The fast - growingChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter - 24-hour interval Saintsclaims more than 16 million members worldwide , yet stay one of the least - understood religions on the planet . Even though the church outlawed polygamy more than a century ago , many people still think Mormon Church can have more than one wife . And a mountain of folks still fox Mormons with Jehovah ’s witness and the Amish . ( Which are the ones who do n’t dance again ? )
To serve set up the disk straight aboutMormon beliefsand praxis , we speak withMatthew Bowman , the chairman of Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate University and the author of " The Mormon the great unwashed : The Making of an American Faith " in 2020 . Here are six common myth about Mormonism .
Myth 1: It’s Called the ‘Mormon Church’
Since the church was ground by Joseph Smith in 1830 , the official name has always been The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter - day Saints . But Bowman said that from the start , detractors and critic start cry the controversial new faction " Mormons " or " Mormonites , " an insult directed at the " Book of Mormon , " an ancient Holy Writ of Holy Scripture translated and published by Smith .
But what start as a derogatory smear was soon espouse by church leaders like Brigham Young , who said that Christian church member should be proud to be called Mormons .
" There ’s a farsighted history of Christian denominations being trail with a name by outsider and then eventually adopting it , " said Bowman , including Methodists who were criticized as " overly Methodical " in their piousness and Baptists who were poke fun for their belief in full immersion .
In recent tenner , though , The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter - day Saints hasdistanced itselffrom terms like " Mormon , " " Mormon Church , " " LDS Church " and other nicknames , because it say they detract from Jesus Christ as the true center of Mormon impression .
Myth 2: Mormons Worship Joseph Smith
Without Joseph Smith , there would be no Church of Jesus Christ of Latter - day Saints , and for faithful Mormons , Smith was a prophet on equation with Moses . But that does n’t mean that Mormons " adoration " him , Bowman tell .
The account of the Mormon church begins this room : In 1820 , when Smith was a 14 - yr - old farm boy in upstate New York , he withdraw to a woodland grove to ask God a pressing head : Which was the right church for him to unite ? To Smith ’s shock and astonishment , his supplication was answer when two angelic figures , identifying themselves as God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared .
During this providential trial , known asthe First Vision , Smith was told not to join any existing church , but that the true Church of Jesus Christ would be restored through him . After receiving and translating the Book of Mormon , which describes Jesus Christ ’s ministry to the ancient people of the Americas , Smith was conferred with significant priesthood sureness that had been lost after the death of the apostles .
Smith was the first seer of what Latter-Day Saint think is Jesus Christ ’s honest restored church , which is organise like the ancient church with prophets and apostles . Brigham Young was the 2nd prophet of the mend church and the business of prophesier has rest kept through today . Thecurrent prophesier is Russell M. Nelson .
Smith was fiercely persecuted for his claims and teachings , and was eventually killed along with his brother by a violent rout when he was only 38 age old . Smith ’s martyrdom , like those of early Christian apostles and saints , made him an even more beloved and revered digit to many Mormons .
" Joseph Smith is important , " said Bowman . " He ’s a prophetic figure who has bring the mechanism of redemption back to humanity through the priesthood and ordinances like baptism , but that ’s not the same as worshipping him . "
It took117 yearsfor the church to grow from 6 members to 1 million ( in 1947 ) . But it reached the 2 - million appendage mark just 16 year afterward and has been growing ever since . Today , you ’ll observe some16 million Mormonsall over the human beings , not just in the U.S.
Myth 3: Mormons Aren’t Really Christians
In the 1980s , The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter - solar day Saints debut a new logotype with the quarrel " Jesus Christ " in a much larger baptistry . The Book of Mormon was also given a subtitle , " The Book of Mormon : Another Testament of Jesus Christ . " Both of these moves were in answer to the persistent myth that Mormons are n’t Christians .
Bowman said that at the heart of this misunderstanding is a lawful dubiousness : What does it intend to be a Christian ?
" The across-the-board and most inclusive definition of a Christian is someone who believes in Jesus Christ , " say Bowman , and by that definition Mormons are clear Christians .
The earthly ministry and eternal role of Jesus Christ as the savior of human race are the focus of Mormon doctrine and adoration , and faithful extremity endeavour to school a personal human relationship with Christ through Holy Writ study and orison .
But there are also narrow definition of Christianity where Mormon beliefs can be elusive . In Catholicism and mainstreamProtestantism , for example , there ’s the opinion of the Trinity as a exclusive Godhead manifested as three persons : God the Father , Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit ( the Holy Ghost ) .
In Mormon didactics , based on the Book of Mormon and other Revelation of Saint John the Divine and vision welcome by the oracle Joseph Smith , the Godhead is not a Trinity , but rather three separate and distinct beings acting with one will and resolve .
Bowman said that some evangelicals also take issue with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter - day Saints because of its teaching that sure sacraments and ordinances are necessary for salvation .
" For evangelicals , salvation is less about profession impression or perform ordinances than it is about have a spiritual conversion experience , what ’s known as being ' born again , ' " said Bowman .
