A question for LDS members (or anyone else who knows the answer)?

Question

I want to understand why your church is called what it is. I understand the Church of Jesus Christ part, because you believe that your church is Jesus' restored church. But could you explain what the latter day saint part is? I'm not asking this to be critical or mean, as I have nothing against the church, I'm just curious. Thanks:)

Answer 1

(I apologize in advance for the length of my reply but I hope it will be worth your time.)

There is a scripture that gives us revelation as to what the church was to be named. It's in D&C 115:4. It states,...

“Thus shall my church be called in the last days, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

On one hand we could say that the Church is called by that name because the Lord said so but there is more to it than that.

You are correct in your understanding of the "Church of Jesus Christ" part. I'd be happy to explain the rest of it.

The last word in the title is Saints. The way the term Saints is used by the LDS differs from other religions. We do not believe ourselves to be exceptionally holy or of great virtue or benevolence. Quite the contrary. We use the term as it is used in the Bible. Just so you know... The word Christian appears in only three verses of the KJV. One verse describes the historical fact that “disciples were called Christians first in Antioch” (Acts 11:26); another quotes a sarcastic nonbeliever, King Agrippa (see Acts 26:28); and the third indicates that one known as “a Christian” must be prepared to suffer (1 Pet. 4:16). In contrast, the term saint (or saints) appears in thir36 verses of the Old Testament and in 62 verses of the New Testament. Despite its use in 98 verses of the Bible, the term saint is still not well understood. Some mistakenly think that it implies beatification or perfection. Not so. A saint is a believer in Christ and knows of His perfect love. A saint is grateful, serving, loving, tolerant, refrains from idleness, is honest, honorable, shuns that which is unclean, avoids excess, and perhaps above all a saint is reverent. Reverence for the Lord, for the earth He created, for leaders, for the dignity of others, for the law, for the sanctity of life, for chapels and other buildings, are all evidences of saintly attitudes.

As for the term Latter-Day, that one's also pretty straight forward. We are very much aware of what the scriptures tell us of the coming of the Lord and the end of days. Such last days must be proceeded by latter days. We now live in those latter days.

Sorry this is so long but I wanted to explain as best as I could why the name of the Church is what it is. I also hoped to help anyone reading understand why we, as members of the Church, find the name "Mormons" almost offensive. It is not our name. Most members tolerate it since it is in many cases the only name association non-members have. Once understood that it is not the correct name of the Church, we do sincerely appreciate it when it is used correctly.

Thank you for the great question!

Answer 2

If you read athe letters of Paul, you see that he called everyone who believed in Christ "Saints". They didn't call each other "Christian" they were "Saints".

We believe the church should be called after the founder, Jesus Christ. However, at the time the church was forming there were a lot of other churches that called themselves the Church of Jesus Christ. So, to differentiate ourselves from them, God told Josph Smith to add "of Latter-day Saints", which is the opposite of the former-day Saints, those in the Bible.

Answer 3

church has been restored for/in these latter days.

Answer 4

The latter days are the last days, or the final days before Jesus comes.  It basically means the followers of Jesus Christ in the last days.