Joseph Smith and the Mormon Faith

Memphis, Tn - It is not written why he was chosen, only that he was a believer looking for a faith to believe in.

He was told in this revelation, contrary to his own belief, that none of them were right. And, that God would use him, Joseph Smith as a means of establishing his church.

In the 1820s, through the eyes of New York native, Joseph Smith Jr., spiritual visions appeared to him courtesy of an angel. A prophet arose and the inspiration for a new religious denomination took shape.

To understand the complexities and the doctrinal division which has encompassed the modern Mormon religion for more than 180 years, it's vital to become familiar with its recognized founder.

As 89-year old Church of Christ apostle, William Sheldon, explains, though Smith came from humble beginnings, his anointed ascendency as a "visionary" was not by accident.

“The Plates for the Book of Mormon were found by him. And in fact it was on his father's farm and he actually found those plates and was directed by an angel where to find them.”

In 1830, Smith, inspired by a revelation from God, traveled from a Mormon conclave in Kirtland, Ohio to the area of Independence and Kansas City in Jackson County, Missouri which Smith proclaimed was the site of the hallowed Garden of Eden. Yet, as would happen in later years, not all Mormons would embrace the validity of Smith's claim that was in direct conflict with traditional Bible teachings.

Smith changed the name of the church to the Church of Latter Day Saints in 1834.

While his Garden of Eden identification was biblically disjointed, it didn't deter him from seeking to establish a paradise on Earth for his followers. Smith led a survey party 80 miles north of Jackson County to outside the community of Gallatin in Daviess County, insisting acres of lush farmland and abundant trees would be revered as Adam's refuge after being ousted from Eden.

The Valley of the Adam Ondi Ahman, translated as "Adam's Consecrated Land", soon became headquarters for a Mormon settlement of 1500.

But, in what would become a familiar pattern for early Mormon communities, hostilities broke out between the close-knit Mormons versus the anti-Mormons in neighboring Gallatin. In 1839, fighting led the Mormons being expelled from the valley and the state of Missouri.

After being briefly imprisoned, Smith along with Brigham Young and other Latter Day Saints leaders escaped and regrouped in Illinois to form the Mormon community of Nauvoo. But, Sheldon says even before the "valley disaster" Smith had lost credibility among the majority in the church, a victim of his own ego.

Smith would be killed in 1844 in yet another conflict with anti-Mormon forces. But, new leaders emerged including Brigham Young. But, the splintering of the Mormon religion into its current six fundamental bodies was complete.

After Joseph Smith was killed Brigham Young led that body from Nauvoo out to Salt Lake City and he introduced the idea of polygamy out there as an open tenet of the church.

The modern day ecumenical schism of the Mormon Church continues in Independence. In the shadow of the towering Community of Christ Temple, the smaller Church of Christ clings to the grassy flatland beside its parking lot, the area Smith consecrated as the hallowed ground for all of his faith to take refuge in the final days.