The Book of Mormon and the Genesis of a Religion

The relatively recent establishment of the Mormon religion presents an interesting test case for questions about divine matters, the spiritual world and god.

To many people who read about how Mormonism/the Church of Latter Day Saints was established by Joseph Smith, the story sounds like the start of a classic religious cult perpetrated by a slick charlatan. That seems to be how many people of the 1800's viewed this cult too; and interestingly, Smith met his death when he was arrested and shot to death by a mob who were upset at the actions of Smith and his followers.

I find it fascinating how Mormons believe in the divinity of their religion, despite the rather far-fetched story of how the book of Mormon came into being:

The Book of Mormon is regarded by Latter Day Saints as divinely revealed and is named after the prophet– historian Mormon who, according to the text, compiled most of the book. It was published by the founder of the LDS movement, Joseph Smith, Jr., in March 1830 in Palmyra, New York, USA. Its purpose, as stated on its title page, "is to show the remnant of the House of Israel what great things the Lord has done for their fathers" and to convince "Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself to all nations."

Joseph Smith, Jr. said the book was a translation of golden plates. He said that the angel Moroni told him that the plates were buried in a hill near his home (which he later called the Hill Cumorah). He said the translation was made through the power of God with the aid of the Urim and Thummim which were with the plates. During the production of the work Smith obtained the affidavits of Three Witnesses and Eight Witnesses who testified that they saw the plates. These affidavits are published as part of the book. When the book was complete, he said he returned the plates to the angel Moroni.

Now the one hard fact of Mormonism is the Book of Mormon-- a lengthy book written in an archaic biblical style that tells the story a group of Jews, the Nephi, who migrated to the Americas over two thousand of years ago, established a civilization here but eventually died as their society decayed (or something like this). Somewhere along the way, Jesus made a visitation to these people after he was reincarnated.

The key thing that makes Joseph Smith more than a simple charlatan is the Book of Mormon, and thus there has been a huge debate over the origins of the book. It does seem unlikely that Smith could write this work all by himself, given his background, but of course the "official story" is rather difficult to swallow too-- even though there are supposedly 11 witnesses to the golden plates.

Apart from the "official story" and the idea that Smith came up with the story by himself, another possibility is that Smith was used by others-- who modified earlier books to produce the book of Mormon-- and most interestingly the basic story in the Book of Mormon was preceded by American books written in the early 1800's: The View of the Hebrews and the Spalding Manuscript.

A likely explanation for the Book of Mormon may therefore be that Smith and his close associates tapped into local legends and contemporaneous theories to start this new religion, and of course this was a very closely guarded secret. The start of Mormonism can be seen as a conspiracy, which over time and iterations of church elders determined to maintain their power and their belief system, became sanctified. And doubtless, the Mormons themselves have been assiduous at squashing evidence that goes against their religion and the honesty of Joseph Smith.

But one major problem with the Book of Mormon is that, apart from the Book of Mormon, there simply is no historical record for Jews coming to the New World and establishing a new civilization in the relatively recent past.

The thing that I find most fascinating is the schism between those who believe and those who are skeptical of this religion. I wonder how many fallen Mormons there are, or whether they are just strongly brain-washed and never doubt the religion.

Nonetheless, the origins of Mormonism can serve as a template for how ANY religion is established, and I have little doubt that the roots of all religions are mostly bogus-- it is just that their origins are both sanctified and shrouded by the mists of time.

Not that I am saying that there are NO other forces out there and that there is nothing to spiritualism. The physical universe is a place we do not fully understand yet, and it is hard to rule out any notion of "god". Though as I posted about recently, one interesting explanation for spiritual/religious encounters is alien visitation.