Aide Memoire Regarding the Origins, History, and Practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons)

Historical Background The understanding of ecclesiastical history of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- the LDS, or "Mormon" Church -- is that the religion founded by Jesus Christ almost two thousand years ago, after spreading rapidly through the Mediterranean lands, came to be so admired by the Roman Emperor Constantine for the courage and integrity of its members, that it was adopted as the official religion of the Roman Empire. As a result of councils of approved theologians appointed by succeeding Emperors to reconcile the teachings of "crude" Christian theology with the more elaborately elegant concepts of Greek philosophy, designed to make church teachings more acceptable to sophisticated Roman society, the so-called Christian church experienced what has come to be called "The Great Apostasy". This left its authority and doctrines so compromised that it was no longer the Church of Jesus Christ, but a church of men, "having a form of godliness,

but denying the power thereof ", and no longer possessing the spiritual or moral authority of the original church.

Indeed, the coming f such a general apostasy was prophesied by early church leaders. Paul said to the Thessalonians that the Day of the Lord should not come except "there be a falling away first; while Matthew reports the parable of the tares (Matt 24:5). Acts 29:29 confirms the universality of this falling away from the central truths taught by Jesus, warning te saints that the wolves entering in among the church "would not spare of the flock"

But accompanying this message of gloom. the same early church leaders hastened to promise a day of the "restitution of all things" (Acts :21) and a time of "refreshing from the Lord" (Acts 3:19)

After more than a thousand years of apostasy, schism, and abuse of ecclesiastical power evidenced by the Inquisition and sale of church offices and indulgences for sins, righteous people in many lands came to recognize that the then existing church had irredeemably departed from the model created by the Savior. As a result, a proliferation of reformist sects arose in the Christian world. The leaders of these sects for the most part openly recognized that they had no authority to undertake the work they were doing. many leading reformers maintaining with transparent honesty that they were acting without authority and were in no position to do other than try to remove some of the most blatant errors in belief and practice while awaiting a New Dispensation of truth and authority from On High. As expressed in their writings, they realized that only a new revelation from God could restore the pure teachings and unadulterated priesthood authority of a true church.

Among such was Martin Luther, who said, "The spiritual powers [of the Church] have not only been corrupted, but absolutely destroyed." And John Wesley who added, ". . . I simply say that Christianity has ceased to exist. . . . After that fatal period when the Emperor Constantine called himself a Christian...the [gifts of the Spirit] almost totally ceased. Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens. . . . Christians were turned heathen again and had only a dead form left." Roger Williams was more specific: "There is no regularly constituted church on earth, nor any person authorized to administer any church ordinances; nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the Great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seeking." for further generations following the Reformation, Martin Luther, added further, "The spiritual powers [of the Church] have not only been corrupted, but absolutely destroyed." And John Wesley added, ". . . I simply say that Christianity has ceased to exist. . . . After that fatal period when the Emperor Constantine called himself a Christian...the [gifts of the Spirit] almost totally ceased. Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other heathens. . . . Christians were turned heathen again and had only a dead form left." Roger Williams was more specific: "There is no regularly constituted church on earth, nor any person authorized to administer any church ordinances; nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the Great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seeking."
The work of these Reformers resulted in the Wars of Religion, which went a good distance towards breaking the power of the dominant church of the Dark Ages, preparing the ground for the "time of refreshing". But with the world yet living under the repressive political regimes which then prevailed, the time was not yet ripe for the "restoration. of all things".

Then in the year 1805, a brief fifteen years after the light of religious liberty broke forth in the New World for the first time since Ancient Rome, a child was born who would become the instrument of the Restoration. And as he reached maturity, God spoke once more, calling new Apostles, restoring priesthood authority, and again providing direct revelatory guidance from On High. Under divine command, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the LDS, or Mormon Church) was organized in New York State on April 6, 1830. Now 175 years old, the LDS Church has 12 million members in some 160 of the world's 182 nations.

Work was first initiated in Romania with considerable success in the late-Nineteenth Century. But work was interrupted by two World Wars and fifty years of communist rule. The LDS Church returned to Romania in 1992, immediately following the Revolution which restored political and religious liberty to Eastern Europe. The LDS Church operates in Romania as The Liahona Association, with missionary activities directed by John Morrey, a distinguished engineer, who during his active professional life, was employed by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in Washington State. Those wishing further information about the LDS Church or its activities in Romania should contact the LDS Mission Office at 410-3437.

