1.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a Christian restorationist church that is considered by its members to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The church is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has established congregations, according to the church, it has over 70,000 missionaries and a membership of over 15 million. It is ranked by the National Council of Churches as the fourth-largest Christian denomination in the United States and it is the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement founded by Joseph Smith during the period of religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening. Adherents, often referred to as Latter-day Saints, or, less formally, Mormons, view faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement as fundamental principles of their religion. The church has a canon which includes four scriptural texts, the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants. The current president is Thomas S. Monson, individual members of the church believe that they can also receive personal revelation from God in conducting their lives. The president heads a hierarchical structure with various levels reaching down to local congregations, Bishops, drawn from the laity, lead local congregations. Male members, after reaching age 12, may be ordained to the priesthood, Women do not hold positions within the priesthood, but do occupy leadership roles in some church auxiliary organizations. Both men and women may serve as missionaries, and the church maintains a large missionary program which proselytizes, faithful members adhere to church laws of sexual purity, health, fasting, and Sabbath observance, and contribute ten percent of their income to the church in tithing. The LDS Church was formally organized by Joseph Smith on April 6,1830, Smith intended to establish the New Jerusalem in North America, called Zion. In 1831, the moved to Kirtland, Ohio, and began establishing an outpost in Jackson County, Missouri. However, in 1833, Missouri settlers brutally expelled the Latter Day Saints from Jackson County, the Kirtland era ended in 1838, after a financial scandal rocked the church and caused widespread defections. Smith regrouped with the church in Far West, Missouri. Believing the Saints to be in insurrection, the Missouri governor ordered that the Saints be exterminated or driven from the State, in 1839, the Saints converted a swampland on the banks of the Mississippi River into Nauvoo, Illinois, which became the churchs new headquarters. Nauvoo grew rapidly as missionaries sent to Europe and elsewhere gained new converts who then flooded into Nauvoo, meanwhile, Smith introduced polygamy to his closest associates. He also established ceremonies, which he stated the Lord had revealed to him, to allow people to become gods in the afterlife. He also introduced the church to an accounting of his First Vision. This vision would come to be regarded by the LDS Church as the most important event in history since the resurrection of Jesus
2.
Restorationism
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Fundamentally, this vision seeks to correct faults or deficiencies by appealing to the primitive church as a normative model. Efforts to restore an earlier, purer form of Christianity are often a response to denominationalism, the relative importance given to the restoration ideal, and the extent to which the full restoration of the early church is believed to have been achieved, also varies between groups. Landmarkism is more properly a theory of the continuation of the pure Church through the centuries, recognizable by certain key doctrines, many groups have attempted a history of their movement and an ecclesiology that falls somewhere in between the two ideas of Restorationism and Successionism. The term restorationism is sometimes used specifically as a synonym for the American Restoration Movement. The terms restorationism, restorationist and restoration are used in several senses within Christianity, Restorationism is called apostolic as representing the form of Christianity that the twelve Apostles followed. These themes arise early in history, first appearing in the works of Iranaeus. A variety of more contemporary movements have also described as restorationist. Restorationism has been described as a component of some Pentecostal movements such as the Assemblies of God. The terms Restorationism movement and Restorationist movement have also applied to the British New Church Movement. Capitalized, the term is used as a synonym for the American Restoration Movement. The term restorationism can also include the belief that the Jewish people must be restored to the land in fulfillment of biblical prophecy before the Second Coming of Christ. Christian restorationism is generally used to describe the 19th century movement based on this belief, the term primitive, in contrast with other uses, refers to a basis in scholarship and research into the actual writings of the church fathers and other historical documents. Since written documents for the underground first-century church are sparse, the church passed down its knowledge verbally. To do this, they revive practices found in the Old Testament, the term apostolic refers to a nonmainstream, often literal, apostolic succession or historical lineage tracing back to the Apostles and the Great Commission. These restorationist threads are sometimes regarded critically as being Judaizers in the Ebionite tradition, the restoration ideal has been interpreted and applied in a variety of ways. Four general historical models can be identified based on the aspect of early Christianity that the individuals and these are, Ecclesiastical Primitivism, Ethical Primitivism, Experiential Primitivism, and Gospel Primitivism. Ecclesiastical primitivism focuses on restoring the ecclesiastical practices of the early church, huldrych Zwingli, John Calvin and the Puritans all advocated ecclesiastical primitivism. The strongest advocate of ecclesiastical primitivism in the United States was Alexander Campbell, Ethical primitivism focuses on restoring the ethical norms and commitment to discipleship of the early church
3.
