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Latter Day Saint movement The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by ...
, the "Articles of Faith" is a statement of beliefs composed by
Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious and political leader and the founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. Publishing the Book of Mormon at the age of 24, Smith attracted tens of thou ...
as part of an 1842 letter sent to "Long" John Wentworth, editor of the '' Chicago Democrat'', and first published in the Latter Day Saint newspaper '' Times and Seasons''. It is a concise listing of thirteen fundamental doctrines of
Mormonism Mormonism is the theology and religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationism, Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 1830s. As a label, Mormonism has been applied to va ...
. Most Latter Day Saint denominations view the articles as an authoritative statement of basic theology. Some denominations, such as
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...
(LDS Church), have adopted the articles as scripture (see Pearl of Great Price). For some sects, the Articles of Faith are known collectively as "An Epitome of Faith and Doctrine".


Wording

The full text is reproduced here. Later alterations to the text made by the LDS Church are indicated by strikethroughs and brackets.


Articles 1–4

Articles one through four read as follows:
# We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. # We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression. # We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. # We believe that these ordinances he first principles and ordinances of the Gospelare: 1st irst Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; 2d econd Repentance; 3d hird Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; 4th ourth Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
The first four articles state basic doctrines of the Latter Day Saint movement. The first is often understood to state the doctrine of the Godhead. The second specifically rejects the teaching of
original sin Original sin () in Christian theology refers to the condition of sinfulness that all humans share, which is inherited from Adam and Eve due to the Fall of man, Fall, involving the loss of original righteousness and the distortion of the Image ...
. The third states belief in the atonement of Christ taking effect for potentially all individuals (as opposed to double predestination) conditional on following the laws and ordinances of the Gospel (as opposed to
unconditional election Unconditional election (also called sovereign election or unconditional grace) is a Calvinist doctrine relating to predestination that describes the actions and motives of God prior to his creation of the world, when he predestined some people t ...
). The fourth states the core principles and ordinances of
faith Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, faith has multiple definitions, inc ...
, repentance,
baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...
and confirmation for the gift of the Holy Ghost.


Articles 5–6

The fifth and sixth articles state beliefs regarding how the church should be organized; in particular, the requirement of
ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...
to the priesthood and prophetic governance through the use of priesthood keys to administer valid and licit ordinances (as opposed to a
priesthood of all believers The priesthood of all believers is the common Priest, priesthood of all Christians (a concept broadly accepted by all churches), while the term can also refer to a specific Protestantism, Protestant understanding that this universal priesthood pre ...
). The belief in a church polity including apostles, prophets and evangelists is also stated.


Articles 7–9

Articles 7–9 state beliefs in sources of revelation: in gifts of the Spirit, in the
Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
and Book of Mormon, and in continuing revelation:


Articles 10–12

Articles 10–12 state beliefs in the gathering of Israel, establishes ethics for religious freedom, and proper conduct for church members in society:


Article 13

The thirteenth article states beliefs in how one should conduct oneself. The "admonition of Paul" referenced appears to b
Philippians 4:8


Earlier Latter Day Saint creeds

The Articles of Faith are similar to, and may have been partially derived from, an earlier eight-article creed written by Oliver Cowdery:
#We believe in God, and his Son Jesus Christ. #We believe that God, from the beginning, revealed himself to man; and that whenever he has had a people on earth, he always has revealed himself to them by the Holy Ghost, the ministering of angels, or his own voice. We do not believe that he ever had a church on earth without revealing himself to that church: consequently, there were apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, in the same. #We believe that God is the same in all ages; and that it requires the same holiness, purity, and religion, to save a man now, as it did anciently; and that as HE is no respecter of persons, always has, and always will reveal himself to men when they call upon him. #We believe that God has revealed himself to men in this age, and commenced to raise up a church preparatory to his second advent, when he will come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. #We believe that the popular religious theories of the day are incorrect; that they are without parallel in the revelations of God, as sanctioned by him; and that however faithfully they may be adhered to, or however zealously and warmly they may be defended, they will never stand the strict scrutiny of the word of life. #We believe that all men are born free and equal; that no man, combination of men, or government of men, have power or authority to compel or force others to embrace any system of religion, or religious creed, or to use force or violence to prevent others from enjoying their own opinions, or practicing the same, so long as they do not molest or disturb others in theirs, in a manner to deprive them of their privileges as free citizens-or of worshiping orshippingGod as they choose, and that any attempt to the contrary is an assumption unwarrantable in the revelations of heaven, and strikes at the root of civil liberty, and is a ubversionof all equitable principles between man and man. #We believe that God has set his hand the second time to recover the remnant of his people, Israel; and that the time is near when he will bring them from the four winds, with songs of everlasting joy, and reinstate them upon their own lands which he gave their fathers by covenant. #And further: We believe in embracing good wherever it may be found; of proving all things, and holding fast that which is righteous.
Subsequent early creeds predating the Wentworth Letter included a five-article creed by Joseph Young, an eighteen-article creed by Parley P. Pratt, a nineteen-article creed by Orson Pratt and a sixteen-article creed by Orson Hyde.


Other versions

A similar but altered version of the creed with fourteen articles was published by James H. Flanigan in April 1849 in England, and quoted in some other nineteenth-century sources. This inserted an additional article after the tenth ("We believe in the literal resurrection of the body, and that the dead in Christ will rise first, and that the rest of the dead live not again until the thousand years are expired."), and made various other changes, such as giving a longer list of gifts of the spirit in the seventh article, appending " the Lord's supper" to the list of ordinances in the fourth article, mentioning "all other good books" in the eighth article, and appending "looking forward to the 'recompense of reward.'" to the last article, amongst other changes. This version is sometimes mistaken as being the original. A significantly longer, extended revision of the creed, which contains twenty-five articles and is known as the Articles of Faith and Practice, is used by the Church of Christ (Temple Lot), the Church of Christ (Fettingite), the Church of Christ with the Elijah Message and the Church of Christ with the Elijah Message (Assured Way). The Word of the Lord, regarded as scriptural by the Fettingites and by both Elijah Message groups, declares these articles to be inspired and forbids changing their wording. The version currently published by the Temple Lot group has a different version of Article 20 to the version used by the other groups, denouncing
cohabitation Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not legally married live together as a couple. They are often involved in a Romance (love), romantic or Sexual intercourse, sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. ...
and
same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...
in addition to
plural marriage Polygamy (called plural marriage by Latter-day Saints in the 19th century or the Principle by modern fundamentalist practitioners of polygamy) was practiced by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for more ...
.


See also

* George Goddard (Mormon) * The Family: A Proclamation to the World


References

*. *. *. *. *. *.


External links

* of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. {{DEFAULTSORT:Articles Of Faith (Latter Day Saints) 1842 in Christianity 1842 documents Latter Day Saint statements of faith Latter Day Saint terms Pearl of Great Price (Mormonism) Works originally published in Times and Seasons