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51-733: Smith and his associates asserted that the Church of Christ was a restoration of the 1st-century early Christian church , which Smith claimed had fallen from God's favor and authority because of what he called a " Great Apostasy ". After Smith's death in 1844, there was a crisis of authority , with the majority of the members following Brigham Young to the Salt Lake Valley , but with several smaller denominations remaining in Illinois or settling in Missouri and in other states. Each of

102-485: A formal church organization. Nevertheless, this community of believers referred to themselves as "the Church of Christ", and included converts in three New York towns: Fayette , Manchester , and Colesville . In June 1829, Smith dictated a revelation stating that "in [the Book of Mormon] are all things written, concerning my church, my gospel, and my rock. Wherefore if you shall build up my church, and my gospel, and my rock,

153-608: A headnote to the earliest known version of chapter XXII of the Book of Commandments says that the revelation was dictated in Fayette on April 6, 1830, after the church was organized. This was changed to "Manchester" when the book was published in 1833. Officially, the major denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement claim Fayette as the birthplace of the religion, and Smith's official history, begun in 1838, listed Fayette as

204-527: A hyphen. After Smith's death, competing Latter Day Saint denominations organized under the leadership of a number of successors. The largest of these, led by Brigham Young and now based in Salt Lake City, Utah , continued using "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" until incorporating in 1851, when the church standardized the spelling of its name as " The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints " (LDS Church). Followers of James J. Strang use

255-527: Is recorded in one of the standard works , the Doctrine and Covenants . Additional details and background of the church in Smith's era is presented in the church's seven volume History of the Church . In regard to the restoration of priesthood authority, Smith dictated the following passage found in Doctrine and Covenants 128:20–21: And again, what do we hear?...The voice of Peter , James , and John in

306-677: Is to come, confirming our hope! In reflecting upon the responsibilities of teaching the constant revelations he received, Smith stated: It is my meditation all the day, and more than my meat and drink, to know how I shall make the Saints of God comprehend the visions that roll like an overflowing surge before my mind. As part of the process of the restoration, Joseph Smith stated that a number of personages appeared to him to deliver messages, priesthood authority, or other instruction from God. These personages appeared either as resurrected beings or as translated beings. According to H. Donl Peterson ,

357-645: Is uncertain whether this occurred in the home of Peter Whitmer Sr. in Fayette, New York , or whether it occurred in the log home of Joseph Smith Sr. near their property in Manchester, New York . Soon after this formal organization, small branches were formally established in Manchester, Fayette , and Colesville . Although the purpose was to effect a legal organization, it may have had no legal effect since no records of incorporation have been found in either

408-814: The New Testament , and to prepare the earth for the Second Coming of Jesus . In particular, Latter Day Saints believe that angels appeared to Joseph Smith and others and bestowed various priesthood authorities on them. According to the LDS Church, the Great Apostasy in Christianity began not long after the ascension of Jesus Christ . It was marked with the corruption of Christian doctrine by Greek and other philosophies, with followers dividing into different ideological groups, and

459-695: The martyrdom of the apostles which led to a loss of priesthood authority to administer the church and its ordinances . With all priesthood authorities either martyred , taken from the earth, or teaching impure doctrines, there was a break in apostolic succession , and what remained was a mere fragment of the church established by Jesus. The Christian believers who survived the persecutions took it upon themselves to speak for God, interpret, amend or add to his doctrines and ordinances, and carry out his work without proper authority and divine direction from God. During this time, important doctrines and rites were lost or corrupted. Latter-day Saints specifically reject

510-422: The restoration refers to a return of the authentic priesthood power , spiritual gifts , ordinances , living prophets and revelation of the primitive Church of Christ after a long period of apostasy . While in some contexts the term may also refer to the early history of Mormonism, in other contexts the term is used in a way to include the time that has elapsed from the church's earliest beginnings until

561-472: The "Latter Days" of the world, that is, the time immediately prior to the Second Coming of Jesus . The fact that a number of the churches of the Restoration Movement were also named the " Church of Christ " caused a considerable degree of confusion in the first years of the Latter Day Saint movement. Because of the distinct belief in the Book of Mormon among Smith's followers, people outside

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612-578: The "church of God, or the church of Christ". The book described the clergy in Alma's church as consisting of priests, who were unpaid and were to "preach nothing save it were repentance and faith in the Lord". Alma later established many churches (or congregations), which were considered "one church" because "there was nothing preached in all the churches except it were repentance and faith in God." In addition to priests,

