Who Are You Going To Believe? Joseph Smith?
Denominations that base their beliefs on the teachings
of Joseph Smith
In 1842 Josiah Quincey wrote: "It is by no means improbable that some future text book for the use of generations yet unborn will contain a question something like this: ‘What historical American of the nineteenth century has exerted the most powerful influence upon the destinies of his countrymen' And it is by no means impossible that the answer to this interrogatory may be thus written: ‘Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet"
In vols.1-3 1840-1842, Times and Seasons, March 1, 1842 was published the famous letter written by the Prophet Joseph Smith to Mr. John Wentworth which contains the following; "...when about fourteen years of age, I went to one society they referred me to one plan, and another and another: each one pointing to his own particular creed as the sun nun bonum of perfection. Considering that all could not be right, and that God could not be the author of so much confusion, I determined to investigate the subject more fully, believing that if God had a church it would not be split into fractions, and that if He taught one society to worship one way, and administer in one set of ordinances, He would not teach another principle which was diametrically opposed..." (emphasis added)
Joseph again stated, "I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him; but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet" (7)
So using Joseph’s own statement let’s see what happened with the church he organized. Joseph claimed numerous heavenly visitations and revelations, and on April 6, 1830 he and a handful of believers, organized the Church of Christ. The name of the church was changed in 1834 to The Church of Latter Day Saints, and finally in 1838 to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If the name of the church was received by revelation as claimed, there should only be one version of it.
Below is a list of known fractions from the church organized by Joseph Smith.
1830-1850’s Churches and individuals.
Pure Church of Christ (Wyman Clark) 1831
John Noah 1831
The Independent Church 1832
Church of Christ (Ezra Booth) 1836
Church of Christ (Warren Parrish) 1837
Isaac Russell 1838
The Church of Jesus Christ, the Bride, The Lamb’s Wife (Hinkle) 1840
Oliver Olney 1842
Church of Christ (Hyrum Page) 1842
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (F. G. Bishop) 1842?
True Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Law, Foster, Higbee) 1844
Church of Christ (Chubby) 1840’s
Church of Christ/Church of Jesus Christ of the Children of Zion (Sidney Rigdon) 1844
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Emmett) 1844?
John E. Page 1844
Church of Christ (Stoddard, Rich, Bump) 1845
Indian Mormon 1846
Church of Christ ( W. McLellin, D. Whitmer) 1847
*Church of Christ (D. Whitmer) 1875
Samuel James, George M. Hinkle 1847
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (William Smith) 1847
Congregation of Jehovah’s Presbytery of Zion (Thompson 1848
Church of Christ (Brewster) 1848
Lorenzo D. Oatman 1848
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Wright) 1849
Austin Cowles 1849
Samuel C. Brown 1849
Elijah Schwackhammer 1849
The Bride, The Lamb’s Wife or Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Syfritt) 1850
Moses R. Norris 1851
Church of Christ (Aldrich) 1851
George Hickenlooper 1854
Church of Christ (Brooks) 1850’s
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strang) 1844
Reuben Miller 1846
Church of Christ ( Aaron Smith) 1846
Increase M. VanDeusen 1847
Church of the Messiah (Adams) 1861
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)(Albert Norman Ketchum) 1924
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) (Drew) 1952
Holy Church of Jesus Christ (Caffiaux) 1964
House of Ephraim and House of Manasseh of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints (Sheppard) 1970
The True Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Roberts) 1974
Marriage Counseling Group 1978
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Hajicek) ?
Strangite Believers in Pennsylvania ?
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Brigham Young) 1847
George Miller 1847
Arnold Potter 1850
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Gibson) 1861
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or Church of the First Born (Morris) 1861
The Prophet Cainen or Church of Jesus Christ of the Most High God (Williams) 1862
Morrisite Group (Livingston) 1864
William Davis 1861
Church of Zion (Godbe) 1868
Church of the First Born (Dove) 1874
Barnet Moses Giles 1875
Church of Jesus Christ of the Saints of the Most High God (Guhl) 1870’s
Church of Jesus Christ of the Saints of the Most High God (James) 1884
Church of Jesus Christ of the Saints of the Most High God (Thompson) 1888
Priesthood Groups (Fundamentalists) 1890
James Brighouse 1887
John Koyle 1894
Church of the First Born (Israel Dennis) 1895
Josiah Hickman 1900
Lars Peterson 1900
Nathaniel Baldwin 1903
Samuel Eastman 1904
John Tanner Clark 1905
Hannah Sorenson 1906
United Order of Equality (Peterson) 1909
