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
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“[Christianity] endeavors equally to establish these two things: that God has set up in the Church visible signs to make himself known to those who should seek him sincerely, and that he has nevertheless so disguised them that he will only be perceived by those who seek him with all their heart.”
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