Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Was the founding of Mormonism a 'political' decision?

The Church of England (aka Episcopalian Church) was founded in England. As were the Baptists and the Methodist Churches. Lutherans came from Germany and the Roman Catholic Church was, basically, an Italian church.

There wasn't much going for a home-grown church. So, could it be that the decision to found what became the Mormon faith was based on a desire to start a local church which would be aimed towards the American way of life?

Of course, for it to be truly local it would need some authority. So what better than a sacred text found and translated in America by a local boy?

Unfortunately they chose to use Joseph Smith who allowed his imagination to run away with him and the rest is, as they say, history.

2 comments:

AlexisAR said...

I wonder what they would have ended up with instead of Mormonism if the local boy had been remotely sane? Maybe something like the Congregational Church is my guess.

Matt said...

Could be. Maybe Methodist? After all, Smith was thrown out of the local Methodist Church as he was known for his "folk magic" interests.