Significant doctrinal, organizational, and attitudinal changes in Community of Christ since 1960 have narrowed the similarities that remain between it and the LDS Church. While the doctrine and belief system of the LDS Church is highly centralized, systematic, and static, Community of Christ has adopted an adaptive, decentralized, and progressive approach to doctrine. In 1997, Community of Christ initiated a three-year period of transformation entitled “Transformation 2000", that was seen by its president W. Grant McMurray as the culmination of a series of changes dating back to 1960.[3] McMurray identified these changes as a movement away from a belief that the denomination was "the restored church" and towards a position within mainstream Christianity. At the World Conference of 2000, by vote of 1,979 to 561, the name of the church was changed from the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to Community of Christ. In so doing, the church was attempting to distance itself from comparisons with the LDS Church and in the process transform itself into a unique body among mainstream Christian denominations.[citation needed]
McMurray was the first president of Community of Christ who was not a direct descendant of Joseph Smith. He sought to formalize developments in thinking about prophetic leadership, the historical basis of the Book of Mormon, and the concept that priesthood authority had been restored in the 1820s and 1830s after centuries of apostasy. During his presidency, the church moved from a closed to an open communion and McMurray began to open the door to priesthood ordination for LGBT individuals, something which he acknowledged was already occurring. At the time, negative membership response to this issue forced McMurray to reaffirm the official policy prohibiting the ordination of sexually active gays and lesbians. The church allowed those who were ordained against policy to continue in their priesthood offices. Since 2010, gay rights have been formalized in Community of Christ doctrine.[4]
Prior to 1960, the RLDS Church's identity was primarily tied to its differences with the larger LDS Church, which RLDS Church members usually referred to as the "Utah Church" or "Mormon Church". McMurray cited a 1960 world tour by former president W. Wallace Smith as a pivotal event impacting the evolution of RLDS Church beliefs. Leaders such as Roy Cheville had already been teaching a new generation of church members a more ecumenical and open-minded system of beliefs. But it was the church's proselytizing of cultures in countries outside North America that knew little about Christianity, much less Mormonism, that forced a reassessment of denominational practices and beliefs. RLDS apostleCharles Neff, a leading church missionary, pushed fellow leaders and field ministers towards a relativistic doctrinal viewpoint motivated by a combination of practical missionary concerns and an attitude of theological openness. These significant moves of Community of Christ towards alignment with liberal Protestant doctrine were influenced in part by many in church leadership who pursued theological studies at St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri. While the RLDS Church had long been known for its strong anti-polygamy stance, its outreach efforts amongst the Sora people in India brought a re-examination even on this issue.
Church president Wallace B. Smith’s 1984 call for the ordination of women to the priesthood was a milestone in the doctrinal evolution of the church towards progressive Christianity. During his term in office, greater attention was brought to peace and justice issues. The call to dedicate the Independence Temple to the "pursuit of peace" is widely regarded as both symbolic and practical evidence of the differences between the two denominations. While the LDS Church has a set of highly standardized templerituals and regards temples as sacred space for the creation of covenants, Community of Christ understands temples to be a less formalized center for spirituality, ministerial education, and church administration.
These changes are often viewed as a broad shift in theology of Community of Christ from Restorationism to mainline Protestant Christianity, widening the scope of long-standing doctrinal differences between it and the LDS Church. However, rejection by the RLDS of certain LDS theological distinctives such as exaltation long predates these changes.[5] Nearly all of the traditional differences between the two groups can be seen as aligning Community of Christ more closely with traditional Christian teaching and neo-orthodoxy, which further isolates the LDS Church within Christianity as a whole.
The RLDS Church was founded by the confederation of a number of smaller groups that declined to migrate with Brigham Young to Utah Territory or follow any of the others vying to become the successor to Joseph Smith. Prior to the 1860 Amboy Conference, in which the church was formally "reorganized" into the RLDS Church, numerous doctrinal differences were espoused by the leaders of the various splinter groups. Following the reorganization, these differences were solidified into a litany of what might now be called "wedge issues" that would distinguish it from Young's LDS Church in Utah.[5]
The differences enumerated below characterize the major differences between Community of Christ and the LDS Church.[6]
Scriptures
Both churches believe in an open canon of scripture founded upon the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and revelations of God to the church recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants.
