View source for Latter Day Saint movement

{{Short description|Religious movement}}
{{About|this religious movement's origins and general makeup|treatments of component denominations|List of denominations in the Latter Day Saint movement}}
{{See also|Mormonism|Mormons}}
{{more citations needed|date=March 2018}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2024}}

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[[File:Christus statue temple square salt lake city.jpg|thumb|Mormons see [[Jesus in Christianity|Jesus Christ]] as the premier figure of their religion.]]
{{Christianity|expanded=hide}}
The '''Latter Day Saint movement''' (also called the '''LDS movement''', '''LDS restorationist movement''', or '''Smith–Rigdon movement''')<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shields |first1=Steven L. |title=Proposing an Academic Name for the Movement |journal=Restoration Studies |date=2012 |volume=13 |pages=47–60 |isbn=9781934901830}}</ref> is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian [[Restorationist]] movement founded by [[Joseph Smith]] in the late 1820s.

Collectively, these churches have over 17&nbsp;million nominal members, including over 17 million belonging to [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church),<ref name="statistics 2022">{{Cite news |last=Noyce |first=David |date=1 April 2023 |title=Global LDS membership reaches a new high. See how it got a post-COVID boost. |work=[[Salt Lake Tribune]] |url=https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2023/04/01/global-lds-membership-reaches-new/ |access-date=2023-06-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Taylor |first1=Scott |title=With full-time missionary numbers exceeding 72,000, Church to create 36 new missions worldwide |url=https://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2023/11/1/23941779/full-time-missionaries-exceeding-72000-church-creates-36-new-missions |access-date=4 December 2023 |work=Church News |date=November 1, 2023}}</ref> 250,000 in [[Community of Christ]],<ref name="cofc_">{{Cite web |title=Community of Christ and Consolidated Affiliates Consolidated Financial Report |date=December 31, 2020 |access-date=April 6, 2022 |url= https://s3.amazonaws.com/monkdev.mnk.26072/uploaded/a/0e13535791_1641229532_audit-report-for-fiscal-year-2020.pdf |archive-date=April 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407004257/https://s3.amazonaws.com/monkdev.mnk.26072/uploaded/a/0e13535791_1641229532_audit-report-for-fiscal-year-2020.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> and several other denominations with memberships generally ranging in the thousands of members. The predominant theology of the churches in the movement is [[Mormonism]], which sees itself as restoring again on Earth the [[Early Christianity|early Christian church]];  their members are most commonly known as [[Mormons]]. An additional doctrine of the church allows for prophets to receive and publish modern-day [[Revelation (Latter Day Saints)|revelations]].

A minority of Latter Day Saint adherents, such as members of Community of Christ, have been influenced by [[Protestant theologies]] while maintaining certain distinctive beliefs and practices including [[Continuous revelation|continuing revelation]], an [[Doctrine and Covenants|open canon of scripture]] and building [[Temple (Latter Day Saints)|temples]]. Other groups include the [[Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints]], which supports lineal succession of leadership from Smith's descendants, and the more controversial [[Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]], which defends the practice of [[Mormonism and polygamy|polygamy]].<ref name=Russell>{{cite journal|last1=Russell|first1=William D.|title=An RLDS Schismatic Group Finds a Prophet of Joseph's Seed|journal=[[Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought]]|date=Winter 2005|volume=38|issue=3|doi=10.2307/45227375 |jstor=45227375 |url=https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V38N03_87.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{citation |url= http://archive.sltrib.com/printfriendly.php?id=2925222&itype=NGPSID |title= LDS Splinter Groups Growing |first= Brooke |last= Adams |date= August 9, 2005 |newspaper= [[The Salt Lake Tribune]] |access-date= 2014-01-08}}</ref><ref name="n186">{{cite web | last=Handy | first=Grace | title=The twisted world of Warren Jeffs: Former FLDS members speak out | website=ABC News | date=2024-02-27 | url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/twisted-world-warren-jeffs-former-flds-members-speak/story?id=107493397 | access-date=2024-05-27}}</ref> One source has estimated that over 400 denominations have sprung from founder [[Joseph Smith]]'s original movement.<ref>{{cite book|last=Park|first=Benjamin|author-link=Benjamin Park|title=American Zion: A New History of Mormonism|year= 2024|publisher=[[Boni & Liveright|Liveright Publishing]]|page=17|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sQjHEAAAQBAJ|isbn=9781631498664|via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