Church Organization

As instructed by the Lord, His Church follows the original form of church governance. The Restored Church is thus governed by Twelve Apostles, headed by the senior member of the Twelve, with two apostle counselors -- a First Presidency, as in the original church which was directed, following the death of Christ, by Peter, James, and John, operating under the revelatory direction of the Holy Ghost. The Twelve are assisted by the Seventy (when the work became too great for the Twelve "The Lord appointed other seventy" -- Luke 10:1). Immediately under the Twelve and the Seventy are some two thousand Stake (diocesenal) Presidents, who oversee the operations of the six to eight Bishops who direct the ecclesiastical affairs of each of the Wards (parishes) within each Stake. Wards are the smallest organizational structure in the church (the name is derived from the divisions of Nauvoo, a major city founded by the Mormons in the American State of Illinois in the mid-Nineteenth Century. At the time, Nauvoo was the largest and most prosperous city in Illinois). In the missions of the Church, where a full organizational structure does not yet exist, Branches take the place of Wards, and Districts the place of Stakes.

Doctrines and Practices

Contrary to stories maliciously circulated by enemies of the Church, Latter-day Saints do not worship Satan, do not worship many gods, nor was the LDS Church founded upon deception and lies.

In 1823 a young American named Joseph Smith had the transcendental experience of having an angel of the Lord appear to him to announce that after fifteen hundred years of apostasy and false tradition the time had come for a restoration of the lost truths of the gospel as originally taught by Jesus Christ and promulgated by his apostles. As background, readers may wish to refer to their bibles to confirm that before his death, Jesus prophesied that corruption of his teachings would occur. In the parable of the wheat and tares he warned that self-serving men would enter the master's vineyard, planting false doctrines mixed with the philosophies of men to mislead the precious souls converted by his apostles (Matt. 13:25). The apostles confirmed the coming apostasy, warning church members that Jesus would not return to the earth for the final harvest until there was a falling away first (2 Thes 2:3); while at the same time offering the encouragement that before the end there would come a "time of refreshing" and a "restitution of all things, which God has spoken by the mouths of all his holy prophets since the world began" (Acts 3:19-21).

The Great Apostasy was not necessarily brought about through evil intent. Trying to make Christian teachings more acceptable, some church leaders as noted began adapting Christ's simple teachings about the nature of the Heavenly Father to conform to the elaborate notions of god found in the popular Greek philosophies of the day -- and adopted a form of church dress similar to that of the official costumes of Imperial Rome to make themselves more acceptable to the educated and impressive to the masses. A similar phenomenon occurred in Imperial China where the first Jesuit missionaries adopted the attire worn by the Mandarins of the Imperial Court to project the image of court officials. The results were catastrophic, ending with the adoption of a corrupt form of Christianity as a tool of Imperial Rome, imposing religious conformity in support of civil authority -- and ending (at least in the Catholic world), with the Inquest and burnings at the stake and the disastrous Wars of Religion which afflicted Europe for generations, for anyone who dissented from the form of worship approved by civil government. Such forms of government-approved religion continued for the next thirteen hundred years, entailing war and civil strife between sects and nations.

A brief fifteen years after the adoption of the American Constitution, which established the first government on earth since Roman times which accepted the principle of freedom of religion, there was born in New York State a child who was to become known to the world as the prophet Joseph Smith. Had the restoration come at an earlier time or any other place, its founder would have been imprisoned, exiled, or burned at the stake for preaching concepts contrary to the established religion of men which had replaced the simple teachings of Christ.

The Book of Mormon

The young prophet, with the help of his associate Oliver Cowdery, a school teacher and lawyer, translated by the gift and power of God the ancient record of God's people on the Western Continent -- a volume which has come to be called the Book of Mormon. There is no basis in fact or historic record to support the sometimes heard assertion that Professor Anthon of Columbia University characterized Joseph as a "swindler". Indeed, the only recorded, eye witness account of a statement by Professor Anthon, perhaps the most noted authority on ancient languages in America at the time, was that of Martin Harris, a well-to-do neighbor of Joseph Smith who financed the publication of the Book. Before committing his money, Mr. Harris took a sheet containing characters copied from the golden plates, together with Joseph's translation to Professor Anthon in New York City, who informed Harris that the translation was perhaps the most accurate he had ever seen. So much for the false stories retailed by those without the integrity or care to verify the lying reports spread by enemies of the Mormon Church.