Latter Day Saint movement
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The Latter Day Saint movement is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 15 million members, the vast majority of adherents belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with their predominant theology being Mormonism. The LDS Church self-identifies as Christian, based on the teachings of this book and other revelations, Smith founded a Christian primitivist church, called the Church of Christ. The Book of Mormon attracted hundreds of followers, who later became known as Mormons, Latter Day Saints. In 1831, Smith moved the headquarters to Kirtland, Ohio. After the church in Ohio collapsed due to dissensions, in 1838, Smith and the body of the moved to Missouri. After Smiths death in 1844, a crisis led to the organization splitting into several groups. The largest of these, the LDS Church, migrated under the leadership of Brigham Young to the Great Basin, the LDS Church officially renounced this practice in 1890, and gradually discontinued it, resulting in the Utah Territory becoming a U. S. state. This change resulted in the formation of a number of small sects who sought to maintain polygamy and other 19th-century Mormon doctrines and practices, other groups originating within the Latter Day Saint movement followed different paths in Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. For the most part these groups rejected plural marriage and some of Smiths later teachings, the largest of these, the Community of Christ, was formed in Illinois in 1860 by several groups uniting around Smiths son, Joseph Smith III. Most existing denominations that adhere to the teachings of Smith have some relationship with the movement. The driving force behind and founder of the Latter Day Saint movement was Joseph Smith, Smith and Cowdery also explained that the angels John the Baptist, Peter, James, and John visited them in 1829 and gave them priesthood authority to reestablish the Church of Christ. The first Latter Day Saint church was formed on April 6,1830, consisting of a community of believers in the western New York towns of Fayette, Manchester, the church was formally organized under the name of the Church of Christ. In 1844, William Law and several other Latter Day Saints in church leadership positions publicly denounced Smiths secret practice of polygamy in the Nauvoo Expositor, the city council of Nauvoo, Illinois, led by Smith, subsequently had the printing press of the Expositor destroyed. In spite of Smiths later offer to pay damages for destroyed property, critics of Smith, some called for the Latter Day Saints to be either expelled or destroyed. These various claims resulted in a succession crisis, many supported Brigham Young, the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, others Sidney Rigdon, the senior surviving member of the First Presidency. These various groups are referred to under two geographical headings, Prairie Saints and Rocky Mountain Saints. Today, the vast majority of Latter Day Saints belong to the Utah-based The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the second-largest denomination is the Missouri-based Community of Christ which reports over 250,000 members
4.
Religious text
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Religious texts are texts which religious traditions consider to be central to their religious practice or set of beliefs. It is not possible to create an exhaustive list of religious texts, one of the oldest known religious texts is the Kesh Temple Hymn of Ancient Sumer, a set of inscribed clay tablets which scholars typically date around 2600 BCE. For example, the content of a Protestant Bible may differ from the content of a Catholic Bible, the word canon comes from the Sumerian word meaning standard. Hierographology is the study of sacred texts, the following is an in-exhaustive list of links to specific religious texts which may be used for further, more in-depth study. The writings of Franklin Albert Jones a. k. a, some denominations also include the Apocrypha. For Protestantism, this is the 66-book canon - the Jewish Tanakh of 24 books divided differently, some denominations also include the 15 books of the Apocrypha between the Old Testament and the New Testament, for a total of 81 books. For Catholicism, this includes seven deuterocanonical books in the Old Testament for a total of 73 books, called the Canon of Trent. For the Eastern Orthodox Church, this includes the anagignoskomena, which consist of the Catholic deuterocanon, plus 3 Maccabees, Psalm 151, the Prayer of Manasseh,4 Maccabees is considered to be canonical by the Georgian Orthodox Church. Some Syriac churches accept the Letter of Baruch as scripture, christian Scientists The Bible Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. This textbook, along with the Bible, serves as the permanent impersonal pastor of the church, the Community of Christ uses the Joseph Smith Translation, which it calls the Inspired Version, as well as updated modern translations. Seventh-day Adventists The Bible The writings of Ellen White are held to a status, though not equal with the Bible. Also known as the Gospel of Mani and The Living Gospel the Treasure of Life the Pragmateia the Book of Mysteries The Book of Giants the Epistles the Psalms, the Shabuhragan The Arzhang The Kephalaia, Discourses, found in Coptic translation. Odù Ifá Jaap Verduijns Odu Ifa Collection Primary religious texts, that is, the Avesta collection, The Yasna, the Visperad, a collection of supplements to the Yasna. The Yashts, hymns in honor of the divinities, the Vendidad, describes the various forms of evil spirits and ways to confound them. Shorter texts and prayers, the Yashts the five Nyaishes, the Sirozeh, there are some 60 secondary religious texts, none of which are considered scripture. The Khordeh Avesta, Zoroastrian prayer book for lay people from the Avesta, religious full text online library Ancient texts library Internet Sacred Text Archive
5.