The LDS Church has officially adopted the Authorized King James Version for English speakers, and has produced its own edition which is extensively footnoted with clarifications from the Inspired Version. The LDS Church refers to the Inspired Version as the "Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible." For Spanish-speaking members, the LDS Church publishes a slightly modified version of the Reina-Valera version, including footnotes and annotations comparable to those found in its official King James Version. For other languages, the LDS Church recommends usage of specific traditional translations that are selected based on doctrinal integrity with the other official standard works.
Book of Mormon
Title page of the first edition of the Book of Mormon (1830).
Both Community of Christ and LDS Church accept the Book of Mormon as a second canon of scripture[11] and views it as an additional witness of Jesus Christ that complements the Bible. Community of Christ publishes two versions of the book through its official publishing arm, Herald House. The Authorized Edition is based on the original printer's manuscript and the 1837 Second Edition (or "Kirtland Edition") of the Book of Mormon. Its content is similar to the Book of Mormon published by the LDS Church, but the versification is different[12] Community of Christ also publishes a 1966 "Revised Authorized Edition", which attempts to modernize some of the language.[12]
The LDS Church publishes a single version of the Book of Mormon, which is extensively footnoted to the church's other standard works. Its chapter and versification is based upon the 1879 edition edited by Orson Pratt.
At a 2007 World Conference, Community of Christ President Stephen M. Veazey ruled that a resolution to "reaffirm the Book of Mormon as a divinely inspired record" was out of order.[11] He stated that "while the Church affirms the Book of Mormon as scripture, and makes it available for study and use in various languages, we do not attempt to mandate the degree of belief or use. This position is in keeping with our longstanding tradition that belief in the Book of Mormon is not to be used as a test of fellowship or membership in the church."[11] The LDS Church regularly emphasizes the importance of the Book of Mormon and encourages its members to read from it daily.
Both churches publish a book called the Doctrine and Covenants and accept it as scripture.[13][14] Community of Christ has removed several early sections[15] and has regularly added new revelations and other inspired documents to the book since the death of Joseph Smith. The LDS Church removed what was Section 101 (the declaration on marriage which prohibited polygamy) in the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants and added the revelation on plural marriage. The LDS Church has added some material to the Doctrine and Covenants since Smith's death, but less than that of Community of Christ. The Community of Christ version currently contains 166 documents, 51 of which were produced after the death of Joseph Smith. The LDS Church version currently contains 140 documents, five of which were produced after Smith's death.
The LDS Church includes the Pearl of Great Price as part of its standard works. Community of Christ has never published or considered this book to be scripture.[13] However, Community of Christ does accept two portions of the Pearl of Great Price—the Book of Moses and Joseph Smith–Matthew—as scripture:
Chapters 2–8 of the Book of Moses are included within the Book of Genesis in Community of Christ's Inspired Version of the Bible;
Chapter 1 of the Book of Moses is accepted as section 22 of Community of Christ's Doctrine and Covenants;
In addition to appearing in the Inspired Version of the Bible, chapter 7 of the Book of Moses is accepted as section 36 of Community of Christ's Doctrine and Covenants; and
As presently published by the LDS Church, the Pearl of Great Price also includes the Book of Abraham, Joseph Smith–History, and the Articles of Faith; these are not accepted as scripture by Community of Christ. The original edition of the Pearl of Great Price was published in 1851 in England by Franklin D. Richards, and included several other documents:[16]
"A Key to the Revelations of St. John", detailing interpretations of the Apocalypse of John in question-and-answer format. This was later added to the LDS Doctrine and Covenants in 1876, and appears as D&C 77 in the current LDS canon; it does not appear in the Community of Christ canon.
"A Revelation and Prophecy by the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator, Joseph Smith", foretelling of a civil war between slave states and free states and ensuing escalation to a world war, and admonishing the faithful to "stand ye in holy places, and be not moved" until the second coming. This was later added to the LDS Doctrine and Covenants in 1876, and appears as D&C 87 in the current LDS canon; it does not appear in the Community of Christ canon.
Several excerpts of documents that already appeared in the Doctrine and Covenants prior to Joseph Smith's death:
"From the Doctrine and Covenants of the Church", comprising several excerpts from LDS D&C 20 / CofC D&C 17 and LDS D&C 107 / CofC D&C 104.
