A Latter-day Saint by any Other Name

It is always good to know old friends are still on form and issuing thoughtful challenges to the ministry of Reachout Trust. One such is a good man who is a faithful Mormon and has been for many years. The challenge was to our use of the word ‘Mormon’ when we know ‘the name is the CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day saints.’

The question is, which church name would he have us use given the name has changed so much over the years. Instead of Mormonism should we call it, ‘The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints-ism?’

I would point out the current Mormon prophet, M Russell Nelson, has point-blank contradicted the policy of his immediate predecessor, Thomas S Monson. Perhaps Mormons should look closer to home and have the Mormon Church do some housekeeping. The various names of the church have been:

The Church of Christ - 1830
The Church of the Latter Day Saints - 1834
The Church of Jesus Christ - Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 3:24, footnote

The Church of God - ibid

The Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints - Encyclopedia of Mormonism, p.979
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Book of Mormon, frontispiece, 1966 ed.

The Mormon Church - Thomas S Monson: see the article here.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - M Russell Ballard

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Latter-day Saints for short - website

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on first reference, ‘the Church,’ or ‘the Church of Jesus Christ’ for short, then a complicated list of rules – website

You can read a fuller account here.

It was so much easier in the first century.

‘The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch’ Acts 11:26

The problem the Mormon Church has is it wants to be identified squarely with those first called Christians in Antioch, while at the same time seeking to identify and highlight distinctives. ‘Mormonism’ is a great distinctive, but doesn’t identify ‘Christians,’ while ‘Christians’ identifies ‘followers of the Way’ Acts 24:14 but certainly doesn’t highlight distinctives.

The most honest thing I ever heard a Mormon leader say came from Gordon B Hinckley, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1995-2008’

“The traditional Christ of whom they (the Christian churches) speak is not the Christ of whom I speak,” (baptistpress.com)

Of course, the church back-pedalled furiously on this, doing its usual firefighting after another public pronouncement by G B Hinckley.

Clearly, distinctives are important. I suggest ‘Mormon’ is not such a bad distinctive. After all, it all started with that book and it still stands as the book of the ‘Restoration,’ while the Bible is notably the book of the apostasy.

As for our ministry we, like so many in the ministry, will continue to use nouns and pronouns that make the distinction. Who knows but that a future Mormon president will change back to ‘My name is [fill the blank] and I am a Mormon.’ That would put us ahead of the game it seems to me.

 And, after all, neither we nor members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would want people to make the mistake of identifying Mormons as just another denomination standing in the long line of denominational Christianity in the past two-thousand years.

Heaven forfend!