title: Begriffs- und Sprachentwicklung anhand der Kirche Jesu Christi der Heiligen der Letzten Tage
Creators: name: Potocnik, Katja
Publisher: name: :none
Year: 2009

description: The present work deals with the history and development of the terms and language used within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. From its foundation in 1830 until today it has evolved into an international religious organization with more than 13 million members worldwide. Along with this development came the fabrication of a terminology reflecting the complex organizational structure as well as the strong faith of its members. The terms discussed comprise those in connection with the foundation of the Church, the priesthood offices which constitute its local and worldwide leadership, the regional and local units, the organizations within the local units (called wards) and some teachings and rituals. Further, a chapter is dedicated to English words used within the Church in German-speaking countries. Those terms that came along with the Church foundation are nowadays the most basic ones introduced to non-members, such as the First Vision, the Book of Mormon or the Aaronic and Melchisedek Priesthoods. They distinguish the LDS Church from any other church. As most of the priesthood offices and their origins are based on the priesthood order from the Old or the New Testament, the Church leaders presumably took great parts of their knowledge about them from these ancient scriptures. Many of them are well known terms in the Christian world, but most of them have a different meaning and different functions. The local organization is represented by terms such as stake, branch or ward. They are unique in their use and rich in history and meaning. The so called auxiliary organizations within wards were mainly created out of the necessity to organize the members of the Church into functional entities. Their names have gone through numerous changes, mostly due to the internationalization of the Church which once had its roots in the US state of New York. The constant growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints keeps bringing about new organizations and offices which are necessary for its functioning along with new terms and expressions which call for definition and investigation. Presumably, this is not about to change any time soon.
description: The present work deals with the history and development of the terms and language used within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. From its foundation in 1830 until today it has evolved into an international religious organization with more than 13 million members worldwide. Along with this development came the fabrication of a terminology reflecting the complex organizational structure as well as the strong faith of its members. The terms discussed comprise those in connection with the foundation of the Church, the priesthood offices which constitute its local and worldwide leadership, the regional and local units, the organizations within the local units (called wards) and some teachings and rituals. Further, a chapter is dedicated to English words used within the Church in German-speaking countries. Those terms that came along with the Church foundation are nowadays the most basic ones introduced to non-members, such as the First Vision, the Book of Mormon or the Aaronic and Melchisedek Priesthoods. They distinguish the LDS Church from any other church. As most of the priesthood offices and their origins are based on the priesthood order from the Old or the New Testament, the Church leaders presumably took great parts of their knowledge about them from these ancient scriptures. Many of them are well known terms in the Christian world, but most of them have a different meaning and different functions. The local organization is represented by terms such as stake, branch or ward. They are unique in their use and rich in history and meaning. The so called auxiliary organizations within wards were mainly created out of the necessity to organize the members of the Church into functional entities. Their names have gone through numerous changes, mostly due to the internationalization of the Church which once had its roots in the US state of New York. The constant growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints keeps bringing about new organizations and offices which are necessary for its functioning along with new terms and expressions which call for definition and investigation. Presumably, this is not about to change any time soon.