"Extract from a Revelation given July, 1830", also excerpted from the Doctrine and Covenants (part of LDS D&C 27 or CofC D&C 26)
"Rise of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints", also excerpted from the Doctrine and Covenants (the start of LDS D&C 20 or CofC D&C 17)
"Truth", the hymn "O, Say What is Truth?". This is canonised by neither church, although it appears in the LDS Church hymnbook.
In 1976, documents titled "Vision of the Celestial Kingdom" (an excerpt from volume 2 of the Documentary History of the Church, detailing Joseph Smith's vision of Alvin Smith in the Celestial Kingdom) and "Vision of the Redemption of the Dead" (a vision of the harrowing of the Spirit Prison recorded by Joseph F. Smith in 1918) were added to the Pearl of Great Price by the LDS Church.[17] In 1979, they were moved to the LDS Doctrine and Covenants as D&C 137 and 138.[18] They have never been canonised by Community of Christ.
Joseph Smith III, the successor to Joseph Smith as the Prophet-President of Community of Christ
Both Community of Christ and the LDS Church are headed by a President of the Church, a position created and held by Joseph Smith. In the LDS Church, succession to the presidency has been based on apostolic seniority. In Community of Christ, the president has the power to appoint a successor; if the outgoing president does not appoint a successor, the Council of Twelve Apostles nominates a successor.
After Smith, the next three presidents of Community of Christ served as President of the Church until their deaths. In 1978, W. Wallace Smith broke this tradition and retired from the presidency, designated himself as "president emeritus", and appointed Wallace B. Smith as his successor. Wallace B. Smith and his chosen successor—McMurray—also retired from the position. In the LDS Church, every President of the Church has served until his death and none have selected a successor prior to death.
The first five[19] successors to Joseph Smith in the presidency of Community of Christ were direct descendants of Smith.[20] McMurray was the first president of the church who was not a member of the Smith family.[20] While never formally accepting a principle of lineal succession, the denomination teaches that Smith had designated his son, Joseph Smith III, as his successor.[21] In 1996, the appointment of McMurray by retiring president Wallace B. Smith was the justification used by schismatic groups that abandoned Community of Christ. This schism led to the creation of the Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The president of the Remnant Church at the time, Frederick Niels Larsen, was a maternal great-great-grandson of Joseph Smith. Larsen's handpicked successor and current head of the Remnant Church, Terry W. Patience, however, is not a descendant of Joseph Smith.
The LDS Church determines its presidential successor by principles of apostolic seniority combined with inspiration from God.[22] When a church president dies, the member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles who has been an apostle the longest—the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles—becomes the new president of the church.[22] Prior to making the succession official, the apostles individually and collectively pray for divine guidance and confirmation of their proposed action.[22]
While this is an area that marked a traditional difference between the two denominations, a 2004–05 succession crisis prompted the Council of Twelve Apostles of Community of Christ to utilize an inspiration-seeking procedure similar to that adopted by the apostles of the LDS Church.[23] When McMurray stepped down as president in 2004, he chose not to name a successor, as previous retirees from the position had done. In 2005, Stephen M. Veazey—who was president of the Twelve, but not the senior member—was selected as successor by the Council of Twelve.[23][24]
Godhead
Stained glass depiction of the first vision of Joseph Smith, completed in 1913 by an unknown artist (LDS Museum of Church History and Art).
Community of Christ teaches about the Trinity, which they define as a God who is a community of three persons.[25] The LDS Church teaches that the Godhead is composed of three physically distinct personages who are united—or "one"—in purpose.[26][27]
The LDS Church teaches the principle of exaltation,[28] in which people who achieve the highest degree of salvation can become Gods, and in which God the Father originates as an exalted person. This teaching is derived from late-Nauvoo-period statements of Joseph Smith such as the King Follett Discourse.
