The LDS Restorationist movement, including Mormon Churches
Terms used in the LDS Restorationist movement
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Background:
There are almost 100 denominations and sects who trace their ancestry back to
the original Church of Christ established by Joseph Smith in 1830. Most
regard themselves as being the only true successor to Smith's church. Some refer
to themselves as "Mormons." Most do not. Some practice polygyny, a form of
polygamy. Others do not.
The largest of these denominations is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
They
call themselves Mormons and automatically excommunicate any member who practices
polygyny. They refuse to recognize other denominations as being legitimate heirs
to Joseph Smith's revelations or to the name "Mormon." Meanwhile, other
denominations that trace their ancestry back to Joseph Smith and who revere the
Book of Mormon regard themselves as the true Mormon church, and view The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
as apostates.
In such an environment, the LDS Restorationist denominations and sects define religious terms
very differently. The definitions that we use on this web site are listed below. We recognize
that they will be acceptable to some, but not all, believer's in Joseph Smith's message.
Definitions used:
Restorationism: (a.k.a. "Restorationist Movement")
This is a group of largely unrelated Christian denominations who share one
important belief
in common -- that Christianity went terribly astray early in its history. During the Great Apostasy, Christians abandoned many of the original teachings
of Yeshua of Nazareth (Jesus Christ), Paul, and other apostles. At least
initially, Restorationist faith groups believe that they, and they alone, restored
Christianity to its original form. They include denominations as diverse as:
LDS Restorationism: (a.k.a. "LDS Restorationist Movement")
This consists of those Restorationist faith groups who trace their ancestry
back to Joseph Smith's original movement, the Church of Christ which
he established by in 1830
CE.
These groups believe that:
The true Christian church died out circa 100 CE, when
the apostles had died and the surviving religious leaders abandoned
many of the original teachings of Jesus Christ, Paul, and the other apostles.
Jesus and God, as separate entities, visited Joseph Smith in 1820 and told
him to not join any of the existing Christian denominations because they were
all in serious error.
True Christianity was restored to the world only when Smith founded
the Church of Christ.
Today, LDS Restorationism includes:
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (a.k.a.
Mormons, The Church of Jesus Christ, LDS); this is by far the largest
LDS Restorationist denomination with over 12 million members;
The Community of Christ with about 250,000 members;
The Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonites) with about 10,000
members;
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS)
with about 10,000 members; and
Many dozens of other faith groups, all small.
The Community of Christ has since abandoned the belief in Restorationism.
However, it is frequently cited as a LDS Restorationist denomination because it
traces its history to Joseph Smith's original church.
"Prairie Saint" denominations and sects within LDS
Restorationism: These are those faith groups who remained
in the U.S. mid-west after Joseph Smith's assassination in 1844, and the
successors to those groups. Those that still exist today include:
The Restored Church of Jesus Christ (Eugene O. Walton)
The Church of Christ (Temple Lot)
The Church of Christ with the Elijah Message
The Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
The Restoration Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
"Rocky Mountain Saint" denominations
and sects within LDS Restorationism: This group consists of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which followed Brigham Young to the Great
Salt Lake in Utah, as well as schismatic groups that later split away. They include:
The
True & Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days
Reform Mormonism
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:This is by far the largest denomination within the LDS Restoration movement
with over 12 million members. They are referred to as Mormons, The Church of Jesus Christ,
LDS, LDS Church, Mormon Church,
Latter-day Saints, or the Church. In this web site, we often refer to them as the
LDS
Church.
They believe that only the LDS Church should be called "Mormon."
Edwin Slack of the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research
(FAIR) responded to a question posted in the Mormon Times on 2008-AUG:
"What's wrong with calling the FLDS Mormon?
He replied:
What is the difference between the name "Mormon" and the name "Christian"?
Well, for one thing "Mormon" is a registered trademark in many countries and
belongs to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. To protect that
trademark, the church is required to actively discourage its use elsewhere. This
is similar to using the term "Scotch tape" to refer to any brand of cellophane
tape or Xerox to refer to copying something. Those companies have to actively
discourage such use of their name or they may lose the right to protect their
name.
"Christian" however is a broad category of religious belief and embraces many
differing faiths and creeds. It is a widely accepted term to indicate a believer
in the teachings of Jesus Christ. The term embraces all Catholic, Protestant,
Reformist and, yes, even restorationist sects like the LDS Church. That there
are other restorationist sects that claim Joseph Smith Jr. is not in doubt; but
if they are not members of the LDS Church, then they are not officially
"Mormon," but they are Christian.
Now, does this stop people from calling people from these other sects "Mormon"?
Of course not. No more than it stops people from calling any gelatin based
dessert, Jell-O. But that doesn't make it correct, and the church is required by
law to act to protect its trademark or lose it.
During the recent news events surrounding the Texas roundup of FLDS children, my
wife received an e-mail from a cousin in another country, berating us for being
"Mormon" because she lumped our church together with the FLDS. After explaining
the difference, she apologized and explained that the news she read didn't
distinguish the two sects. This is the kind of misunderstanding the church wants
to avoid by maintaining the consistency of the term "Mormon." It is not meant to
be pejorative.
On the other hand, attempts by some evangelical groups to deny us the term
"Christian" is meant to be pejorative. They wish to deny us membership in the
broader Christian community. They have no claim upon the term to limit its use,
and, the use of the term to refer to LDS does not create any confusion.
They do have proper labels that distinguish them from other Christians. Whether
those labels are broad like Protestant or evangelical, or more narrow like
Baptist, Methodist or Presbyterian, such labels allow them to identify
themselves more narrowly.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints belongs under the broad umbrella
of Christianity because we do believe in Jesus Christ, we do preach him
crucified and resurrected, we do have faith in his Atonement, we do love him for
his grace and mercy, and we do trust in his eventual return. 4
Mormons:
The original use of the term "Mormon" was derived from the Book of
Mormon in the early 19th century by other Christians. It was considered a derogatory term
at the time.
Since the 1970s, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
has used the term to refer to their own membership. They regard
their group as the only legitimate descendent of Joseph Smith's original Church of Christ,
founded in 1830.
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
refer to their members as "Original Mormons" or "Fundamentalist
Mormons." 1
Most of the other denominations and sects
in the LDS Restoration movement do not use the term "Mormon."
Our policy is to use the term "Mormon" only where the faith group
being discussed also uses it.
Sponsored links:
References used:
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above
essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
Suzan Mazur, "Seven brides for one brother: Plural marriage is rife in the western United States," Financial Times, 2000, at:
http://www.childpro.org/
"Do Mormons Practice Polygamy? NO. Mormons and polygamy -- here are the facts:" Intellectual Reserve, Inc., 2008, at:
http://www.mormonsandpolygamy.org/
Edwin Slack, "Reader asks: What's wrong with calling the FLDS Mormon?"
Mormon Times, 2008-AUG-28, at:
http://mormontimes.com/
