validate many of these teachings more than 100 years later. Likewise, the Mormon law of chastity helps reduce a host of physical, emotional, social, and spiritual ills. Today, Latter-day Saints are known for enjoying some of the most favorable health rates of any demographic group. (For more on these teachings, see
Chapter 16
.)
The Mormon Worldview
The following equation best sums up how Latter-day Saints understand the universe and the purpose of life: As humans are, God used to be; as God is, humans may become.
One main key to getting the gist of Mormonism is the belief that a person’s existence doesn’t begin with birth on this earth. Rather, Latter-day Saints believe that all people lived as spirits before coming here. For Latter-day Saints, this belief helps explain a whole lot about the conditions and purposes of this earthly life, which they view as God’s test of his children. In addition, Latter-day Saints hold some unusual views about the afterlife, particularly regarding what human beings can become. (For a more detailed treatment of these beliefs, see Chapter 2.)
Life before mortal life
If life doesn’t start with conception and birth, when does it start? For Latter-day Saints, it never really started because each person has an eternal essence that has always existed. However, Latter-day Saints believe that Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother created spiritual bodies to house each person’s eternal essence, so they are the spiritual parents of humankind. All human spirits were born before the earth was created.
Sitting at the knees of their Heavenly Parents, many spirit children expressed a desire to grow up and become like them (for more on the Heavenly Parents, see Chapter 3). So God set up the plan of salvation, which involved creating an earth where his children could gain physical bodies and go through a challenging test of faith and obedience. Those who pass the test with flying colors get the chance to eventually start an eternal family like God’s.
In premortality or the premortal life, as Latter-day Saints interchangeably call this stage, two of the oldest spirit siblings made a big impression. The first spirit, named Jehovah, volunteered to help everyone overcome the sin and death they’d unavoidably encounter during the earthly test, and this brother was eventually born on earth as Jesus Christ (for more about him, see Chapter 3). Mormons believe he’s their Savior and strive to be like him. The other spirit, named Lucifer, rebelled against God’s plan of salvation, convincing a bunch of siblings to follow him and start a war. God banished Lucifer and his followers to the earth without bodies, and Mormons believe that these spirits are still trying to win humans to their side and thwart God’s plan (for more about the devil, see Chapter 2).
Life on earth
Good news: In the Mormon view, everyone born on this earth chose to follow God’s plan of salvation and come here. Even those who give in to evil during earthly life will still receive an eternal reward for making the correct choice during premortality. Latter-day Saints don’t believe that humans are born carrying the stain of Adam’s original sin, as Catholics and some Protestants do. But they do believe that each individual’s circumstances in this life are at least partly influenced by what that person accomplished and became in premortality.
One of the most difficult aspects of this mortal test is that humans can’t remember what happened in premortality, so they must rediscover their divine origins through faith. However, God sent Jesus Christ not only to overcome sin and death but also to establish the gospel, which serves as a road map back to God. Two kinds of messengers help people understand and follow this gospel: prophets and the Holy Ghost, a spiritual being who speaks directly to the human spirit (for more on him, see Chapter 3). By listening to these guides, people can figure out the puzzle of life. Unfortunately, the devil strives to fill the world with distractions, deceptions, and counterfeits.
Another hard aspect of the earthly test is that God generally won’t interfere with people’s freedom to act, even when they do terrible things to each other or fail miserably. In addition, God allows accidents, natural disasters, illnesses, and other difficulties to challenge his children and prompt them to seek him out. For Latter-day Saints, it helps to remember that these temporary trials represent a mere blink of the eye on an eternal scale, and they exercise faith that God will comfort and protect those who ask his help to endure suffering.