This doctrine is not accepted by Community of Christ, which already regarded it as false doctrine as of the tenure of Elbert A. Smith as presiding patriarch of the RLDS Church (1938–1958).[5] Smith, in a pamphlet titled Differences That Persist, argued that the exaltation teaching contradicted statements in the Bible, Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants emphasising the unchanging nature of God.[5] This position was established long before the controversies which led to the separation of the Restoration branches in the 1980s; hence, the exaltation teaching is also rejected by that group.[30]
According to Brigham Young, the Adam–God doctrine was first taught by Joseph Smith before his death in 1844. However, the evidence that Smith originated the doctrine consists only of Young's own assertions,[31] an 1877 recollection of Anson Call,[32] and some circumstantial evidence collected by Mormon fundamentalist writers.[33] LDS Church President Spencer W. Kimball officially denounced the Adam–God doctrine in 1976.[34][35]
Because Community of Christ was founded by the confederation of a number of smaller groups that declined to accept Young's leadership, the Adam–God doctrine has never been a part of Community of Christ teachings, and it has maintained that the doctrine was first enunciated by Young, not Smith.[5]
Both churches have a tradition of bestowing the priesthood on adult male members of the church. The priesthood of Community of Christ has always been open to persons of all races,[36] and was opened to women in 1984.[37] The LDS Church's priesthood is open to males only[38][39] and from the mid 1800s until 1978 was not open to people of black African descent.[38] The LDS Church routinely gives its Aaronic priesthood to boys 11 years of age and older, while Community of Christ generally restricts its priesthood to adult men and women.[40]
Both Community of Christ and the LDS Church operate temples, which for both groups are separate and distinct from church chapels or meetinghouses. Community of Christ operates two temples, the Kirtland Temple and the Independence Temple, while the LDS Church has 160[41] operating temples.[42]
In contrast to Brigham Young's position that a specific commandment was not needed before the Salt Lake Temple was built, Community of Christ traditionally maintains that a specific commandment is required before erecting a temple, noting the existance of such separate commandments for the Kirtland, Nauvoo and original planned Independence temples, and citing Joseph Smith having halted temple construction in Far West, Missouri on the basis of the absence of a commandment revealing it to be the will of God.[5] As such, the commandment to construct the present Independence Temple is included in section 149 of the Community of Christ edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, and further instructions regarding its construction and purpose are included in later sections.[43]
Community of Christ does not practice and has traditionally objected to the idea of sacraments or rituals being performed in its temples.[44][45][46] Community of Christ's temples are open to the public[46][47] and are dedicated to the pursuit of peace, spiritual learning, and church history and administration. LDS Church temples are open only to approved members and are primarily used for the performance of rites such as the endowment, celestial marriage, and baptism for the dead; these ordinances have never been embraced by Community of Christ.[5]
Historically, Community of Christ did include documents in its Doctrine and Covenants[48] which sanctioned baptism for the dead and other temple rites.[5] However, Community of Christ considers that the institution of baptism for the dead was made conditional on the completion of the Nauvoo Temple in a reasonable amount of time.[49] Because the membership of the church failed to complete the temple during Smith's lifetime, Community of Christ teaches that the right to perform baptisms for the dead was withdrawn and has not been reinstituted.[49]
The 1970 World Conference of the Community of Christ concluded that sections 107, 109, and 110 (regarding baptism for the dead and temple rites) had been added to the 1844 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants without proper approval of a church conference. Thus, the conference redesignated those sections as historical appendices.[15] The World Conference of 1990 subsequently removed the entire appendix from the Doctrine and Covenants.[15]
Community of Christ utilizes the symbol of the Christian cross on its buildings and temples.[50] The LDS Church currently does not use the cross[51] on the grounds that "because the Savior lives, we do not use the symbol of His death as the symbol of our faith",[52] although this aversion to the cross only became dominant in the 20th century.[53][54] Rather than a cross, the logo of the LDS Church features the Christus statue as a symbol.
Many temples of the LDS Church include a statue of the Angel Moroni on a spire,[55] but the church does not consider Moroni to be an official symbol and "has no policy regarding the use of statues of the angel Moroni atop temples", but rather includes or excludes a statue from each temple based on local circumstances.[56] Community of Christ does not use the Angel Moroni as a symbol.
In the United States, the Veterans Affairs (VA) emblem for headstones for LDS Church members is a stylized Angel Moroni. For Community of Christ members, the VA emblem is a stylized representation of a child standing between a lion and a lamb, which is an official logo of Community of Christ.
