Latter Day Saint doctrines, beliefs, and practices
A to M: Adamic language, Animals, Angel, Authority, Birth control, Black people, Black people, Joseph Smith's views, Black segregation, Blood atonement, Celestial Kingdom, Chastity, Chosen people, Christian eschatology, Christian view of marriage, Zion, Continuous revelation, Curses of Cain and Ham, Ecumenical council, Exaltation (Mormonism), Ex-Mormon, Excommunication, Evolution, Fast Sunday, fast offering, Gender minorities, Gentile, Gifts of the Spirit in Mormonism, Great and abominable church, Great Apostasy, Holy of Holies, Homosexuality, Interracial marriage, Israelite, Kolob, LGBT rights, Marriage, Masturbation, Mormon fundamentalism
N to Z: Native Americans and Mormonism, Outer darkness, Penalty, Phrenology, Plan of Salvation, Polygamy, Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact, Premortal life, The Restoration, Revelation, Satan, Seer stone, Separation of church and state, Sexuality, Sexual orientation change efforts, Skin color, Solemn assembly, Sons of perdition, Spiritual wifery, Suicide Telestial Kingdom, Temple garment, Terrestrial Kingdom, Testimony, Urim and Thummim, Word of Wisdom
Latter Day Saint doctrines regarding deity
Adam-God theory, Creator god, Elohim, Exaltation, God, God the Father, Godhead (Christianity), Godhead (Mormonism), Heavenly Mother, Heavenly Parents, Henotheism, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ as the Messiah, Jesus, Nontrinitarianism, Omnipotence, Trinity, Divinization (Christian)
Latter Day Saint ordinances, rituals, and symbolism
Anointing of the Sick, Baptism for the dead, Baptism in Mormonism, Blood atonement, Eternal Marriage, Marriage, Infant baptism#Denominations and religious groups opposed to infant baptism, light of Christ (Latter Day Saints), Ordinance (Mormonism), Patriarchal blessing, Rebaptism (Mormonism), Sacrament meeting, Sacrament (Mormonism), Sealing (Latter Day Saints), Second anointing, Temple, Temple (Latter Day Saints), Temple (LDS Church), Temple architecture
Latter Day Saint hierarchy
A to M: Aaronic priesthood (Latter Day Saints), Anointed Quorum, Apostle (Latter Day Saints), Apostolic succession, Bishop (Latter Day Saints), Chapel, Choir, Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints), Clergy, Deacon (Latter Day Saints), Elder (Latter Day Saints), First Presidency, General authority, High council (Latter Day Saints), High priest (Latter Day Saints), Melchizedek priesthood, Missionary
N to Z: Patriarch (Latter Day Saints), Patriarchal priesthood, Presiding bishop, Presiding Patriarch, President of the Church, President of the Quorum of the Twelve, Priest (Latter Day Saints), Priesthood (Latter Day Saints), Priesthood Correlation Program, Primary (LDS Church), Prophet, seer, and revelator, Quorum (Latter Day Saints), Quorum of the Twelve, Quorums of the Seventy, Relief Society, Stake (Latter Day Saints), Teacher (Latter Day Saints), Ward (LDS Church), World Church Leadership Council
Mormonism and controversy
Anti-Mormonism, Black people and Mormonism, Controversies regarding the LDS Church, Common Latter-day Saint perceptions, Cultural Mormon, Jack Mormons, LGBT Mormon suicides, Mormonism and violence, Mormonism Unvailed, Ordain Women, US politics and the LDS Church, Search for the Truth (video), The God Makers (film), The God Makers II
History of the Latter Day Saint movement
Dates: 1831 polygamy revelation, 1843 polygamy revelation, 1890 Manifesto
A to M: Amboy Conference, Authoritarianism and Mormonism, Battle Creek, Utah, Blacks and Mormonism, Burned-over district, Cart, BYU LGBT history, Council of Fifty, Culture of the United States, Danite, Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret alphabet, Evolution, changes in teachings Execution by firing squad, Extermination Order, Transcontinental Railroad, First Vision, Forgery, Mormon War (1838)#Gallatin Election Day Battle, Hawn's Mill Massacre, History of Christianity, History of the Americas, History of the US, History of the LDS Church, History of the Latter Day Saint movement, Homosexuality, changes in teachings, Honeybee, Indian Placement Program, The Joseph Smith Papers, Joshua tree, Kirtland Safety Society, LGBT Mormon history timeline, Miracle of the Gulls, Mormon Battalion, Mormon handcart pioneers, Mormon pioneers, Mormon Reformation, Mormon Trail, Mormon War (1838), Mormonism and women, Mountain Meadows Massacre
N to Z: Nauvoo Expositor, Nauvoo Legion, Oath of vengeance, Pacific Islanders and Mormonism, Persecution of Christians, Polygamy, Priesthood Correlation Program, Rigdon's July 4th oration, Salamander Letter, Salt Sermon, School of the Prophets, Second Great Awakening, Short Creek raid, Slavery, Succession crisis (Latter Day Saints), Temple ceremony changes United States religious history University of Deseret, Utah War, Zelph, Zion's Camp
Significant dates in the Latter Day Saint movement
- December 23, 1805 - birth of Joseph Smith
- Spring of 1820 - Joseph Smith, age 14, was visited by God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ
- September 21, 1823 - Moroni The Angel visits Joseph Smith
- September 22, 1823 - Joseph Smith is shown the gold plates for the first time
- January 18, 1827 - Joseph Smith marries Emma Hale.
