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 (LDS Church), which is commonly called the Mormon Church. The LDS Church believes that "Mormon" should properly be applied only to its members. However, the term is often used more broadly to describe any individual or group that believes in the Book of Mormon, and other Latter Day Saint
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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 (LDS Church), which is commonly called the Mormon Church. The LDS Church believes that "Mormon" should properly be applied only to its members. However, the term is often used more broadly to describe any individual or group that believes in the Book of Mormon, and other Latter Day Saint
Origin of the term
The term "Mormon" has its origins in the Book of Mormon, which is believed by Latter Day Saints to be a religious and historical record translated from golden plates by Joseph Smith, Jr. into English by divine inspiration. Joseph Smith stated that he was instructed by the Angel Moroni to go to the hill Cumorah in upstate New York where he found the ancient record. He was given stewardship over its translation in 1827. The book relates a history of three civilizations in the Americas from approximately 2700 BC through 420 AD, written by their prophets and followers of Jesus Christ. It contains the teachings of Jesus Christ to the people in the Americas as well as recounting Christ's personal ministry among the people of Nephi after his resurrection.1 Mormons believe that the Book of Mormon is another scriptural witness of Jesus Christ that is comparable to the Bible2, which they also believe to be the word of God. The book gets its name from Mormon, the prophet said to have abridged the record during the 4th century.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, one of the earliest published usages of the term "Mormon" to describe believers in the Book of Mormon was in 1833 by the Louisville (Kentucky) Daily Herald in an article, "The Mormons and the Anti-Mormons".
Popular usage
The term "Mormon" is most often used to refer to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The LDS Church holds that it is incorrect to apply "Mormon" to other groups or their members. The AP Stylebook agrees, specifying that the term "Mormon" is not properly applied to other Latter Day Saint groups founded after the death of Joseph Smith, Jr.
Nevertheless, the term is also often used to refer to fundamentalist groups who continue to practice plural marriage, a practice that the LDS Church officially abandoned in 1890. These groups, while numerically much smaller than the LDS Church, continue to use the term "Mormon" and claim to represent "true Mormonism" as taught and practiced by Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, though this is rejected by members of the LDS Church. These same off shots have different teachings than the LDS church in order to follow what they believe was taught by the same early leaders.