During mortality, Latter-day Saints believe that everyone needs to participate in certain rituals in order to live with the Heavenly Parents in the afterlife and become like them. Someone holding God’s priesthood authority, which Latter-day Saints believe currently comes only through the LDS church, must perform these rituals. If a person dies without receiving these ordinances, Latter-day Saints perform the rituals in temples on behalf of the deceased person, whose spirit then decides whether to accept (for more information, see Chapter 7). These ordinances include:
Baptism (see
Chapter 6
)
Confirmation and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost (see
Chapter 6
)
Priesthood ordination (for all worthy males; see
Chapter 4
)
The two-part temple endowment (see
Chapter 7
)
Sealing, including celestial marriage for those wedded on earth (see
Chapter 7
)
Life after mortal life
Latter-day Saints believe that when humans die, they slough off their physical bodies and return to the spiritual state. Some go to spirit paradise, and some go to spirit prison. Latter-day Saints believe that the spirits in paradise visit the spirits in prison and teach them the gospel, and some choose to accept it and cross over into paradise. Whether they’re in paradise or prison, the stopover in the spirit world is only temporary because God has greater things in store.
Eventually, after God’s spirit children have experienced their earthly tests and paid for their sins either by receiving the Savior’s atonement or suffering themselves, he’ll resurrect everyone with perfect physical bodies that will last forever. Then he’ll sort people into three heavenly kingdoms:
Telestial kingdom:
Those who live in sin, die without repenting, and don’t accept the Savior’s atonement go here, after suffering for their own sins in spirit prison.
Terrestrial kingdom: Those who live good lives but don’t embrace the full gospel will inherit this kingdom. Jesus pays for their sins.
(Both the telestial kingdom and the terrestrial kingdom are glorious paradises, not hell or places of torture. For more on the three tiers of heaven, see Chapter 2.)
Celestial kingdom:
This highest kingdom is reserved for those who live the full gospel and receive the proper ordinances
.
This kingdom is where the Heavenly Parents live and where their children can become like them.
Joseph Smith and Mormonism’s Beginnings
To Latter-day Saints, the term gospel means the “good news” that Christ died to save humanity and also refers to a very practical package of tools and instructions that the Savior provides for getting humans back home to God. That package includes doctrines, commandments, ordinances, continually updated revelations, and the priesthood authority to act in God’s name (for more on the Mormon priesthood, see Chapter 4). Remember, Latter-day Saints believe that the Savior was God’s first spirit child way back before the earth was formed, so he’s been on deck to reveal his gospel to prophets from Adam onward.
In the Mormon view, the timeline goes like this: First the Savior gave his gospel to Adam, but Adam’s descendants eventually lost it through disobedience and corruption. Then the Savior gave it to other prophets, such as Noah and Abraham, but their people gradually lost it, too. Finally, when the Savior was born on the earth to accomplish his mission of overcoming sin and death for all humankind, he reestablished his gospel. However, within a few decades after his resurrection, humans fumbled it away yet again.
During the 1,700-year religious dry spell that Latter-day Saints say started after the Savior’s New Testament apostles died, he worked behind the scenes and prepared the earth to eventually receive his gospel again. In 1820, he began the process of restoring his gospel for the final time. When a teenager named Joseph Smith knelt in prayer to ask God which church he should join, God the Father and his son Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph and told him that none of the existing churches were fully true — in fact, according to Joseph, God used the words “abomination” and “corrupt” in describing them. Within ten years, Joseph Smith launched the Savior’s restored gospel in the form of what people now know as the Latter-day Saint religion. (For a more detailed account of Mormonism’s founding, see Chapter 4.)
Translating additional scriptures
After Joseph Smith’s answer to prayer in 1820, which Latter-day Saints refer to as his First Vision, an angel began regularly appearing to prepare him for his prophetic calling. Finally, the time arrived for him to perform one of the most important steps in restoring the gospel: bringing forth additional scripture that helped restore correct principles and could serve as a witness and testament of the new faith.
As Latter-day Saints understand, something very special happened in the Western Hemisphere between 600 B.c. and A.d. 400. At the beginning of this 1,000-year time period, God instructed a prophet named Lehi to leave Jerusalem with some other families and move to the Western Hemisphere. Over the centuries, this little band grew into a major civilization that underwent continual cycles of faith and wickedness, prosperity and destruction. In his usual way, the Lord sent prophets to teach these people and call them to repentance.
