[Dave-G]

I recently found out that there are two ‘Latter Day Saints’ denominations. What are the theological differences between the Reorganized Church of the Latter Day Saints and the Mormons? If there are not theological differences, why do ‘Reorganized’ members say they are not Mormons?

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Name : Dave-G, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 26, City : Kansas City, State : MO, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[TR27588]

The split occurred after the death of Joseph Smith. The conflict was over who should be the next leader of the Church. The members of the Reorganized Church followed Joseph Smith’s son, while the Mormons followed Brigham Young, the senior Apostle. Since the split occurred over 150 years ago, there are probably some doctrinal differences, but I do not know what they are.

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Name : TR27588, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Mormon, Age : 17, City : San Jose, State : CA, Country : United States, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, 

[liz]

I don’t know a ton about the reorganized L.D.S. church except that they believe that the prophet has to be descended from Joseph Smith, the founder of the L.D.S. church. The RLDS also believe in the Trinity, and that Jesus Christ was God incarnate, and not a separate being while the LDS believe they are three separate entities. The LDS believe that marriages are eternal, while RLDS believe they end at death. The LDS believe only men can hold the priesthood, and that all men should. The RLDS believe that both men and women can hold it, and both, only if they feel they have been ‘called’ to that position by GOd. The LDS church does vicarious work for the dead, and the RLDS do not. Both groups believe in the Book of Mormon, a supposed account of the ancient people of the Americas and Jesus Christ’s visit to them. Both believe in a modern day prophet, though both groups look to a different one. I hope this helps, you can always look on the internet, both groups have pretty thorough explanations on their basic theology.

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[John F.]

Dave, Thanks for asking this question! I am a member of the Salt Lake City based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The two different churches came about when the LDS Prophet Joseph Smith was assasinated. After his death, the question arose as who should succeed him. Those who followed Brigham Young as the next Prophet and President of the church became what are commonly referred to as ‘Mormons’. We are the church based in Salt Lake City. We have temples where we perform sacred ordinances. On the other hand, The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints believed that Joseph Smith had chosen his son (Joseph Smith III) as his successor. The Reorganized Church and the so-called ‘Brigamite Church’ differ in many respects. The Reorganized Church does not build temples for ordinances to be performed. They claim that Joseph Smith never practised polygamy, the now allow women to be ordained into the priesthood, they have some scriptures that differ from ours. There are other differences. Though we do have differences, there is a great deal of friendship between the two churches. Polygamy was abolished in the late 1800’s and is not practiced at all by the Salt Lake City ‘Mormons’. We do not consider ourselves as ‘denominations’ of any church. We both consider ourselves as the restored church as established by Christ.

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[RJ Vaughan]

After Joseph was Killed, a portion of the church members followed Brigham Young, saying he was the new prophet, and others, believing the presidency of the church should be handed down to Josephs’ offspring (like royal blood, Kings, Queens, etc) followed Joseph’s son. They became known as the Re-organized church. There are theological differences. One of them being baptism for the dead. Mormons believe in it, Re-organized members don’t.

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[craig janis]

After the founder of the LDS church, Joseph Smith died, Brigham Young took over leadership of the church. A group of people in the church thought that leadership should be passed from father to son in the Smith family, and they broke off from the LDS church to start thier own. They started the RLDS church, and I suppose they dont want to be called mormons because that is the familiar nickname for LDS people.

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Name : craig janis, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Mormon, Age : 15, City : chula vista, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : high school student, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Eric Stone]

The two groups are the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and often referred to as Latter-day Saints, LDS, or Mormons) and the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (headquartered in Independence, Missouri, and often referred to as RLDS). The split occured after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith. The LDS, believing that the leadership passed to the senior apostle, followed Brigham Young out to Utah. The RLDS, believing that leadership should pass to Joseph Smith’s descendants, did not go to Utah. (Incidentally, since there are no longer any descendants of Joseph Smith’s direct line, the RLDS church leadership has passed to someone else.) I’m not really familiar with RLDS church doctrine, but my understanding is that it is more in line with traditional Protestant theology than LDS doctrine, except that they believe in the Book of Mormon.

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[John M.]

Upon the martyrdom of Joseph Smith the church’s first prophet, Sidney Rigdon, one of Smith’s closest followers, felt that the right of the presidency should be passed to the oldest son of the dead prophet. The church at the time had 12 apostles who together held the same authority as the Prophet did individually and were supposed to select the Prophet from among themselves and then select a person to fill the vacancy within the twelve. Sidney Rigdon and Joseph Smith’s widow, Emma, disagreed and formed the Re-organized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Both groups believe in the Bible and also believe the Book of Mormon to be God’s word to his children for their benefit.

The re-organized church was not the only break-away group from the “Mormons.” Others left when the practice of plural marriage was discontinued by the church in Utah. Some groups still exist today in Mexico, Utah, Montana and Arizona that persist in this practice and are sometimes erroneously referred to by the media as “fundamentalist Mormons.” However, the practice was discontinued at the direction of the prophet Brigham Young due to the denial of state’s rights to the territory of Utah and through prayerful consideration. True fundamentalists would accept the direction of the prophet and likewise abandon the practice.

The word “Mormon” was used as a slur by those who persecuted the members of the church and chased them from their homes. In many states, leaders of the original church prefer that the name not be used since it detracts from the true nature and foundation of the church which is Jesus Christ. “Latter-Day Saints” is used to distinguish its members from the early members of the church who were also called “saints,” a moniker which denotes devotion and discipleship and not necessarily the connotation given by Roman Catholics. I know. I am a Mormon and I’m no “saint.” Hope this helps.

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[Misty]

The first respondent lists the Mormon point of view. The RLDS point of view is slightly different. At the time of the separation, the church was in turmoil; Joseph Smith’s son was not old enough to take over. Brigham Young assumed control and starting making small changes to the fundamental beliefs (polygamy was one of them). Because of persecution by others in the area, they chose to move to Utah. The church called the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ is called that because of legal reasons. Also about that time, the government bagan requiring churches to register there names. The Mormons had already registered the LDS name so the other group chose RLDS. Today, other than a belief in the Book of Mormon, the churches don’t have a whole lot in common. The theologies differ greatly. Incidentally, the RLDS church has changed its name to the Community of Christ to better signify what the mission of the church is.

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