Another problem some other Christian church have with the Mormon church is the fact that it holds the Book of Mormon to be sacred scripture alongside the Bible . TheLatter - day Saints ' responseis that the Bible itself does n’t say that " all revelations from God would be accumulate into a single volume to be forever closed and that no further biblical revealing could be received . "
Mormon divinity also teach that there are " three kingdoms of glory " : the celestial kingdom ( heaven ) for faithful Mormons ; the sublunary realm for Mormons “ not valiant in the testimonial of Jesus , " as well as righteous people of other belief ; and the telestial realm for disbeliever and wicked citizenry . " These individuals [ in the telestial kingdom ] will pick up their glory after being redeemed from spirit prison , which is sometimes scream hell,“according to church literature . Historic Christianity teachesthat there is heaven for believing Christians andhellfor unbelievers .
Myth 4: Mormons Practice Polygamy
Polygamy , also know as plural marriage ( i.e. , a man cause more than one wife ) , was a central practice for Mormons in the 19th century , but the church building outlawed it in 1904 and anyone mistrust of practicing polygamy today is excommunicated .
In 1840 , Joseph Smith received a revelation directing church building extremity to restore the ancient exercise of plural marriage ( the biblicalKing Solomonhad 700 wife and 300 doxy ) as a way of speedily growing the religion ’s number . Since plural marriage was illegal in the United States , Mormons became an outlaw mass and the subject of bitter persecution , get from place to seat until they finally found sanctuary in the wilds of Utah , which was n’t yet a State Department .
In 1890 , as Mormons were lobbying Congress to let in Utah as a State Department , the then - prophet of the church Wilford Woodruff promise to end the practice of plural marriage in the religious belief . And in 1904 , polygamy officially became penal by excommunication from the Christian church .
The ongoing confusion about Mormons and polygamy is that there are sliver sects living in Northern Mexico and rural parts of Arizona and Utah who continue to do polygamy and call themselves the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter - Day Saints . These groups , which often dress in 19th - century garb and go in apart compounds , are disjoined and discrete from mainstream Mormons .
Myth 5: Mormons Can’t Drink Caffeinated Beverages
Faithful Mormons do their right to live by a readiness of health and lifestyle rules get laid as the Word of Wisdom . The original Word of Wisdom was arevelation given to Joseph Smithin 1833 after he prayed about the use of tobacco plant among church building extremity . The resolution Smith get was that men and women should not only avoid tobacco plant , but also alcoholic drink and " blistering drinks , " which were render as coffee and teatime . essence was also to be eat up " sparingly , " only in times of winter and shortage , and then always with Thanksgiving Day .
In the original revelation , the Word of Wisdom was less a rule than a " rationale with promise " — the promise being strong-arm health , sapience and knowledge to those who abide by its road map .
" For much of the first decades of the church , the Word of Wisdom was considered good advice , something that serious nonesuch might do who wanted the promises in the divine revelation , " said Bowman . " But there are instances of members not keep an eye on it , in part because it was n’t seen as a conventional teaching or injunction . The first wagon train that left for Salt Lake City hold java with it . "
In the former 20th century , as polygamy end , Bowman said that the Word of Wisdom took on a new significance as a way of maintaining social boundaries between the Latter - day Saints and outsiders . finally , bond to the Word of Wisdom ’s cease and desist order against alcohol , tobacco , coffee and tea ( but not meat ) became a requirement for full body process in the Christian church .
Over time , both Mormons and non - Mormons likewise wonder why coffee and tea had made the no - no list , and the consensus was that it must be the caffein , which can be an addictive substance . So , it became a cultural norm , at least in Utah , for Latter-Day Saint to keep off caffeinated sodium carbonate as well as " live swallow . "
While church leaders have n’t exactly given their blessing to Coca - Cola and Pepsi , they have retell that coffee tree and tea are the only drinks explicitly disallow by the Word of Wisdom . Even Brigham Young University , the church - owned college , now sells caffeinated sodasin its pupil dining hall .
Myth 6: Mormons Wear ‘Magic Underwear’
This one is only half mythical . Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints who have kick the bucket to an LDS templedowear peculiar undergarments , but they are n’t magical .
magnanimous and ornate LDS Temples are different from the small , plainer chapel where Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints hold their Sunday services . At168 Temples around the world , desirable church members over 18 years old can receive essential ordinances for salvation . When someone goes to the temple for the first metre , they welcome the " temple garment , " which is a pair ofspecial underwear — top and bottom — with religious significance .
For Mormons , the garment is supposed to pretend as a daily reminder of important covenant made in the temple . It ’s not supposed to have any witching powers , even though Bowman said Mormon folklore is full of such stories . The hotel baron Bill Marriott , a phallus of the church , once told " 60 Minutes " that his consecrated undergarments had save his animation in a freak boating fortuity .
" The boat was on blast . I was on fire . I was burn . My pants were burn right off me . I was not burned above my knee joint . Where the garment was , I was not burned , " said Marriott . " My undergarments were not blab out . "
Bowman get why non - Mormons think it ’s weird to break special underwear , but in the context of world religions , Mormons are n’t odd at all .
" Most spiritual traditions demand some kind of special clothing , " allege Bowman . " Yarmulkes in Judaism , headscarves in Islam , some Hindus have a bit on their forehead , Turbans for Sikhs . Mormon Church are more distinctive than not . "