663-628: The "restitution of all things" mentioned in Acts 3:20–21 and claim that a restoration of all the original and primary doctrines and rites of Christianity was necessary. Adherents believe that important historical events such as the Protestant Reformation and the establishment of the United States Constitution , which explicitly allows for freedom of religion in its First Amendment , were necessary antecedents to

714-802: The Book of Mormon also stated that there were "two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil". Also in May 1829, Smith and Oliver Cowdery said they were visited by John the Baptist in angelic form, who conferred the Aaronic priesthood on them, which included the authority to baptize in Jesus Christ's name. Smith and Cowdery then baptized each other by immersion. They also baptized dozens of people, as early as June 1829. These converts, however, did not belong to

765-476: The Church believe is one of the keystones of their religion, and are encouraged to read it along with the Bible, teaches that "all men are alike unto God" and that "When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God (Mosiah 2:17)". Missionaries of the LDS Church challenge all people everywhere to read the book for themselves, and pray to God to know if it is true. They believe that

816-693: The Church of Christ The " Articles of the Church of Christ " was an 1829 revelation purportedly given by God to Oliver Cowdery in the early history of the Latter Day Saint movement . The original Articles were never included in the Mormon canon; however, the language of much of the Articles found its way into various sections of the Book of Commandments and the Doctrine and Covenants , such as D&C 20. The Article begins, "A commandment from God unto Oliver how he should build up his church &

867-631: The Church of Christ, the LDS Church, accepts Fayette as the official location of the organizing meeting. By later accounts, the April 6 organizational meeting was a charismatic event, in which members of the congregation had visions, prophesied , spoke in tongues , ecstatically shouted praises to the Lord, and fainted. At this meeting, the church formally ordained a lay ministry, with the priesthood offices of deacon , teacher , priest , and elder . Smith and Cowdery, according to their 1831 account, were each ordained as "an apostle of Jesus Christ, an elder of

918-534: The Elijah Message all claim to have been organized by Smith on April 6, 1830, the date on which the Church of Christ was organized. Other denominations, such as The Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite), acknowledge that their organizations were created after this date, but nevertheless claim to be a re-establishment of the original church. In an 1880 lawsuit , an Ohio court held that the RLDS Church

969-495: The Father and Jesus Christ ) instructed him not to join any churches, for "all their creeds were an abomination." Smith described another vision in 1823 as being visited in his bedroom by an " angel Moroni ", who told him of a record of an ancient people written in an ancient language on golden plates . After repeated visits by this angel in successive years, Smith described receiving and translating this ancient record and publishing

1020-623: The Manchester–Palmyra area, the Fayette area, or in several other counties around this time period, as required by state law at the time: the church evidently did not follow the required legal formalities. Prior to 1834, all church publications and documents stated that the church was organized in the Smith log home in Manchester, New York . The first Smith log home was located on the Samuel Jennings property in Palmyra, just north of

1071-639: The Revelator in the New Testament . Members of the LDS Church maintain that other religions have a portion of the truth, mingled with inaccuracies. They also maintain that many other religions advance many good causes and do much good among the people insofar as they are led by the light of Christ, "which lighteth every man that cometh into the world" (John 1:9). The Church of Jesus Christ maintains an international humanitarian program and strives to "do good unto all men" (Galatians 6:10). The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, which faithful members of

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1122-434: The Smith and Whitmer families, such as Porter Rockwell . Smith's revelations authorized and commanded the organization of the "Church of Christ" in 1830, and in several of the revelations Smith said he received, God referred to the church by that name. Smith taught that this church was a restoration of the primitive Christian church established by Jesus in the 1st century AD. Smith also taught that this restoration occurred in

1173-414: The book mentions that the clergy of these churches also included teachers. Nevertheless, in May 1829, a revelation by Smith described the "church" in informal terms: "Behold, this is my doctrine: whosoever repenteth and cometh unto me, the same is my church: whosoever declareth more or less than this, the same is not of me, but is against me: therefore, he is not of my church." Smith's further dictation of

1224-487: The church began to refer them as "Mormonites" or " Mormons ." Smith and other church elders considered the name "Mormon" derogatory. In May 1834, the church adopted a resolution that the church would be known thereafter as "The Church of the Latter Day Saints". At various times the church was also referred to as "The Church of Jesus Christ", "The Church of God", and "The Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints". In

