The Mormon Faith: A Myth During the early 1800s many new religious sects were growing in the United States. Religious denominations tried to spread their unique set of beliefs. Joseph Smith found a new church based on revelation that was translated into The Book of Mormon. The work tells a story of a prophet named Lehi who sailed to North America from Palestine in 600 BC. Lehi's sons became bitter rivals and each formed a powerful …showed first 75 words of 1830 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1830 total…a Parliment of the World's Religions, 1993 Bloom, Harold. The American Religion: The Emergence of the Post-Christian Nation. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992. Melton, J. Gordon. Encyclopedia Handbook of Cults in America. New York: Garland Publishing, 1986. Streissguth, Thomas. Charismatic Cult Leaders. Minneapolis: The Oliver Press, 1995. ***Also received much of my information from a former religious studies major (WVU). She has studied the Mormon faith in depth and spent a considerable amount of time with the Mormon missionaries.