1. Briefly describe the historical context of the emergence of the religion (where, when, who, why?)
Mormonism was a religion started by Joseph Smith on April 6th 1830 in Western New York. Looking for forgiveness for his sins, Smith prayed and asked which church to join. Smith said the Lord instructed him “not to join any of the churches”. He then claimed an angel had directed him to a buried book. Smith translated this book and in March 1830 he published ‘The Book of Mormon’. It drew many converts to the church.
2.
What are the main distinctive beliefs of its adherents now?
Mormons have a fairly open idea about religious text, and generally anything spoken or written by a prophet is considered to be the word of God. The Book of Mormon is said to have been written by ancient prophets, and is seen as a ‘companion’ to the Bible. They believe in a God who ‘governs’ the universe, and that he has a plan for each of us. They think that every person who lives on earth will be resurrected, and most will be received into ‘kingdoms of glory’, but to be accepted into the highest kingdom, one must fully believe in God. They believe in the ten commandments. They also believe that the father, the son and the Holy spirit are three seperate gods who are make up one. They believe that God is a man with flesh and bones, and that he has a wife that we were all born from. They teach that God the Father had a father whom he followed, just as Jesus had followed him.
3. For adherents of the religion, which is more authoritative; spiritual leaders alive now, sacred texts, individual perspectives?
For Mormons, they believe in a God, Jesus Christ (they believe in the second coming of Christ) and modern day prophets (e.g. Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism) who help prepare people for eternal life and the second coming of Christ. Mormons have the Bible, the Book of Mormon, various Doctrines etc, where Christians just have the Bible.
4. What aspects of the religion do you find attractive and why?
I like the fact that in Mormonism, you get a second chance when you die and are resurrected, whereas with Christianity, you do not get a second chance.
5.
What aspects of the religion do you disagree with and why?
I do not like the fact that only if you believe utterly, completely in god, are you able to be accepted in the highest level of the ‘Kingdom of Glory’, because not everybody believes in God, so that means that even if they are good people with good Christian values, they will not be accepted.
- How well do the TOK ways of knowing handle the approach to knowledge within the religion?
It is hard for someone like myself to answer this question, as I do not really have a religion, nor am I sure completely about the existence of God. So I don’t think that anyone has ‘reason’ to believe in a God, because I do not feel that there is any real evidence that we can prove 100%. However, followers of Mormonism gather knowledge from language in their Doctrines, the Bible and the Book of Mormon, as well as from the modern day prophets.
