Mormon (word)
Word used for concepts relating to Latter-Day Saints / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The word Mormon most colloquially denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism in restorationist Christianity. Mormon also commonly refers, specifically, to a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), which is often colloquially, but imprecisely, referred to as the Mormon Church. In addition, the term Mormon may refer to any of the relatively small sects of Mormon fundamentalism, and any branch of the Latter Day Saint movement that recognizes Brigham Young as the successor to founder Joseph Smith. The term Mormon applies to the religion of Mormonism, as well as its culture, texts, and art.
The term derives from the Book of Mormon, published in 1830 and regarded by the faith as a sacred text and supplemental testament to the Bible. Adherents believe that the book was translated from an ancient record by Smith by the gift and power of God. The text is said to be an ancient chronicle of a fallen and lost indigenous American nation, compiled by the prophet–historian and warrior, Mormon and his son, Moroni, the last of the Nephites.
The term Mormon was applied to members of the church Smith founded in the 1830s by those outside the faith due early believers only calling themselves "the Church of Christ" and "saints", which was the same terminology used by the Campbellites only a few miles away. Therefore, like the Campbellites, the term "Mormonite" was applied to the new religious movement by outsiders to distinguish it from other Christian sects. The term "Mormon" was later embraced by members of the faith. Different denominations have made efforts in the years since to embrace the term "Mormon" as their own or distance themselves from it.