Thomas S Monson, who served in top leadership posts in the Mormon church for 50 years and became its president in 2008, died Wednesday. What is Mormonism, a faith followed by over 15.8 million people?
A 19th century angel
Founded in 1830 by the American Joseph Smith, the Mormon church considers itself a Christian body, but bases its doctrines on the Book of Mormon, a text purporting to contain a fuller version of the words of Jesus Christ than that recorded in the Bible. Smith claimed to have received the content of the book on gold tablets during a vision of an angel called Moroni in 1827
Is the faith Christian?
Mormons follow the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and place very high importance on families and traditional gender roles, according to Pew Research Centre. While nearly all Mormons consider themselves Christian (97 per cent), only about half of US adults say Mormonism is a Christian religion, according to a 2012 Pew Research Center report
‘What they say is nonsense’
Mormons have been mocked for a long time about their beliefs. “What the Mormons do seems to be excellent, but what they say is mostly nonsense, ” wrote Charles Dickens in his 19th century journal Household Words. The only American state with a Mormon majority is conservative Utah, where the church’s headquarters is also located
They are among the most politically and socially conservative religious groups in the US, adds Pew. For example, two-thirds of Mormons say they oppose allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry legally, and 70 per cent say they think abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, according to Pew’s 2014 US Religious Landscape Study. “And most Mormons (69 per cent in 2016) identify with or lean toward the Republican Party, though the share who do so has edged downward in recent years”