Name of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The name of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is derived from an 1838 revelation church founder Joseph Smith said he received. Leaders of the LDS Church, in recent years, have placed great emphasis on the full name of the church and have resisted the application of informal or shortened names, especially those which omit "Jesus Christ". These informal and shortened names include the "Mormon Church", the "LDS Church", and the "Church of the Latter-day Saints".
Historical names of the church
The LDS Church traces its founding to April 6, 1830, when Smith and five other men formally established the Church of Christ. The church was known by this name from 1830 to 1834.In the 1830s, the fact that a number of U.S. churches, including some Congregational churches and Restoration Movement churches, also used the name "Church of Christ" caused a considerable degree of confusion. In May 1834, the church adopted a resolution that the church would be known thereafter as "The Church of the Latter Day Saints". At various times the church was also referred to as "The Church of Jesus Christ", "The Church of God", and "The Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints".
Adoption of the current name
In the late 1830s, Smith founded a new headquarters in Far West, Missouri. At Far West on April 26, 1838, Smith recorded a revelation from God renaming the organization the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints". The church was known by this name until after Smith's death in 1844; occasionally the name would be written with a hyphen between the words "Latter" and "Day".After Smith's death, competing Latter Day Saint denominations organized under the leadership of a number of successors. The largest of these, led by Brigham Young, continued using "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" until incorporation in 1851 by the legislature of the provisional State of Deseret, when the church standardized the spelling of its name as "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints", which included a hyphenated "Latter-day" and a British-style lower-case "d". In January 1855, the legislature of Utah Territory re-enacted the charter which incorporated the church under this name.
In 1876, the LDS Church issued a new edition of the Doctrine and Covenants which contains the text of significant revelations received by Joseph Smith. In this new edition—the first revision since before Smith's death—the capitalization and hyphenation of the church's name in the 1838 revelation to Smith was changed to reflect the name format the church had since adopted:
nd unto all the elders and people of my Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, scattered abroad in all the world; For thus shall my church be called in the last days, even the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The definite article "The" was not capitalized in D&C 115:4 of the 1876 edition. It is not until the 1921 edition that the definite article "The" was capitalized in verse 4 of the revelation. Until the late-20th century, church publications inconsistently capitalized "The" in the name of the church in running text. Today, church publications invariably capitalize "The" in all contexts.
Today, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" is a registered trademark owned by the LDS Church. In contrast, "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" is a public-domain name and is used by some smaller Latter Day Saint denominations, including the Strangites.
Meaning of the name
The church teaches that its name is a significant indicator of its origin and mission. The following teachings have been given on the meanings of the various components of the church's name:- The Church: "Note that the article The begins with a capital letter. This is an important part of the title, for the Church is the official organization of baptized believers who have taken upon themselves the name of Christ." "The word The indicates the unique position of the restored Church among the religions of the world." "The word the is significant: not just Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, because to say 'The Church' distinguishes this as the only true church on the face of the earth."
- of Jesus Christ: "By divine directive, the title of the Church bears the sacred name of Jesus Christ, whose church this is.... We know Him to be 'the chief corner stone' upon which the organization of His Church is based.... We know Him to be the Rock from whom revelation comes to His authorized agents... and to all who worthily seek Him". "The words Church of Jesus Christ declare that it is His Church. In the Book of Mormon, Jesus taught: 'And how be it my church save it be called in my name? For if a church be called in Moses' name then it be Moses' church; or if it be called in the name of a man then it be the church of a man; but if it be called in my name then it is my church, if it so be that they are built upon my gospel'." "By implication, calling the Church by the name Mormon would make it Mormon's Church. While most Church members are not offended by the title Mormon, they prefer the name that properly underscores their relationship to Christ."
- of Latter-day: "Of Latter-day explains that it is the same Church as the Church that Jesus Christ established during His mortal ministry but restored in these latter days."
- Saints: "Saints means that its members follow Him and strive to do His will, keep His commandments, and prepare once again to live with Him and our Heavenly Father in the future. Saint simply refers to those who seek to make their lives holy by covenanting to follow Christ." "Despite its use in ninety-eight verses of the Bible, the term saint is still not well understood. Some mistakenly think that it implies beatification or perfection. Not so! A saint is a believer in Christ and knows of His perfect love.... A saint serves others.... A saint is tolerant, and is attentive to the pleadings of other human beings.... A saint 'refrain from idleness'... and seeks learning by study, and also by faith.... A saint is honest and kind.... A saint is an honorable citizen.... A saint resolves any differences with others honorably and peacefully and is constant in courtesy.... A saint shuns that which is unclean or degrading and avoids excess even of that which is good. Perhaps above all, a saint is reverent. Reverence for the Lord, for the earth He created, for leaders, for the dignity of others, for the law, for the sanctity of life, for chapels and other buildings, are all evidences of saintly attitudes."
Informal and abbreviated names
Others may call themselves by their own, or by other names, and have the privilege of wearing them without our changing them or attempting so to do; but we do not accept the above title, nor shall we wear it as our name, though it may be lavished out upon us double to what it has heretofore been."
Today, it remains common for individuals and media outside of the church to refer to it as the "Mormon Church". Church leaders have resisted these practices and have instructed the members of the church to not refer to the church in these ways.
In 2001, the church issued a "style guide" on its name, which it expanded on August 15, 2018 in which the Church requested that those writing about it adhere to the following guidelines.
In the first reference, the full name of the Church is preferred: "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." When a shortened reference is needed, the terms "the Church" or the "Church of Jesus Christ" are encouraged. The "restored Church of Jesus Christ" is also accurate and encouraged. While the term "Mormon Church" has long been publicly applied to the Church as a nickname, it is not an authorized title, and the Church discourages its use. Thus, please avoid using the abbreviation "LDS" or the nickname "Mormon" as substitutes for the name of the Church, as in "Mormon Church," "LDS Church," or "Church of the Latter-day Saints."
Since the release of the new style guide media in Utah, including the church-owned Deseret News, KSL-TV, and KSL radio, tend to use "Latter-day Saints" when referring to the church in headlines, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is now called Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.
On publication of the 2001 style guide, The New York Times reported that the release of the style guide recommendations was a "'deliberate reaffirmation' of a long effort in favor of wider use of the church's full title". Apostle Dallin H. Oaks told the Times that "church leaders decided it was possible to begin using the abbreviated name of Church of Jesus Christ because no other major Christian body in the United States had laid claim to it." Jan Shipps, an expert on the LDS Church, suggested that the continuing efforts of the church to emphasize its full name reflects the long-standing desire of members of the church that their beliefs "be understood as a Christian tradition."