Bible
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The Bible is a collection of sacred texts or scriptures that Jews and Christians consider to be a product of divine inspiration and a record of the relationship between God and humans. Many different authors contributed to the Bible, what is regarded as canonical text differs depending on traditions and groups, a number of Bible canons have evolved, with overlapping and diverging contents. The Christian Old Testament overlaps with the Hebrew Bible and the Greek Septuagint, the New Testament is a collection of writings by early Christians, believed to be mostly Jewish disciples of Christ, written in first-century Koine Greek. These early Christian Greek writings consist of narratives, letters, among Christian denominations there is some disagreement about the contents of the canon, primarily the Apocrypha, a list of works that are regarded with varying levels of respect. Attitudes towards the Bible also differ amongst Christian groups and this concept arose during the Protestant Reformation, and many denominations today support the use of the Bible as the only source of Christian teaching. With estimated total sales of over 5 billion copies, the Bible is widely considered to be the book of all time. It has estimated sales of 100 million copies, and has been a major influence on literature and history, especially in the West. The English word Bible is from the Latin biblia, from the word in Medieval Latin and Late Latin. Medieval Latin biblia is short for biblia sacra holy book, while biblia in Greek and it gradually came to be regarded as a feminine singular noun in medieval Latin, and so the word was loaned as a singular into the vernaculars of Western Europe. Latin biblia sacra holy books translates Greek τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια ta biblia ta hagia, the word βιβλίον itself had the literal meaning of paper or scroll and came to be used as the ordinary word for book. It is the diminutive of βύβλος byblos, Egyptian papyrus, possibly so called from the name of the Phoenician sea port Byblos from whence Egyptian papyrus was exported to Greece, the Greek ta biblia was an expression Hellenistic Jews used to describe their sacred books. Christian use of the term can be traced to c.223 CE, bruce notes that Chrysostom appears to be the first writer to use the Greek phrase ta biblia to describe both the Old and New Testaments together. The division of the Hebrew Bible into verses is based on the sof passuk cantillation mark used by the 10th-century Masoretes to record the verse divisions used in oral traditions. The oldest extant copy of a complete Bible is an early 4th-century parchment book preserved in the Vatican Library, the oldest copy of the Tanakh in Hebrew and Aramaic dates from the 10th century CE. The oldest copy of a complete Latin Bible is the Codex Amiatinus and he states that it is not a magical book, nor was it literally written by God and passed to mankind. In Christian Bibles, the New Testament Gospels were derived from traditions in the second half of the first century CE. Riches says that, Scholars have attempted to reconstruct something of the history of the oral traditions behind the Gospels, the period of transmission is short, less than 40 years passed between the death of Jesus and the writing of Marks Gospel. This means that there was time for oral traditions to assume fixed form
6.
