During the fall of 2021, our family got the chance to stay a few days with one of my wife’s childhood best friends. Her husband is a preacher for the Churches of Christ, which Wikipedia explains ‘have their historical roots in the Restoration Movement, which was a converging of Christians across denominational lines in search of a return to an original, “pre-denominational” Christianity’ (emphasis mine). We spent two three-day weekends at their home.

I spent hours talking with him about varied theological topics, attending a funeral he led for one of his members, and attending their church. About halfway through our first visit, he explained how the Churches of Christ were loosely related to Alexander Campbell. That name rang a bell and should be familiar to most Latter-day Saints that study our history. As a reminder, Alexander Campbell was the head minister of the movement that Sydney Rigdon followed before he converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These followers of Alexander Campbell sought a faith in the same mold as New Testament Christianity.

With that interesting tidbit implanted in my thoughts, I enjoyed listening to his sermons, meeting his fellow saints (yes, they used this term), and feeling the vibe of their Sunday meetings. Our faiths have so many similar beliefs and practices. As I listened to his Sunday Sermon, it felt like President Nelson’s ponderings on a ‘process of restoration,’ which makes sense as both faiths hold to restoring the church of the early Christians while being entangled in our advanced society. It made me wonder how much of our early theology comes from Sidney Rigdon’s background and how much comes from Joseph Smith’s revelations. I have a few Campbelite books I need to read to tease out this relationship.

Campbell isn’t the only influence on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through Sidney Rigdon. During Joseph’s life, there was a general restorationist movement occurring. The Seventh-Day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Churches of Christ, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are the predominant groups that have grown from this period. All have a different take on the ‘restoration’ but come from the same restorationist movement. All four are looked at suspiciously by the main protestant faiths, with the Churches of Christ and Seventh Day Adventists enjoying the most acceptance by other Christian denominations.

Our theology grows from the restorationist movement, which could be called restorationism. We can feel the similarities between these four congregations even in our day. However, each group has its unique theology. Hence, we need a modifier for restorationism. Let’s use Latter-day Restorationism to identify the religious beliefs and theology that uniquely define the restoration that Joseph Smith’s revelations begin. While less concise than Mormonism, this term allows us to adjust based on President Nelson’s request to move beyond the classification of Mormons. It also provides the intellectual humility to contextualize our historical beliefs and identify our uniqueness.

Does it work? Can we rebrand the different Mormon Studies programs to Latter-day Restoration Studies? Can we label our unique theology as Latter-day Restorationism? I like it. But then again, it was my idea…

• general
• history