In the 19th century, the differences between the LDS Church and the RLDS Church regarding polygamy was the principal distinction between the two churches. The LDS Church openly practiced plural marriage from 1852 to 1890 and taught that the practice was instituted by Joseph Smith and taught in secret to members of the church before his death. For many years, the leaders of the RLDS Church were vocal critics of the LDS Church's polygamy and argued that the practice had been introduced by Brigham Young (by his own admission in the Deseret News July 1, 1874), and falsely attributed to Smith after Smith's death. Polygamy was frequently denounced by RLDS leaders and the practice was never accepted by the church.[57] Smith's son Joseph Smith III and widow Emma Smith repeatedly taught that Smith opposed the practice and was not a polygamist.[58][59][60]
Today, the Community of Christ continues to reject polygamy.[5]The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opposes the practice of polygamy, and its church presidents have repeatedly emphasized that the Church and its members are no longer authorized to enter into plural marriage.[61]
Tithing
Traditionally, Community of Christ taught that tithing should be calculated as one-tenth of a member's discretionary income.[62] The LDS Church teaches that it is ten percent of one's annual income,[63] with it left to the member to determine how to calculate it (e.g., what constitutes "income" and whether it is ten percent of income after or before tax).[64] Recently, Community of Christ has adopted a program known as Disciples' Generous Response, which encourages financial generosity as a response to God rather than as a set calculated obligation.[62]
The LDS Church teaches that Joseph Smith restored the fullness of the gospel after a centuries long period known as the Great Apostasy.[65][66] The LDS Church therefore characterizes itself as a restoration of fallen Christianity and the one true church that exists.[65] In contrast, Community of Christ has de-emphasized its traditional tenet that it is the one true church and has adopted a viewpoint that all faith traditions can offer a pathway to spiritual enlightenment.[67] Barbara McFarlane Higdon has called Community of Christ a "unique member of the body of Christ, the universal community of believers."[68] Higdon also suggests that prior claims that the church had been "restored" were tantamount to idolatry. Community of Christ has therefore moved towards ecumenism and inter-faith dialogue. Nevertheless, Community of Christ "steadfastly affirms the primacy of continuing revelation instead of creedal rigidity". Community of Christ's Doctrine and Covenants continues to contain documents that declare that the church is the one true church.[69]
Today, Community of Christ generally refers to Joseph Smith's First Vision as the "grove experience" and takes a flexible view about its historicity,[70] emphasizing the healing presence of God and the forgiving mercy of Jesus Christ felt by Smith.[71] In contrast, the LDS Church strongly affirms the reality of the First Vision and emphasizes its role as the beginning of the restoration of the gospel through God's chosen prophet.
President serves in position until death and does not appoint a successor before death
Succession
Succession traditionally based on lineal descent from Joseph Smith; now abandoned in favor of appointment by retiring president or apostolic selection by inspiration
Succession based on apostolic seniority combined with apostolic selection by inspiration
Symbols tend to portray the Glorifed Christ (e.g. the Christus) rather than the Crucified Christ (as in the occupied cross of Catholicism) or the Resurrected Christ in terms of absence (as in the vacant cross of Protestantism).
1 2 3 Andrew M. Shields, "Official Minutes of Business Session, Wednesday March 28, 2007," in 2007 World Conference Thursday Bulletin, March 29, 2007. Community of Christ, 2007.
↑ Collier (1999, p.229 fn. 12) (citing minutes of meeting of the Quorum of Twelve, 4 April 1860, in which it was recorded: "It was Joseph's doctrine that Adam was God… God comes to earth and eats and partakes of fruit. Joseph could not reveal what was revealed to him, and if Joseph had it revealed, he was not told to reveal it."). Collier (1999, p.360) (citing Wilford Woodruff Journal of September 4, 1860, in which George Q. Cannon said "that Adam is our Father [and] is a true doctrine revealed from God to Joseph & Brigham. For this same doctrine is taught in some of the old Jewish records which have never been in print...."). Collier (1999, p.367) (citing Wilford Woodruff Journal of December 16, 1867, stating that "President Young said Adam was Michael the Archangel, & he was the Father of Jesus Christ & was our God & that Joseph taught this principle.")
