The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Overview

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a religious organization founded by Joseph Smith in the United States on April 6, 1830. It is commonly known as the Mormon Church. Its headquarters are in Salt Lake City, Utah. The church describes itself as neither Catholic nor Protestant, presenting itself as a church in which the authority and teachings of the early church have been "restored" in modern times.

The church first came to Korea through members among the U.S. troops who fought in the Korean War. According to church sources, the first Korean member was Kim Ho-jik. He was baptized in July 1951 while studying at Cornell University in the United States, and after returning to Korea in September of that year, he led gatherings of members in Busan. In August 1955, Joseph Fielding Smith, then President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, visited Korea and organized the Korea District. The church was originally known in Korean as "말일성도 예수 그리스도 교회" (Malil Seongdo Yesu Geuriseudo Gyohoe) but adopted its current Korean name in 2005. The church reported approximately 90,000 members in Korea as of 2019.

Principal Claims and Doctrines

• Scripture: Alongside the Bible, the church accepts the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price as its standard works. It claims that the Book of Mormon is Joseph Smith's translation of records left by prophets in the ancient Americas.
• Understanding of God: The church does not follow the understanding of the Trinity set forth in the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed. Instead, it follows its own statement of belief, the Articles of Faith, published in 1842. It teaches that God the Father and Jesus Christ are separate beings, each possessing a perfect, glorified body of flesh.
• Restoration and Authority: The church holds that truths and the priesthood (the authority to perform sacred ordinances), which were lost from the church Jesus founded, were restored through Joseph Smith. It claims that the church continues to be led today by a body of prophets and apostles.

Assessments by Major Korean Denominations and Ecumenical Bodies

• Presbyterian Church of Korea (Tonghap): At its 99th General Assembly in 2014, the denomination adopted the "Research Report on Mormonism" and declared the church heretical. The report concluded that Mormonism follows doctrines grounded in individual mystical experiences and claims to be the only true church. It further concluded that Mormonism undermines the authority of the Bible, denies the deity of the triune God, and deifies Joseph Smith. At the same General Assembly, the denomination also declared Jehovah's Witnesses heretical.
• Korean Methodist Church: At its 31st General Conference on October 31, 2014, the denomination declared Mormonism heretical, along with Jehovah's Witnesses and the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
• Presbyterian Church in Korea (Hapshin): The denomination had previously designated the church as a group in which participation is prohibited. At its 109th General Assembly in 2024, it upgraded this to a formal declaration of heresy. Its Committee on Heresy concluded that Mormonism teaches three gods under a "subordinationist Trinitarianism" rather than the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity. The committee also rejected a request from the church to rescind the heresy designation.

The Church's Position and Response

The church states that it believes Jesus to be the Son of God and the Savior of humankind and teaches that salvation comes only through him. It describes the Book of Mormon as "Another Testament" of Jesus Christ alongside the Bible. It does not reject the content of the Apostles' Creed, but it does not follow the creeds formulated by later councils, regarding them as influenced by pagan thought. As evidence that God and Jesus are separate beings, it cites the account of Stephen seeing both God and Jesus in a vision (Acts 7:55–56). The Hapshin Committee on Heresy has stated that the church is asking each denomination that has declared it heretical to rescind that designation.

Social Controversy

According to the church's official history, plural marriage began in the early 1840s in Nauvoo, Illinois, on the basis of a revelation to Joseph Smith. Plural marriage is a practice in which one man marries two or more women. At first it was disclosed privately to only some members; after the church moved to Utah, it was practiced openly from 1852 to 1890. The practice is regarded as a major cause of the church's conflict with the surrounding society at the time, and mob violence against church members is also reported to have increased during this period. The Tonghap research report criticized Mormonism for continuing to regard the doctrine of polygamy as valid.