Editing Latter Day Saint movement (section)

==Beliefs==
{{main|Mormonism}}

{{See also|Mormonism and Nicene Christianity|Christian theology|Teachings of Joseph Smith}}

Most members of Latter Day Saint churches are adherents to [[Mormonism]], a theology based on Joseph Smith's later teachings and further developed by Brigham Young, James Strang and others who claimed to be Smith's successors. The [[Mormon (word)|term ''Mormon'']] derives from the [[Book of Mormon]], and most of these adherents refer to themselves as Latter Day Saints or Mormons. Mormonism and Christianity have a complex theological, historical, and sociological relationship. Mormons express the doctrines of Mormonism using standard biblical terminology, and claim to have similar views about the nature of [[Jesus in Christianity|Jesus]]' [[Atonement in Christianity|atonement]], [[resurrection of Jesus|resurrection]], and [[Second Coming]] as traditional [[Christianity]]. Nevertheless, Mormons agree with non-Mormons that [[God in Mormonism|their view of God]] is significantly different from the trinitarian view of the [[Nicene Creed]] of the 4th century.<ref>{{Cite book| last=Shipps| first=Jan| title=Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition| year=1985| publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]]| location=Chicago| isbn=0-252-01417-0|pages=148–49|quote=Mormonism differs from traditional Christianity in much the same fashion that traditional Christianity ... came to differ from Judaism.}}</ref>

Mormons consider the Bible as scripture and have also adopted additional scriptures. These include the Book of Mormon, [[Doctrine and Covenants]], and [[Pearl of Great Price (Mormonism)|Pearl of Great Price]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Scriptures |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/eng/manual/gospel-topics/scriptures |access-date=2023-02-10 |website=churchofjesuschrist.org |language=en}}</ref> although not all denominations use all books as part of their scriptures. Mormons not only practice [[Baptism#Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|baptism]] and celebrate the [[Eucharist#Latter-day Saints|eucharist]] but also participate in [[religious ritual]]s not practiced in traditional Christianity.<ref name="Mason 2015"/> Focusing on differences, some Christians consider Mormonism "non-Christian"; members of the LDS Church, focusing on similarities, are offended at being so characterized.<ref>{{Cite book| first1=Rodney| last1=Stark| first2=Reid Larkin| last2=Neilson| title=The rise of Mormonism| publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]| year=2005| isbn=9780231136341| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IN4QeS38Qk0C&q=Mormonism+Christianity&pg=PA14|p=14}}</ref> Mormons do not accept non-Mormon baptism. Mormons regularly [[proselytize]] individuals actually or nominally within the Christian tradition, and some Christians, especially [[evangelical Christianity|evangelicals]], proselytize Mormons.{{efn|There are a number of books by evangelical Christians that explain how evangelicals can approach witnessing to Mormons including the following:<ref>{{cite book|first=David L.|last=Rowe |year=2005|title=I Love Mormons: A New Way to Share Christ with Latter-day Saints|publisher=Baker Books|isbn=978-0-8010-6522-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Ron|last=Rhodes|year=2001|title=The 10 Most Important Things You Can Say to a Mormon|publisher=Harvest House|isbn=978-0-7369-0534-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Mark J.|last=Cares |year=1998|title=Speaking the Truth in Love to Mormons|publisher=Wels Outreach Resources|isbn=978-1-893702-06-6}}</ref>}} The LDS Church has a formal missionary program with nearly 70,000 missionaries, with 15 training centers and 407 missions worldwide.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mormonnewsroom.org|title=LDS News {{!}} Mormon News – Official Newsroom of the Church|website=mormonnewsroom.org|access-date=2018-10-17}}</ref> A prominent scholarly view is that Mormonism is a form of Christianity, but is distinct enough from traditional Christianity so as to form a new religious tradition, much as Christianity has roots in but is a distinct religion from Judaism.<ref>{{Cite book| last=Shipps| first=Jan| title=Sojourner in the promised land: forty years among the Mormons| year=2000| publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]]| location=Chicago| isbn=0-252-02590-3|p=338}}</ref>

The Mormonism that originated with Smith in the 1820s shared strong similarities with some elements of 19th-century [[Protestant Christianity]] including the necessity of baptism, emphasis on family, and central doctrine on Christ as a means to salvation. However, beginning with his accounts of the [[First Vision]] in the 1830s and 1840s, Smith—who said that Christ had told him not to join any existing church—departed significantly from traditional Christianity, claiming all churches of his day were part of a Great Apostasy that had lost the authority to direct Christ's church. Mormonism does not characterize itself as a Protestant religion, as Smith taught that he had received revelation direct from Christ to restore his original church. Mormons believe that God, through Smith and his successors, restored these truths and doctrinal clarifications, and, initiating a new heavenly dispensation, restored the original church and Christianity taught by Jesus. For example, Smith rejected the [[Nicene Creed|Nicene]] doctrine of the [[Trinity]] as of one body and substance, with no "body, parts, or passions", and instead taught that the [[Godhead (Latter Day Saints)|Godhead]] included God, the Eternal Father, also known as [[Elohim]]; his only-begotten son in the flesh, Jesus Christ, also known as [[Jehovah]], the savior and redeemer of the world; and the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit, an individual personage of spirit whose influence can be felt in many places at once. Further, Smith taught that the essence of all humans is co-eternal with God and that humans, as the spirit offspring of God the Father, have the potential to become like God. The LDS Church, the largest Mormon denomination, while acknowledging its differences with mainstream Christianity, often focuses on its commonalities, which are many, the most important of which is that Christ is the savior of the world and that he suffered for the world's sins so that the penitent can return to live in heaven.<ref name="Mason 2015">{{cite encyclopedia |author-last=Mason |author-first=Patrick Q. |author-link=Patrick Q. Mason |date=3 September 2015 |title=Mormonism |url=https://oxfordre.com/religion/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-75 |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion |location=[[Oxford]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.75 |isbn=9780199340378 |doi-access= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181130060403/https://oxfordre.com/religion/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-75 |archive-date=30 November 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=15 January 2023|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