As for the Book of Mormon being, as some assert, nothing more than the Bible with some added passages, no one who has taken half a look at the Book could accept such a distortion. The Book of Mormon consists of 531 pages printed in small type on India paper. While it does contain certain chapters from Isaiah, which were included in the Brass Plates brought by Lehi, the leader of a people who fled Jerusalem about 600 B.C. just preceding the destruction of the city by Nebuchadnezzar, these represent only the Isaiah verses preserved in the condensation of the plates considered especially relevant to the position of Lehi's followers in the New World.

Other Common False Charges

Mormons are often charged with practicing polygamy. It is true that in the early days of the Restoration, Latter-day Saints did practice Plural Marriage. While the reasons for this have never been fully explained, this was done in conformity to a commandment of God given to church members, as an exception to the general rule about monogamy, and presumably had to do with the extraordinary conditions prevailing on the American frontier and the desire of the Lord to raise up as quickly as possible a strong group of devoted followers to spread the message of the restoration to the rest of the world in preparation for his Second Coming. At the time this practice was adopted there was no law forbidding it either in the Constitution of the United States or the Organic Law of any State of the American Union. When laws were at length enacted prohibiting the practice, the Mormon Church, one of whose Articles of Faith says "We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates; in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law", gave up Plural Marriage. While a small splinter group has defied church and civil authority for the past hundred and more years to continue the practice, this group is in no way affiliated with or countenanced by LDS Church authorities.

The Fruits of Mormonism

Jesus said that "By their fruits shall ye know them" (referring to his true followers) Luke 6:44. It is instructive to reflect on the fact that after rapid growth during the first two centuries of the Common Era, the Roman Emperor Constantine, impressed by the courage, honesty, and virtue of the early Christians, as already noted, adopted Christianity as the official religion of Rome -- in the process sounding the death knell of true Christianity, which was soon displaced by acts of state-approved councils determined to accommodate the teachings of the great Greek philosophers, making "crude" Christianity more acceptable to the Roman gentry. In less than half the equivalent period, the Restored Church has achieved membership exceeding that of the entire Roman Empire at the time of Constantine. Of course, the population of the world was then much smaller. But every soul as a child of the Heavenly Father is of equal importance. A noted student of world religion Professor Rodney Stark at the University of Washington has recently said that "Mormonism shows all the signs of the rise of a new world religion." On the basis of statistical projections he says the LDS Church will by the middle of the next century "have a worldwide following of 265 million, comparable with that of, Buddhism, Hinduism and other dominant world faiths." The Church is growing so fast in Africa that acceptance of new members must be limited in order not to outgrow its leadership base.

The LDS Church, functioning in over 150 of the 182 nations of the world has elected members of Parliament in Canada, the U.K., and several Continental and Latin American nations. The Foreign Minister of Guatemala was, until a recent election, a Mormon. There are 17 Mormons in the current American Congress -- twice the proportional representation to which American Mormons are due. The LDS Church in Mexico has today virtually the same number of stakes (dioceses) and members that the entire Church possessed during the author's childhood fifty years ago.

Readers may be interested to know that Sociologists often use Utah, which is 80 per cent LDS, as proxy for what Mormonism produces. The most recent Statistical Almanac shows that Utah has the largest proportion of native born individuals listed in Who's Who and American Men and Women of Science of any other state in the Union; is first among the fifty American states in the number of 18-24 years olds enrolled in post-secondary school institutes of higher learning; has the highest number of colleges and universities per capita in the country; is among the top three states in high school graduates as a proportion of those enrolled and, despite having among the largest class sizes in the United States; is second highest in the country in Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores; is next to lowest in dropout rate; fourth lowest in divorce rate; fourth highest in growth of employment; and second only to Alaska in both birthrate and low death rate. Salt Lake City, the state's capital, is one of only four cities in the United States with ballet (rated as one of the best in the country), an opera company, a symphony (also top rated), and legitimate theater.