- September 22, 1827 - Joseph Smith receives the gold plates.
- May 15, 1829 - John The Baptist The Angel bestows the Aaron Priesthood upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery
- June 1829 - Peter James and John The Angels bestow the Melchizedek Priesthood upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery
- March 26, 1830 - 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon published in Palmyra, New York
- April 6, 1830 - Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints founded in Fayette, New York
- July 17, 1831 - The 1831 polygamy revelation in which Christ commands Smith's followers to take “wives of the Lamanites and Nephites [Native Americans].”
- 1832
- November 13, 1838 - birth of Joseph Fielding Smith
- July 12, 1843 - The 1843 polygamy revelation in which Christ commands polygamy in a “new and an everlasting covenant.”
- June 27, 1844 - Joseph and Hyrum Smith murdered in Carthage Jail, in Carthage, Illinois
- August 8, 1844 - Quorum of Twelve is created as the leading body of the church.
- February 10, 1846 - Many Mormons begin their migration from Nauvoo, Illinois to Great Salt Lake
- July 24, 1847 - Brigham Young arrives in Salt Lake Valley; Salt Lake City established
- 1857 - Mormons abandon Las Vegas
- October 6, 1890 - Wilford Woodruff issues the "1890 Manifesto" halting polygamy.
- 1904 - Joseph F. Smith issues a "Second Manifesto" against polygamy
Significant places in the Latter Day Saint movement
A to M: Adam-ondi-Ahman, Alberta, Arizona, Auditorium (Community of Christ), Beaver Island (Lake Michigan), Brigham Young University, Brigham Young University–Hawaii, Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center, Burlington, Wisconsin, Caldwell County, Missouri, Chihuahua (state), Church Office Building, Conference Center (LDS Church), Culture of Mexico, Davis County, Utah, Demographics of Greece, Demographics of Kiribati, Demographics of Mexico, Demographics of Niue, Demographics of Palau, Demographics of Swaziland, Demographics of the Marshall Islands, Downtown (Salt Lake City), Endowment House, Far West, Missouri, Finger Lakes, Fort Bridger, Hiram, Ohio, Independence, Missouri, Jackson County, Missouri, Kane County, Utah, Kirtland, Ohio, Lā'ie, Hawai'i, Las Vegas, Nevada, Los Angeles, California, Missouri, Morgan County, Utah
N to Z: Nauvoo, Illinois, Palmyra, Platte River, Rich County, Utah, Salt Lake Assembly Hall, Salt Lake City, Utah, San Bernardino, California, Seagull Monument, Sharon, Vermont, State of Deseret, St. James Township, Michigan, Temple Lot, Temple Square, University of Utah, Utah, Utah Territory, Voree, Wisconsin, Zion (Latter Day Saints)
Latter Day Saint temples
A to M: Apia Samoa Temple, Atlanta Georgia Temple, Bern Switzerland Temple, Cardston Alberta Temple, Chicago Illinois Temple, Freiberg Germany Temple, Guayaquil Ecuador Temple, Hamilton New Zealand Temple, Hong Kong China Temple, Houston Texas Temple, Idaho Falls Idaho Temple, Independence temple, Jordan River Utah Temple, Kirtland Temple, Kona Hawaii Temple, Laie Hawaii Temple, Las Vegas Nevada Temple, Logan Utah Temple, London England Temple, Los Angeles California Temple, Manti Utah Temple, Mesa Arizona Temple
N to Z: Nauvoo Illinois Temple, Nauvoo Temple, Oakland California Temple, Ogden Utah Temple, Orlando Florida Temple, Nuku alofa Tonga Temple, Provo Utah Temple, Raleigh North Carolina Temple, Salt Lake Temple, São Paulo Brazil Temple, Seattle Washington Temple, St. George Utah Temple, Tokyo Japan Temple, Vernal Utah Temple, Washington, D.C. Temple
Brigham Young was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877. During his time as church president, Young led his followers, the Mormon pioneers, west from Nauvoo, Illinois, to the Salt Lake Valley. He founded Salt Lake City and served as the first governor of the Utah Territory. Young also worked to establish the learning institutions that would later become the University of Utah and Brigham Young University. A polygamist, Young had at least 56 wives and 57 children. He formalized the prohibition of black men attaining priesthood, and led the church in the Utah War against the United States.