Moses Gudmendsen 1918
Paul Feil 1928
LDS Depression Movement 1930
Davis County Co-op Society (Kingston) 1935
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Third Convention (Paez) 1936
The Church of Jesus Christ of Israel ( Sherwood) 1936
Church of Jesus of Latter Day Saints (Margarito Bautista) 1936
Benjamin T. LaBaron 1938
Order of Aaron (Glendinning) 1943
Church of Freedom of Latter Day Saints 1950’s
Zion’s Order of the Sons of Levi (Kilgore) 1951
Annalee Skarin 1952
The Church of the Firstborn of the Fulness of Times (Joel F. LeBaron) 1955
The Church of the Firstborn (Ross W. LeBaron) 1955
United Outcasts of Israel, American Indian Restoration
Enterprises, Praetorian Press (Pratt) 1958
Perfected Church of Jesus Christ of Immaculate Latter Day Saints (Conway) 1958
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Forsgren) 1960
Paul Solem 1960
Church of Jesus Christ (Goldman) 1960’s
Divine Word Foundation (Hans N. VonKorber) 1965
Bruce David Longo 1965
LDS Scripture Researchers/Believe God Society (Lloyd) 1965
The Church of the Body and of the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Powers) 1965
United Order of the Saints of Guadeloupe (Gamiette) 1966
United Order of the Family of Christ (Desmond) 1966
Split from Zion’s Order of the Sons of Levi (Taylor) 1969
Homosexual Church of Jesus Christ, Denver, Colorado 1972
Latter Day Saints Church (Park) 1972
The Church of the Lamb of God (Ervil M. LaBaron) 1972
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Krupenia) 1972
The New Jerusalem Group (Kathryn Carter) 1972
The Watchmen on the Towers of Latter Day Israel (Braun) 1973
Monte Scovill 1973
Church of Jesus Christ in Solemn Assembly (Alexander Joseph) 1974
Evangelical Church of Christ, Church of the New Covenant in Christ (Bryant) 1974
Split from Zion’s Order of the Sons of Levi (Kilgore 1975
Affirmation 1975
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Simons) 1975
Church of the Firstborn of the Fulness of Times (Wakeham 1975
Church of the Firstborn of the Fulness of Times ( Alma LeBaron) 1976
Aaronic Order Break-off 1977
Christ’s Church, Inc. (Peterson) 1978
Church of Jesus Christ (Bulla) 1978
The Restorers or School of the Prophets (Crossfield) 1979
Zion’s First International Church (LeeAnn Walker) 1980
The Free Will Mormon Church (Coleman) 1980
Aryan Christian Church (Hayden, Idaho) 1980
Church of Jesus Christ (Mora) 1981
Sons Ahman Israel (David Israel) 1981
Samoan LDS Church, New Zealand 1981
The Millennial Church of Jesus Christ (Evoniuk) 1981
Peyote Way Church of God (Trujillo) 1981?
The Church of Jesus Christ of the Saints in Zion (Thackston) 1982
The Church of Jesus Christ of the Saints in Zion (Asay) 1984
Break from the Church of Jesus Christ in Solemn Assembly 1984
The Company or The Sisterhood (Arvin Shreeve) 1984
Lafferty Group (Ron and Dan Lafferty) 1984
Work of Better Truth (Peterson) 1984
Gilbert Jordan 1985
Church of Jesus Christ of All Latter-day Saints or
Restoration Church of Jesus Christ (Feliz) 1985
Church of Christ of Latter-day Saints (Madison) 1985
Church of Christ the Firstborn of the Fulness of Times (Widmar) 1985
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Fundamentalists (Wright Family) 1985?
School of the Prophets (Archie Dean Wood) 1986
Mormon Fundamentalists, England (Munn) 1986?
The Ensign Corporation (Miller) 1986
Church of Jesus Christ Omnipotent 1987
Community of Zion, Central Utah Division (Miner) ?
LeRoy Wilson ?
Alonzo Langford ?
Church of the First Born, General Assembly ?
The Church of Jesus Christ (Cutler) 1953
Church of Jesus Christ (Fletcher) 1953
The Restored Church of Jesus Christ (Walton) 1979
The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints 1851
Henry Harrison Deam 1854
The Church of Christ, the Order of Zion (Zahnd) 1918
The Church of Jesus Christ (Williams) 1925
World Redemption (Fuller) 1969
Church of Jesus Christ Restored (King) 1970
Loyal Opposition (Liggett) 1970
New Jerusalem Church of Jesus Christ (Fuller) 1976
Church of Christ Restored (Fishel) 1976
True Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Toney) 1980
Church of the Restoration or Churches of Christ in Zion (Chambers) 1981
Joseph T. Long 1983
Lamanite Ministries for Christ or New Covenant Ministries for Christ 1984
Restoration Branches Movement 1984
Church of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God (Abramson) 1985
Church of Jesus Christ, Zion’s Branch (Cato) 1986
Church of Christ (Clark) 1986
Independent Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Warren) 1986
Native Indian Church ?
The Church of Jesus Christ (Bickerton) 1862
George Barnes 1873
Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ (Wright) 1907
Primitive Church of Jesus Christ (Caldwell) 1914
Church of Christ (Temple Lot) (Hedrick 1863
Church of Christ, Independent, Informal, (Wipper) 1927
The Church of Christ (Fetting) 1929
Church of Christ (Ely) 1929
Church of Christ (Humphrey) 1929
Church of Christ (Trapp) 1930
Church of Christ (Restored) (DeWolf) 1936
Church of Christ (E.E. Long and Nerren) 1936
Church of Christ (Hilgendorf) 1942
The Church of Christ with the Elijah Message (Draves) 1946
Floyd Denham Group ?
