Abstract

In written history, Joseph Smith's colonizing efforts have been overshadowed by the Mormon settlement of the west. No one has really made a study of Joseph Smith as a colonizer. To this founder of the Mormon way of life, religion was more than a code of Sunday ethics. According to President Smith, man was created as an actual child of God and his Heavenly Father was concerned with providing for all his needs. Therefore, the revealed word of God in addition to listing a spiritual code of ethics, also contained provisions for the physical, social, political, economical, educational, safety needs, and quality of life. Joseph Smith attempted to combine all these principles into a new society he said was patterned after the order of heaven. It was called the Kingdom of God because Christ was its head and it contained the principles of life which he taught.

Degree

College and Department

Religious Education; Church History and Doctrine

Rights

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