“The LDS church teaches that as the Bible has been transmitted over the centuries it has “suffered the loss of many plain and precious parts.” They believe the Bible to be the word of God “as far as it is translated correctly” and that the “most reliable way to measure the accuracy of any biblical passage is not by comparing different texts, but by comparison with the Book of Mormon and modern-day revelations.” 

In more than half of the states in the U.S., Mormonism is the fastest-growing religion. Although Mormons consider their church to a restorationist movement within Christianity (they believe the Great Apostasy occurred between the time of the New Testament church and it’s restoration under Joseph Smith), Mormonism differs radically from the orthodox Christian teachings and beliefs. Here are nine things you should know about Mormon beliefs:

1. In 1838, Joseph Smith claims he was told in a revelation that the church should be called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Members of the New Testament church were called “saints” (see Acts 9:32, Ephesians 2:19, Philippians 1:1), which is why Mormons call themselves “Latter-day Saints.” As Gordon B. Hinckley, prior president of the LDS church, explains: “They were former-day Saints. We are the Latter-day Saints. It is that simple.” Hinckley adds that they are often called “Mormons” as a nickname given because they believe in the Book of Mormon as the word of God.

2. Mormonism has four written books of scripture: The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ (which claims to be a record of God’s dealings with the inhabitants of ancient America from 2000 BC to 400 AD), the Doctrine and Covenants (a collection of “revelations and inspired declarations” given for the establishment and regulation of the Church of Jesus Christ in the last days (1830 AD – 1978 AD)), The Pearl of Great Price (a selection of revelations, translations, and writings of Joseph Smith), and the King James Version of the Bible (“We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.”)

3. The LDS church teaches that as the Bible has been transmitted over the centuries it has “suffered the loss of many plain and precious parts.” They believe the Bible to be the word of God “as far as it is translated correctly” and that the “most reliable way to measure the accuracy of any biblical passage is not by comparing different texts, but by comparison with the Book of Mormon and modern-day revelations.” The KJV is the LDS church’s official English Bible, though it has been foot-noted in a way that interprets the meaning to compliment LDS doctrines.

4. The Book of Mormon teaches that only fools say the Bible is sufficient and that other scripture is not needed (“Thou fool, that shall say: A Bible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible.” (2 Nephi 29:6)). The Book of Mormon contains many linguistic similarities to the King James Bible, including entire passages duplicated word-for-word. For example, the Book of Mormon contains 19 chapters of the King James translation of Isaiah in their entirety. 

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