The Mormon Faith
Robin Miller
Strayer University
World Religions 212, Professor Keyes

The Mormon Faith The Mormon faith founded by Joseph Smith in 1844 is considered a new religion. The Mormons believe in the Bible, but they also believe in another scripture that was found in New York by Joseph Smith. I have discovered that the Book of Mormons is supposedly written accounts taught by Jesus to several lost tribes from Israel who had crossed the ocean beforehand. Jesus showed himself to them after his death and resurrection. He told them how to live and it was recorded in the Book of Mormons. This book was accepted as authentic by Joseph Smith and he began his quest to teach true Christianity as opposed to the apostasy which he and his followers felt characterized the Christian churches.
The Mormons believe that all people, including Jesus, lived in a premortal existence before birth. One thing that I have learned about the Mormon Faith after listening to the Podcast “Inside Mormon Faith” with Krista Tippet and her guest Mormon scholar, Mr. Robert Millet, is that this theory makes family ties and all ties to all people very important to the Mormons. Since they believe that everyone lived a premortal existence, they also believe that everyone continues to exist after death. Because of this, deceased relatives are not gone and children are highly respected because, in sense, they are not actually children. Everyone is a brother or a sister to everyone else before birth, during life, and after death.
One more detail that I have learned about the Mormon faith is how many missionaries they actually have and how the church recruits its members. According to the Podcast, the Mormon faith went from 1.7 million members in 1960 and now claims 13 million members. More than half of them are outside the US. This growth is because of the missionary services performed by young Mormon men, most giving at least two years of their life to this service. These services help families and people in need, make them self-sufficient and teaches them the Mormon faith.

Resources
Podcast: Inside Mormon Faith with Krista Tippett and Robert Millet. 2008. Retrieved from http://www.onbeing.org/program/inside-mormon-faith/transcript/950#main_content.