# Mormonism (LDS) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — by far the largest denomination in the broader Latter-day Saint movement — founded by Joseph Smith Jr. in 1830 in Fayette, New York. The LDS Church holds itself as the restoration of original Christianity, identifying Smith as a prophet who received divine revelation including the *Book of Mormon* (presented as ancient American scripture translated from gold plates) and the *Doctrine and Covenants* (subsequent revelation). The Church's theology, cosmology, and ecclesial structure are sufficiently distinct from classical Christian theology that its classification as "Christian" is itself contested — the Church identifies firmly as Christian; many Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant theologians do not. With roughly 16.8 million members globally and 6.7 million in the United States, the LDS Church is the most US-politically-distinctive of any major American religious community: US Mormons vote Republican at very high rates (~60–75% in recent presidential elections), the Utah delegation has been a consistent Republican Senate presence, the LDS legal-professional network is substantial within the [[Federalist Society]] and conservative legal infrastructure, and Mormon political-religious distinctiveness has become a stable feature of the contemporary US right-wing coalition. ## Founding and origins Joseph Smith Jr. (1805–1844) was born in Sharon, Vermont, into a religious-seeking family that moved to Palmyra, New York in 1816 — placing the young Smith in the "Burned-over District" of upstate New York at the peak of the [[Second Great Awakening]]'s revival ferment. Smith reported a visionary experience ("First Vision") in 1820 in which God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him and told him that all existing churches were apostate. He reported subsequent visionary visits from the angel Moroni (beginning 1823) directing him to gold plates buried at a hillside near Manchester, New York. The *Book of Mormon* — Smith's translation of those plates, dictated 1828–1829, published March 1830 — is foundational LDS scripture. It presents itself as the religious history of ancient Hebraic peoples who migrated to the Americas, recording Jesus's post-resurrection appearance in the Americas, and prophesying its own translation by Joseph Smith in the latter days. The Church of Christ was formally organized on April 6, 1830 (later renamed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). The early movement faced violent persecution in successive locations: Kirtland, Ohio (1831–1838) — financial collapse and dissent; Missouri (1831–1839) — culminating in Governor Lilburn Boggs's 1838 "Extermination Order" against Mormons and the Haun's Mill massacre; Nauvoo, Illinois (1839–1846) — built into the largest city in Illinois by 1844, eventually destroyed when Smith was assassinated by a mob in nearby Carthage Jail on June 27, 1844 while in state custody. Brigham Young (1801–1877) succeeded Smith as president of the Church and led the major Mormon migration to the Salt Lake Valley (then Mexican territory; after 1848 US territory) in 1846–1847. Young established the Mormon settlement of the Great Basin — eventually 350+ Mormon settlements across Utah, southern Idaho, parts of Arizona, Nevada, Wyoming, and northern Mexico. Mormon theocratic governance under the State of Deseret (1849–1850) and subsequent Utah Territory was a major political-religious experiment; tensions with the federal government produced the Utah War (1857–1858), federal anti-polygamy legislation (the 1862 Morrill Act, 1882 Edmunds Act, 1887 Edmunds-Tucker Act), and ultimately the Church's formal renunciation of plural marriage in the 1890 Manifesto. Utah achieved statehood in 1896. The 20th century brought substantial LDS institutional consolidation, global missionary expansion (the LDS Church's full-time missionary program is one of the world's largest religious-missionary operations), and integration into mainstream American political and economic life — particularly under church presidents Heber J. Grant, David O. McKay, Spencer W. Kimball, Ezra Taft Benson, Gordon B. Hinckley. The 1978 revelation extending priesthood to Black men (previously restricted) was a major institutional development; the 2012 endorsement of religious-freedom-and-LGBTQ-protections legislation in Utah (the "Utah Compromise") indicated the Church's distinctive position on contemporary religious-political questions. ## Core beliefs and distinctives **LDS theological distinctives.** LDS theology departs substantially from classical Christian (Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant) doctrine on numerous central points: - **Godhead as three distinct beings** — LDS holds the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three separate beings (not three persons of one Trinitarian Godhead). The Father has a physical glorified body; the Son has a physical resurrected body; the Holy Ghost is a spiritual personage. - **Pre-mortal existence** — human souls existed as spirit children of Heavenly Parents before mortal birth - **Exaltation / theosis to godhood** — the doctrine that faithful Latter-day Saints can ultimately become like God ("As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may become" — Lorenzo Snow couplet). This doctrine is foundational to LDS soteriology and is the central point of theological distinction from classical Christianity. - **Three degrees of glory** — afterlife structured into three "kingdoms" (Celestial, Terrestrial, Telestial) with the Celestial Kingdom