Some forty years ago a book called The Main Springs of Civilization written by Princeton University Professor Ellsworth Huntington asserted that Mormon vitality could be traced to the above average intelligence of its European converts, held down by the prevailing class structure of the time, who, after surviving the ocean crossing and the twenty-five hundred mile trek to the Salt Lake Valley, and then thriving in the harsh conditions of the Great Basin, had been so winnowed by these experiences that they passed on extraordinary gene pool to their descendants. A recent study announced in both the International Herald Tribune and NBCTV says that the two American counties with the longest-lived individuals are both in Utah.

The President of the largest state university system in the country (the University of California) was until recently a Latter-day Saint, as is the President of the largest private university (Brigham Young University). Rex Lee, until being named President of BYU, was Solicitor General of the United States. The University of Utah has among the best medical schools in the country. The artificial heart was first developed at the U of U medical school, and "cold fusion" in the U's Physics Department. The U's Computer Department was one of four in the country (the others being USC, the Stanford Research Institute, and UC Santa Barbara) to form Arpanet - forerunner of Internet. More currently, U of Utah Professors David Evans and Ivan Sutherland, as reported in the September 4, 1995 BusinessWeek, led the way in developing the leading 3-D imaging process used in U.S. military flight simulators. U of Utah alums include Jim Clark, founder of Silicon Graphics, John Warnock founder of Adobe Systems, Alan Kay who is principal scientist at Apple Computers, Alan Ashton founder of WordPerfect, and Ed Catmul co-founder of Pixar. Viewpoint DataLabs of Orem, Utah designs everything from helicopters to body parts out of 3-D "wireframes" which can be manipulated by computer. These digital props are sold to movie makers, the military, architects, and industrial engineers. Allan Associates produces some of the most advanced simulation technology in the world, providing training facilities for many major companies as well as the US Military. Allan was sold to The Times Mirror Corporation by its LDS creator-owner-CEO just before he accepted a calling as unpaid President of the LDS Mission in Switzerland. With the merger of Novell and Word Perfect, both Utah corporations with Latter-day Saint leadership, the second largest computer software company in the world was now Utah (Mormon) owned and operated, until its sale to Corel Corp. of Canada. Not least, Kim B. Clark, Dean of the Harvard University Business School is a Latter-day Saint (and former Bishop).

Going back in history a bit, while Wyoming is generally given credit for first extending the vote to women, it was in fact Utah which first did so -- but the U.S. Congress refused to accept this act because it enfranchised so many additional Mormon voters. Nevertheless it is an undeniable fact that it was an LDS Utah woman who was first elected to a State Senate when Martha Hughes Cannon entered the Utah State Senate in 1896 -- the same year Utah was admitted to the Union. Not only was Mrs. Cannon the first American State Senator, she was among the first American woman physicians. Brigham Young, the second President of the LDS Church asserted in one of his early public sermons that women were equally qualified with men to work as clerks, accountants, doctors, and lawyers -- that indeed there were no professions which should be barred to women. He put his words into action, selecting a number of young Mormon women, among them Martha Hughes, to study medicine. at the University of Michigan. Following her degree in medicine, "Mattie" Hughes obtained a degree in Pharmacy. Upon her return to Utah, in addition to her private practice, she was named Associate Resident Physician at the Church Hospital, going on to make a huge contribution to public health.

Other women were selected by President Young to accompany the Art Students Mission which was sent at Church expense to study painting in Paris, at the time the world leader in representational art. Upon the return of this group, several of whom -- including some of the women -- became noted American Impressionists, did the frescoes which decorate the interior walls of the great Salt Lake Temple.

Women have always been leaders in Utah politics. A former Salt Lake Treasurer Reva Beck Bosone becoming U.S. Treasurer under President Eisenhower. Olene Smith Walker is current Lieutenant Governor of Utah, the last two mayors but one of Salt Lake City have been women, and in 1994 Republican Edith Greene succeeded Democrat Karen Shepherd as Utah's delegate for the First Congressional District.

