RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Mormons
destructible property and lay the country waste, should the army enter the valley with hostile intentions. By the interference of friends, however, the difficulties were adjusted. Governor Cummings entered the valley in advance of the army and was received with due respect and consideration. A few days later, after investigating matters, he sent a truthful report to the president in relation to affairs in Utah. A peace commission was sent and met with President Young and others in June, 1858, and peacefully concluded the unfortunate and unhappy difficulties. The army, under command of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, entered Salt Lake Valley June 26, 1858, and camped on the west side of the Jordan River; subsequently it marched to Cedar Valley, about forty miles south of Salt Lake City, and there located Camp Floyd. It remained in Utah until the breaking out of the Civil War.
In 1877 Brigham Young died and was succeeded in the presidency of the church by John Taylor, who was severely wounded at Carthage when Joseph and Hyrum Smith were killed. President Taylor died in 1887 and was succeeded by Wilford Woodruff, who, in 1890, issued the manifesto prohibiting plural marriages in the church. He died in 1898 and was succeeded by Lorenzo Snow, who died Oct. 10, 1901. Joseph F. Smith, nephew of the prophet Joseph Smith, is the present presiding officer. The membership of the church is about 400,- 000 and the headquarters are in Salt Lake City.
The " Mormons " believe in the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as three separate personages, infinite and eternal; that men will be punished for their own sins and not suffer the penalty of Adam's
transgression; that Christ atoned for
5. Doc- original sin and that all mankind,
trines and through the atonement of Christ, may
Organiza- be saved by obedience to the princi-
tion. pies of his Gospel, of which faith in
God, repentance from sin, baptism by immersion for the remission of sin, and the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Spirit, are essential. They believe that little children who die are redeemed without baptism through the blood of Christ which was shed for them, and that men must be called of God and ordained by those who hold authority to officiate in order to preach the Gospel and administer acceptably in its ordinances. The church organization comprises the officers found in the primitive Church, and they believe in the gifts of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, the divine power of healing, and all the gifts and blessings exercised by the Savior and his apostles. They accept the Bible as the word of God, and the Book of Mormon also as the word of God given to the ancient inhabitants of the American continent. They believe that God does now reveal to his people many things as in days of old; that the heavens are not sealed, but that many important things are yet to be revealed pertaining to the kingdom of God; in the literal gathering of Israel; in the restoration of the ten tribes; that Jerusalem will be rebuilt; that Zion shall be established on the American continent, and that the Savior, in the millennium, will reign personally on the earth, which
shall eventually become a celestial sphere and the eternal abode of the righteous. The president of the church is the supreme authority in all church matters and acts in concert with two counselors, or advisors, forming the presiding quorum of the church. Next to them stand the twelve apostles, then patriarchs, high priests, seventies, elders, bishops, priests, teachers, and deacons, all of whom have specific duties to perform and work in harmony with the whole.
At one time the " Mormons " taught and practised the doctrine of plural marriage, holding the doctrine to be entirely Biblical and that the revelation concerning the same was received 6. Polyg- by Joseph Smith, but was withheld amy; Con- from the body of the church in general flicts with and from the world till they were settled the Gov- in Utah. After 1852 plural marriage eminent, was preached and practised openly and most of the leading men were polygamists. In 1862 a law was enacted by Congress against the practise, but little attention was paid to it for many years. In 1884 the supreme court of the United States declared the law against plural marriage constitutional, and more than 1,000 " Mormon " men were convicted and sent to the penitentiary, while others fled or went into hiding. In 1887 Congress disincorporated the church, confiscated its property, with the exception of $50,000, and, finally, in Sept., 1890, after the vast property holdings of the church had been lost, Pres. Wilford Woodruff issued his manifesto against plural marriages and since that time they have not been permitted by the church, though many of the men who entered into these relations before that time have continued to support and care for their families, feeling that these obligations could not be discarded. Statehood was granted to Utah in 1896 and plural marriage was prohibited forever by law in the state. The " Mormons " have four temples erected at a cost of over six millions of dollars. The Salt Lake Tabernacle is 250 feet long, 150 feet wide, 80 feet high, with a wooden roof without any supporting pillars. Its great organ and choral services are among the remarkable features; services are held each sabbath day, and the building will seat comfortably 7,000 souls. Joseph F. Smith, Jr.
II. Critical (Non-Mormon) Statement: The early history of Mormonism has its center in the person of its founder. Joseph Smith was the fourth among ten children. His father was a man i. The of unstable, restless disposition. He Founder's had no settled occupation, but tried Family; his fortune — always without success — Environ- at various pursuits, and was a believer ment in in witchcraft. Occasionally he gained Youth. money by fortune-telling and selling blessings. The prophet's mother was superior to the father in intelligence and force of will, but not less ignorant, and a firm believer in supernatural visions, apparitions, and dreams, also in cures by faith. Moreover, both the grandfathers of the prophet were much given to religious superstition. These facts are not without significance for the understanding of Smith's personality and activity. After many changes of residence in Ver-
Mormons