Church Genealogy

    I inadvertantly angered some Mormon acquaintances of mine when I submitted an article to their genealogical magazine detailing the historical development of the Mormon religion as well as its historical precedents.  This was as a follow up to a submitted article which has been posted in this blog on 15 and 16 September 2009.  Both articles were rejected by the magazine, I later learned, for doctrinal reasons.

     Mormons believe that the true church of jesus Christ had disappeared from the Earth until it was restored by God's revelation to Joseph Smith.  As such, the Mormon Church could have no historical precursors.  However, to a non-Mormon such as myself, it is obvious that no social, political, or religious movement just suddenly springs into existence without precursors.

     The Mormons historically include individuals gathered from numerous religious backgrounds, but there is a definite strong element of Congregational/Baptist thought in early Mormon history, especially through such leaders as Sidney Rigdon who rose to positions of power and authority in every religious organization with which he affiliated (Baptist, Campbellites, Latter-day Saints, and Bickertonites/Rigdonites).