Learning The Guides That Lead To Knowledge Of A Person

            Knowledge as to how something occurred is to gain insight as to the why and this is extremely true when it comes to humans. To know totally the reasons why a person acts, believes or anything about him/her is not possible, but we do have guides to aid us in our search for the reasons leading us to a more complete understanding. Therefore we must learn some of those guides and then apply them to our subject.     

According to the dictionary (Webster’s College Dictionary: 1997; p.219-220); Character is the aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of a person or thing: the characteristic of a person. Heredity is an important factor in the development of a person’ characteristic that determines their personality. This factor leads us toward certain attributes: i.e., moral, ethics, and spiritual beliefs and we come to see ourselves through those prisms. Culture plays a very important role on the development of a person’ character and gives definition to a person. Environmental factors are such that we cannot escape those forces that give enhancement. Character and personality is largely established by the time a person reaches the age of seven. It is those traits that are enhanced and developed over time that will define an individual throughout a lifetime can be seen to be exhibited, those lifelong traits of a person’s character and personality. This was clearly established in a new paper, written by experts at the University of California in Riverside (UCR), LiveScience reports. Read more: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Our-Personality-Is-Fully-Developed-By-the-Age-of-7-151093.shtml#ixzz4NfIKML4D
             Individuals display character and can be seen worldwide and can describe their behavior and behavior denotes a person’ personality. Personality can be defined as the sum total of individual traits by which a person expresses himself/herself differently. Personality traits can be affected by the way others view a person and this leads to how we would like to be viewed or defined. All the various factors are defining character and personality relative to a person’s motivational disposition and those dispositions may be various affections a person motivational disposition differently. http://www.academia.edu/14511432/Factors_affecting_Personality_Development

            People that are not subject to a mental disorder, not all changes in personality and behavior are due to mental disorders, differ significantly in the development and overall personality, mood, and behavior. It is also to be noted that each person exercise of their character or personality varies from day to day depending on the circumstances. However, when a sudden change occurs both in a person’s personality or character, a major change, not of a mental disorder event, but and event could cause a change more often than not indicates a problem. Any change in character or personality can be categorized as: 1. Confusion, or delirium: 2. Delusion: 3. Disorganized speech or behavior: 4. Hallucinations: 5: Mood extremes. Theses are not disorders, rather categories to differentiate between abnormal thought, speech, and behavior. http://www.merckmanuals.com/home/mental-health-disorders/overview-of-mental-health-care/personality-and-behavior-changes.

            Character and personality traits do not have to remain as developed from infancy as they can change over time due to external changes: i.e., change in a job or income, or marriage, or divorce. How a person, feels about themselves can also be due to changes in personality, not just through external changes. Researchers have developed a five-factor model of personality as a comprehensive model of personality.[1] This model identifies five broad traits underlying other traits to describe personality. The identified traits are: 1) extraversion, the quantity and intensity of one's interpersonal interactions 2) neuroticism, the tendency to experience negative emotions such as anxiety, depression, and hostility 3) conscientiousness, the persistence, organization, and motivation exhibited in goal-directed behaviors 4) agreeableness, the quality of one's interpersonal interactions along a continuum from compassion to antagonism 5) openness, the proactive seeking and appreciation of new experiences. A person with an open, mature religiosity and spirituality were associated with a high openness to experience, extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, and with a low neuroticism. Open must be defined as it means more than just speaking of something literally closed. Openness means to have less obstruction, to be without restrictions, not engaged or committed to something, undecided or unguarded, to become receptive to new knowledge or to have new sympathy. Openminded is to have or show a mind that is receptive to new ideas or arguments, or even to be unprejudiced. That which, needed to be known, is what led to this openness or a mature religiosity that is to be affected to excessive devotion to a religion, or religious ideas. Religious fundamentalism was associated with higher agreeableness, and lower neuroticism and lower openness to experience. Extrinsic religiosity was associated with higher neuroticism but unrelated to the other personality factors.

            The Attachment Theory is a personality indicator to aid in understanding religiosity and spirituality. In other words: the premise is that infants form relationships with their caregiver, mother or father, or another, depending on the type of attachment, personality and future relationships will be influenced accordingly.[2] What is found is that this type of relationship can be with a particular god, or higher power. The research showed that there is a compensatory effect, or the need of people to make up for something that is lacking, for instance a person with a insecure attachment style with their parents may then have a very secure, and confident relationship with God.[3]

            Another theory, the Object relation theory is that a person may manifest one thing with one person and another with another person and the emotions to objects are based on how they currently view the world around them.[4] This theory hypothesizes that a person will create an idea of God according to what then individual needs, and how they perceive the world. [5]

            The above information will aid us in our investigation of Joseph Smith Jr. and his claims and how the Mormon religion was formed from it founder and its foundation.

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[1] Digman, J.M. (1990). "Personality structure: Emergence of the five-factor model". Annual Review of Psychology. 41: 417–440. doi:10.1146/annurev.ps.41.020190.002221.

