On July 1, 1829, Mormon church history records that their founder Joseph Smith finished translating The Book of Mormon which was originally compiled by a prophet in around 400 A.D. This prophet, called Mormon, handed down the Book to his son, but the book was written was lost until the 19th Century.
The Book of Mormon moved the center of spiritual history to New York State.
According to its history, the Americas were settled by four peoples: the Jaredites after fleeing from the debacle of the Tower of Babel; the dark-skinned Lamanites; Mulekites; and the Nephites, God’s Chosen People. All the Nephites were killed in a war except Mormon, his son Moroni and a few others. In desperation, Moroni hid God’s New World scriptures in the Hill Cumorah in upstate New York, an event celebrated every August.
Mormons believe that after a long period of spiritual misconceptions in the Christian church, God finally sent the Angel Maroni to announce to Smith that the re-establishment of a pure church would start in the blessed land of New York. The angel predicted that the result would be a reformation of the world and ushering in the Millennium.
To accomplish this world-shaking revolution, the Angel Maroni revealed to Smith where to find the golden plates of the long-lost scriptures for him to translate as the gospel for the last age. These scriptures added an updated history and theology to the Bible and became the basis of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, popularly known as the Mormons. The Angel took back the plates after Smith had completed his translation.