Soon after the Savior’s resurrection, he dropped by to spend a few days with about 2,500 of his followers in the Western Hemisphere, ministering to his “other sheep” (John 10:16). Before the Savior ascended to heaven, he called 12 additional apostles to carry out his work in this part of the world. Under apostolic leadership, the people managed to hold onto the gospel for another 400 years after the Savior’s momentous visit. Eventually, however, their lack of faith and charity led to their corruption and extermination, as recounted in the Book of Mormon, the LDS church’s companion scripture to the Bible.
The Western Hemisphere prophets and apostles kept records on metal plates. A prophet named Mormon made a For Dummies–style compilation of the people’s spiritual history — well, a shortened version, anyway — and his son Moroni buried it in a hillside. About 1,400 years later, Joseph Smith’s family settled near this same hillside in upstate New York. With the help of God, who provided interpreting devices to go along with the metal plates, Joseph translated and published the ancient record, and today the LDS church distributes millions of copies each year in over 100 languages. If the proof of Mormonism is in the pudding, then the Book of Mormon is the pudding. (For more about the Book of Mormon, see Chapter 9.)
Establishing the Church
While translating the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith and his helpers came across passages that prompted questions, such as how to properly baptize someone. The questions that Joseph asked Heavenly Father triggered the following key events:
In 1829, John the Baptist appeared to Joseph and his chief scribe to restore the
Aaronic Priesthood,
the preparatory priesthood authority necessary to perform basic ordinances, including baptism.
Soon after John the Baptist’s visitation, the New Testament apostles Peter, James, and John appeared on earth to give Joseph the
Melchizedek Priesthood,
the full authority to act in God’s name within the Church organization. (For more on the two Mormon priesthoods, see
Chapter 4
.)
In 1830, Joseph Smith officially organized the Church, which Latter-day Saints believe the Savior recognizes as his only “true and living” church.
Until Joseph’s assassination in 1844, he received numerous additional revelations, scriptures, and ordinances that helped establish the new religion (for an overview of these additions, see
Chapters 10
and
11
).
Coming to terms with the M-word
As a prophet who lived somewhere in North or South America around A.d. 400, Mormon was just one of dozens of important figures in LDS history. Nevertheless, he’s the man whose name became the nickname for this whole religious movement. Unfortunately, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has recently expressed frustration with the nickname.
As we say earlier in this section, the prophet Mormon’s claim to fame was compiling and abridging the ancient records that became the Book of Mormon, titled that way because of Mormon’s central editorial role. After Joseph Smith translated and published the book, it didn’t take long for detractors to start calling his followers Mormonites, because of their belief in the book. The “ite” part of the nickname dropped off, and eventually the term stuck and lost most of its negative connotations.
Still, Mormon is just a nickname. What would Mormons rather be called? Although the Church hasn’t completely ruled out the terms Mormon and Mormonism at the cultural level, it asks the media to use the Church’s full name on first reference in a story — in other words, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — and then say the generic-sounding “Church of Jesus Christ” on each subsequent reference. However, that somewhat clunky and vague lingo hasn’t yet universally caught on.
At Church headquarters, use of the term Mormon has been phased out — even the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was renamed as the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square (yeah, another clunky one). In public usage, what often takes the place of Mormon is the term Latter-day Saint, or LDS for short. The Church doesn’t like being called the LDS church, but it’s a heck of a lot better than Mormon church, which the leaders strongly discourage.
For this second edition of Mormonism For Dummies, the authors and editors seriously considered changing the title and terminology, but we felt it would be too confusing for the intended readership. Throughout this book, we use the terms Mormon, LDS, and Latter-day Saint interchangeably to refer to the doctrine, teachings, practices, and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Within the LDS culture, some hipsters — yes, Mormon hipsters do exist — have started using the word Mo to refer to things Mormon, but we won’t go that far.
Day-to-Day Mormon Life
Viewing this mortal life as a time of testing, Latter-day Saints see their faith as the textbook for an A+, and they strive to live the religion 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In fact, one of the primary virtues in Mormonism is obedience to the commandments and counsel of the prophets, as well as to the spiritual promptings of the Holy Ghost. The religion provides standards that Latter-day Saints believe will help them become pure and righteous enough to reenter the Heavenly Parents’ presence, with the Savior’s crucial help to overcome sin and death.