further differentiated; all but the most rebellious receive some degree of glory - **Continuing revelation** — the prophetic office continues; the President of the Church is a "prophet, seer, and revelator" capable of receiving binding revelation. Continuing revelation has produced major doctrinal-practice developments (the 1890 Manifesto ending polygamy; the 1978 revelation extending priesthood to Black men; the 2015 policy on same-sex marriage and its subsequent partial rescission). - **Additional scripture** — *Book of Mormon*, *Doctrine and Covenants*, *Pearl of Great Price* alongside the Bible; the LDS Church recognizes the Bible as scripture "as far as it is translated correctly" - **Plan of Salvation** — comprehensive cosmological account from pre-mortal existence through mortality, post-mortal spirit world, resurrection, and eternal exaltation - **Temple ordinances** — distinctive sacred temple rites including baptisms for the dead (genealogical work for ancestors), endowments, sealings (eternal marriages); only baptized and worthy members in good standing may enter temples - **Restoration of apostolic authority** — the LDS Church holds that priesthood authority was lost in the post-apostolic period ("Great Apostasy") and restored to Joseph Smith through visitation by the resurrected apostles Peter, James, and John **Distinctive practices:** - **Word of Wisdom** — health code prohibiting alcohol, tobacco, coffee, tea, and (variously) other substances; emphasizing healthful eating - **Tithing** — strict 10% income tithing required for full Church membership in good standing - **Sabbath observance** — Sunday observance with strict-but-variable cultural practice - **Garment** — sacred undergarment worn by endowed members after receiving the temple endowment - **Missionary service** — full-time missionary service (typically 24 months for young men, 18 months for young women) is a normative LDS life expectation for young members; ~70,000+ active full-time missionaries at any time - **Genealogy and temple work** — extensive genealogical research enabling baptism for the dead and other temple ordinances for ancestors - **Lay priesthood** — all worthy adult male members hold the priesthood; substantial lay-administered ecclesial life; full-time clergy effectively limited to the General Authorities at the top of Church administration **Ecclesial structure.** The President of the Church holds prophetic-presidential office with two counselors as First Presidency; the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles serves as the second-highest authority; subsequent quorums (Quorums of the Seventy, Presiding Bishopric) and stake (regional) / ward (congregational) leadership complete the structure. The structure is centralized and hierarchical relative to most Protestant denominations. ## Major internal divisions The LDS Church proper is institutionally unified — there is one Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Other Latter-day Saint tradition bodies (treated more fully in [[Restorationism]]): - **Community of Christ** (formerly RLDS) — ~250K members; the "non-Brighamite" successor church following Joseph Smith III after the 1844 succession crisis; theologically and politically much more mainline-Protestant; rejects polygamy and most doctrinal developments under Brigham Young - **Fundamentalist Mormon groups** — Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS, led for decades by Warren Jeffs, now imprisoned), Apostolic United Brethren, Kingston Group, Davis County Cooperative — practice plural marriage which the LDS Church rejected in 1890; total ~30–60K - **Smaller LDS-tradition bodies** — Church of Christ (Temple Lot), Restoration Branches, Strangites, and others Within the LDS Church, there is no formal denominational sub-division but substantial cultural and theological variation. Liberal-progressive Mormons, mainstream Mormons, and traditionalist-conservative Mormons each constitute substantial constituencies. The Mormon intellectual periodical *Dialogue* and the Sunstone Foundation host more liberal-academic Mormon voices; *FAIR* (Faithful Answers, Informed Responses) and the Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research host more traditional voices. ## Demographic footprint **Global:** ~16.8 million LDS members globally as of the Church's 2023 statistical report. Substantial membership concentration in the United States (~6.7 million); rapid growth in Latin America (Mexico ~1.5M, Brazil ~1.5M, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Guatemala, others); significant growth in the Philippines (~870K), Nigeria, Ghana, and other African countries; smaller but established communities in Europe, East Asia, Oceania. The Church reports membership figures based on baptismal records and does not formally remove inactive members, so reported figures may overstate active practice. Pew Research's Religious Landscape Study reports US LDS adherents at ~2.0% of US adults — roughly 6.5 million — broadly consistent with the Church's US reporting. **United States:** ~6.7 million Mormons (~2.0% of US adults). Heavily concentrated geographically: Utah (~62% LDS), Idaho (~24%), Wyoming, Arizona, Nevada — the Intermountain West. Substantial communities in California, Texas, Washington, Oregon. Mormons are disproportionately represented in law, business, government service, and certain professional sectors. ## Right-wing politics tributaries The LDS Church and US Mormons constitute a substantial and distinctive Republican-coalition presence. Major tributaries: **Mormon Republican voting pattern.