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{"id":447,"date":"2013-11-18T10:24:56","date_gmt":"2013-11-18T15:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionqanda\/?p=447"},"modified":"2015-03-13T22:08:14","modified_gmt":"2015-03-14T02:08:14","slug":"latter-day-saints-whats-in-a-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionqanda\/2013\/11\/latter-day-saints-whats-in-a-name\/","title":{"rendered":"Latter-day Saints: What’s in a name?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

ROYCE WONDERS:<\/p>\n

(Paraphrasing) What\u2019s the origin of Mormonism\u2019s official name, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a>, and do those two \u201cof\u201d phrases mean Saints are on equal footing with Jesus, or that Jesus was Mormon, or what?<\/p>\n

THE GUY RESPONDS:<\/p>\n

The founding Prophet Joseph Smith Jr. originally called his group \u201cthe Church of Christ.\u201d The scriptures that Smith added to the Bible say that in an 1831 revelation God pronounced this to be \u201cthe only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth\u201d (Doctrine and Covenants 1:30). God revealed a new and final church name to Smith in Missouri on April 26, 1838: \u201cFor thus shall my church be called in the last days, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints\u201d (D & C 115:4). Some historians say this combined \u201cThe Church of the Latter Day Saints\u201d used by Smith\u2019s flock in Ohio with \u201cThe Church of Jesus Christ\u201d preferred by his newly acquired Missouri followers.<\/p>\n

According to Mormon Doctrine<\/em>, a widely consulted though non-official reference book by an LDS apostle, the name is all-important because the \u201cauthenticity of any church\u201d must be determined by whether it has \u201csome combination of the names of Christ as its name.\u201d (With the other listed marks of authenticity, only the LDS Church<\/a> qualifies.) In recent years the LDS Church has changed its official typography to put JESUS CHRIST in larger capital letters marked off from the rest of the name in order to defend itself against the charge that Mormons<\/a> are not true Christians. LDS headquarters is quite particular about use of its name and officially \u201cdiscourages\u201d the \u201cMormon Church\u201d and \u201cLDS Church\u201d nicknames that are commonly used by Mormons and non-Mormons alike.<\/p>\n

The Guy has never really thought about those two \u201cof\u201d phrases that apparently can be confusing for some. To the Saints, this says first that it\u2019s Jesus\u2019 church, while the second \u201cof\u201d means this church consists of Saints who have restored the original true religion of Jesus that had been corrupted by what Mormon Doctrine<\/em> calls the \u201cuniversal apostasy\u201d in ancient\u00a0Christianity\u00a0following the death of Jesus\u2019 apostles. The Saints do not think they\u2019re\u00a0on Jesus\u2019 level or that Jesus was literally a Mormon, since their church did not exist till 1830, just that their teachings are what Jesus taught.<\/p>\n

A much smaller rival body that accepted most of Smith\u2019s revelations but denied his polygamy revelation was led by Smith\u2019s son Joseph III. Its chosen name was \u201cThe Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints\u201d (no hyphen). In 2001 this denomination, based in Independence, Missouri, renamed itself the \u201cCommunity of Christ\u201d to express its current self-understanding. Implicitly, the change downplays end-times awareness and further distances the church from its Smith heritage and from the better-known Saints based in Salt Lake City, Utah.<\/p>\n

In case you were wondering, these are by no means the longest official names among denominations. For instance, Philadelphia is the headquarters of the \u201cHouse of God Which is the Church of the Living God, the Pillar and Ground of the Truth, Inc.,\u201d which nicknames itself \u201cThe Church of the Living God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Utah-based church\u2019s policy on name usage: www.mormonnewsroom.org\/style-guide<\/a><\/p>\n

Missouri-based Community\u2019s self-definition: www.cofchrist.org\/OurFaith\/SharingCofChrist-3ed.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"