Following is an overview of what daily life is like for Latter-day Saints all over the world. Not everyone lives up to all these standards all the time, of course, but this is pretty much what practicing Latter-day Saints believe they ought to be trying to do:
They follow a disciplined routine.
Each day, most Latter-day Saints pray individually, pray as families, and spend time reading the scriptures (for more on these practices, see
Chapter 17
). They may also devote time on one or more weekdays to fulfilling volunteer Church assignments, such as preparing a Sunday school lesson or helping clean the local meetinghouse (see
Chapter 6
).
They embrace a G-rated lifestyle.
To avoid addictions and maintain spiritual purity, Latter-day Saints abstain from coffee, tea, tobacco, alcohol, and harmful drugs. In addition, they keep sex strictly within the bounds of heterosexual marriage and try to avoid anything “unholy or impure,” including immodest clothes, pornography, profanity, and gambling. Some Mormons even refrain from R-rated movies. (See
Chapter 16
.)
They seek a change of pace on Sunday.
On Sundays, Latter-day Saints spend the day resting and worshipping with their families, and they attend church for two hours at their local meetinghouse, which is open to the public. On the Sabbath, many Latter-day Saints avoid work, shopping, sports, and other worldly distractions. (See
Chapters 6
and
17
.)
They kiss Monday-night football goodbye.
Latter-day Saints typically devote Monday evenings to spending time with their families, usually some mix of learning the gospel, enjoying wholesome recreation, and snarfing down unwholesome treats (see
Chapters 5
and
17
).
They take part in rituals.
Latter-day Saints regularly attend the
temple,
a special building set aside for the faith’s most sacred ordinances, such as celestial marriage. Temples aren’t open on Sunday or to the public, and most of the ordinances performed there are on behalf of the dead. Latter-day Saints who’ve gone through the temple wear special undergarments each day to remind them of their covenants with God and provide spiritual protection. (See
Chapter 7
.)
They regularly fast and donate money.
Each month, Latter-day Saints fast for two meals (about 24 hours) to increase their spirituality, spending that time praying, reading the scriptures, attending church, and otherwise trying to get closer to God. They donate money saved from those meals — and more, if possible — to the Church’s fund for helping the needy. In addition, Latter-day Saints tithe 10 percent of their income to the Church. (See
Chapter 16
.)
What Makes Mormonism Different?
Although Latter-day Saints share a lot in common with other Christian and non-Christian faiths, they hold several uncommon beliefs, especially when compared to Protestant Christianity. Here’s a brief overview of some key points where Latter-day Saints differ from the norm:
Premortality:
No other mainstream Christian denomination agrees with Latter-day Saints that the essence of each human has always existed and that humans were born spiritually to Heavenly Parents before being born physically on earth. Although people who believe in reincarnation can easily relate to the concept of a life before this life, Latter-day Saints believe that everyone gets only one shot at mortality. (See
Chapter 2
.)
The Trinity:
Most Christians think of God as a universal spirit that manifests as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (check out
Christianity For Dummies,
written by Richard Wagner and published by Wiley, for more on that idea). By contrast, Latter-day Saints see these deities as three separate, individual beings who are united in purpose. (See
Chapter 3
.)
God’s nature:
Latter-day Saints believe that their Heavenly Parents underwent a test much like this earthly one, which they argue doesn’t deny their eternal nature because
all
individuals have always existed, in one form or another (see “
Life before mortal life
,” earlier in this chapter). The Heavenly Parents now have glorified bodies of flesh and bones, and they possess all possible knowledge and power throughout the universe. (See
Chapter 3
.)
The Savior:
Latter-day Saints believe that Jesus Christ was God’s firstborn spirit child, which means he’s the oldest spiritual sibling of all humans. However, Jesus is God’s only
earthly
child, which means that he’s the only perfect person who ever lived on this planet. Latter-day Saints believe that the name
Jehovah
in the Old Testament refers not to God but to his son, who’s taken the lead role in saving humankind since before the earth was formed. (See
Chapter 3
.)
