The Mormons

The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement)[1] is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 15 million members.[2] The vast majority of adherents belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), with their predominant theology being Mormonism.
The movement began in western New York during the Second Great Awakening when Smith said that he received visions revealing a new sacred text, the Book of Mormon, which he published in 1830 as a complement to the Bible. Based on the teachings of this book and other revelations, Smith founded a Christian primitivist church, called the "Church of Christ". The Book of Mormon attracted hundreds of early followers, who later became known as "Mormons", "Latter Day Saints", or just "Saints."
The Latter Day Saint movement classifies itself within Christianity, but as a distinct restored dispensation. Latter Day Saints hold that a Great Apostasy began in Christianity not long after the ascension of Jesus Christ,[10]marked with the corruption of Christian doctrine by Greek and other philosophies,[11] and followers dividing into different ideological groups.[12] Additionally, Latter Day Saints claim the martyrdom of the apostles led to a loss of priesthood authority to administer the church and its ordinances.
The beliefs within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) with regard to saints are similar but not quite the same as the Protestant tradition. In the New Testament, saints are all those who have entered into the Christian covenant of baptism. The qualification "latter-day" refers to the doctrine that members are living in the "latter days", before the Second Coming of Christ, and is used to distinguish the members of the LDS Church, which considers itself the restoration of the ancient Christian church.[45]