1275-426: The church reestablished by Smith is believed to be Christ's church in the last days prior to the second coming of Jesus. Members of the church do not use the term to indicate they are better than others in any way, but rather that they are striving to follow Jesus Christ in their personal daily walks of life. Members of the church believe that the restored church of Jesus Christ is the "only true and living church upon

1326-578: The church". This account was edited in 1835 to state that Smith was ordained the "First Elder", and Oliver Cowdery was ordained the "Second Elder". According to the LDS Church, the first six members of the Church of Christ were: Early membership also included the Three Witnesses and the Eight Witnesses to the Book of Mormon and members of the extended Whitmer and Smith families . Other early members included friends and acquaintances of

1377-405: The churches that resulted from this schism considers itself to be the rightful continuation of Smith's original "Church of Christ", regardless of the name they may currently bear ( The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), Community of Christ , The Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite) , Church of Christ (Temple Lot) , etc.). This church is unrelated to other bodies bearing

1428-558: The course of this dictation, the outlines for a community of believers or church structure gradually became apparent. Such a structure would have authority from God, ordinances such as baptism , and ordained clergy . Some time in April 1829, Smith dictated a story of Alma the Elder , the former priest of a wicked king, who baptized his followers by immersion, "having authority from the Almighty God", and called his community of believers

1479-401: The early ecumenical councils for what they see as misguided human attempts to decide matters of doctrine without divine assistance, substituting debate and politics for divine revelation . Latter-day Saints have said that various Old Testament and New Testament scriptures, including teachings of Christ himself, prophesy of this "falling away" or "apostasy." Thus, Latter-day Saints refer to

1530-522: The face of the Earth" because of the divine authority restored through Joseph Smith. They believe that the church is the restoration of Jesus' original church, has the authentic priesthood authority, and all doctrines and ordinances of the gospel, fulfilling many of the prophecies of Daniel , Isaiah , Ezekiel , and Malachi in the Old Testament and also the prophesies of Peter , Jesus , and John

1581-424: The following 50 personages appeared to Smith: According to the LDS Church, all priesthood keys necessary to administer Jesus' church were given to Joseph Smith, who re-organized that church, which will continue in perpetuity. Hence, members refer to their church as "The Church of Jesus Christ." The term "Latter-day Saints" refers to the fact that members of early Christianity were originally called "saints", and

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1632-476: The founding place. In 1887, one other eye-witness, David Whitmer , recollected that the event occurred in his father's home in Fayette; however, years earlier, in 1875, Whitmer had already told a reporter that the event occurred in Manchester. Marquardt argues that the event described by Whitmer in 1887 bears more resemblance to Fayette meetings such as the founding of the church's Fayette branch five days later on April 11, 1830. The largest successor organization to

1683-406: The gates of hell shall not prevail against you." Some time between June and December 1829, Cowdery said he received a revelation about "how he should build up his church & the manner thereof". This revelation was called the " Articles of the Church of Christ ", and it indicated that the church should ordain priests and teachers "according to the gifts & callings of God unto men". The church

1734-421: The larger Utah church, at the time in the midst of federal issues related to polygamy . In 2001, the RLDS Church changed its name again to " Community of Christ "—consciously echoing the original "Church of Christ" name. The Sidney Rigdon group dwindled until one of its elders, William Bickerton , reorganized in 1862 under the name " The Church of Jesus Christ ". Other Latter Day Saint denominations returned to

1785-482: The late 1830s, Smith and those loyal to him founded a new headquarters in Far West, Missouri . At Far West in 1838, Smith announced a revelation renaming the organization the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints". Up to the time of Smith's death , the church was known alternatively as the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" or the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints", that is, with or without

1836-781: The matter because the case was dismissed. In 1894, a federal United States court in Missouri held again that the RLDS Church was the lawful successor to the original church. However, on appeal the entire case was dismissed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit without any discussion by the court of the issue of legal succession.     * ^  Membership worldwide; generally church-reported; with an occasional exception     ^ Once larger Restoration (Latter Day Saints) In Mormonism ,

1887-407: The meeting was in Manchester and several eyewitnesses said the event took place in Manchester. Independent researcher H. Michael Marquardt argues that the evidence suggests the organization occurred in Manchester, and that the confusion was likely due to the effect of memory tending to conflate memories of several meetings in Manchester and Fayette years earlier. Critics suggest that the location of

1938-408: The organization was intentionally changed in 1834 around the same time the church's name was changed to the "Church of the Latter Day Saints", in order to make it seem like the new church organization was different from the "Church of Christ", as a tactic to frustrate the church's creditors and avoid payment of debts. There is also evidence pointing to Fayette as the place of organization. For example,

