Portal:Latter Day Saint movement

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Introduction

The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded in the United States by Joseph Smith in the late 1820s.

Collectively, these churches have nearly 18 million nominal members. The vast majority, more than 17 million, belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). About 250,000 belong to the Community of Christ, formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The remainder belong to other denominations with memberships generally ranging in the thousands. The predominant theology of the churches in the movement is Mormonism, which sees itself as restoring again on Earth the 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 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 continuing revelation, an open canon of scripture and building 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 polygamy. One source has estimated that over 400 denominations have sprung from founder Joseph Smith's original movement. (Full article...)

List of denominations • Timeline of Mormonism

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The following are images from various Latter Day Saint movement-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Mormon pioneers crossing the Mississippi on the ice (from Mormons)
Image 2Mormons see Jesus Christ as the premier figure of their religion. (from Mormons)
Image 3A depiction of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery receiving Priesthood authority from John the Baptist (from Mormonism)
Image 4The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ (from Mormonism)
Image 5A stained glass window of Joseph Smith's 1820 First Vision (from Mormons)
Image 6Global distribution of LDS Church members in 2009 (from Mormons)
Image 7The Salt Lake Temple, a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah (from Mormonism)
Image 8A depiction of Joseph Smith's First Vision (from Mormonism)
Image 9Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon movement. (from Mormonism)
Image 10Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon movement. (from Mormonism)
Image 11A statue commemorating the Mormon handcart pioneers (from Mormons)
Image 12A depiction of Joseph Smith's First Vision (from Mormonism)
Image 13Mormons believe that the U.S. Constitution is the result of divine inspiration. Fundamentalists believe in the related White Horse Prophecy. (from Mormonism)
Image 14Joseph Smith marshalling the Nauvoo Legion (from History of the Latter Day Saint movement)
Image 15The 360-member Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square (from Mormons)
Image 16Depiction of God the Father and Jesus Christ as two distinct beings appearing to Joseph Smith, Jr. during his "First Vision", reflecting Mormonism's Non-trinitarian theology. (from Mormonism and Nicene Christianity)
Image 17A Mormon meetinghouse used for Sunday worship services in Brazil (from Mormons)
Image 18Map of the eastern United States, showing locations important to the Latter Day Saint movement from 1830 to 1839 (from History of the Latter Day Saint movement)
Image 19The Salt Lake Temple, a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah (from Mormonism)
Image 20The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ (from Mormonism)
Image 21Mormons see Jesus Christ as the premier figure of their religion. (from Mormonism)
Image 22A depiction of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery receiving Priesthood authority from John the Baptist (from Mormonism)
Image 23Mormons see Jesus Christ as the premier figure of their religion. (from Mormonism)
Image 24A Latter Day Saint confirmation c. 1852 (from Mormons)
Image 25Joseph Smith receiving the golden plates (from History of the Latter Day Saint movement)
Image 26Mormons believe that the U.S. Constitution is the result of divine inspiration. Fundamentalists believe in the related White Horse Prophecy. (from Mormonism)

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Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs is an autobiography by American author Elissa Wall detailing her childhood in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) and subsequent later life outside of the church. It was first published by William Morrow and Company in 2008.

Wall was born into a polygamous family in Salt Lake City and grew up attending the FLDS-run Alta Academy. She describes her living situation as tense; familial relations were further complicated when her mother was reassigned to marry another man in Hildale, Utah. FLDS leaders orchestrated a marriage between Wall, then 14, and her 19-year-old cousin, Allen Steed, an arrangement she vehemently opposed. During their four-year marriage, Steed abused her sexually and psychologically, and Wall eventually began an affair with Lamont Barlow, a 25-year-old former member of the FLDS. Barlow later persuaded her to leave the church and to press charges against Steed and Warren Jeffs, the FLDS "prophet" who performed the wedding ceremony. (Full article...)

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The Yearning for Zion Ranch, or the YFZ Ranch, was a 1,700-acre (690-hectare) Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) cult community of as many as 700 people, located near Eldorado in Schleicher County, Texas, United States. In April 2014, the State of Texas took physical and legal possession of the property. As of 2019, the property was in the process of being sold to the Dallas-based firm ETG Properties LLC, who were already leasing it for use as a military and law enforcement training facility. (Full article...)

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Selected schismatic histories

The Community of Christ, known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS) from 1872 to 2001, is a US-based international church, and is the second-largest denomination in the Latter-day Saint movement. The church reports approximately 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. His eldest son, Joseph Smith III, formally accepted leadership of the church on April 6, 1860, in the aftermath of the 1844 death of Joseph Smith.

Community of Christ is a Restorationist faith, but many practices and beliefs are congruent with mainline Protestant Christianity. While it generally rejects the term Mormon to describe its members, the church abides by a number of theological distinctions unusual outside Mormonism, including but not limited to: ongoing prophetic leadership, a priesthood polity, the use of the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants as scripture, belief in the cause of Zion, the building of temples, and adherence to their interpretation of the Word of Wisdom. In many respects, the church differs from the larger Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and most other Latter Day Saint denominations in its religious liberalism, belief in a more traditional conception of the trinity (as opposed to the social trinitarianism of the godhead), and rejection of exaltation and the plan of salvation. Salvation is considered a personal matter and not subject to dogma, but salvation by grace alone is emphasized. The church considers itself to be non-creedal and accepts people with a wide range of beliefs. Church teachings emphasize that "all are called" as "persons of worth" to "share the peace of Christ". (Full article...)

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Key biographies

Joseph Smith III (November 6, 1832 – December 10, 1914) was the eldest surviving son of Joseph Smith (founder of the Latter Day Saint movement) and Emma Hale Smith. Joseph Smith III was the Prophet-President of what became the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS Church), renamed Community of Christ in 2001, which considers itself a continuation of the church established by Smith's father in 1830. Smith presided over the church for 54 years from 1860 until his death in 1914. Smith's moderate ideas and nature set much of the tone for the church's development, earning him the sobriquet of "the pragmatic prophet". (Full article...)

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The Kirtland Temple, dedicated on March 27, 1836, making it the first temple to be built by adherents of the Latter Day Saint movement. Currently owned and operated by the Community of Christ.

Did you know (auto generated)

... that it is debated whether or not Nephites used minted coins?
... that an unnamed abuse survivor risks her life to become a spy in "one of the bravest actions in all of the Book of Mormon"?
... that Songs and Flowers of the Wasatch represented a shift in Mormon history toward a "socially-accepted American cultural and religious heritage", according to historian Jennifer Reeder?

Selected Anniversaries

Spring of 1820: Joseph Smith, age 14, was visited by God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.
26 March 1830: 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon published in Palmyra, New York.(printer press pictured)
27 March 1836: The Kirtland Temple was dedicated in an eight-hour service.
1 March 1842: The Wentworth letter, containing the Articles of Faith, was first published.
10 March 2000: In LDS Cinema, the film God's Army was released.

Selected quote

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I would rather that this people should starve to death in the mountains, than to have the Lord Almighty hand us over to a cursed, infernal mob. I would rather go down to the grave in peace than to fight a mob, unless the Lord would give me enough Saints to fight and kill the poor devils; in such case I wish to live and fight them. But I never want to see a mob again drive and tread under foot the Saints.

”

— Brigham Young, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

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