A small fraction of Latter Day Saints, most notably those within Community of Christ, the second largest Latter Day Saint denomination, follow a traditional Protestant theology. Community of Christ views God in trinitarian terms, and reject the distinctive theological developments they believe to have been developed later in Mormonism.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Stack |first1=Peggy Fletcher |title=Here are some Community of Christ theological stances that differ from those of Latter-day Saints |url=https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2021/11/14/here-are-some-community/ |access-date=16 January 2023 |work=The Salt Lake Tribune |date=14 November 2021}}</ref>

===''Saint''-designation of members===
The beliefs within the LDS Church with regard to saints are similar but not quite the same as the Protestant tradition. In the [[New Testament]], saints are all those who have entered into the Christian covenant of baptism. The qualification "latter-day" refers to the doctrine that members are living in the "latter days", before the [[Second Coming of Christ]], and is used to distinguish the members of the church, which considers itself the restoration of the ancient Christian church.<ref>{{cite web |last= Smith |first= Joseph Jr |author-link= Joseph Smith Jr |title= Pearl of Great Price |url= http://lds.org/library/display/0,4945,106-1-2-1,FF.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20000817204117/http://www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,106-1-2-1,FF.html|url-status= dead|archive-date= 2000-08-17}}</ref> Members are therefore often referred to as "[[Latter-day Saints]]" or "LDS", and among themselves, "saints".<ref>{{cite magazine|first=M. Russell |last=Ballard|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2007/10/faith-family-facts-and-fruits?lang=eng |title=Faith, Family, Facts, and Fruits|magazine=Ensign|date=Nov 2007|pages=25–27|publisher=[[LDS Church]]}}</ref>

===Restoration===
{{main|Restoration (Latter Day Saints)}}
The Latter Day Saint movement classifies itself within Christianity, but as a distinct restored [[Dispensation (period)#Latter Day Saint dispensations|dispensation]]. Latter Day Saints hold that a [[Great Apostasy#Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|Great Apostasy]] began in Christianity not long after the [[ascension of Jesus]],<ref name = PMG35>{{Cite book |author= Missionary Department of the LDS Church |author-link= The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |title= Preach My Gospel |publisher= [[LDS Church]], Inc |year= 2004 |pages= 35 |url= https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/additionalmanuals/preachgospel/PreachMyGospel___06_03-1_TheRestoration__36617_eng_006.pdf |isbn= 0-402-36617-4 |access-date= 2011-10-07 }}</ref><ref>2 Thessalonians 2:3</ref> marked with the corruption of Christian doctrine by [[Greek philosophy|Greek]] and other philosophies,<ref name = GA>{{Cite book |last= Talmage |first= James E. |author-link= James E. Talmage |title= The Great Apostasy |publisher= The Deseret News |year= 1909  |url= https://archive.org/details/greatapostasycon00atalm/page/n7/mode/2up}}</ref>{{rp|pp=64–65}} and followers dividing into different ideological groups.<ref name = MARV1>{{Cite book |last= Richards |first= LeGrand |author-link= LeGrand Richards |title= [[A Marvelous Work and a Wonder]] |publisher= Deseret Book Company |year= 1976 |pages= 24 |isbn= 0-87747-161-4}}</ref>
Additionally, Latter Day Saints claim the martyrdom of the [[Apostles in the New Testament|apostles]] led to a loss of [[Priesthood (Latter Day Saints)|priesthood authority]] to administer the church and its [[Ordinance (Latter Day Saints)|ordinances]].<ref name = GA/>{{rp|p=68}}<ref name = Eyring>{{Citation |last= Eyring |first= Henry B. |author-link= Henry B. Eyring |title= The True and Living Church |url= https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2008/05/the-true-and-living-church?lang=eng |journal= Ensign |publisher= LDS Church |pages= 20–24 |date= May 2008}}</ref>

According to Latter Day Saint churches, God re-established the [[Early Christianity|early Christian]] church as found in the New Testament through Joseph Smith.{{efn|Smith's restoration was slightly different from other ''restorationists'' of the era (for instance, that of Alexander Campbell). Instead of analyzing the Bible, Smith claimed to write and interpret scripture as the biblical prophets did.<ref>{{Cite book|last = Bushman|first = Richard Lyman|author-link = Richard Bushman|title = Mormonism: A Very Short Introduction|year = 2008|place = New York|publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]|isbn = 978-0-19-531030-6}}</ref>}} In particular, Latter Day Saints believe that angels such as [[Saint Peter|Peter]], [[James, son of Zebedee|James]], [[John the Apostle|John]], and [[John the Baptist]] appeared to Smith and others and bestowed various priesthood authorities on them.<ref>See [[Joseph Smith–History]] [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/pgp/js-h/1.69-72?lang=eng 1:69, 72] and [[Doctrine and Covenants]] [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/84?lang=eng 84:19–21]</ref> Thus, Smith and his successors are considered modern [[prophet]]s who receive [[revelation (Latter Day Saints)|revelation]] from God to guide the church.<ref name="Mason 2015"/>