Book of Mormon
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It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith as The Book of Mormon, An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi. According to Smiths account and the narrative, the Book of Mormon was originally written in otherwise unknown characters referred to as reformed Egyptian engraved on golden plates. Critics claim that it was fabricated by Smith, drawing on material, the pivotal event of the book is an appearance of Jesus Christ in the Americas shortly after his resurrection. The Book of Mormon is divided into books, titled after the individuals named as primary authors and, in most versions, divided into chapters. It is written in English very similar to the Early Modern English linguistic style of the King James Version of the Bible, as of 2011, more than 150 million copies of the Book of Mormon have been published. The writings were said to describe a people whom God had led from Jerusalem to the Western hemisphere 600 years before Jesus birth. According to the narrative, Moroni was the last prophet among these people and had buried the record, which God had promised to bring forth in the latter days. e. Smiths description of these events recounts that he was allowed to take the plates on September 22,1827, exactly four years from that date, accounts vary of the way in which Smith dictated the Book of Mormon. Smith himself implied that he read the plates directly using spectacles prepared for the purpose of translating, other accounts variously state that he used one or more seer stones placed in a top hat. Both the special spectacles and the stone were at times referred to as the Urim and Thummim. During the translating process itself, Smith sometimes separated himself from his scribe with a blanket between them, additionally, the plates were not always present during the translating process and, when present, they were always covered up. Smiths first published description of the said that the plates had the appearance of gold. They were described by Martin Harris, one of Smiths early scribes, Smith called the engraved writing on the plates reformed Egyptian. A portion of the text on the plates was also sealed according to his account, in addition to Smiths account regarding the plates, eleven others stated that they saw the golden plates and, in some cases, handled them. Their written testimonies are known as the Testimony of Three Witnesses and these statements have been published in most editions of the Book of Mormon. Smith enlisted his neighbor Martin Harris as a scribe during his work on the text. In 1828, Harris, prompted by his wife Lucy Harris, Smith reluctantly acceded to Harriss requests. Lucy Harris is thought to have stolen the first 116 pages, after the loss, Smith recorded that he had lost the ability to translate, and that Moroni had taken back the plates to be returned only after Smith repented
7.
Pearl of Great Price (Mormonism)
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The Pearl of Great Price is part of the canonical standard works of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and some other Latter Day Saint denominations. These items were produced by Joseph Smith and were published in the Church periodicals of his day, the name of the book is derived from the Parable of the Pearl told by Jesus in Matthew 13. The same material is published by the Community of Christ as parts of its Doctrine and Covenants, the Book of Abraham is an 1835 work produced by Joseph Smith that he said was based on Egyptian papyri purchased from a traveling mummy exhibition. According to Smith, the book was a translation of ancient records. Purporting to be the writings of Abraham, while he was in Egypt, called the Book of Abraham, written by his own hand, the text that Smith produced describes a story of Abrahams early life, including a vision of the cosmos. The Book of Abraham was canonized in 1880 by the LDS Church as part of the Pearl of Great Price, thus, it forms a doctrinal foundation for the LDS Church and Mormon fundamentalist denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. It is not considered to be a text by the Community of Christ. Other sects in the Latter Day Saint movement have various opinions regarding the Book of Abraham, with some rejecting and some accepting the text as inspired scripture. The book contains several doctrines that are distinct to Mormonism, such as the concept of God organizing eternal, the Book of Abraham papyri were thought lost in the 1871 Great Chicago Fire. However, in 1966, several fragments of the papyri were found in the archives of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and they are now referred to as the Joseph Smith Papyri. As a result, the Book of Abraham has been the source of significant controversy, with criticism from Egyptologists, Joseph Smith–Matthew is an excerpt from Joseph Smiths retranslation of portions of the Gospel of Matthew. It was originally published in 1831 in Kirtland, Ohio, in an undated broadsheet as Extract from the New Translation of the Bible, Joseph Smith–Matthew includes Smiths retranslation of Matthew 23,39 and all of Matthew chapter 24. The text deals mainly with Jesus prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem. Joseph Smith–Matthew contains significant changes and additions to the biblical text. Joseph Smith–History is an excerpt from the record of some of the early events in Joseph Smiths life. Like many of Smiths publications, it was dictated to a scribe, the incidents described in Joseph Smith–History include the First Vision and the visitation of the angel Moroni. It is a listing of thirteen fundamental doctrines of Mormonism. Most Latter Day Saint denominations view the articles as a statement of basic theology
8.
