Joseph Smith: 200 years ago, the beginnings of the Mormon Church
Mormons and genealogy, a great love story ... Why? How ? We explain to you.
©️Library of Congress
Il y a 200 ans, en 1820, le jeune Joseph Smith rapporte avoir eu une vision dans laquelle Jésus-Christ l’appelle à ne rejoindre aucune des Eglises existantes parce qu’elles seraient « toutes dans l’erreur et que tous leurs credo étaient une abomination ». Cette première vision plantera la graine spirituelle qui le poussera, quelques années plus tard à fonder l’Eglise de Jésus-Christ des saints des derniers jours.
The Foundation of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Holy Days
Joseph was born in 1805 in the county of Windsor, Vermont, of the Union of Joseph and Lucy Mack. The family, poor and deeply religious, lives some work on the farms of the region before settling in Palmyra in New York State. It was at his 14th anniversary, when he prayed in a grove that Joseph Smith fils will have his first vision.
Three years later, when he prayed again, he said he saw Moroni, a celestial messenger, who would have revealed to him the place where ancient annals engraved on gold plates were buried for him to translate them into English. It was not until 1827 that Joseph Smith received this sacred text. A priori there were only three witnesses of this story, including Oliver Cowdery, a young teacher who was Smith's secretary.
In 1830, with the financial assistance of Martin Harris, farmer and another witness to the sacred plates, the book of Mormon was put up for sale. Less than two weeks later, several dozen people gathered in Fayette, where Joseph Smith officially funded the Church which will be appointed a few years later the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints.
If the detractors of Joseph Smith were and remain numerous, accusing the Mormon Church of practicing polygamy among others (advocated for years but more today), the fact remains that their place in the world of genealogy is significant. Explanations.
Source: Joseph Smith, 1971, Oil on Canvas by Adrian Lamb.
Mormons and genealogy, a great love story
You surely know them, Ancestry and Familysearch, two giants of online genealogy, or perhaps have you heard of the Rootstech lounge in Salt Lake City, Utah? These monuments in the genealogy world are Mormon. It is also in Salt Lake City that the world seat of the Church of Jesus Christ is located in the last days.
Mormons have one goal: to trace the family tree of humanity. Do you see the link coming with genealogy?
D’après les croyances de cette Eglise, les liens familiaux sont éternels et une vie spirituelle existe après la mort. Ces liens familiaux éternels doivent être scellés dans la foi mormone en étant célébrés au temple. Mais il est possible de sceller ces liens pour nos ancêtres à condition de les avoir identifiés (peut-être avez-vous déjà entendu que les Mormons « baptisent leurs ancêtres »). Là est donc tout l’intérêt de disposer de bases généalogiques mondiales et étendues.
Almost 80 years ago, Mormons undertook to microfilmer or digitize the many registers and archives around the world. An agreement made with archive centers allows us today to have access to it provided that the Church has been able to keep a copy of it.
As Mormon you have responsibilities in the genealogical work such as receiving time orders, going to the temple as often as possible but above all to gather many genealogical information to help ancestors receive the blessings of the temple.
There are more than 16 million followers today in 176 countries. This Church is the 4th of the United States. His practitioners are looking for a greater religious fervor and share a desire to reform while waiting for the last days. They were never considered as belonging to a sect in France and the Church was officially registered as a 1901 law association in 1952.