Christian faith groups

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The LDS Restorationist movement,
including Mormon denominations

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Background:

The LDS Restoration movement is made up of denominations, sects, and small faith groups who trace their origins back to the Church of Christ which Joseph Smith's founded in 1830.

The Church of Christ was renamed the Church of Latter Day Saints in 1834, then became the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1838. Following Smith's assassination by a mob in 1844, problems arose about the choice of a new leader. This caused schism within the church, which resulted in the creation of a number of new faith groups. The largest faction, under the leadership of Brigham Young, started on a long trek to Salt Lake in what is now Utah. Other groups remained in the mid-west.

The Utah group changed the capitalization and punctuation of their name to became The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1851. It is now called by the latter title (no pun intended), and is often referred to as the LDS, LDS Church, Mormon Church, Latter-day Saints, the Church, or The Church of Jesus Christ. It remains by far the largest denomination in the LDS Restoration movement.

Many schisms followed so that the present-day LDS Restoration movement consists of almost a hundred faith groups.

The membership of the LDS Church and of some other groups within the LDS Restoration movement are often referred to as "Mormons" by the media and general public. However, only the LDS Church and a few other faith groups use this term themselves. Further, the LDS Church objects to any reference to other denominations having any claim to the term "Mormon."

In an essay on the LDS church in Christianity Today -- the leading evangelical Christian magazine -- Robert Millet and Gerald McDermott stated:

"Historically, evangelicals and Mormons have demonized each other. Evangelicals consider the Church of Latter-day Saints to be a cult and typically think Mormons are not real Christians." ₁

In the opposite direction, Mormons accept evangelicals and many other Christian denominations as Christian groups. However Mormons also believe that the Christian movement deviated from the true message of the Gospel after the apostles died in the first century CE.

Topics covered in this section:

The LDS Restorationist movement:

Groups within the Restorationist movement:

Before sending a letter of complaint:

Copyright © 1995 to 2008 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2008-APR-23
Author: B.A. Robinson