1989-589: The original name or a variation of the name, including the Church of Christ (Temple Lot) , the Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite) , and the now-extinct Church of Christ (Whitmerite) . Virtually every Latter Day Saint denomination claims to be the rightful successor to the original Church of Christ and claims Joseph Smith as its founding prophet or first president. For example, the LDS Church, Community of Christ, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite), Church of Christ (Temple Lot), and Church of Christ with

2040-403: The present day. Especially in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) "the restoration" is often used also as a term to encompass the corpus of religious messages from its general leaders down to the present. The restoration is associated with a number of events that occurred which are understood to have been necessary to re-establish the early Christian church found in

2091-408: The restoration of the priesthood, Mormons believe that Smith received many revelations, visions, and visitations of heavenly messengers to instruct him in order to enable him to fulfill his responsibilities in propounding doctrine and re-establishing ordinances and temple covenants. These instructions came to Smith often in response to specific questions he asked in prayer. The majority of this history

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2142-497: The restoration. Scholars today view the Latter Day Saint movement as emerging from the spiritual fervor of the restorationism movements spawned by the Second Great Awakening . Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement who was responsible for organizing the Church of Christ , originally prayed about which church to join. In a vision in 1820 near Palmyra, New York , two personages ( God

2193-694: The same name, including the United Church of Christ , a Reformed church body, and the Churches of Christ , who have roots in the Restoration movement . Today, there are several Latter Day Saint denominations called "Church of Christ", largely within the Hedrickite branch of the movement. The first Latter Day Saint references to the "church of Christ" are found in passages of the Book of Mormon that Smith dictated from April to June 1829. During

2244-495: The spelling of the public domain name, " Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ", as the name of their church. The name "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" was also used by members who recognized Smith's son, Joseph Smith III , as his father's successor. The younger Smith became prophet-president of this group on April 6, 1860. However, the church incorporated in 1872 as the "Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" (RLDS Church), to distinguish it from

2295-498: The town's southern border and subsequent the Smith Manchester property. The Smiths may have constructed a second log home on their own property. Beginning in 1834, several church publications began to give the location of the organizational meeting as Fayette, at the home of Peter Whitmer Sr. The Whitmer home had been the site of many other meetings near the same time period. After 1834, several official church accounts said

2346-505: The translation as the Book of Mormon . The Book of Mormon provided many teachings about the atonement of Christ that were not as clear in the Bible, as also teachings about the House of Israel and the baptismal covenant . When Smith prayed in May 1829 about the need for baptism, he and Oliver Cowdery were visited by the resurrected John the Baptist , who by the laying on of hands gave them priesthood authority to baptize. Coinciding with

2397-449: The validity of the Book of Mormon is interconnected with the validity of the church: if the Book of Mormon is true, then the church is true, and all people everywhere should seek this knowledge for themselves (Moroni 10:3-5). Members of the church believe that after one gains a knowledge of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, one should be baptized a member of the church to follow the example that Jesus Christ has sent. Articles of

2448-419: The voice of Michael, the archangel ; the voice of Gabriel , and of Raphael , and of divers angels, from Michael or Adam down to the present time, all declaring their dispensation , their rights, their keys, their honors, their majesty and glory, and the power of their priesthood ; giving line upon line, precept upon precept; here a little, and there a little; giving us consolation by holding forth that which

2499-523: The wilderness between Harmony, Susquehanna county , and Colesville, Broome county , on the Susquehanna river , declaring themselves as possessing the keys of the kingdom , and of the dispensation of the fulness of times ! And again, the voice of God in the chamber of old Father Whitmer , in Fayette, Seneca county , and at sundry times, and in divers places through all the travels and tribulations of this Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! And

2550-417: Was the lawful successor to Smith's original Church of Christ. The court also explicitly held that the LDS Church was not the lawful successor because it "has materially and largely departed from the faith, doctrines, law, ordinances and usages of the said original Church". These holdings were preliminary findings of fact based on the RLDS Church's unopposed legal submissions; the court issued no final judgment on

2601-417: Was to meet regularly to partake of bread and wine . Cowdery was described as "an Apostle of Jesus Christ". According to David Whitmer , by April 1830, this informal "Church of Christ" had about six elders and 70 members. On April 6, 1830, Joseph Smith , Oliver Cowdery , and a group of approximately 30 believers met with the intention of formally organizing the Church of Christ into a legal institution. It

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