Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or of a sect closely related to it (e.g., the
The Mormon religion was founded by Joseph Smith , who received an angelic vision telling him the location of golden plates containing God's revelation; this he published in 1830 as the Book of Mormon . Smith and his followers accepted the Bible as well as the Mormon sacred scriptures but diverged significantly from orthodox Christianity, especially in their assertion that God exists in three distinct entities as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Mormons also believe that faithful members of the church will inherit eternal life as gods. Other unique doctrines include the belief in preexisting souls waiting to be born and in salvation of the dead through retroactive baptism. The church became notorious for its practice of polygamy , though polygamy was officially sanctioned only in 1852–90. Smith and his followers migrated from Palmyra, N.Y., to Ohio, Missouri, and finally Illinois, where Smith was killed by a mob in 1844. In 1846–47, under Brigham Young , the Mormons made a 1,100-mi (1,800-km) trek to Utah, where they founded {{link=Salt Lake City">Salt Lake City . In the early 21st century, the church had a worldwide membership of nearly 10 million, swelled yearly by the missionary work usually required (for two years) of all male members.