↑ Collier (1999, p.233) (citing an 1877 reminiscence of Anson Call, who said he heard Joseph Smith say: "now regarding Adam: He came here from another planet [as] an immortalized being and brought his wife, Eve, with him, and by eating of the fruits of the earth became subject to death and decay and he became of the earth, earthly, was made mortal and subject to death.").
↑ See, e.g., Collier (1999, pp.228–42) (a fundamentalist author, arguing that Joseph Smith believed and taught the doctrine).
↑ There are 173 dedicated temples (169 currently operating; 4 previously dedicated, but closed for renovation; 55 under construction; and 72 announced (not yet under construction), for a total of 300.
↑ Compilation of General Conference Resolutions, 1852-1907. Lamoni, Iowa: Board of Publication of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. 1908. p.82–83. Adopted April 9, 1886 ... No. 308 ... 3. ... That as to the alleged 'temple building and ceremonial endowments therein,' that we know of no temple building, except as edifices wherein to worship God, and no endowment except the endowment of the Holy Spirit of the kind experienced by the early saints on Pentecost Day.
1 2 Smith, Elbert A. (1949). Differences That Persist Between the RLDS and the Utah Mormon Church(PDF). Independence, Missouri: Herald Publishing House. p.12. In the Kirtland Temple of the Reorganized Church, there are no secret meetings of any kind, no secret rites, ceremonies, oaths, or practices. All meetings are open to the public, and no parts of the building are closed to the public; everything may be visited under guide service. ... Not one of the sacraments and ordinances ... is secret. Their nature may be freely revealed to the world. They are not guarded by secret oaths or obligations or secret covenants.
↑ According to its website, the church "does not legislate or mandate positions on issues of history. We place confidence in sound historical methodology as it relates to our church story. We believe that historians and other researchers should be free to come to whatever conclusions they feel are appropriate after careful consideration of documents and artifacts to which they have access. We benefit greatly from the significant contributions of the historical discipline." Community of Christ website.
↑ Journal of Thomas Evans Jeremy Sr., September 30, 1852 Bergera 1980.
↑ Orson Pratt, "The Pre-Existence of Man", The Seer, 1:3, 158–59 (March, October 1853).
↑ See, e.g., the Proceedings of the First Sunday School Convention, November 28, 1898; Letter to Bishop Edward Bunker, February 27, 1902; Messages of the First Presidency4:199–206; Journal of Thomas A. Clawson, 1912–1917, pp. 69–70, April 8, 1912; B. H. Roberts, Deseret News, July 23, 1921; Joseph Fielding Smith,Utah Genealogical Magazine, pp. 146–51, October 1930; Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation1:18, 76–77, 92 (1954).
↑ Charles W. Penrose, "Our Father Adam", Improvement Era (September 1902): 873, reprinted in Charles W. Penrose, "Our Father Adam", Millennial Star (December 11, 1902): 785–90 at 789.
↑ While not considered a schism of the Church of Christ (Fettingite) and its founder Otto Fetting, the Church of Christ at Halley's Bluff accepted Fetting's revelations, but it did not immediately break with the Fettingites in 1929. Nerren and Long instead formed a separate sect in 1932, which was later joined by five other former Temple Lot congregations by 1941.
*^Membership worldwide; generally church-reported; with an occasional exception †^ Once larger
↑ Organized the Church of Christ, the Latter Day Saint movement's original organization, of which multiple denominations currently believe themselves the true successor
↑ Members consider themselves as remaining adherents of the (historical) Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. (As of 2011, litigation by the Community of Christ against Restoration Branch individuals and entities generally established CofC's right to both the full and abbreviated RLDS name.)
The standard works of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are the four books that currently constitute its open scriptural canon. The four books of the standard works are:
The Doctrine and Covenants is a part of the open scriptural canon of several denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. Originally published in 1835 as Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God, editions of the book continue to be printed mainly by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Community of Christ.
Mormonism is the religious tradition and theology of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 1830s. As a label, Mormonism has been applied to various aspects of the Latter Day Saint movement, although there has been a recent push from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to distance themselves from this label. A historian, Sydney E. Ahlstrom, wrote in 1982, "One cannot even be sure, whether [Mormonism] is a sect, a mystery cult, a new religion, a church, a people, a nation, or an American subculture; indeed, at different times and places it is all of these". However, scholars and theologians within the Latter Day Saint movement, including Smith, have often used "Mormonism" to describe the unique teachings and doctrines of the movement.
The Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), is an American-based international church, and is the second-largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. The church reports 250,000 members in 1,100 congregations in 59 countries. The church traces its origins to Joseph Smith's establishment of the Church of Christ on April 6, 1830. A group of members including his eldest son Joseph Smith III formally established the current church on April 6, 1860 in the aftermath of the 1844 death of Joseph Smith.
In Mormonism, the restoration refers to a return of the authentic priesthood power, spiritual gifts, ordinances, living prophets and revelation of the primitive Church of Christ after a long period of apostasy. While in some contexts the term may also refer to the early history of Mormonism, in other contexts the term is used in a way to include the time that has elapsed from the church's earliest beginnings until the present day. Especially in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints "the restoration" is often used also as a term to encompass the corpus of religious messages from its general leaders down to the present.
In the Latter Day Saint movement, the President of the Church is generally considered to be the highest office of the church. It was the office held by Joseph Smith, founder of the movement, and the office assumed by many of Smith's claimed successors, such as Brigham Young, Joseph Smith III, Sidney Rigdon, and James Strang. Several other titles have been associated with this office, including First Elder of the church, Presiding High Priest, President of the High Priesthood, Trustee-in-Trust for the church, Prophet, Seer, Revelator, and Translator. Joseph Smith was known by all of these titles in his lifetime.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints—usually distinguished with a parenthetical (Strangite)—is one of the several organizations that claim to be the legitimate continuation of the church founded by Joseph Smith on April 6, 1830. It is a separate organization from the considerably larger and better known Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Both churches claim to be the original organization established by Smith. The Strangite church is headquartered in Voree, Wisconsin, just outside Burlington, and accepts the claims of James Strang as successor to Smith. It had approximately 300 members in 1998. Currently, there are around 130 active members throughout the United States.
The Joseph Smith Translation (JST), also called the Inspired Version of the Holy Scriptures (IV), is a revision of the Bible by Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, who said that the JST/IV was intended to restore what he described as "many important points touching the salvation of men, [that] had been taken from the Bible, or lost before it was compiled". Smith died before he deemed it complete, though most of his work on it was performed about a decade beforehand. The work is the King James Version of the Bible (KJV) with some significant additions and revisions. It is considered a sacred text and is part of the canon of Community of Christ (CoC), formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and other Latter Day Saint churches. Selections from the Joseph Smith Translation are also included in the footnotes and the appendix of the LDS-published King James Version of the Bible, but The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has only officially canonized certain excerpts that appear in its Pearl of Great Price. These excerpts are the Book of Moses and Smith's revision of part of the Gospel of Matthew.
The Church of Christ, informally called Hedrickites and the Church of Christ , is a denomination of the Latter Day Saint movement headquartered in Independence, Missouri, on what is known as the Temple Lot. The nickname for members of the church comes from the surname of Granville Hedrick, who was ordained as the church's leader in July 1863. Unlike The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Community of Christ, the Temple Lot church rejects the office of prophet or president, being instead led by its Quorum of Twelve Apostles. The church also rejects the doctrines of baptism for the dead and celestial marriage promulgated by the Utah-based LDS Church, as well as the Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price. While once avidly engaged in dialogue with other Latter Day Saint factions, the church no longer has any official contact with any other organization. It is notable for its sole ownership of the Temple Lot, which it has held for nearly 150 years. As of 2013, membership is 7,310 members in 11 countries. Most of the members live in the United States, but there are parishes in Canada, Mexico, Honduras, Nigeria, Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Tanzania, India, and the Philippines.
The Latter Day Saint movement is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Joseph Smith in the late 1820s.
The Latter Day Saint movement is a religious movement within Christianity that arose during the Second Great Awakening in the early 19th century and that led to the set of doctrines, practices, and cultures called Mormonism, and to the existence of numerous Latter Day Saint churches. Its history is characterized by intense controversy and persecution in reaction to some of the movement's doctrines and practices and their relationship to mainstream Christianity. The purpose of this article is to give an overview of the different groups, beliefs, and denominations that began with the influence of Joseph Smith.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has several unique teachings about Judaism and the House of Israel. The largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, teaches the belief that the Jewish people are God's chosen people and it also teaches the belief that its members share a common and literal Israelite ancestry with the Jewish people. It also teaches the belief that God is perpetually punishing the Jewish people for their part in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and they will not be forgiven until they are converted. Their conversion is connected to "the literal gathering of Israel", as stated in one of the faith's articles of faith.
The Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, usually referred to as the Remnant Church, is a denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. The prophet / president of the church is Terry W. Patience.
Restoration Branches movement is a Christian/Latter Day Saint religious sect which was formed in the 1980s by members of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in a reaction against the events of the RLDS 1984 world conference. The movement holds in the traditional RLDS theology of the 19th and early-to-mid 20th centuries and hold that events leading up to and surrounding the 1980s and decades since have introduced sweeping, fundamental changes into RLDS doctrine and practice which are illegitimate because they contradict the long-standing RLDS theological tradition this sect holds as true. It is also a part of the Mormon religion.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints focuses its doctrine and teaching on Jesus Christ; that he was the Son of God, born of Mary, lived a perfect life, performed miracles, bled from every pore in the Garden of Gethsemane, died on the cross, rose on the third day, appeared again to his disciples, and now resides, authoritatively, on the right hand side of God. In brief, some beliefs are in common with Catholics, Orthodox and Protestant traditions. However, teachings of the LDS Church differ significantly in other ways and encompass a broad set of doctrines, so that the above-mentioned denominations usually place the LDS Church outside the bounds of orthodox Christian teaching as summarized in the Nicene Creed.
The Church of Jesus Christ is a denomination of the Latter Day Saint movement headquartered in Independence, Missouri. It was formed on April 6, 1985 by individuals who had separated from the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, now the Community of Christ, due to certain doctrinal changes which took place in this organization during the 1970s and 80s, culminating in the adoption of Section 156 of the RLDS Doctrine and Covenants, which allowed women to be ordained to the priesthood. Unable to accept this or other doctrinal changes, a group of elders and members led by A.J. Cato, Robert Hall, Dennis Cato, Noel Goldsmith, Roger E Billings and Lloyd Cunningham, among others, formed Zion's Branch as a separate church. This organization no longer maintains a website, but despite this, many still claim to be proud members of the group. The meetinghouse was sold in April 2019 and is currently being repurposed.
Islam and Mormonism have been compared to one another ever since the earliest origins of the latter in the nineteenth century, often by detractors of one religion or the other—or both. For instance, Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, was referred to as "the modern Muhammad" by the New York Herald, shortly after his murder in June 1844. This epithet repeated a comparison that had been made from Smith's earliest career, one that was not intended at the time to be complimentary. Comparison of the Mormon and Muslim prophets still occurs today, sometimes for derogatory or polemical reasons but also for more scholarly and neutral purposes. Although Mormonism and Islam certainly have many similarities, there are also significant, fundamental differences between the two religions. Mormon–Muslim relations have historically been cordial; recent years have seen increasing dialogue between adherents of the two faiths, and cooperation in charitable endeavors. In terms of a mainstream Islamic as well as Christian perspective, Mormons are sometimes compared to Ahmadiyya in that they are sometimes not accepted as belonging within mainstream Christianity and Islam, respectively.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and a topical guide to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the life and influence of Joseph Smith:
Remnant fellowships are a loosely organized branch of the Latter Day Saint movement formed by individuals who accept alleged divine revelations received by Denver Snuffer Jr.. The Remnant Fellowships generally feel called to personal and social renewal preparatory to Christ's eventual second coming. According to movement beliefs, participants anticipate a coming time when remnants remain within the full restored covenant with Jesus Christ: an allusion to a belief that "The Bible, Book of Mormon, and modern revelation through the Prophet Joseph Smith, prophesy that the gospel of Jesus Christ would shift from the Gentile stewards of the gospel back to Israel in the last days." The movement places a renewed focus on individual communion with God, gifts of the spirit, tangible expressions of faith, and the eventual establishment of Zion. While the movement has no official name, the term "Snufferite" has been used to denote followers. Other designations include covenant of Christ movement and Denver Snuffer movement. Participants sometimes reference each other as "covenant Brother," "covenant Sister".
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