==Origins==
[[File:Mormon-book.jpg|thumb|The [[Book of Mormon]]]]
The movement began in [[Burned-over district|western New York]] during the [[Second Great Awakening]] when Smith said that he received visions revealing a new sacred text, the [[Book of Mormon]], which he published in 1830 as a complement to the [[Bible]]. Based on the teachings of this book and other revelations, Smith founded a [[Christian primitivist]] church, called the [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|"Church of Christ]]". The Book of Mormon attracted hundreds of early followers, who later became known as "[[Mormons]]", "Latter Day Saints", or just "Saints". In 1831, Smith moved the church headquarters to [[Kirtland, Ohio]], and in 1838 changed its name to the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints".<ref name=ManuscriptsA1>{{cite book|title=Manuscript History of the Church|publisher=[[Church History Library|LDS Church Archives]]|volume=A-1|page=37}}</ref><ref name=Autobiographical>{{cite book|author-link=Dean C. Jessee|first=Dean|last=Jessee|date=1989|title=The Papers of Joseph Smith: Autobiographical and Historical Writings|location=Salt Lake City, Utah|publisher=[[Deseret Book]]|volume=1|pages=302–303}}</ref><ref name=Inventing>{{cite book|author1-link=H. Michael Marquardt|first1=Michael|last1=Marquardt|author2-link=Wesley P. Walters|first2=Wesley|last2=Walter|date=1994|title=Inventing Mormonism: Tradition and the Historical Record |location=Salt Lake City, Utah|publisher=[[Signature Books]]|page=160}}</ref>

After the church in Ohio collapsed due to a financial crisis and dissensions, in 1838, Smith and the body of the church moved to Missouri. However, they were persecuted and the Latter Day Saints fled to Illinois. After [[death of Joseph Smith|Smith was killed]] in 1844, a [[succession crisis (Latter Day Saints)|succession crisis]] led to the organization splitting into several groups. The largest of these, the LDS Church, migrated under the leadership of [[Brigham Young]] to the [[Great Basin]] (now [[Utah]]) and became known for its 19th-century practice of [[Mormonism and polygamy|polygamy]]. The LDS Church [[1890 Manifesto|officially renounced]] this practice in 1890 and gradually discontinued it, resulting in [[Utah Territory]] becoming a [[U.S. state]].<ref name="o132">{{cite web | title=Polygamy and the Church: A History | website=PBS | date=2019-03-07 | url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/mormons-polygamy/ | access-date=2024-05-27}}</ref> This change resulted in the formation of several small [[sect]]s that sought to maintain polygamy and other 19th-century doctrines and practices, now referred to as "[[Mormon fundamentalism]]".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hales|first=Brian C.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nIFHXwAACAAJ|title=Modern Polygamy and Mormon Fundamentalism: The Generations After the Manifesto|publisher=Greg Kofford Books|year=2006|isbn=978-1-58958-035-0}}</ref>

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 later teachings. The largest of these, Community of Christ (known previously as the "Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints"), was formed in Illinois in 1860 by several groups uniting around Smith's son, [[Joseph Smith III]].

==History==
{{Main|History of the Latter Day Saint movement}}

{{Further information|Succession crisis (Latter Day Saints)|History of the LDS Church}}

The founder of the Latter Day Saint movement was Joseph Smith, and to a lesser extent, during the movement's first two years, [[Oliver Cowdery]].{{citation needed|date=February 2024}} Throughout his life, Smith told of an experience he had as a boy having [[First Vision|seen God the Father and Jesus Christ]] as two separate beings, who told him that the true church of Jesus Christ had been lost and would be restored through him, and that he would be given the authority to organize and lead the true Church of Christ.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/eng/content/history/saints-v1/02-hear-him|title=Saints, THE STORY OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST IN THE LATTER DAYS, Volume 1|year=2018|website=ChurchofJesusChrist.org|publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Salt Lake City, Utah|page=14|access-date=2018-10-17}}</ref>

