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Mormon (word)

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Alternate meaning: Mormon (prophet)

Mormon is a name first used in the 1830s for followers of Joseph Smith, Jr. who accepted The Book of Mormon as a sacred text. It originated as a derogatory name, but the term soon lost its derogatory connotation. Today the term Mormon generally refers to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). There are other smaller denominations that also adhere to Mormonism, but some of them have avoided and discouraged the term Mormon because of its primary association with the LDS Church. Another name commonly used to refer to Mormons is Latter Day Saint. Although most Mormons today generally consider the name Mormon inoffensive, most prefer the term Latter-day Saint.

Scope of the term Mormon within the Latter-day Saint movement

Some scholars feel the terms "Mormon" and "Mormonism" are useful to collectively describe all denominations within the Latter Day Saint movement, who claim to originate from the Mormon religion founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. Moreover, some other churches and groups disagree with the position of the LDS Church, and continue to call themselves Mormons. Sometimes "Restorationist" or "Restoration Movement" is used for this purpose instead, but that can lead to confusion since there is an entirely different group of Christian churches (those derived from the Campbellites or Stone-Campbell churches, for example, the Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ) which are also known as the Restoration Movement.

Some scholars (e.g. Melton, in his Encyclopedia of American Religion) subdivide the Mormons into "Utah Mormons" and "Missouri Mormons". The Missouri Mormons are those Mormons who did not travel westward to Utah, and the organizations formed from them (the Community of Christ, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite), Church of Christ (Temple Lot), etc.), while the Utah Mormons are those who did travel westward to Utah, and the organizations formed from them (the LDS Church and the various polygamy-practicing groups such as the True & Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days and the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints scattered in usually isolated communities mostly in Utah, Idaho, Arizona, and British Columbia). The "Utah Mormon" and "Missouri Mormon" nomenclature is not common among Mormons, and has become almost useless since most Mormons nowadays live outside the USA.

Distinguishing Mormons from Quakers, Mennonites, and the Amish

Despite some misconceptions over similar nicknames and stereotypes, Mormons are not the same religious group as Quakers, Mennonites, or Amish. Mormons originated separately from all of these groups. One source of confusion comes from the mistranslation of the movie Witness with Harrison Ford into Spanish and French. In it "Amish" was translated into "Mormon." The Quakers are officially known as members of the Religious Society of Friends. As stated above, Mormons were originally identified as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While the Quakers, Mennonites, and Amish have embraced the nicknames or pejorative terms that were applied to them, Latter-day Saints' ambivalence with the term "Mormon" continues.

See also

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