[2] Bowlby, J (1973). Attachment and loss: Separation, anxiety and anger. New York: Basic Books.

[3] Park, edited by Raymond F. Paloutzian, Crystal L. (2005). Handbook of the psychology of religion and spirituality. New York: Guilford Press. pp. 256–257. ISBN 1572309229.

[4] Kernberg, O. "Structural derivatives of object relationships". International Journal of Psycho-Analysis: 236–253.

[5] Rizzuto, A (1979). The birth of the living god. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

The Beginning Of Schisms In Christianity In The United States

           Time can be a friend or an enemy and more often than not it is an enemy that changes humanity. The writings of early men handed down throughout the ages entrusted for our keeping either become distorted, or lost in shelves of libraries. The standards for the test of Orthodoxy become replaced with new and different doctrines that are not judged on their content according to the earlier writings. The canon of the Bible is complete and there is no reason to add any other authority than what the Bible contains. The Holy Scriptures were received but not by all and have led to declarations that are subject to interpretations and there are as many interpretations as there are men. These different interpretations have led to schisms that do not follow that which was believed everywhere, always, and by all men.[1] History attests to the fact that often men and women fell for a man’s teaching and set a higher store on the profane than to remain true to the religion handed down from the apostles. It is this period that I am addressing, from the Reformation and into the time of the Second Great Awakening, a time whereby people were introduced by the appearance of new doctrines. In place of the heavenly doctrine received from the apostles and in their place human doctrines, superstitions are inaugurated and the institutions of our forefathers of the Church were and are now being destroyed, even going so far as to rescind the decrees and decisions of those men who walked and talked with Jesus Christ and those who held fast to what those apostles taught. Deception of truth and the lust of the wicked and novel inquisitiveness does not confine itself and spreads like wildfire among those who are easily led by new doctrine. The ancient faith being polluted with a new kind of faithfulness, or a faith, must return to the ancient sanity from this new madness and become once again the true light of the world. Some men were led astray into this new madness, men of importance and this was and is not right that they support false and inconsistent notions of anyone, man or woman who teaches another gospel. These new doctrines found people ready to accept them due to the falling away from the true religion handed down throughout the ages for if they stayed true and be devoted to the true religion the more ready he is to oppose innovations. Looking back to the apostles of Jesus Christ it can be seen that they always defended the integrity of the religion they received from Jesus Christ. An early church father, Cyprian (210 A.D.-258 A.D.) stated: “If they come to you from any heresy, let nothing be renewed except what has been handed down….[2] Heresy is defined as a religious opinion at variance with the orthodox or accepted doctrine.[3]The early church fathers noted and observed the new innovations for the religion of Christianity and admonished that those new innovations not be handed down but to preserve what was received from the apostles. Those who desire to retain the teachings received from antiquity have a filial duty to do so to protect the faith for themselves, their posterity the world at large. It is a fraud for a person to plot out heresy under a name not its own, that is, to try to change or adulterate the works of some ancient worthy writing by teaching some vagueness according to their own doctrine which they attempt to advance for they have no fear to set before others this poisoned cup of heresy. Tue and Authentic Christians ought to fear, to have great fear, to dread the sin of altered and polluted faith. The apostle Paul writing to the Galatian church: “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.”[4] What was written by the writers of the Bible were not just written to those to whom the letter was addressed rather it was for all to read and to adhere as this example well illustrates: “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another.”[5] It would be absurd to say that the Ten Commandments and other commandments by God, by Jesus Christ apply equally to everyone and to say that those injunctions that relate to man and to their conduct do not apply equally to all in every age or time then to say the Ten Commandments apply in equal fashion so then do the injunctions written for our conduct as both relate to conduct, then it is true that all that was written by men the ancient Bible writers are to be enforce equally to all. With this in mind then I, we, must press on to examine the new innovations that began during the early time of the United States. A new innovation of Christianity is Mormonism, or The Latter Day Saints of Christ, along with other new innovations and doctrines that were not from the beginning of Christianity accepted and faced such error as with the Gnostic, and the Judaizers, and others, Marcion, Manicheans, Nestorians, and others. Today one of the new innovations is Mormonism and this I will begin to address.