Any number of top government and business executives are LDS, including the immediate past President of the Kodak Corporation (who next became President of the Mormon Mission in London), the President of Ryder Systems, and the CEOs of Selected American Shares and the Wasatch Funds Group, major mutual funds. Former President of the American Association of Farm Cooperatives Ezra Taft Benson was Eisenhower's Secretary of Agriculture. Benson at a later date became President of the Mormon Church. Arizona Congressman Morris Udall, a Mormon, was President Carter's Secretary of the Interior. A past-President of American Motors Corporation George Romney was a leading Primary candidate for President running against Richard Nixon. Rosel Hyde, a member of President Eisenhower's Federal Communications Commission, initiated the Fairness Doctrine which opened the airwaves to the expression of contrary opinions regarding important public issues. John Evans was a Nixon member of the Securities and Exchange Commission. J.W. Marriott. founder of the Hot Shoppes restaurants and the Marriott Hotels chain was a leading Mormon (and organizer of President Nixon's Inauguration). Jon Huntsman, active Mormon, President and CEO of the Huntsman Chemical Corporation (and former White House Assistant to President Richard Nixon), listed by Forbes Magazine (July 1996) as one of the fifty-five richest people in the world, is LDS. Chicago lawyer Dallin Oakes was widely reported to have been on President Reagan's short list for appointment to the Supreme Court until he was made an Apostle of the Church. Mr. Romney's son Mitt ( head of the 2002 Winter Olympics Committee) just a few years ago gave Ted Kennedy the closest race for Senator from the state of Massachusetts that Mr. Kennedy had experienced in twenty four years service as senator. Romney is currently Governor of Massachusetts. Both President Bush's National Security Advisor General Brent Scocroft and his Domestic Affairs Advisor Harvard University Professor Roger Porter are LDS. Presidential Candidate Pat Buchanan's sister (and onetime campaign manager) is LDS, as are the wives of leading SciFi writer Isaac Asimov and noted TV interviewer Larry King.

Nor are Mormons prominent only in politics and business: Mormon physicist/chemist Henry Eyring came within a gnat's eyebrow of winning the Nobel Prize for his work relating chemical reactions to quantum theory (many thought he'd win next time around, but he died before he could again be considered -- and Nobel prizes are given only to living individuals). Four renowned American sculptors were Mormon born: Mahonri Young (a grandson of Brigham Young) produced the This Is The Place Monument commemorating the Western Explorers Padre Escalante, Junipero Serra, Etienne Provost, and Jim Bridger, as well as the arrival of Brigham Young and the Mormon Pioneers, at the mouth of Emigration Canyon in Utah -- as well as any number of other sculptures and paintings, including the Seagull Monument on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. Cyrus Dallin, who did the Angel Moroni statue which tops the Salt Lake (and other ) LDS Temple(s) also produced the well-known statue of Massasoit for the city of Boston. Recently-deceased sculptor Avard Fairbanks, produced any number of well-known contemporary pieces. including the Madonna and Child located in the entry to the Cathedral of the Madeleine and the moving composite of a pair of Handcart parents praying over the grave of their child as they crossed the Great Plains. Gutzon Borglum, creator of the Mt. Rushmore memorial to four great American Presidents, was born to a Mormon mother in the Mormon village of Paris, Idaho. Chief Editorial Writer for the Washington Post Merlo Pusey was LDS (and winner of a Pulitzer Prize for his biography of former Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes). A contemporary LDS author Laurel Thatcher Ulrich recently won the Pulitzer for her history of early Nineteenth Century New England Women. Chapel Hill historian Leonard Arrington won national history prizes for both his Great Basin Kingdom, the story of the Mormon settlement of the West, and his Brigham Young: American Moses. Syndicated columnist Jack Anderson is LDS.

In sports, well-known American golfers Johnny Miller and Billy Caspar are both LDS, as were heavy weight boxer Jack Dempsey and light middleweight champion Gene Fullmer. P:ittsburgh Pirate pitcher and Baseball Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew is a Latter-day Saint, as is Dale Murphy, National League Most Valued Player for both 1982 and 1983, hero of seven All Star games, and slugger of 398 career home runs is LDS. Murphy is today a Bishop in the Church. Several members of the U.S. Olympic Ski Team have been Mormons, while an LDS gymnast Peter Vidmar was the leading medal-winning member of the 1992 U.S. Olympic Team. In part because of the reputation of Utah athletes, in part because of the region's exceptional mountains and snow, and in part because of Salt Lake's reputation as the Center of Scenic America, Salt Lake was chosen as site of the 2002 Winter Olympics. Steve Young who many consider a worthy successor to the great football quarterback Joe Montana, was All-American while playing as an undergraduate for BYU and is another Brigham Young descendant.