The Latter Day Saint church was formed on April 6, 1830, consisting of a community of believers in the western [[New York (state)|New York]] towns of [[Fayette, New York|Fayette]], [[Manchester (town), New York|Manchester]], and [[Colesville, New York|Colesville]]. The church was formally organized under the name of the "Church of Christ". By 1834, the church was referred to as the "Church of the Latter Day Saints" in early church publications,<ref>{{cite book|editor-first=Joseph|editor-last=Smith| title=Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints|location=Kirtland, Ohio|publisher=F. G. Williams & Co.|date=1835}}</ref> and in 1838 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".<ref name=ManuscriptsA1/><ref name=Autobiographical/><ref name=Inventing/>

In 1844, [[William Law (Mormonism)|William Law]] and several other Latter Day Saints in church leadership positions publicly denounced Smith's secret practice of polygamy in the ''[[Nauvoo Expositor]]'', and formed [[True Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints|their own church]]. The city council of [[Nauvoo, Illinois]], led by Smith, subsequently had the printing press of the ''Expositor'' destroyed. In spite of Smith's later offer to pay damages for destroyed property, critics of Smith and the church considered the destruction heavy-handed. Some called for the Latter Day Saints to be either expelled or destroyed.<ref>{{cite web |title=History, 1838–1856, volume F-1 [1 May 1844–8 August 1844] |url=https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-f-1-1-may-1844-8-august-1844/101#source-note |website=The Joseph Smith Papers |access-date=16 January 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Oaks |first1=Dallin H |last2=Hill |first2=Marvin S |title=Carthage Conspiracy: The Trial of the Accused Assassins of Joseph Smith |date=May 1979 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |page=15}}</ref>

Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum, the [[Assistant President of the Church]], were both [[Death of Joseph Smith|killed]] by a mob while in a [[Carthage, Illinois]] [[Carthage Jail|jail]], and several individuals within the church claimed to be the senior surviving authority and appointed successors. These various claims resulted in a succession crisis. Many supported Brigham Young, the [[President of the Quorum of the Twelve|president]] of the [[Quorum of the Twelve Apostles]]; others [[Sidney Rigdon]], the senior surviving member of the [[First Presidency]]. [[Emma Hale Smith]] failed to persuade [[William Marks (Latter Day Saints)|William Marks]], the president of the [[Presiding High Council]] and a Rigdon supporter, to assume leadership and the surviving members of Smith's immediate family remained unaffiliated with any larger body until 1860, when they formed the [[Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints]] with Joseph's eldest son [[Joseph Smith III]] as prophet. These various groups are sometimes referred to under two geographical headings: "Prairie Saints" (those that remained in the [[Midwest United States]]); and "Rocky Mountain Saints" (those who followed Young to what would later become the state of Utah).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=May |first1=Dean L. |title=Dissent and Authority in Two Latter-day Saint Traditions |journal=Sunstone |date=June 1994 |issue=95 |pages=16–19 |url=https://sunstone.org/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/095-16-20.pdf |access-date=14 January 2023}}</ref>

Today, the vast majority (over 98 percent) of Latter Day Saints belong to the LDS Church, which reports over 16&nbsp;million members worldwide.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/facts-and-statistics|title=LDS Statistics and Church Facts {{!}} Total Church Membership|work=mormonnewsroom.org|access-date=2018-10-17|language=en}}</ref> The second-largest denomination is the Missouri-based Community of Christ, which reports 252,000 members.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Saturday/Sunday Bulletin World Conference 2019|publisher=Community of Christ|year=2019|pages=15–16}}</ref> Small denominations that trace their origins to Rigdon, [[James Strang]], or other associates of Smith's still exist, and several [[fundamentalist]] sects which separated from the LDS Church after it [[1890 Manifesto|rejected plural marriage]] in 1890 claim tens of thousands of members.{{efn|The term ''Mormon fundamentalist'' appears to have been coined in the 1940s by [[Apostle (Latter Day Saints)|apostle]] [[Mark E. Petersen]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=Ken |last=Driggs|title='This Will Someday Be the Head and Not the Tail of the Church': A History of the Mormon Fundamentalists at Short Creek|journal=Journal of Church and State|volume=43'|issue=49|date=2001|page=51}}</ref>}}