The devil and hell:
Latter-day Saints believe that God didn’t create evil but that each individual being has the ability to choose good or evil. The devil was God’s most powerful spirit child to choose evil, and he tries to persuade others to do the same, but evil could still exist without him. As far as hell is concerned, Latter-day Saints believe that unrepentant wicked people will suffer consequences for their sins, but only those who personally know God and still rebel against him will go to an eternal hell, which Latter-day Saints call
outer darkness.
(See
Chapter 2
.)
Adam and Eve:
In the Mormon view, Adam and Eve were heroes who consciously took the steps necessary to begin mortality. Latter-day Saints view mortality as an essential test for eternal progression. Without this physical experience in a fallen, isolated world, humans can’t learn and grow enough to eventually become like their Heavenly Parents. (See
Chapter 2
.)
Grace versus works:
Although many other Christians emphasize salvation solely by God’s grace through faith, Latter-day Saints believe that people are saved by grace after they’ve done all they can to repent of their sins, obey God, and be righteous. Good works alone don’t save people, but they do nourish people’s faith and make them more open to receiving the grace that saves them. As far as bad works go, all sins require repentance before grace can kick in. (See
Chapter 2
.)
The atonement:
Latter-day Saints believe that Jesus Christ paid for humankind’s sins not just on the cross but also in the Garden of Gethsemane, where his pain was so great that he sweat blood. Christ paid the price of the sins of anyone who repents and obeys his gospel, but those who refuse will suffer for their own sins. Latter-day Saints generally don’t use the sign of the cross, as some Christians do, but they believe that Christ broke the bonds of death through his resurrection. (See
Chapter 3
.)
Salvation:
In contrast to many Protestant Christians, who believe you’re either saved or you’re not, Latter-day Saints believe all humans will be resurrected and will receive an eternal reward depending on individual worthiness. Although pretty much everyone will receive a measure of salvation in one of three eternal kingdoms, only those who accept the Savior’s complete gospel — the one currently preached and practiced by Latter-day Saints — will receive
full
salvation, which means returning to live with God. In addition, Latter-day Saints use the term
exaltation
to refer to humankind’s potential to become like our Heavenly Parents, which happens only for heterosexually married people who reach the highest level of the highest eternal kingdom. (See
Chapter 2
.)
Priesthood:
In the Mormon view, the
priesthood
is the authority to act in God’s name for the salvation of his children within the bounds of the LDS church organization. Instead of ordaining professionals who’ve completed special training, the Church ordains worthy and willing Mormon males from age 11 on up, via the laying on of hands by someone already holding the priesthood. Any adult priesthood holder can perform ordinances such as baptism and healing or be called to lead a congregation. In contrast with the traditions of some other churches, Mormon priesthood holders don’t get a nickel for their service. (See
Chapter 4
.)
Ordinances:
In some Christian denominations, ordinances such as baptism are outward expressions of commitment, not requirements for salvation. Latter-day Saints, on the other hand, believe that each individual must receive certain physical ordinances in order to return to God’s presence, and authorized priesthood holders must perform them. In addition, Latter-day Saints hold the unusual belief that if a person dies without receiving an essential ordinance, a living Latter-day Saint can perform it in a temple on the deceased person’s behalf, and their spirit will decide whether to accept it. (See
Chapters 6
and
7
.)
Apostles and prophets:
Latter-day Saints believe that the Savior issues revelations to whatever prophet is currently leading the LDS church. These revelations instruct how the leaders should administer the Church under current earthly conditions. In addition, Latter-day Saints believe that the Savior calls modern apostles to serve as his special witnesses, similar to the New Testament apostles, and they too serve as “prophets, seers, and revelators.” (See
Chapter 8
.)
Scriptures:
Most Christians believe the Bible is God’s only authorized scripture. Although Latter-day Saints uphold the Bible and prayerfully study its teachings, they believe it contains some human translation errors and omissions. In addition, they believe that other civilizations recorded scriptures equally as valid as the Bible, most notably the Western Hemisphere civilizations that gave rise to the Book of Mormon. In fact, they believe that God is still revealing scriptures in this day and age. (See
Chapters 9
and
10
.)
