Latter Day Saint movement

This article is about this religious movement's origins and general makeup. For treatments of component denominations, see List of denominations in the Latter Day Saint movement.
See also: Mormonism and Mormons
Mormons see Jesus Christ as the premier figure of their religion.
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The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement)[1] is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Joseph Smith in the late 1820s.

Collectively, these churches have over 17 million nominal members, including over 17 million belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church),[2][3] 250,000 in Community of Christ,[4] and several other denominations with memberships generally ranging in the thousands of members. 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.[5][6][7]

  1. ^ Shields, Steven L. (2012). "Proposing an Academic Name for the Movement". Restoration Studies. 13: 47–60. ISBN 9781934901830.
  2. ^ Noyce, David (1 April 2023). "Global LDS membership reaches a new high. See how it got a post-COVID boost". Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  3. ^ Taylor, Scott (November 1, 2023). "With full-time missionary numbers exceeding 72,000, Church to create 36 new missions worldwide". Church News. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Community of Christ and Consolidated Affiliates Consolidated Financial Report" (PDF). December 31, 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 7, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  5. ^ Russell, William D. (Winter 2005). "An RLDS Schismatic Group Finds a Prophet of Joseph's Seed" (PDF). Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. 38 (3). doi:10.2307/45227375. JSTOR 45227375.
  6. ^ Adams, Brooke (August 9, 2005), "LDS Splinter Groups Growing", The Salt Lake Tribune, retrieved 2014-01-08
  7. ^ Handy, Grace (2024-02-27). "The twisted world of Warren Jeffs: Former FLDS members speak out". ABC News. Retrieved 2024-05-27.