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Article: Latter-Day Saints, Church of Jesus Christ of
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
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LATTER-DAY SAINTS, CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF
LATTER-DAY SAINTS, CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF.
The Mormon Church traces its origins to founder Joseph Smith's vision of 1820, which upheld the view that no existing church had "right" doctrine. Mormonism avowed a belief in the Trinity but denied original sin. It stressed faith in Jesus Christ, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Spirit. While it accepted the Bible as the word of God, Smith's discovery of an alternative scripture, the Book of Mormon, provided an account
of an Israelite prophet, Lehi, who was commanded by God in 600 b.c. to lead a small group of people to the ...