The 'Latter Day Saint movement' (a subset of '
Restorationism') is a group of religious denominations and adherents who follow at least some of the
teachings and revelations of
Joseph Smith, Jr., publisher of the ''
Book of Mormon'' in 1830. The Latter Day Saint movement is one of a number of separate movements, known collectively as
Restorationism, intending to transcend
Protestant denominationalism, and to restore a form of
Christianity thought to be truer to the
New Testament. The church founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. was first known as the
Church of Christ. After
Smith's death in 1844, the
movement divided into several groups, the largest of which,
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) migrated to
Utah and became famous in the
19th century for its practice of
plural marriage. The LDS Church abandoned this practice in 1890. Other denominations, who refer to themselves as
Mormon fundamentalists, continued the practice.
Other groups originating within the Latter Day Saint movement followed different paths in
Missouri,
Illinois,
Michigan, and
Pennsylvania. For the most part these groups rejected plural marriage and some of Smith's latest and most controversial or disputed teachings. The largest of these, the
Community of Christ (originally known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints), was formed in Missouri in 1860 by several groups uniting around Smith's son,
Joseph Smith III. Most denominations existing today who follow the teachings of Joseph Smith, Jr. have some historical relationship with the movement.
Brief history
Main articles: History of the Latter Day Saint movement
The driving force behind and founder of the early Latter Day Saint movement was
Joseph Smith, Jr., and to a lesser extent, during the movement's first two years,
Oliver Cowdery. Throughout his life Joseph Smith shared and later wrote on a number of occasions of an experience he had as a boy having seen God the Father and Jesus Christ, as two separate beings, who told him that the true church had been lost and would be restored through him, and he would be given the authority to organize and lead the true
Church of Christ. Smith and Cowdery claimed that the
angels John the Baptist,
Peter,
James and
John visited them in
1829 and gave them authority to reestablish the Church of Christ.
The first
Latter Day Saint church was formed in April
1830, consisting of a community of believers in the western
New York towns of
Fayette,
Manchester, and
Colesville. They called themselves the ''
Church of Christ''. On
April 6,
1830, this church formally organized into a legal institution under the name ''
Church of Christ''. By
1834, the church was being referred to as the ''Church of the Latter Day Saints'' in early church publications,
[1] and in
1838 Joseph Smith announced that he had received a revelation from God that officially changed the name to the ''
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints''.
In the late
1830s,
William Law and several other Latter Day Saints in church leadership positions publicly accused Joseph Smith of being a false prophet, resulting in some
schisms in the church. Many of these people later returned to the church under Smith's leadership. Others formed new churches around other leaders.
Following
Smith's martyrdom by a mob in
Carthage, Illinois, some prominent members of the church claimed to be Smith's legitimate successor resulting in a
succession crisis, in which the majority of church members followed
Brigham Young's leadership; others followed
Sidney Rigdon. The crisis resulted in several permanent schisms as well as the formation of occasional splinter groups, some of which no longer exist. These various groups are occasionally referred to under two geographical headings: "Prairie Saints" (those that remained in the Midwest United States) and "Rocky Mountain Saints" (those who followed
Brigham Young to what would later become the state of
Utah).
Today, there are many
schism organizations who regard themselves as a part of the Latter Day Saint movement, though in most cases they do not acknowledge the other branches as valid and regard their own tradition as the only correct and authorized version of Smith's church. Most of these organizations are small. The vast majority of Latter Day Saints belong to the largest denomination,
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which reports 13 million members worldwide. The second-largest denomination is the more
ecumenical Community of Christ, which reports over 250,000 members. The third largest is
The Church of Jesus Christ, with fewer than 20,000 adherents.
Denominations through 1844
"Prairie Saint" denominations
'Prairie Saint' denominations| Church Name | Organized by | Date Organized | Split off/Continuation of | Current Status | Notes |
|---|
| 'Church of Jesus Christ of the Children of Zion' | Sidney Rigdon | 1844 | 'Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' | Dissolved by 1847 | Originally also used the name 'Church of Christ'. Also known as 'Rigdonites'. |
| 'Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)' | James J. Strang | 1844 | 'Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' | A few hundred members; headquartered in Voree (now Burlington) Wisconsin. | Web site: churchofjesuschristoflatterdaysaints.org |
| 'Church of Christ' | Aaron Smith | 1846 | 'Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)' | Defunct | |
| 'Church of Christ (Whitmerite)' | David Whitmer | 1847 and 1871 | 'Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' | Extant until around 1925 | |
| 'Church of Christ (Brewsterite)' | James C. Brewster and Hazen Aldrich | 1848 | 'Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' | Defunct | Published a periodical entitled ''The Olive Branch'' |
| 'Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Gladdenite)' | Gladden Bishop | 1851 | 'Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' | Dissolved after Bishop's death in 1865 | Many members later helped form the 'Church of Christ (Temple Lot)' |
| 'Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite)' | Alpheus Cutler | 1853 | 'Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' | Handful of members; headquartered in Independence, Missouri | Formerly called 'The True Church of Jesus Christ'; adherents commonly called 'Cutlerites' |
