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First, let me note this may be a little redundant if you've read my Tree of Life page, but I'm including it here just because it gives me a sense of "completeness". I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We're often called "Mormons", and that's a good place to start explaining what we're all about.
Why are we called Mormons? Well, it goes way back to Bible times, in fact to the Old Testament. In those days God spoke to prophets, men like Moses, Elijah and Isaiah, who wrote a lot of what we now have as part of the Bible. One of God's main purposes was to testify (that's where "Testament" comes from) of the future coming of the Savior, Jesus Christ. The words of Isaiah, written over 700 years before Christ was born, stir our souls yet today when we listen to Handel's Messiah. Likewise, the New Testament is a testimony of the mortal ministry of Jesus, and of the atonement and resurrection, written by and about prophets.
There were many prophets whose writings weren't included in what became the Bible. Some of these are clearly evidenced by Old Testament references to both prophets and prophetic writings that are not included therein. A prophet named Lehi, though not mentioned in the Bible, lived in Jerusalem about 600 BC, making him a contemporary of Jeremiah. Lehi was vocal in warning the Jews of impending destruction because of their wickedness. As was often the case, the people reacted by trying to silence him rather than heed his message, so he was warned by God to flee the city with his family to avoid a violent end. He took some records with him containing a genealogy of his family and some of the scriptures, including the writings of Isaiah. He and his family were led through the wilderness, and eventually across the sea to the Americas. There they prospered, multiplied and founded some of the cultures represented by the ancient ruins scattered across the Americas. One branch of the family continually kept a written record of their history and the things of God - remember, they were led by a prophet to start with, and that tradition continued for about a thousand years. The record keeping group was eventually wiped out by war, but near the end a great prophet named Mormon edited the records. He included only the most important and precious parts in the writings passed down to his son Moroni. The last survivor of the whole nation and a prophet in his own right, Moroni added to the record and then, as his own death approached he buried it, trusting that God would have it brought forth at some time in the future. That time came early in the 19th century, when a young Joseph Smith was led to the buried record, and by the gift and power of God was enabled to translate it and see it published. Since the final "editor" of the compiled writings was the prophet Mormon, Joseph was instructed to give it his name, and it was published in 1830 as The Book of Mormon.
So that's the long version of how we came to be called Mormons. The Book of Mormon is actually Another Testament of Jesus Christ, a companion scripture to the Bible. Lehi, like Isaiah and other Old Testament prophets, testified very clearly of the future coming of Jesus. The prophecies continued in America right up to a miraculous manifestation at the birth of the Savior. Great earth quakes are recorded as coinciding with His crucifixion, and most significant of all, the resurrected Savior appeared in person to some of the righteous survivors of that great destruction. The account of His visit is truly remarkable. The fact is, Christ told His disciples in Jerusalem of His intended visit (John 10:16), but the reference wasn't understood until the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.
So while our "nickname" comes from the Book of Mormon, the real message of the book and the Church is that indeed Jesus is The Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God the Father, and The Savior of all the world.
This is our testimony to the world. Details will follow in future essays.
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Updated 1 June '98...