Doctrine and Covenants
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The Doctrine and Covenants is a part of the open scriptural canon of several denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. The doctrine portion of the book, however, has been removed by both the LDS Church and the Community of Christ, controversy has existed between the two largest denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement over some sections added to the 1876 LDS edition, attributed to founder Smith. Whereas the LDS Church believes these sections to have been revelations to Smith, the Doctrine and Covenants was first published in 1835 as a later version of the Book of Commandments, which had been partially printed in 1833. This earlier book contained 65 early revelations to church leaders, including Joseph Smith, before many copies of the book could be printed, the printing press and most of the printed copies were destroyed by a mob in Missouri. On September 24,1834, a committee was appointed by the assembly of the church to organize a new volume containing the most significant revelations. This committee of Presiding Elders, consisting of Smith, Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, the committee eventually organized the book into two parts, a Doctrine part and a Covenants part. The Doctrine part of the book consisted of a course now called the Lectures on Faith. The lectures were a series of doctrinal courses used in the School of the Prophets which had recently completed in Kirtland. According to the committee, these lectures were included in the compilation in consequence of their embracing the important doctrine of salvation. The Covenants part of the book, labeled Covenants and Commandments of the Lord, to his servants of the church of the Latter Day Saints, each of the 103 revelations was assigned a section number, however, section 66 was mistakenly used twice. Thus, the sections of the work were numbered only to 102. The book was first introduced to the body in a general conference on August 17,1835. Smith and Williams, two of the Presiding Elders on the committee, were absent, but Cowdery and Rigdon were present. At the end of the conference, the church by a unanimous vote agreed to accept the compilation as the doctrine and covenants of their faith and to make arrangements for its printing. In 1835, the book was printed and published under the title Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints, together the LDS Churchs scriptures are referred to as the standard works. In 1844, the church added eight sections not included in the 1835 edition, in the current edition, these added sections are numbered 103,105,112,119,124,127,128, and 135. Previous editions had been divided into verses with the early versifications generally following the structure of the original text. It was with the 1876 edition that the currently used versification was first employed, preside over my priesthood to live plural marriage in order to qualify to hold their church positions
9.
Community of Christ
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Community of Christ is an American-based international church with roots in the Latter Day Saint movement. The church reports approximately over 250,000 members in 60 nations, the church traces its origins to Joseph Smiths establishment of the Church of Christ on April 6,1830, with the church formally reorganizing on April 6,1860, following the death of Smith in 1844. The Community of Christ is rooted in Restorationist traditions, although in some respects it is congruent with mainline Protestant Christian attitudes, it is in many ways theologically distinct, continuing such features as prophetic revelation. It is the second-largest denomination within the Latter Day Saint movement, Community of Christ follows a largely non-liturgical tradition based loosely on the Revised Common Lectionary. From its headquarters in Independence, Missouri, the church offers a focus on evangelism, peace and justice ministries, spirituality and wholeness, youth ministries. Church teachings emphasize that all are called as persons of worth to share the peace of Christ, the church was legally organized on April 6,1830, in Fayette, New York. The formal reorganization occurred on April 6,1860, in Amboy, Illinois, as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, adding the word Reorganized to the church name in 1872. The Community of Christ today considers the period from 1830 to 1844 to be a part of its history and from 1844. Since 1844, the doctrines and practices of the Community of Christ have evolved separately from the denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. Since the 1960s, the churchs proselytizing outside North America forced a re-assessment, howard estimated that 25,000 members had left to join such groups. Between the mid-1960s and the late 1990s, there was a decline in new baptisms in the United States along with a 50 percent drop in contributions in the decade before 1998. The church owns two temples, the Kirtland Temple, dedicated in 1836 in Kirtland, Ohio, and the relatively new Independence Temple and these structures are open to the public and are also used for education and gatherings. The church also owns and operates some Latter Day Saint historic sites in Lamoni, Iowa, the Auditorium in Independence houses the Childrens Peace Pavilion and is the site of the major legislative assembly of the Community of Christ, which convenes during the World Conference. The church sponsors Graceland University, with a campus in Lamoni and another in Independence, where the School of Nursing, in its mission statement, the church declares that e proclaim Jesus Christ and promote communities of joy, hope, love and peace. The vision statement states that We will become a church dedicated to the pursuit of peace, reconciliation. The Community of Christ states that it recognizes that perception of truth is qualified by human nature and experience. Nevertheless, the Community of Christ offers a number of the commonly held beliefs of its members and leaders as the generally accepted beliefs of the church. As Stephen M. Veazey, current president of the church states, the Community of Christ generally accepts the doctrine of the Trinity and other commonly held Christian beliefs