              The afore synopsis of history that caused men and women to come to this new land now called the United States I shall attempt the task to write with fidelity as a recorder not with any presumption of an author. I will observe with all care to write the essential points and to be as simple and clear with close attention to what has been recorded by men of the times, and by those who have written a biography, or some other historical information to led to the truth of the subject. Furthermore, there must be an evaluation of the times and both the evils and the messages that would form a person’s character leading to a person exercise of that character. The time in which Joseph Smith Jr. lived was a time of political instability and a migrant civilization that were migrating to the new frontier. The migration caused a breakdown within the culture that had been the culture of those immigrants from Europe and a time when authority was lax and almost non-existent it was natural for men and women to seek for some sort of security and safety from the evils that surrounded them to leave behind much of the old religiosity to find a new religion that would be acceptable. The bible was not discarded: rather it was lost to those leaving behind the old ways to secure new ways. The problem was that they left behind those men who were schooled in Scripture and of the commentaries that men wrote to aid them in their Christian life. Men not schooled in theology, or even in Christian history began to teach new interpretations of Scripture and exegetical preaching turned to a method of religious experience that would ease the seeking person who was troubled about what they did not know in Scripture. In some cases, these early settlers seeking a new way to worship God was a major force in their search especially in the “burned out district” of New York. The Antebellum Period camp meetings, and revivals were growing tiresome although they had a huge impact upon people leading to feel as though they had found something lost or new and they wanted this new teaching. New cults, new denominations, new thought about God formed out of all this confusing time and this was the time that Joseph Smith Jr. found himself and developed his character leading to a new thinking and a new religion called the Mormons, or Latter Day Saints of Jesus Christ. Therefore, Joseph Smith being the founder of this new religion I must investigate him and how he came to not follow the older theological teaching.

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[1] Vincent of Lérins: The famous formula: Quod ubique, quod simper, et quod omnibus: The Commonitory

[2] Cyprian: Epist. 74.1.2 (adPompeium).

[3] Random HouseWebster’s College Dictionary; Random House, New York, NY; 1997; p.609

[4] Galatians 1:6-7

[5] Galatians 5:25-26

Factors That Led To Mormonism: Foundation Facts

        In our gathering of facts we first learned about why people came to America, the First Great Awakening, and the Burned out District. I now address the Second Great Awakening. The Great Awakening began to gain momentum around 1790 and rapidly gained momentum by 1800 and especially after 1820. The Great Awakening reached its peak around the late 1850’s. The increase in religiosity, a Protestant revival movement reflected what was happening in Europe, Romanticism that is characterized by enthusiasm, emotion, and an appeal to the super-natural. Those involved in the Second Great Awakening rejected the skeptical rationalism and deism that characterized the Enlightenment.

            During the Second Great Awakening revivals were part of the landscape for Protestantism and many new members and new denominations were formed, and the church grew in number. This movement heralded a new millennial age. Millennialism, Latin for “thousand years”, or in Greek, chiliasm, is a belief that some Christian denominations held that there would be a Golden Age, or Paradise on Earth, a time when Jesus Christ would reign for 1000 years prior to the final judgment a belief founded upon Revelation 20:1-6. There are similarities of this belief to Zoroastrianism one of the world’s oldest religions combining a cosmogonic dualism and eschatological monotheism that is unique among the major religions of the world. Some would say that Zoroastrianism had influence in Christianity. What is known is that this religion taught destruction of evil and of an evil spirit that would be conquered by a king of peace and the end of the final millennial age. The similarities are not to be supposed to be that which happened to influence over Christianity, as there are many differences that reveal that they are two different religions. With that we must understand that, some people were influenced, by such teaching even though Zoroastrianism has all be disappeared.

            The Second Great Awakening brought a message to the people with great fanfare, excitement, and in the form of traveling revivals and camp meeting a religious service that began in England and Scotland. These meetings were held for worship, preaching, and communion and various denominations held the camp meetings. Camp meetings were originally held in frontier areas due to the fact that those migrating West into new territory did not have regular preachers, so they listened to itinerant preachers, for prayer, and for the singing of hymns. The beginning of the Second Great Awakening focused on the Appalachian frontier but soon moved into the area of original colonies. The Camp Meetings were also considered to be a social event where faith was renewed. In this religious climate the founder of the Mormons was born and lived: Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805-June 27, 1844). In 1817 the Smith family had moved to the “burned-over district” of western New York and area that was swept over by religious revivals. The Smith family held divergent views about organized religion, and believed in visions and prophecies and engaged in folk religious practices that were found in this area. Folk religion is characterized by various forms, and expression of religion, and deemed to be distinct, from the official doctrines and practices of organized religion. The Smith ancestors were of an eclectic view of religion and held a variety of views and affiliations[1] and the paternal grandfather of Joseph Smith Jr., Asael, was a Universalist who opposed evangelical religion. Joseph Smith Jr. was forced to read Tom Paine’s Age of Reason until he believed it.[2] In 1811 Joseph Smith’s maternal grandfather, Solomon Mack, self-published a book that described a series of heavenly visions and voices he said had led to his conversion to Christianity at the age of seventy-six.[3]

            The life of Joseph Smith Jr. can now be examined in light of the culture or his times, the religious fervor, his family and their theology, all that formed in him his theological inclination. Motives are driving forces in every man, woman and child, therefore, we must attempt to unravel the motives that were driving forces in his life leading to his becoming the founder of Mormonism. Facts, facts, and more facts and not supposition or theories must be brought to light if we are to understand Joseph Smith Jr, and find the truth.  

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[1] Bushman (2005, p. 26).

[2] Quoted in Bushman (2005, p. 25).

[3] Bushman (2005, pp. 25–26);Mack (1811, p. 25).