community. The opening of the work examines the diverse and tumultuous religious landscape in 19th-century America, marking it as a "chaos of sects" that rendered the comprehension of various movements challenging, particularly for outsiders. Busch introduces Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, and outlines his purported divine revelations and the emergence of the faith from a blend of mystical beliefs and a quest for religious truth. He notes how Smith's character, talents, and circumstances enabled the growth of a sect that radically diverged from mainstream Christianity, setting the stage for the detailed exploration of Mormonism’s unique doctrines and practices that follow in the narrative. (This is an automatically generated summary.)