==Beliefs==
{{main|Mormonism}}

{{See also|Mormonism and Nicene Christianity|Christian theology|Teachings of Joseph Smith}}

Most members of Latter Day Saint churches are adherents to [[Mormonism]], a theology based on Joseph Smith's later teachings and further developed by Brigham Young, James Strang and others who claimed to be Smith's successors. The [[Mormon (word)|term ''Mormon'']] derives from the [[Book of Mormon]], and most of these adherents refer to themselves as Latter Day Saints or Mormons. Mormonism and Christianity have a complex theological, historical, and sociological relationship. Mormons express the doctrines of Mormonism using standard biblical terminology, and claim to have similar views about the nature of [[Jesus in Christianity|Jesus]]' [[Atonement in Christianity|atonement]], [[resurrection of Jesus|resurrection]], and [[Second Coming]] as traditional [[Christianity]]. Nevertheless, Mormons agree with non-Mormons that [[God in Mormonism|their view of God]] is significantly different from the trinitarian view of the [[Nicene Creed]] of the 4th century.<ref>{{Cite book| last=Shipps| first=Jan| title=Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition| year=1985| publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]]| location=Chicago| isbn=0-252-01417-0|pages=148–49|quote=Mormonism differs from traditional Christianity in much the same fashion that traditional Christianity ... came to differ from Judaism.}}</ref>

Mormons consider the Bible as scripture and have also adopted additional scriptures. These include the Book of Mormon, [[Doctrine and Covenants]], and [[Pearl of Great Price (Mormonism)|Pearl of Great Price]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Scriptures |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/eng/manual/gospel-topics/scriptures |access-date=2023-02-10 |website=churchofjesuschrist.org |language=en}}</ref> although not all denominations use all books as part of their scriptures. Mormons not only practice [[Baptism#Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|baptism]] and celebrate the [[Eucharist#Latter-day Saints|eucharist]] but also participate in [[religious ritual]]s not practiced in traditional Christianity.<ref name="Mason 2015"/> Focusing on differences, some Christians consider Mormonism "non-Christian"; members of the LDS Church, focusing on similarities, are offended at being so characterized.<ref>{{Cite book| first1=Rodney| last1=Stark| first2=Reid Larkin| last2=Neilson| title=The rise of Mormonism| publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]| year=2005| isbn=9780231136341| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IN4QeS38Qk0C&q=Mormonism+Christianity&pg=PA14|p=14}}</ref> Mormons do not accept non-Mormon baptism. Mormons regularly [[proselytize]] individuals actually or nominally within the Christian tradition, and some Christians, especially [[evangelical Christianity|evangelicals]], proselytize Mormons.{{efn|There are a number of books by evangelical Christians that explain how evangelicals can approach witnessing to Mormons including the following:<ref>{{cite book|first=David L.|last=Rowe |year=2005|title=I Love Mormons: A New Way to Share Christ with Latter-day Saints|publisher=Baker Books|isbn=978-0-8010-6522-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Ron|last=Rhodes|year=2001|title=The 10 Most Important Things You Can Say to a Mormon|publisher=Harvest House|isbn=978-0-7369-0534-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Mark J.|last=Cares |year=1998|title=Speaking the Truth in Love to Mormons|publisher=Wels Outreach Resources|isbn=978-1-893702-06-6}}</ref>}} The LDS Church has a formal missionary program with nearly 70,000 missionaries, with 15 training centers and 407 missions worldwide.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mormonnewsroom.org|title=LDS News {{!}} Mormon News – Official Newsroom of the Church|website=mormonnewsroom.org|access-date=2018-10-17}}</ref> A prominent scholarly view is that Mormonism is a form of Christianity, but is distinct enough from traditional Christianity so as to form a new religious tradition, much as Christianity has roots in but is a distinct religion from Judaism.<ref>{{Cite book| last=Shipps| first=Jan| title=Sojourner in the promised land: forty years among the Mormons| year=2000| publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]]| location=Chicago| isbn=0-252-02590-3|p=338}}</ref>

