Religion: Mormonism Enters a New Era

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Despite such gradual accommodations, Mormonism will never blend easily into the religious landscape. Ever since Jesus appeared to Smith to denounce other Christian creeds as "an abomination," the Mormons have considered themselves the one true "restored" church. While standard-brand Christianity insists that God is a spirit. Mormons believe that he inhabits a body of flesh and bone. In fact the Mormon God was once a man himself, and Mormon men can hope to become gods themselves in the afterlife. The Mormons reject such orthodox doctrines as the Trinity and original sin. In their complex eschatology, Jesus will return to establish his kingdom's capital at Independence, Mo.*

The key differences stem from the foundation stone of the faith, those unique Mormon scriptures, which are the subject of deep but carefully concealed doubts among some church intellectuals at Brigham Young University and at Mormon "institutes" on secular campuses. Smith said he dug up golden tablets at Hill Cumorah near Palmyra in 1827 and dictated their contents to a scribe before they were taken up into heaven. The result was the Book of Mormon, an account of two migrations of ancient Jews to the Americas, and of a ministry by Jesus in the New World. These Jews built elaborate civilizations before many were wiped out around A.D. 400 in a civil war at Hill Cumorah, won by ancestors of the American Indians. The trouble is there is no accepted archaeological proof of the book's claims, and the church shows no interest in excavating Hill Cumorah, where there should be vast numbers of skeletons. The effort of anti-Mormons to impugn the book through handwriting experts, on the theory that it was stolen from the manuscript of an old novel, fizzled out last year when one expert backed out and a second reversed his findings.

The Book of Abraham, the scripture that includes the priesthood ban, was said by Smith to be his translation of ancient scrolls written by Abraham, and purchased by Smith in 1835. He had indeed bought some old scrolls; lost for a century, they were rediscovered in a New York museum in 1967. After studying them, various Mormon scholars have concluded that they were not nearly ancient enough to be Abraham's and further, that the scrolls might not be an authentic translation after all, but instead might have provided the "catalyst" that fired Smith's imagination and opened him to direct revelations about Abraham.

The appeal of Mormonism today stems as much from its stable, self-contained lifestyle as from its doctrines—perhaps more so. Mormons sell their converts "instant community," says one analyst. They are the very epitome of successful striving, patriotism and clean-cut, law-abiding morality. Believing the family is all important, they advocate that a "family home evening" be set aside each Monday. A Mormon family can get needed food or clothing free through the famed Welfare Plan, which also finds church-sponsored jobs for the unemployed. Mormons go without two meals a month to save money that is contributed to the system, which does not extend to Gentiles.