In the arts, actor Dean Jagger and Johnny Whitaker (Tom Sawyer) are LDS. Loretta Young was a Brigham Young great granddaughter. Metropolitan soprano Ariel Bybee is LDS, as are the King Sisters (indeed the entire King Family, including King son Lex de Azevedo and King husband Alvino Rey, developer of the electric guitar). The Osmond Family (including Marie and Donny) -- Mormons all -- were major television attractions for several years. Utahn Philo Farnsworth (whose statue is in Statuary Hall in the Capitol in Washington) was the father of television, having invented the cathode ray tube which made TV possible. Stephen Covey, a Professor of Business at BYU recently had two volumes simultaneously on the New York Times best-seller list for twelve weeks running, while John Naisbett, author of Megatrends was Mormon born and reared. The Mormon screenwriter for Startrek, based his notion for the Council of the Universe on the Council of the Twelve which heads the LDS Church.

A Princeton University Professor, author of the book Wellsprings of Civilization, attributes this performance to the strong genetic heritage of European converts of great intellectual capacity, drive, and determination who had been held down by the European class structure of the nineteenth century -- plus the further winnowing effect of the strenuous trek across the Great Plains. These are they who passed on their genes through early polygamous marriages. Eduard Meyer, one of Germany's most noted and influential late Nineteenth Century historians, after a careful on the spot study of Mormonism wrote his Ursprung und Gechichte des Mormonen, a grand study in the parallels between the new religion and the revealed religions of the past. And Count Leo Tolstoy, after examining Mormon teachings and practices, expressed the opinion that if Mormonism retained its vigor into the fifth generation, it was destined to become a competitor to other world religions (it's now in its seventh generation and is currently the fastest growing religious organization of any substantial size in the world. Perhaps the most favorable American work on the contribution of the Mormons to the settling of the West was Bernard Devoto's 1947 Book of the Month Club selection Year of Decision.

More recently, of course, sociologists have recognized that Mormonism has developed a distinctive and significant sub-culture worthy of analysis and serious attention. A generation ago, Dale Morgan and a team of largely non-Mormon writers produced an extended sociological study of pioneer Mormonism in Utah called The Mormon Village which provided striking examples of how a Mormon sub-culture was already well advanced. Jan Shipps, a non-Mormon scholar has made the sociological study of Mormonism her life's work and was instrumental in founding the Mormon Historical Association with its annual Symposium and scholarly publications.

Noted Yale University Professor Harold Bloom recently published a well-received book called The American Religion. Bloom identifies Mormonism as perhaps the most underappreciated movement in nineteenth century America -- having exercised effects on American history and thought far more profound than recognized by most historians or commentators. He asserts that Joseph Smith, whatever explanation one gives for the Book of Mormon, was as much a prophet as any who ever lived in terms of the profundity of his philosophy and the far-reaching effects of his teachings. He adds that most Americans, Catholic or Protestant, owe more to Joseph Smith for their concept of God and their religious belief system than to their own formal creeds -- whether they recognize this or not. In a recent note to the author, Professor Bloom said, "I have been very much moved by the commemorative events of the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the death of Joseph Smith (1984). As a Jewish quasi-believer, I place him in my own personal pantheon with Whitman and Thoreau."

Some Less-well Known LDS Church Doctrines

In most ways, Mormonism would not appear to the casual observer to differ appreciably from other Christian denominations in its practices, or adherence to the seven sacraments. The most frequent charge of heresy is that the LDS Church teaches a plurality of gods. This derives from the Restored Church's revealed understanding that the Godhead consists of three separate and distinct beings: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, plus LDS adherence to the doctrine of theism (see below). The first doctrine, contrary to the common Trinitarian view of the Roman tradition, is also firmly held by the Orthodox Churches of Eastern Europe -- and was to no small degree the basis for the definitive Orthodox separation from the Roman Church in 1054.