The Mormonism that originated with Smith in the 1820s shared strong similarities with some elements of 19th-century [[Protestant Christianity]] including the necessity of baptism, emphasis on family, and central doctrine on Christ as a means to salvation. However, beginning with his accounts of the [[First Vision]] in the 1830s and 1840s, Smith—who said that Christ had told him not to join any existing church—departed significantly from traditional Christianity, claiming all churches of his day were part of a Great Apostasy that had lost the authority to direct Christ's church. Mormonism does not characterize itself as a Protestant religion, as Smith taught that he had received revelation direct from Christ to restore his original church. Mormons believe that God, through Smith and his successors, restored these truths and doctrinal clarifications, and, initiating a new heavenly dispensation, restored the original church and Christianity taught by Jesus. For example, Smith rejected the [[Nicene Creed|Nicene]] doctrine of the [[Trinity]] as of one body and substance, with no "body, parts, or passions", and instead taught that the [[Godhead (Latter Day Saints)|Godhead]] included God, the Eternal Father, also known as [[Elohim]]; his only-begotten son in the flesh, Jesus Christ, also known as [[Jehovah]], the savior and redeemer of the world; and the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit, an individual personage of spirit whose influence can be felt in many places at once. Further, Smith taught that the essence of all humans is co-eternal with God and that humans, as the spirit offspring of God the Father, have the potential to become like God. The LDS Church, the largest Mormon denomination, while acknowledging its differences with mainstream Christianity, often focuses on its commonalities, which are many, the most important of which is that Christ is the savior of the world and that he suffered for the world's sins so that the penitent can return to live in heaven.<ref name="Mason 2015">{{cite encyclopedia |author-last=Mason |author-first=Patrick Q. |author-link=Patrick Q. Mason |date=3 September 2015 |title=Mormonism |url=https://oxfordre.com/religion/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-75 |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion |location=[[Oxford]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.75 |isbn=9780199340378 |doi-access= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181130060403/https://oxfordre.com/religion/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-75 |archive-date=30 November 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=15 January 2023|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

A small fraction of Latter Day Saints, most notably those within Community of Christ, the second largest Latter Day Saint denomination, follow a traditional Protestant theology. Community of Christ views God in trinitarian terms, and reject the distinctive theological developments they believe to have been developed later in Mormonism.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Stack |first1=Peggy Fletcher |title=Here are some Community of Christ theological stances that differ from those of Latter-day Saints |url=https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2021/11/14/here-are-some-community/ |access-date=16 January 2023 |work=The Salt Lake Tribune |date=14 November 2021}}</ref>

===''Saint''-designation of members===
The beliefs within the LDS Church with regard to saints are similar but not quite the same as the Protestant tradition. In the [[New Testament]], saints are all those who have entered into the Christian covenant of baptism. The qualification "latter-day" refers to the doctrine that members are living in the "latter days", before the [[Second Coming of Christ]], and is used to distinguish the members of the church, which considers itself the restoration of the ancient Christian church.<ref>{{cite web |last= Smith |first= Joseph Jr |author-link= Joseph Smith Jr |title= Pearl of Great Price |url= http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,106-1-2-1,FF.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20000817204117/http://www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,106-1-2-1,FF.html|url-status= dead|archive-date= 2000-08-17}}</ref> Members are therefore often referred to as "[[Latter-day Saints]]" or "LDS", and among themselves, "saints".<ref>{{cite magazine|first=M. Russell |last=Ballard|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2007/10/faith-family-facts-and-fruits?lang=eng |title=Faith, Family, Facts, and Fruits|magazine=Ensign|date=Nov 2007|pages=25–27|publisher=[[LDS Church]]}}</ref>

