Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints
The Church of Christ was the original name of the Latter Day Saint church founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. Organized informally in 1829 in northwestern New York and then as a legal entity on April 6, 1830, it was the first organization to implement the principles found in Smith's newly published Book of Mormon, and thus represents the formal beginning of the Latter Day Saint movement. Later names for this organization included the Church of the Latter Day Saints (by 1834 resolution), the Church of Jesus Christ, the Church of God, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (by an 1838 revelation).
Smith and his associates asserted that the Church of Christ was a restoration of the 1st-century 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 Utah Territory, but with several smaller denominations remaining in Illinois or settling in Missouri and in other states. Each of 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 (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Community of Christ, Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite), Church of Christ (Temple Lot), etc.).
This church should be distinguished from other bodies bearing the same name, including the United Church of Christ, a Reformed church body, and the Churches of Christ, an offshoot of the Campbellite movement. Today, there are Latter Day Saint churches called "Church of Christ", largely within the Hedrickite branch of the movement.
Read more about Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints: Doctrinal Development Prior To 1830, Organization of The Church, Succession Claims
Famous quotes containing the words church of, church, jesus, christ, day and/or saints:
“I believe with all my heart that the Church of Jesus Christ should be a Church of blurred edges.”
—George Carey (b. 1935)
“...I have come to make distinctions between what I call the academy and literature, the moral equivalents of church and God. The academy may lie, but literature tries to tell the truth.”
—Dorothy Allison (b. 1949)
“When Jesus wept, the falling tear
in mercy flowed beyond all bound;
when Jesus groaned, a trembling fear
seized all the guilty world around.”
—William Billings (1746–1800)
“For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
—Bible: New Testament, Galatians 2:19-20.
“When I read of the vain discussions of the present day about the Virgin Birth and other old dogmas which belong to the past, I feel how great the need is still of a real interest in the religion which builds up character, teaches brotherly love, and opens up to the seeker such a world of usefulness and the beauty of holiness.”
—Olympia Brown (1835–1900)
“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.”
—Bible: New Testament, Ephesians 2:19-22.