God’s only true church:
Although most other Christians accept each other’s churches as valid in God’s sight, Latter-day Saints believe their own church is God’s only fully “true and living” church currently on the earth. Latter-day Saints respectfully acknowledge that many religions contain elements of God’s eternal truths, but they believe that only the LDS church possesses the full package of God’s authorized priesthood, ordinances, and revelations. Latter-day Saints see the LDS church as the complete modern restoration of the same true religion that other groups have possessed throughout human history, particularly in New Testament times. (See
Chapter 4
.)
Family and marriage:
Some people believe that earthly family relationships, including marriage, end at death. Latter-day Saints believe that specially ordained temple workers can seal earthly families together for eternity and that sealed couples can keep progressing together to eventually become Heavenly Parents. (See
Chapters 2
,
5
, and
7
.)
Chapter 2
The Mormon Plan of Salvation
IN THIS CHAPTER
Understanding humanity’s origins
Fulfilling the purpose of this mortal life
Reaching the intermediate spirit world after death
Going to an eternal heaven — or ”outer darkness”
When it comes to pondering existence, each human being invariably faces three fundamental questions: Where did I come from? Why am I here? What show should I stream tonight? (Er, that last one should’ve been, Where am I going?)
As a religion, Mormonism provides some unique answers to all three of these eternal questions, answers that together are known as the plan of salvation. Latter-day Saints are Christians, but their beliefs about humankind’s origin, purpose, and destiny differ considerably from those of Catholic or Protestant Christians. In a nutshell, the Mormon plan of salvation includes the following phases of existence:
Premortal life:
Before this physical earth was created, the eternal essences of all people underwent spiritual development and preparation in God’s presence.
Mortal test:
Born into a physical body on earth and with their premortal memories veiled, humans face challenges and learn to exercise faith.
Spirit world:
Depending on their earthly conduct and the desires of their hearts, spirits of the deceased wait in either paradise or prison for resurrection and the final judgment.
Three degrees of glory:
Each resurrected person will spend eternity in one of three levels of heaven or — in rare cases — in “outer darkness.”
In this chapter, we discuss each of these phases in detail (see Figure 2-1 for a quick graphic summary).
FIGURE 2-1: An overview of the Mormon plan of salvation.
Mormon Karma: The Premortal Life
Every religion makes claims about the afterlife, but one of Mormonism’s key concepts is the before-life. Latter-day Saints aren’t the only ones who believe that humans are eternal beings, but Latter-day Saints are somewhat unusual — especially among other Christians — for believing that human eternity stretches in both directions, before and after mortality.
In Hinduism and Buddhism, a person’s actions affect the nature of their next life, a process known as karma. Latter-day Saints don’t believe in reincarnation, but they do believe that a person’s actions in the premortal life can affect the nature and circumstances of their earthly life. It’s not uncommon for a Mormon, when faced with some earthly trial, to half-jokingly mutter, “What did I do in the premortal life to deserve this?”
In the Mormon view, each human being arrives on this earth with subconscious baggage from the premortal life — and if you’re here, it’s because you chose to come. This section discusses what the concept of premortal life means to Latter-day Saints and explains some significant historical premortal events, including the War in Heaven.
From intelligence to spirit
Mormonism’s founding prophet, Joseph Smith, taught that the essence of each human being has always existed, as opposed to being created. The Mormon term for an individual human essence is intelligence, but exactly what form an intelligence takes is a bit hazy. The important concept to understand, from the Mormon perspective, is that God didn’t create our fundamental, individual existences out of nothing.
Instead, Latter-day Saints believe that, before this earth was formed, Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother got together and procreated a spirit body to house each human intelligence. (For more on the infrequently discussed Heavenly Mother, see Chapters 3 and 15.) These spirit bodies resemble God’s glorified physical body, but they don’t yet have a physical presence. What the Heavenly Parents do for their spirit children is help them progress into increasingly advanced states of existence, potentially culminating in their becoming an eternal parent like the Heavenly Parents. After all, their spirit children carry their spiritual DNA.
But we’re getting ahead of the story. Before the earth’s creation, Mormon belief says that billions of spirit children lived and learned in the presence of their Heavenly Parents across eons of premortal time — and, in fact, those spirits who haven’t yet been born on the earth are still dwelling in their presence. In this premortal spiritual state, future humans developed distinctive personality traits, attributes, and talents and interacted socially and politically with each other, preparing for the earthly test.