===Restoration===
{{main|Restoration (Latter Day Saints)}}
The Latter Day Saint movement classifies itself within Christianity, but as a distinct restored [[Dispensation (period)#Latter Day Saint dispensations|dispensation]]. Latter Day Saints hold that a [[Great Apostasy#Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|Great Apostasy]] began in Christianity not long after the [[ascension of Jesus]],<ref name = PMG35>{{Cite book |author= Missionary Department of the LDS Church |author-link= The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |title= Preach My Gospel |publisher= [[LDS Church]], Inc |year= 2004 |pages= 35 |url= https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/additionalmanuals/preachgospel/PreachMyGospel___06_03-1_TheRestoration__36617_eng_006.pdf |isbn= 0-402-36617-4 |access-date= 2011-10-07 }}</ref><ref>2 Thessalonians 2:3</ref> marked with the corruption of Christian doctrine by [[Greek philosophy|Greek]] and other philosophies,<ref name = GA>{{Cite book |last= Talmage |first= James E. |author-link= James E. Talmage |title= The Great Apostasy |publisher= The Deseret News |year= 1909  |url= https://archive.org/details/greatapostasycon00atalm/page/n7/mode/2up}}</ref>{{rp|pp=64–65}} and followers dividing into different ideological groups.<ref name = MARV1>{{Cite book |last= Richards |first= LeGrand |author-link= LeGrand Richards |title= [[A Marvelous Work and a Wonder]] |publisher= Deseret Book Company |year= 1976 |pages= 24 |isbn= 0-87747-161-4}}</ref>
Additionally, Latter Day Saints claim the martyrdom of the [[Apostles in the New Testament|apostles]] led to a loss of [[Priesthood (Latter Day Saints)|priesthood authority]] to administer the church and its [[Ordinance (Latter Day Saints)|ordinances]].<ref name = GA/>{{rp|p=68}}<ref name = Eyring>{{Citation |last= Eyring |first= Henry B. |author-link= Henry B. Eyring |title= The True and Living Church |url= https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2008/05/the-true-and-living-church?lang=eng |journal= Ensign |publisher= LDS Church |pages= 20–24 |date= May 2008}}</ref>

According to Latter Day Saint churches, God re-established the [[Early Christianity|early Christian]] church as found in the New Testament through Joseph Smith.{{efn|Smith's restoration was slightly different from other ''restorationists'' of the era (for instance, that of Alexander Campbell). Instead of analyzing the Bible, Smith claimed to write and interpret scripture as the biblical prophets did.<ref>{{Cite book|last = Bushman|first = Richard Lyman|author-link = Richard Bushman|title = Mormonism: A Very Short Introduction|year = 2008|place = New York|publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]|isbn = 978-0-19-531030-6}}</ref>}} In particular, Latter Day Saints believe that angels such as [[Saint Peter|Peter]], [[James, son of Zebedee|James]], [[John the Apostle|John]], and [[John the Baptist]] appeared to Smith and others and bestowed various priesthood authorities on them.<ref>See [[Joseph Smith–History]] [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/pgp/js-h/1.69-72?lang=eng 1:69, 72] and [[Doctrine and Covenants]] [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/84?lang=eng 84:19–21]</ref> Thus, Smith and his successors are considered modern [[prophet]]s who receive [[revelation (Latter Day Saints)|revelation]] from God to guide the church.<ref name="Mason 2015"/>

==Denominations==
{{Main|List of denominations in the Latter Day Saint movement}}
[[File:Mormon Denominations.png|thumb|center|600px|Diagram showing over 70 branches of [[Mormonism]] with their relative origins and approximate years of division. The thicker central line after 1844 is the largest by numbers Brighamite branch.]]
{{LDS sects|snip=true|state=expanded}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Latter Day Saint movement}}
*[[Criticism of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]
*[[Temple Riders]]
*[[New religious movement]]
*[[Universalism and the Latter Day Saint movement]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==

* {{cite journal|author-link=Danny L. Jorgensen|last=Jorgensen|first=Danny|url=http://content.lib.utah.edu/u/?%2Fdialogue%2C12988|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105155949/http://content.lib.utah.edu/u/?%2Fdialogue%2C12988|url-status=dead|archive-date=2009-01-05|title=Dissent and Schism in the Early Church: Explaining Mormon Fissiparousness]|journal=[[Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought|Dialogue]]|volume=28|issue=3|date=Fall 1993|pages=15–39}}
* {{cite book|first=Steven L. |last=Shields|title=Divergent Paths of the Restoration: A History of the Latter Day Saint Movement|isbn=978-1-56085-455-5|date=1990}}

==External links==
{{Spoken Wikipedia|en-latter.ogg|date=2006-12-17}}

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