The history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has three main periods, described generally as:
- the early history during the lifetime of Joseph Smith, which is in common with most Latter Day Saint movement churches;
- the "pioneer era" under the leadership of Brigham Young and his 19th-century successors;
- the modern era beginning in the early 20th century as the practice of polygamy was discontinued and many members sought reintegration into U.S. society.
Early Mormonism had a range of doctrines related to race with regards to Black people of African descent. References to Black people, their social condition during the 19th and 20th centuries, and their spiritual place in Western Christianity as well as in Mormon scripture were complicated.
In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is one of the governing bodies in the church hierarchy. Members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles are apostles, with the calling to be prophets, seers, and revelators, evangelical ambassadors, and special witnesses of Jesus Christ.
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.
Washing and anointing is a Latter-day Saint practice of ritual purification. It is a key part of the temple endowment ceremony as well as the controversial Second Anointing ceremony practiced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Mormon fundamentalists. It was also part of the female-only healing rituals among Latter-day Saints until at least the 1940s.
William Wines Phelps was an American author, composer, politician, and early leader of the Latter Day Saint movement. He printed the first edition of the Book of Commandments that became a standard work of the church and wrote numerous hymns, some of which are included in the current version of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' hymnal. He was at times both close to and at odds with church leadership. He testified against Joseph Smith, providing evidence that helped persuade authorities to arrest Smith. He was excommunicated three times and rejoined the church each time. He was a ghostwriter for Smith. Phelps was called by Smith to serve as assistant president of the church in Missouri and as a member of the Council of Fifty. After Smith's death, Phelps supported Brigham Young, who was the church's new president.
Polygamy in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or plural marriage, is generally believed to have originated with the founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith. According to several of his associates, Smith taught that polygamy was a divine commandment and practiced it personally, by some accounts marrying more than 30 women, some of whom had existing marriages to other men. Evidence for Smith's polygamy is provided by the church's "sealing" records, affidavits, letters, journals, and diaries. However, until his death, Smith and the leading church quorums denied that he preached or practiced polygamy. Smith's son Joseph Smith III, his widow Emma Smith, and the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints challenged the evidence and taught that Joseph Smith had opposed polygamy. They instead claimed that Brigham Young, the head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, introduced plural marriage after Smith's death. In 1852, leaders of the Utah-based LDS Church publicly announced the doctrine of polygamy.
This is a timeline of major events in Mormonism in the 20th century.
Community of Christ and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are two denominations that share a common heritage in the Church of Christ founded by Joseph Smith on April 6, 1830. Since Smith's death in 1844, they have evolved separately in belief and practices. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and claims more than 17 million members worldwide; Community of Christ is headquartered in Independence, Missouri, and reports a worldwide membership of approximately 250,000.
In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a temple is a building dedicated to be a House of the Lord. Temples are considered by church members to be the most sacred structures on earth.
In the theology of the Latter Day Saint movement, an endowment refers to a gift of "power from on high", typically associated with the ordinances performed in Latter Day Saint temples. The purpose and meaning of the endowment varied during the life of movement founder Joseph Smith. The term has referred to many such gifts of heavenly power, including the confirmation ritual, the institution of the High Priesthood in 1831, events and rituals occurring in the Kirtland Temple in the mid-1830s, and an elaborate ritual performed in the Nauvoo Temple in the 1840s.
This is a chronology of Mormonism. In the late 1820s, Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, announced that an angel had given him a set of golden plates engraved with a chronicle of ancient American peoples, which he had a unique gift to translate. In 1830, he published the resulting narratives as the Book of Mormon and founded the Church of Christ in western New York, claiming it to be a restoration of early Christianity.
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:
This is a bibliography of works on the Latter Day Saint movement.
