The official name of the Mormon Church today is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Joseph Smith founded it at the age of 24, in the state of New York on April 6, 1830. It was originally named the Church of Christ, and then in 1834 the name was changed to the Church of the Latter Day Saints. In 1838 it received its current name (Doctrine and Covenants, Sec.115:4).

Joseph Smith proclaimed that God Himself had designated the LDS Church as "the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth" (Doc. & Cov. Sec. 1:30).

The LDS Church claims to have the only true priesthood that is required to act in the name of God. A Prophet/President and his two counselors govern the church. Under them are twelve apostles and a group of men called the Seventies. These are the highest offices in their church.

They have four books of scriptures: the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price.

2. How many Mormons are there?

The official LDS web site lists the December 31, 2004 worldwide church membership at 12,275,822. At the beginning of 2005 there were approximately 5,599,177 LDS members in the United States and approximately 6,676,645 members outside of the USA. Most of those outside of the USA are in Latin American countries.

The LDS Church claims to be the "only true church" and the only church with the authority to act in God’s name. They do not accept any other church’s baptisms. According to their teachings, their baptism is the only one recognized by the Lord. This belief, coupled with their belief in the need for a Mormon temple marriage to gain eternal life, compels them to take their message to the world.

4. Is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints just another Protestant religion?

No, the Mormon Church does not claim to be Protestant. It claims to be a divine restoration of Christ’s true church. It therefore rejects the validity of any other church. Its basic beliefs place it outside the standard doctrines of Christianity. Mormonism teaches that the God to whom they pray is but one of a whole series of gods who at one time were mortal then progressed to godhood. The LDS Church teaches that their Heavenly Father was once born as a spirit child of a god and wife who ruled a different world. After maturing as a spirit being he was sent to another world where he was born as a human. There he grew to maturity, married, died, was resurrected, went to heaven, progressed and eventually became the God of our world. He and his resurrected wife continue to have spirit children born to them in their heavenly realm. The Mormon man, accompanied by his wife, who is faithful to his religion, pays his tithe, attends the LDS temple rituals, etc. is hoping to eventually progress to become a god of another world, just like his Heavenly Father did.

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