History of the Mormons

 History of the Mormons

The founder of the Mormons

On 23 December 1805 the American Joseph Smith saw the light of day in Sharon / Vermont. He was the fourth of nine children of Lucy (née Mack) and Joseph Smith sen.

Beginnings as a treasure trove

Smith grew up in a family in which awe-inspiring and religious unrest were decisive. He also seemed to have inherited from his mother Lucy the tendency to excess fantasies and irrationality, which made him a "fortune-teller" and "treasure-seeker" at the age of fifteen. With the help of a crystal he tried to track down "hidden treasures in the earth," which gave him the nickname "Peepstone Joe" (Guckstein Joe). In 1826 he had to go to court in Bainbridge / N.Y. was convicted, but because of his age only to a small fine.

Search for the true church

On this background the developmental history of the new movement must also be understood. At a young age, Joseph Smith was seized by the question of which of the many churches that were seeking new members was "the true one." This he wanted to turn to. The parents and some siblings had already been "converted" by the Presbyterians.

"Answer" from "God"

In the spring of 1820, Joseph Smith reported, he had received the answer: During a prayer in a grove at the edge of his place of residence, Manchester / N.Y. were revealed to him in a vision "God the Father" and "Jesus Christ". "God" had advised him not to join any of the existing churches because they were all in error, and their confessions were "an abomination in his eyes."