Updated revelations, living prophets: Who are these Mormons?

For humans, it is not enough to simply breathe and eat. We want to feel our existence, to connect with life and other people, to create, and to merge with life. Moreover, this is not just for a certain period, but the unchanging destiny of an entire life. We want to be in motion, both spiritually and physically, to build relationships, discover new places, and gain an identity. Of course, this does not happen on its own. We do not have life options served on a silver platter. That is why we cling to ideologies, religions, and beliefs to experience more “meaningful” stories, or we create them if they do not exist. 

Speaking of stories, today I want to tell you about a religion that these lands are not very familiar with.

Have you heard of the Mormons? 

Let us take a journey into the Mormon faith today. 

Let us see what they have to tell us.

In the Mormon faith, which dates back to the first quarter of the 19th century, we encounter a polytheistic understanding of religion. For example, according to them, the God of the Earth was created by another god in heaven and his wife, and was sent to the world in human form. Subsequently, this human performed good and beautiful deeds and became a God after dying. In other words, according to Mormons, the God of the Earth is a human being who was once a mortal. 

The founding prophet of the religion is Joseph Smith. Smith was born in the USA in 1805 as the fifth of 11 children. When he was just 18 years old, an angel named Moroni appeared to him and told him about a book written on golden plates. Subsequently, he said that he was chosen by God and was His messenger. Smith’s task was to establish the Kingdom of God, as existing Christianity had been corrupted. Meanwhile, the angel named Moroni mentioned another Bible, but at this stage, that book was not shown to him. This lasted until four years had passed. Four years later, the angel returned and asked for the aforementioned Bible to be translated into English. However, there was a problem: Smith did not know English. Upon this, two more angels were assigned to assist him, and the mentioned translation was completed within three years. As the calendar showed 1830, they opened their first church in New York. 

While the Mormon faith declared its power with the establishment of the church, pressures followed one after another. A new religion and church were not welcomed. Afterward, the life of exile for the Mormons began, and the founding Prophet Smith was killed in Carthage jail along with his brother before he even reached the age of forty. 

However, this situation could not stop the rise of the Mormons. Although divisions emerged within the religion over time, the number of followers of the religion continued to increase over the years. So much so that today, there are around 20 million Mormons in nearly a hundred countries. I think this is a tremendous number for a new religion. 

Regarding the historical development of the religion, Professor Paul Noah Siegel says: “The Mormons were one of the fastest-growing churches of the period, increasing their membership from 1.7 million in the early 1970s in the US to 3.1 million by the end of the decade. Mormonism was born in the religious revival atmosphere of the 1820s as a theologically inspired utopian communal movement. It was a quintessentially American religion, with its emphasis on assigning a central place to the US in the divine order of things and its doctrine of optimistic progress, where humans could develop until they transformed into a God with the power of creation.”

So, how should we explain the rapid rise of the Mormon religion? Niegel’s answer to this question is as follows: “This religion attracted poor farmers and people who were forced to leave their increasingly expensive lands. Because the religion initially had an egalitarian character, and the revelation that came to Smith said, ‘everyone can take what they need.’ The remainder of the income was to be distributed to those in need and also given to the church to purchase land for the New Jerusalem.” 

The Mormon belief in prophecy is also quite remarkable; they believe America is a holy city, that the new Jerusalem will be built there, they place special importance on the family institution, and they collect ten percent of their members' income as tithing. Specifically, when the Mormons' prophet dies, the religion's highest governing body declares the most senior apostle as the next prophet. Therefore, in the Mormon religion, prophecy is continuous, and consequently, so are the revelations. 

Living is not possible alone. Just as we cannot do everything, we cannot overcome everything. For this reason, humans are group-oriented creatures. They try to acquire communities, belongings, and identities, and to sustain their existence under that grand narrative. When this is the case, communities are updated, renewed, or space is made for the new according to the course of history. Smith’s emergence as a messenger of God at the age of 18, the subsequent continuity of prophecy, and the fact that revelations became updatable can only be possible with the acceptance of the dynamics we mentioned. In this sense, acceptances actually emerge before divine claims. The difficult and painful process of existing opens the door to “sacred practices,” and Mormons pass through this door, as do Jehovah’s Witnesses, Rastafarians, and other faith practices.