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A Latter Day Saint is an adherent of the Latter Day Saint movement
Latter Day Saint movement

The Latter Day Saint movement is a group of Restorationism religious denominations and adherents who follow at least some of the Teachings of Joseph Smith, Jr....
, a group of denominations tracing their heritage to the teachings of Joseph Smith, Jr.
Joseph Smith, Jr.

Joseph Smith, Jr. was the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, also known as Mormonism, and an important religious and political figure during the 1830s and 1840s....
 and the Church of Christ he organized in 1830. This article concerns the use of the term Latter Day Saint and its variant Latter-day Saint, which is used exclusively by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).
first known use of the term Latter Day Saint was in 1834, shortly before Joseph Smith’s Church of Christ was informally renamed the Church of the Latter Day Saints to distinguish it from other "Churches of Christ" that were being established at the time.






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A Latter Day Saint is an adherent of the Latter Day Saint movement
Latter Day Saint movement

The Latter Day Saint movement is a group of Restorationism religious denominations and adherents who follow at least some of the Teachings of Joseph Smith, Jr....
, a group of denominations tracing their heritage to the teachings of Joseph Smith, Jr.
Joseph Smith, Jr.

Joseph Smith, Jr. was the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, also known as Mormonism, and an important religious and political figure during the 1830s and 1840s....
 and the Church of Christ he organized in 1830. This article concerns the use of the term Latter Day Saint and its variant Latter-day Saint, which is used exclusively by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).

Usage of the term


Origin of Latter Day Saint

The first known use of the term Latter Day Saint was in 1834, shortly before Joseph Smith’s Church of Christ was informally renamed the Church of the Latter Day Saints to distinguish it from other "Churches of Christ" that were being established at the time. The term derives from Smith's teaching that adherents of the religion God established were "saint
Saint

A saint in Christianity is a human being who has been called to holiness. The term is used differently by various denominations, with some, such as the Anglicans, Methodists, and Lutherans distinguishing between Saints and saints....
s" in the same sense that Paul of Tarsus
Paul of Tarsus

Saint Paul, also called Paul the Apostle, the Apostle Paul or Paul of Tarsus , was a Hellenistic Judaism, who called himself the "Apostle to the Gentiles", and was, together with Saint Peter and James the Just, the most notable of early Christian missionaries....
 used the term, meaning that they were followers of Christ
Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , also known as Jesus Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and is revered by most Christian churches as the Son of God and the Incarnation ....
. They are termed latter day saints in order to distinguish them from the saints of the early Christian church (former day saints). The church adopted the term officially April 16, 1838 with a revelation delivered through Smith, "For thus shall my church be called in the last days, even the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints."

Latter Day Saint vs. Latter-day Saint

The British
British English

British English or UK English is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere....
 styling Latter-day Saint — including both the hyphenation and lower-case d — came into common use in about 1852 when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was incorporated by that name in Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, Utah

Salt Lake City is the Capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC....
, Utah
Utah

The State of Utah is a western United States U.S. state of the United States. It was the List of U.S. states by date of statehood admitted to the United States on January 4, 1896....
. This form is used only by that denomination, and its usage and the abbreviation LDS generally denote only members of that church.

Because the LDS Church is by far the largest and most well-known of the various Latter Day Saint denominations, a number of churches who consider themselves Latter Day Saints have informal terms that refer to their members, in order to avoid confusion. For example, the denomination that is officially named the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is a denomination of the Latter Day Saint movement with fewer than a thousand members. The Strangite church is distinct from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is larger and better-known, although both organizations claim to be the original church established by Joseph Smith...
 refers to itself informally as the Strangites. Similarly, members of the Church of Christ (Temple Lot)
Church of Christ (Temple Lot)

The Church of Christ is a denomination of the Latter Day Saint movement and is headquartered in Independence, Missouri, Missouri on what is known as the Temple Lot....
 are often referred to as Hedrickites, and members of The Church of Jesus Christ
Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite)

The Church of Jesus Christ is a Christian religious denomination headquartered in Monongahela, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, United States. It has sometimes been referred to as a "Bickertonite church" or "Rigdonite organization" based upon the church's claims of succession through William Bickerton and Sidney Rigdon....
 are often called Bickertonites. In 2001, the Community of Christ
Community of Christ

Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints , is an American-based, international Christian church established in April 1830 that claims as its mission "to proclaim Jesus Christ and promote communities of joy, hope, love, and peace." The church reports approximately Commun...
, the second largest Latter Day Saint denomination, changed its name from the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, while retaining the longer name for legal purposes, partly to avoid these types of confusions, although they have always referred to members as saints and the church informally as the Saints' Church. Nevertheless, the term Latter Day Saint may be appropriately applied to all denominations within the Latter Day Saint movement
Latter Day Saint movement

The Latter Day Saint movement is a group of Restorationism religious denominations and adherents who follow at least some of the Teachings of Joseph Smith, Jr....
.

Latter Day Saint vs. Mormon

Latter Day Saints are commonly referred to as Mormon
Mormon

Mormon is a term used to describe the adherents, practitioners, followers or constituents of Mormonism. The term most often refers to a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , which is commonly called the Mormon Church....
s, a nickname derived from the title of The Book of Mormon. However, the size and prominence of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have led to the terms Mormon and Mormonism
Mormonism

Mormonism is a term used to describe the religion, ideology and subculture elements of the Latter Day Saint movement, and specifically, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ....
 being generally understood to apply only to the church and its members; that is, to the Latter-day Saints. The desire of the church to emphasize doctrinal teaching of Jesus Christ has led to its urging journalists to use the terms Latter-day Saint and Mormon only in reference to members of the church or as an adjective in such expressions as Mormon pioneers, while referring to the church as either The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or the shortened form, the Church of Jesus Christ. The Associated Press
Associated Press

The Associated Press is an Media of the United States news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, Radio station and Television station stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staffers....
 Stylebook
AP Stylebook

The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law, usually called the AP Stylebook, is a style guide used on newspapers and in journalism classes in the United States....
 states the following concerning the use of the term Mormon: “The term Mormon is not properly applied to the other Latter Day Saint churches that resulted from the split after [Joseph] Smith’s death.” Nevertheless, the term is often used to refer to adherents of Mormon fundamentalism who believe in plural marriage
Plural marriage

Historically, one of the defining characteristics of much of the early Latter Day Saint movement was the doctrine and practice of polygyny , a type of polygamy....
, a practice that the LDS Church officially abandoned
1890 Manifesto

The "1890 Manifesto", sometimes simply called "The Manifesto", is a statement which officially ceased the practice of plural marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ....
 in 1890.

See also

  • Succession crisis