SALT LAKE CITY — Religious conflict, persecution and martyrdom on an international scale were topics of discussion at the Church History Symposium held Friday, March 7, at the Conference Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The focus of the 2014 symposium was “The Worldwide Church.”
Craig Manscill of the Church History Department gave a presentation based on his research. To date, his findings include 28 pages of information about martyrs in church history, though he noted that his research is not yet complete.
The most recognized martyrs in the history of the LDS Church are Joseph and Hyrum Smith, who were assassinated by a mob in Carthage, Ill., in 1844. But Manscill pointed out that many other men, women and children also died in a form of martyrdom as a result of persecution and conflict, particularly in the early days of the church.
Manscill’s definition of a martyr is: believers who are put to death by violent means, missionaries who die of natural causes and pioneers or immigrants who died after having been driven from their homes. Much of the presentation focused on the first group of martyrs, including victims of the Haun's Mill massacre and an incident in 1852 where five priesthood holders were hanged in French Polynesia.
That said, with the Book of Mormon, we are not dealing with a civilization with no written record. What we are dealing with is a written record with no civilization. (Runtu, Feb 2015)
Episode 242: Mormonism and Violence (February 24, 2014)
I listened to this yesterday. I consider this particular Mormon Expressions podcast a most important analysis of a (comparatively) little-examined aspect of Mormonism and Mormon history.
SALT LAKE CITY — Manscill’s definition of a martyr is: ... immigrants who died after having been driven from their homes. ...
So ... if you died because Brigham Young gave orders for people to make a journey to Utah with handcarts at an obviously dangerous time of year, and with inadequate supplies or backup, are you a martyr or not?
Zadok: I did not have a faith crisis. I discovered that the Church was having a truth crisis. Maksutov: That's the problem with this supernatural stuff, it doesn't really solve anything. It's a placeholder for ignorance.
18 year old dies from a natural cause prior to handing in their missionary papers - not a martyr. 18 year old dies from a natural cause on the day he arrives at the MTC - martyr.
Victims of Hauns Mill - martyrs. Victims of Mountain Meadows - not martyrs.
That said, with the Book of Mormon, we are not dealing with a civilization with no written record. What we are dealing with is a written record with no civilization. (Runtu, Feb 2015)
Bazooka wrote:18 year old dies from a natural cause prior to handing in their missionary papers - not a martyr. 18 year old dies from a natural cause on the day he arrives at the MTC - martyr.
Victims of Hauns Mill - martyrs. Victims of Mountain Meadows - not martyrs.
Did any of the people massacred at Mountain Meadows succeed in killing any of their Mormon attackers before they were themselves killed?
If that happened, and remembering that the Mormons who killed innocent victims that day were acting under what they believed to be the legitimate priesthood authority of their leaders, would they have been martyrs?
(It's all getting terribly Islamic, don't you think?)
Zadok: I did not have a faith crisis. I discovered that the Church was having a truth crisis. Maksutov: That's the problem with this supernatural stuff, it doesn't really solve anything. It's a placeholder for ignorance.
There is a lot of Mormon history in French Polynesia. The first Mormon missionaries arrived in 1844. It was the first mission of the Church where missionaries would be teaching in a language other than English. Missionaries were able to find many who wanted to join the Church, but missionary work was stopped in 1852 when the government put restrictions on missionary work. Despite the slow missionary work members in the area remained strong in the gospel and in 1891, the first Mormon meetinghouse was built in Takaroa. It is the oldest Mormon meetinghouse in the South Pacific. In 1892 governmental restrictions were removed and missionary work again went forward in the area.
Rogers and Grouard went on to Tahiti, arriving at a time when religious freedom had been declared for all. Though they met with many hardships and much opposition from other religions, they were able to proselyte on more than nine islands. With Addison Pratt, who joined them later, they baptized over 1,000 before Elder Pratt's return to Salt Lake in 1848. Elder Pratt came back with his family in 1850. This promising start for the Church was halted when French government restrictions led to the mission being closed in May 1852. This expulsion of the missionaries left the Church in the Pacific islands struggling on its own for many decades.