| 'Community of Christ' | Joseph Smith III | 1860 | 'Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints' | Second-largest Latter Day Saint denomination; approximately 250,000 members; headquartered in Independence, Missouri. | Previously known as the "Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" (RLDS Church); organized by Joseph Smith III in 1860. Web site: cofchrist.org. |
| 'The Church of Jesus Christ' | William Bickerton | 1862 | Organized by former followers of 'Church of Jesus Christ of the Children of Zion', which by then was defunct | 15,000 members; headquartered in Monongahela, Pennsylvania | Web site: thechurchofjesuschrist.org. Adherents commonly referred to as 'Bickertonites' (church actively opposes use of this term) |
| 'Church of Christ (Temple Lot)' ('Hedrickites') | Granville Hedrick | 1863 | 'Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints'; some members from 'Gladdenites' | 5000 members; headquartered on the Temple Lot in Independence, Missouri | Web site: churchofchrist-tl.org; adherents commonly referred to as 'Hedrickites' |
| 'Church of Christ with the Elijah Message' | Otto Fetting and William Draves | 1929 and 1943 | 'Church of Christ (Temple Lot)' | Headquartered in Independence, Missouri | A denomination which split with the Temple Lot church over reported revelations from John the Baptist; web site: elijahmessage.com |
| 'Independent RLDS / Restoration Branches' | Unknown | 1980s | 'Community of Christ' | 12,000 members in 15 branches; movement centered in Independence, Missouri but each branch is relatively autonomous | RLDS Church branches that became independent of the RLDS Church in the 1980s due to opposition to RLDS doctrines and practices. Branches are loosely affiliated into a Joint Conference of Branches. Web site: centerplace.org |
| 'Restored Church of Jesus Christ (Eugene O. Walton)' | Eugene O. Walton | 1980 | 'Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite)'? | 25 members; headquartered in Independence, Missouri | |
| 'Lion of God Ministry' | David B. Clark | 1985 | 'Community of Christ' | Headquartered in Oak Grove, Missouri | Web site: lionofgod.com. |
| 'Restoration Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' | several RLDS entities | 1989 | 'Community of Christ' | Headquartered in Independence, Missouri | Web site: restorationchurch.net. |
| 'Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' | Frederick Niels Larsen | 2000 | 'Community of Christ' | 1000-2000 members; headquartered in Independence, Missouri | Chiefly composed of former members of the Community of Christ who oppose what they consider to be recent doctrinal innovations, especially the passing of the church presidency to someone not descended from Joseph Smith, Jr. (Larsen is a descendant of Joseph Smith, Jr. through his grandson Frederick Madison Smith.) Web site: theremnantchurch.com |
Rocky Mountains denominations
Latter Day Saint denominations headquartered in the Rocky Mountains| Church Name | Organized by | Date Organized | Split off/Continuation of | Current Status | Notes |
|---|
| 'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' | Brigham Young | 1847 | 'Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' | The largest Latter Day Saint denomination, with 13 million members worldwide; headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah | Also commonly known as 'Mormon Church' or 'LDS Church'. Adherents are popularly called 'Mormons' or 'Latter-day Saints'. Resulted from Latter Day Saints that followed Brigham Young after succession crisis. Practiced plural marriage until 1890. Web site: lds.org |
| 'The Church of the First Born' | Joseph Morris | 1861 | 'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' | Probably defunct, remnants of this organization survived into the mid-20th century. | Believe in reinarnation |
| 'The Church of Zion' | William S. Godbe | 1868 | 'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' | Defunct | |
| 'Apostolic United Brethren' | Lorin C. Woolley | 1920s | 'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' | 5000-8000 members; headquarters in Bluffdale, Utah. | Practices plural marriage. Part of Mormon fundamentalist movement. |
| 'Latter Day Church of Christ' | Thomas R. King | 1926 | 'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' | Approximately 2000 members; headquartered in Davis County, Utah | Commonly known as the 'Kingston clan'; also known as the 'Davis County Cooperative Society'. Pracitices plural marriage. Part of Mormon fundamentalist movement. |
| 'Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' | John Y. Barlow | 1935 | 'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' | Approximately 8,000-10,000 members; traditionally headquartered in Colorado City, Arizona; recently moved to Eldorado, Texas. | Largest group of Latter Day Saints who practice plural marriage. Part of Mormon fundamentalist movement. Also called 'FLDS Church'. |
| 'Aaronic Order' | Maurice L. Glendenning | 1942 | 'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' | | Also called 'House of Aaron'. Web site: houseofaaron.org |
| 'Restoration Church of Jesus Christ' | Antonio A. Feliz | 1985 | 'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' | Approximately 500 members in Utah and California. Majority of members are LGBT. | Commonly called the 'Gay Mormon Church' or 'Liberal Mormon Church'. Originally called the 'Church of Jesus Christ of All Latter Day Saints'. Web site: RCJC |
| 'The True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days' | James D. Harmston | 1994 | 'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' | Approximately 500-750 members. Headquartered in Manti, Utah. | Practices plural marriage. Part of Mormon fundamentalist movement. Also called 'TLC Church'. |
Other
References
★ Steven L. Shields, ''Divergent Paths of the Restoration: A History of the Latter Day Saint Movement'' Los Angeles: 1990.
★ Jon Krakauer, ''Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith'' New York: 2003.
Notes
1. See, e.g., Joseph Smith, Jr. (ed), ''Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints'' (Kirland, OH: F.G. Williams & Co., 1835).
See also
★
Mormonism and Christianity
★
Criticism of Mormonism
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