Why do the spirits want to come to earth? Just as an intelligence could progress only so far without a spirit body, a spirit can progress only so far without a physical body. Back before the earth was formed, the spirit children reached a point of maturity where they wanted to gain a perfect, glorified physical body like God’s and become like him. Without a physical body, they couldn’t do many of the things their Heavenly Parents could do, including procreate other beings.
Latter-day Saints believe that in order to enable his spirit children to become like him, God offered them the plan of salvation, which would allow them to test-drive a physical body on an earthly planet, prove how well they could exercise faith in God and follow his commandments, and strive to eventually return to God’s presence. Through a mortal test like the one early Mormon leaders taught that God himself underwent innumerable eons ago, his children could start learning the godly attributes of disciplining physical appetites, shaping the elements, and loving and serving their offspring.
In addition, they could gain godly wisdom by encountering the opposing forces of good and evil, pain and pleasure, sickness and health, age and youth, sin and virtue, time and eternity, and death and immortality. If they learned these lessons well enough, the potential payoff could be huge: Eventually, they could become an eternal parent like their Heavenly Parents, perfect in love, justice, and mercy. Of course, they would still eternally respect and honor God as their father, even when having spirit children and creating planets of their own.
Relax, you’ve already passed the first test
Congratulations! As someone who lives here on earth, you’ve already passed the first test of choosing to follow God’s plan of salvation. Due to what Latter-day Saints call the War in Heaven, it wasn’t an easy choice to make. Allow us to explain.
As his spirit children considered the plan of salvation, God didn’t hide the fact that the path would be fraught with danger, difficulty, and sacrifice. To facilitate effective testing conditions, he would place a veil over each spirit’s memories of the premortal life. Each person would start over again as a baby and then age and die. God would allow evil to tempt people and chance to affect them for both good and bad. He would continue to absolutely respect human free will (Latter-day Saints call it agency or free agency), even when people chose to do terrible things to each other. In a kind of spiritual survival of the fittest — a process God would oversee with love and concern — only those who made enough progress in learning and obeying God’s will would eventually be resurrected as heavenly parents; the rest would be resurrected to lesser degrees of glory, according to their efforts, desires, and faith.
Because all earthly mortals would sin and become unworthy to reenter God’s presence, a sinless redeemer would be necessary to pay the price of sin so that those who repented could become clean again. In addition, beings with mortal flesh would need a way to overcome their physical death. Latter-day Saints believe that during a great council in heaven before the earth was formed, two of God’s spirit children volunteered to serve as redeemer of humankind:
A high-ranking, widely influential spirit named Lucifer proposed to save everybody by forcing their obedience, and he would receive all the glory for himself. However, this plan didn’t meet God’s approval because true progress is impossible without
agency
and
accountability
— in other words, the freedom to choose and the obligation to face the consequences.
The firstborn of all the spirits, named Jehovah, offered to pay the price for everybody’s sins, guide those who were willing to follow him back to God, and overcome death through resurrection. In addition, Jehovah promised to obey God’s will and give all the glory to God. God chose him as the redeemer, and he was later born on earth as Jesus Christ.
Unfortunately, Lucifer was a sore loser. Declaring war on God and Jehovah, he persuaded a third of the spirit children to take his side. Perhaps many of these followers of Lucifer feared they’d fail if left to make their own choices on earth, and they wanted someone to guarantee success. Eventually, God cast Lucifer and his followers out of heaven, denying them the opportunity to ever receive a physical body. Lucifer became the devil (also known as Satan) and his followers became demons, and the spiritual war that started in premortality continues here on earth. Lucifer hasn’t admitted defeat, and he still lusts for power and tries to thwart God’s purposes by usurping human freedom through whatever means possible. (See “Satan: A necessary evil” later in this chapter for more on Satan’s role in Mormon theology.)
If you’re holding this book, Latter-day Saints believe that you took Jehovah’s side in the War in Heaven and qualified yourself to be born onto this earth. So, kudos all around.
