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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 term, but the name soon lost its negative 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 many 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 Smith. 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
External links
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