RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Mormons
home or abroad. About 2,000 missionaries are constantly at work, the personnel being largely changed every two or four years. Each mission is under the presidency of an elder and has the necessary minor officers. The missionaries travel and labor by twos or in larger groups. In the making of proselytes the more offensive (esoteric) doctrines of Mormonism are passed over without mention; stress is laid on the doctrine of a progressive, present-day revelation and the (materialistic) glories promised to the Saints.
The ranks of the Melchisedec priesthood are the
following: (1) The council of the first presidency,
consisting of three men, in office and
18. Priest- dignity equal to Peter, James, and John.
hood and One of these is church president,
Govern- chosen in a general assembly, and the ment. others are his counselors. These may be against him in counsels but never in final decisions. For the whole church the president is prophet, seer, and revelator, and his authority is absolute. (2) The twelve apostles, or extraordinary witnesses of the name of Christ in the whole world. In the interval between the death of a president and the election of his successor the twelve exercise the highest authority in the church. (3) Presidents of the quorums of seventy; (4) patriarchs; (5) high priests. The Aaronic priesthood includes: (1) bishops, who have charge of the gathering of the tithes and the care of the poor; (2) priests; (3) teachers; (4) deacons. Territorially the church is divided into " stakes of Zion " and the stakes again into wards. The stakes of Zion are so called in distinction from Zion proper, which is in Jackson County, Mo., whither' also the Saints are to assemble themselves at last to receive the returning Christ. In North America there are some fifty of these stakes, twenty-one of them in Utah. Each stake has an organization which copies that of the entire church. For each stake also there is a presiding bishop and for each ward a bishop. The bishops are assisted by under officers. By means of this elaborate yet well-balanced system the church maintains a most effective oversight of its affairs. The social and economic aspects of Mormonism have ever been interesting and are in part worthy of praise. The rigorous system has been successful in restraining many vices and in producing a high general state of material wellbeing, while the lawless subjectivism of its prophetism, which opened the gate to polygamy and other vicious doctrines and practises, has wrought untold harm to its people. Separating itself from the Christian Church and (as far as practicable) from the larger civil and social community, Mormonism is necessarily deficient in many of the best elements of modern culture. It has, however, combined into one the religious and the social element more successfully than any other movement of modern times.
J. R. Van Pelt.
III. The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints: This body claims to be the church of that name that was organized by Joseph Smith in Fayette, N. Y., Apr. 6, 1830, and subsequently located at Kirtland, O. This contention is disputed by the Utah body of Latter-day Saints.
The disruption occurred in 1844, the main body having meantime removed from Kirtland to Missouri, thence to Nauvoo, 111. (see I.— II., above); the smaller body was reorganized near Beloit, Wis. At the first conference of the latter, in 1852, the leadership of Brigham Young was disowned. The Reorganized Church has never favored polygamy, but has borne testimony against it. It accepts three books as of divine origin: the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Book of Covenants — the last as a guide in church government, the Book of Mormon as a history of the inhabitants of America for 2,400 years, closing 400 a.d., and the Bible as the word of God, so far as it is translated correctly. The faith of the church is that of the epitome, made by Joseph Smith in 1842 (ut sup.) and enlarged somewhat since. Articles were inserted after polygamy became a tenet of the faith of the Utah branch, declaring for monogamy and against the doctrine of plural wives.
The system of polity is similar to that of the Utah branch, consisting of the presidency, embracing when full, three men, the apostolate, the quorums of seventy, and priests or pastors, teachers, deacons, and bishops — the last-named conducting the business affairs of the church.
The headquarters of the church, which were in Piano, 111., for nearly twenty years, were removed in 1881 to Lamoni, la., where they now are. There are in Lamoni a publishing house, a college, and two homes for the aged. The church carries on missionary work in the United States, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, Germany, Scandinavia, Mexico, and the Sandwich and Society Islands. It reports in the United States alone 49,500 members, 560 churches, and 1,200 ministers. It is slowly increasing in membership.
The president of the church is Joseph Smith, son of the first president. He has held this office since 1860. He lives in Independence, Mo.; his associates are Frederick M. Smith, Independence, Mo., and Richard Evans, Toronto, Canada. The president of the quorum of the twelve apostles is William H. Kelley, Lamoni, la. ; and Heman C. Smith, of the same place, is second in order of appointment, and is also historian of the church.
H. K. Carroll.
IV. Anti-Mormon Movements: Joseph Smith once said with emphasis and apparent pride: " Mormonism is at war with every craft and creed of Christendom." That statement has had abundant verification in every period of Mormon history. But in Nauvoo and afterward in Utah there were many but futile attempts to reform i. To 1869. Mormonism from within. The advent of the United States army into Utah, the opening of mines, and the inflow of " Gentiles " afforded protection and gave promise of help from without. Three powerful forces of Christian civilization were invoked: the press, the pulpit, and the school. The first paper published was The Valley Tan, issued in 1858 from the camp. The Salt Lake Vedette followed, then The Utah Magazine, afterward The Tribune, and others in subsequent years. Some young men of literary tastes organized a " literary and musical society," which maintained
Mormons Morris