Mormon (word) - Origin of The Term

Origin of The Term

See also: Book of Mormon

The term "Mormon" is taken from the title of the Book of Mormon, a sacred text adherents believe to have been translated from golden plates which had their location revealed by an angel to Joseph Smith, Jr. and published in 1830. According to the text of the Book of Mormon, the word Mormon stems from the Land of Mormon, where the prophet Alma preached the gospel and baptized converts. Mormon—who was named after the land—was a 4th-century prophet–historian who compiled and abridged many records of his ancestors into the Book of Mormon. The book is believed by Mormons to be a literal record of God's dealings with pre-Columbian civilizations in the Americas from approximately 2600 BC through AD 420, written by prophets and followers of Jesus Christ. The book records the teachings of Jesus Christ to the people in the Americas as well as Christ's personal ministry among the people of Nephi after his resurrection. Mormons believe the Book of Mormon is another witness of Jesus Christ, "holy scripture comparable to the Bible".

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, one of the earliest published usages of the term "Mormon" to describe believers in the Book of Mormon was in 1833 by the Louisville (Kentucky) Daily Herald in an article, "The Mormons and the Anti-Mormons".

Read more about this topic:  Mormon (word)

Famous quotes containing the words origin of the, origin of, origin and/or term:

    The real, then, is that which, sooner or later, information and reasoning would finally result in, and which is therefore independent of the vagaries of me and you. Thus, the very origin of the conception of reality shows that this conception essentially involves the notion of a COMMUNITY, without definite limits, and capable of a definite increase of knowledge.
    Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914)

    In the woods in a winter afternoon one will see as readily the origin of the stained glass window, with which Gothic cathedrals are adorned, in the colors of the western sky seen through the bare and crossing branches of the forest.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    Art is good when it springs from necessity. This kind of origin is the guarantee of its value; there is no other.
    Neal Cassady (1926–1968)

    There’s no term to the work of a scientist.
    Walter Reisch (1903–1963)