History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

History & overview · every faith gets one

The heavens are open again — restoration, not reformation.

The largest Restorationist church: Joseph Smith's report that God had restored the original church through new scripture and living prophets. An open canon, temples that seal families beyond death, and a missionary corps that knocks on the world's doors.

The founding

A farm boy praying in a grove of trees in 1820 asked God which church was true, and testified that the Father and the Son answered: none of them — and that golden plates, translated as the Book of Mormon, would begin the restoration.

Its founding is bound to Joseph Smith — 1830 CE.

What it holds

Reality. God's plan of salvation, with humanity progressing through it.

The divine. A Godhead of three distinct persons, one in purpose.

Death and after. Degrees of glory — and families sealed forever.

The line

descent is public here — where it came from, what left it

Judaism — c. 1000 BCE Christianity — 30 CE Catholicism Protestantism — 1517 CE The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — 1830 CE

Branches:

The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints — Keep the covenant the main church let go.

Keep going

Back to the overview — the living page: elements, discussion, the web The Belief room — the claims themselves, with sources and context Branch The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — inherit everything, change what you must