SALT LAKE CITY — Religious conflict, persecution and martyrdom on an international scale were topics of discussion at the Church History Symposium held Friday, March 7, at the Conference Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The focus of the 2014 symposium was “The Worldwide Church.”
Craig Manscill of the Church History Department gave a presentation based on his research. To date, his findings include 28 pages of information about martyrs in church history, though he noted that his research is not yet complete.
The most recognized martyrs in the history of the LDS Church are Joseph and Hyrum Smith, who were assassinated by a mob in Carthage, Ill., in 1844. But Manscill pointed out that many other men, women and children also died in a form of martyrdom as a result of persecution and conflict, particularly in the early days of the church.
Manscill’s definition of a martyr is: believers who are put to death by violent means, missionaries who die of natural causes and pioneers or immigrants who died after having been driven from their homes. Much of the presentation focused on the first group of martyrs, including victims of the Haun's Mill massacre and an incident in 1852 where five priesthood holders were hanged in French Polynesia.
CFR
That said, with the Book of Mormon, we are not dealing with a civilization with no written record. What we are dealing with is a written record with no civilization. (Runtu, Feb 2015)
Elder Brown remained on Raivavae and some other islands in the vicinity for almost a year. When he left Tahiti for home on November 26, 1852, he was deeply disturbed about the general condition of the Church in the islands. He observed, as did his companions who had left the same port in May, that among the population there was a general decline in morals. The prohibition on liquor had been repealed, more licentious dances were growing in popularity, and venereal diseases were at near-epidemic proportions. But the event that almost broke Elder Brown's heart was the so-called Mormon revolt on Anaa. When he arrived on Tahiti he was carefully watched by the police. He did not at first understand why, but through notes passed to him by young men from Anaa, he learned that a number of Church leaders from that island were now on Tahiti, held prisoners for having been involved in the murder of a policeman and a Roman Catholic priest. This event occurred after President Pratt, Elder Grouard, and their families had left the islands in May 1852, leaving only Brown and Hanks to carry on missionary activities. About this time four Catholic priests had begun to proselyte intensely among the people of Anaa. They gathered a congregation of around thirty members, most of whom were reported to be employed by the government. These priests also gained the offices of "district ministers" and forbade Mormon meetings. The Mormons were not supposed to read, sing, or pray. One evening while a prayer meeting was underway, a partially drunken gendarme, accompanied by two priests, entered the Mormon chapel at Putuahara and told the Saints to stop their meeting. One woman remained on her knees. The gendarme drew his sword and swung it over his head to bring it down on her. The tip of the sword caught on a cross beam, and one of the brethren grabbed a fishing spear and ran it through the gendarme, killing him. In the scuffle that followed, one of the priests was killed with the gendarme's sword, evidently by one of the Mormons. The other priest escaped with serious cuts on his face. He managed to get word of these events to government headquarters in Papeete, and shortly a contingent of troops was on the little island. Before the troops left, five priesthood bearers, Tefatina, Reifara, Maru, Mafeuta, and Temutu, had been hanged from a beam tied between two coconut trees. A number of others, including several women, were chained and taken to Tahiti, where Brown later found them working in the mountains, building a road under very harsh conditions.
Bazooka wrote:18 year old dies from a natural cause prior to handing in their missionary papers - not a martyr. 18 year old dies from a natural cause on the day he arrives at the MTC - martyr.
Victims of Hauns Mill - martyrs. Victims of Mountain Meadows - not martyrs.
Did any of the people massacred at Mountain Meadows succeed in killing any of their Mormon attackers before they were themselves killed?
If that happened, and remembering that the Mormons who killed innocent victims that day were acting under what they believed to be the legitimate priesthood authority of their leaders, would they have been martyrs?
(It's all getting terribly Islamic, don't you think?)
I can't believe someone spent their time creating a paper on who is a martyr. What a ridiculous topic to debate, a persons time is better spent holding back the tide. Who a person labels a martyr depends on the beliefs of the person using the label.
the Mormons - infatuated with persecution, porn and pills. no wonder they don't have time to do their home teaching.
"Rocks don't speak for themselves" is an unfortunate phrase to use in defense of a book produced by a rock actually 'speaking' for itself... (I have a Question, 5.15.15)