Secondly, the LDS Church teaches that being sons (and daughters) of the Heavenly Father (1 John 3:2), we may through righteous living, become like him (Philippians 2:6). Some traditional Christians see this as blasphemy and refuse to accept Mormonism as a Christian denomination as a result of this belief. In this connection, Latter-day Saints are told that life is intended as a great test to see whether men will be sufficiently self-disciplined to pursue the undeviating dictates of righteous conscience, learning to behave as the Father in Heaven would behave in every circumstances which we may confront in life -- thus becoming so like Him that we become "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Pet. 1:4). Those who succeed, eventually become, in the resurrection, "heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ" (Rom. 8:17). Though sectarian Christianity appears unaware of this doctrine of theism (becoming like God through righteous living), it has been a firmly held tenet of Orthodoxy since earliest times (though not widely taught to its membership as being too sacred for open discussion). This doctrine was indeed a major element in the rupture between Rome and Constantinople in 1054 A.D.

Third: the LDS Church has no professional clergy. Every worthy member customarily enters the priesthood as a Deacon at age twelve, assisting his Bishop in numerous spiritual and temporal ways. At about age eighteen, young Latter-day Saints customarily are ordained Priests, with authority to bless and administer the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. At majority, they are ordained to the higher, or Melchizedec Priesthood, with authority to administer in all the higher spiritual ordinances of the gospel.

The most notable difference in belief and practice of the Mormon Church is that marriages performed in its temples are "for time and all eternity" -- not just "until death do ye part" as in other denominations. The restoration of authority to seal on earth that which will remain sealed in the Heavens is arguably the most significant element of the Restoration.

What some have said about the LDS Church's teaching that Satan proposed a plan in the pre-mortal estate to save all mankind through compelling obedience to God's laws is not incorrect, though the "spin" often left in readers' minds is that Latter-day Saints are Satan worshipers. This is not so. The Church, by its very name, follows and worships no other than Jesus Christ. Satan's plan of compulsion was rejected in the Great Council in Heaven and that of Jehovah (as Latter-day Saints believe Jesus was known before his mortal existence), based on Free Agency, was adopted. Finally, Latter-day Saints accept and practice the doctrine of Baptism for the Dead -- not the bizarre, non-biblical ceremony some commentators attempt to make it appear, since the practice was clearly practiced in the Primitive Christian Church, as taught by Paul in his letter to the Corinthians. Paul and the other apostles understood that, according to Christ's teachings, baptism is the sole and essential rite of passage demanded by God for entry into his Kingdom. Paul and the other apostles fully understood that there is no alternative gate for those who died before Christ's coming (John 3:5), or during other periods when priesthood authority to seal on earth what was to sealed in the Heavens, was not present -- as from the Great Apostasy until the Restoration. It is evident, and well-known to serious biblical scholars, that the early Christian Church instituted the divine practice of proxy baptism for near relatives who had passed on before the coming of the gospel, as is reflected in Paul's writing about the essentiality of baptism for salvation and resurrection, in which he says to the Corinthians, "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?" (1Cor. 15:29). In accordance with modern revelation, the LDS Church follows the same practice today. That is why Church members search out the genealogical records of their ancestors in order to perform such proxy baptisms for them in one or another of the 108 temples located, or in process of construction, around the globe. Free Agency being the operating principle of the Gospel, no one will be compelled to accept such proxy work. Anyone who rejects the gospel message on the Other Side may continue in whatever beliefs he or she prefers -- just as here on earth.

Mormon Attachment to Free Agency, Freedom of Conscience, and Freedom of Religion

In Mormon doctrine, force or compulsion is anathema. In a revelation to Joseph Smith given on March 20, 1839 the Lord said, ". . . it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority . . . they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion. . . . The powers of the priesthood . . . cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness. . . . No power or influence can or ought to be maintained . . . only be persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned. .. .That (the priesthood) may be conferred upon us, is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or gratify our vain ambitions, or exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men in any degree of unrighteousness, the heavens withdraw themselves, the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or authority of that man." (Doctrine & Covenants, Section 121, passim)

The Restored Church is no threat to any government or other religion. As asserted in the Eleventh Article of Faith of the Church: "We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may."

It is hoped that these few words of background and explanation will help readers gain a clearer insight into the true teachings and beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is unfair to allow ill-wishers to assert that Mormon missionaries teach anything but the truth and the whole truth about the Restoration message. The Church has nothing to hide. It wants the truth proclaimed as thoroughly and quickly to as many as possible in the entire world. With sixty thousand missionaries proclaiming the Restoration in over a hundred and fifty countries of the world, including those recently liberated from Marxist repression, what the Church most hopes to avoid is for newspapers to print without thorough checking, the falsehoods and half-truths retailed by its enemies.