** US Mormons vote Republican at among the highest rates of any religious community in the country: typically ~70–75% Republican vote share in presidential elections, with the 2016 Trump candidacy producing a temporary lower-50s share (due to Mormon discomfort with Trump's personal conduct and religious-pluralism positions) and 2020–2024 returning to historical patterns. Mitt Romney's 2012 candidacy energized historical Mormon Republicanism; the 2016 Mormon-Trump tension was a distinctive feature of that cycle but did not produce a lasting realignment. **The Utah delegation and LDS senators.** [[Mitt Romney]] (US Senator from Utah 2019–2025, 2012 GOP presidential nominee, former Massachusetts governor), [[Mike Lee]] (US Senator from Utah, prominent Federalist Society-affiliated conservative), Orrin Hatch (US Senator from Utah 1977–2019, longtime senior Republican), [[Jason Chaffetz]], Chris Stewart, and many other LDS political figures have been substantial Republican-coalition presence. The Utah delegation has been consistently Republican in modern political history. **Mormon Federalist Society and conservative legal infrastructure presence.** The LDS legal-professional network is substantial within the [[Federalist Society]] and broader conservative legal infrastructure. BYU Law School graduates and Mormon attorneys are disproportionately represented in conservative legal advocacy organizations, federal-judiciary appointments, and constitutional-litigation work. Mike Lee's role in constitutional and judicial-nomination politics is illustrative. **LDS religious-liberty engagement.** The LDS Church has been substantially involved in religious-liberty advocacy, including the 2015 Utah Compromise (state-level legislation combining LGBTQ employment-and-housing protections with religious-accommodation provisions), filing of amicus briefs in major religious-liberty cases, support for legal infrastructure including the Becket Fund. The Church's institutional approach to religious-liberty politics has been distinctive — generally seeking accommodation rather than confrontation, and willing to support some LGBTQ protections in exchange for religious-accommodation guarantees. **Pro-life and family-policy alignment.** The LDS Church holds positions broadly aligned with conservative-Christian family and sexuality politics: opposition to abortion (with specific exceptions), opposition to same-sex marriage (formal doctrinal position; some 2010s pivots toward inclusion of celibate gay members), opposition to extramarital sex, emphasis on traditional family structure. The Church has been substantially involved in family-policy organizing (most famously the 2008 California Proposition 8 campaign banning same-sex marriage, which produced significant political backlash for the Church). **Mormon-Trump tensions and accommodations.** The 2016 cycle produced significant Mormon discomfort with Trump's personal conduct, religious-pluralism positions, and policy proposals. Some prominent Mormons (Romney, [[Evan McMullin]] who ran a 2016 independent presidential campaign explicitly targeting Mormon voters) explicitly opposed Trump. By 2020 and 2024, however, Mormon voting had largely returned to Republican alignment, with the community making distinctive accommodations to Trump-era Republican politics. **Mormon-MAGA cultural tensions.** Notwithstanding the voting alignment, Mormon culture and MAGA culture sit awkwardly together: Mormons are church-attending, family-oriented, professional-class, immigrant-welcoming, and historically committed to civility and institutional engagement in ways that the more populist and aggressive MAGA culture does not always reciprocate. The tension is ongoing. **Hispanic LDS political-religious positioning.** Hispanic and Latino LDS members constitute a growing share of US Mormons, particularly in California, Arizona, Nevada, and Texas. The Hispanic-LDS community is the most reliably Republican subset of US Hispanic religious communities. **LDS humanitarian and economic conservatism.** The LDS Church operates one of the world's largest religious-humanitarian welfare systems (the Church Welfare Program, LDS Charities, the BYU-Idaho Pathway program, Deseret Industries). The model of private-religious-community welfare aligns with US right-wing political-economic conservatism but does not fit neatly into MAGA economic populism. **Continuing demographic and cultural distinctiveness.** Mormons maintain higher-than-average birthrates, lower-than-average divorce rates, very high educational attainment, exceptionally high religious-practice rates (~70% weekly church attendance vs ~30% for Americans generally), and a distinctive cultural-religious identity. This combination produces a politically distinctive community that does not map onto any other US religious-political grouping. ## Connections - [[Christianity]] — parent religious tradition (with the contested status noted above) - [[Restorationism]] — broader umbrella for the 19th-century American restorationist family of which the LDS Church is the most politically-consequential representative - [[Religious Liberty]] — substantial LDS engagement with religious-liberty advocacy - [[Federalist Society]] — substantial LDS legal-professional presence - [[Mitt Romney]] · [[Mike Lee]] — major contemporary LDS political figures ## See also - [[Restorationism]] — broader umbrella tradition - [[Christianity]] — parent religious tradition (with contested classification) - [[Protestantism]] — historical religious context of Joseph Smith's 1820s Burned-over District spiritual seeking