Church of Christ (Pauline Hancock) 1946
Antarctica Development Interests or the New American’s Mount Zion (Leabo) 1955
Church of Christ (E.E. Long) 1960
Church of Christ (Leighton-Floyd, Burt) 1965
Church of Christ at Zion’s Retreat (Hall) 1973
The Church of Israel (Gayman) 1973
Stephen Brown 1979
Break from the Church of Christ (Hancock) (in Michigan) 1973
Church of Christ With the Elijah Message (Rogers) 1975
The Church of Christ, Restored Gospel 1929
Then reorganized again in 1985
The True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saint of the Last Days
(James Harmston) 1994
Fraternity of Preparation ?
INDEPENDENTS
Hubert John Archambault
Clark E. Callear
D.T. Chapman
Francis M. Darter
Charlotte Elam / Catherine Pico
Gilbert A. Fulton,Jr
George T. Harrison
C.J. Hunt
Paul Johnson
Price W. Johnson
Thomas John Jordan
Ogden Kraut
O. E. LaPoint
Gladys Barr Lloyd
Joseph Luff
B.L. McKim
D.J. Morgan
Ernest W. Ninnis
Arch S. Reynolds
Henry W. Richards
David A. Richardson
James R. Snell
Lawrence Ritchie Stubbs
C.A. Swenson
Dalton A. Tiffin
Samuel Wood
James Elmer Yates
(6)
To summarize, the above list contains 220 churches, individuals or organizations that base their beliefs on the teachings of Joseph Smith. I’m sure there are many others that we don’t know about or that don’t want to be known for one reason or another. 220 in 174 years, (2004) that should be a record of some sort!
In a recent interview with one of the latest "new prophets,” Archie (Azreal) Dean Wood,
revealed the same attitudes toward Christianity still exist. Archie remarked to Jim Spencer and Jim Close, that he, Archie, "...hate(s) established Christianity...and I disagree 100% with the great basic premises of Christianity. I reject categorically that humans are born evil. God finds that heinous...The atonement for Original Sin is silly twat. The best concept of God that you (Christians) could come up with was some Cosmic Monster who designed a hell wherein all those who don’t profess the name of Christ are going to burn for all eternity; and His concept of love is demanding a human sacrifice, i.e. the Crucifixion of Christ, to appease His sense of justice. If that’s your God, I want you to know, my friend, I am His implacable enemy—I will never bend my knee to that monster" (1)
Joseph Smith said, "I was answered that I must join none of them, for that were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors (believers) were all corrupt.." (2)
John Taylor, third President of the Church, said, "We talk about Christianity, but it is a perfect pack of nonsense. ...and the Devil could not invent a better engine to spread his work than the Christianity of the nineteenth century" (3)
Brigham Young seconded John Taylor’s statement, "Brother Taylor has just said that the religions of the day were hatched in hell, the eggs were laid in hell, hatched on its borders, and then kicked onto the earth" (4)
Again Joseph Smith: "Many men say there is one God; the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are only one God! I say that is a strange God
anyhow—three in one, and one in three! It is a curious organization. All are to be crammed into one God, according to sectarianism. It would make the biggest God in all the world. He would be a wonderfully big God—he would be a giant or a monster" (5)
The legacy of Joseph Smith lives on in his teachings and doctrines that destroy and deceive people. Unlike Christians, none of these Mormon splinter groups will have anything to do with each other, because each claims to be "The only true church" Each member of each group claims to have a testimony of the truthfulness of that particular group. All can’t be right. And none can be right when they all deny the Deity of Jesus Christ, the Jesus Christ of the Bible, deny salvation by grace through faith, deny the infallibility of God’s Word the Bible, etc.,etc.
"Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord" (Jer. 17:5.)
"It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man" (Ps. 118:8.)
The Biblical Church in not an organization operated by man, but the body of believers, trusting in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. Here’s a short definition:
The Church is never a place,
but always a people;
never a fold,
but always a flock;
never a sacred building,
but always a believing assembly.
The Church is you who pray,
not where you pray.
A building can no more be a Church than
your clothes of satin or cotton can be you.
God does not live in buildings.
He lives in the bodies of born-again believers.
The Church is not where we meet,
but the Church is who we are.
The Church is a mighty, militant army
designed to counter Satan’s work,
and to establish the Kingdom of God
in the lives of people and
in their communities.
Find your place in the Body.
Every ministry needs support and help.
"...they received the Word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so" Acts 17:11
Footnotes:
(1) Through the Maze, #17 1987 by James Spencer, Idaho Falls, Idaho
(2) Pearl of Great Price, writings of Joseph Smith Ch 2:19
(3) Journal of Discourses Vol. 6, p.167
(4) Journal or Discourses Vol.6, p.176
(5) History of the Church Vol. 6,p.476
(6) Divergent Paths of the Restoration Steven L. Shields 1982 ed. 1990 ed.
El Segundo, Ca.
(7) History of the Church Vol. 6,pp.408,409
?= Exact date not known