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In common with other Restorationist churches, the LDS Church teaches that a Great Apostasy occurred. It teaches that after the death of Jesus and the Twelve Apostles, the priesthood authority was lost and some important doctrinal teachings, including the text of the Bible, were changed from their original form, thus necessitating a restoration prior to the Second Coming.
As such, individuals who pray privately often include time to listen and ponder, during or after a prayer is uttered. [2] Communication from God is received through the Holy Ghost, which speaks to the mind and heart of an individual. [3] Prayer is one of the central teachings of the church, and adherents believe that they are commanded to pray ...
[24] According to LDS doctrine, the Holy Spirit is believed to be a person, [24] [26] however having a body of spirit, he is able to pervade all worlds. [27] Mormons believe that the Holy Spirit is part of the "Divine Council" or "Godhead", but that the Father is greater than both the Son and the Holy Spirit. [27]
In orthodox Mormonism, the term God generally refers to the biblical God the Father, whom Latter Day Saints also refer to as Elohim or Heavenly Father, [1] [2] [3] while the term Godhead refers to a council of three distinct divine persons consisting of God the Father, Jesus Christ (his firstborn Son, whom Latter Day Saints refer to as Jehovah), and the Holy Ghost.
The Book of Mormon is very important to modern Latter-day Saints, who consider it the world's most correct text. [148] The Bible, also part of the church's canon, is believed to be the word of God—subject to an acknowledgment that its translation may be incorrect, or that authoritative sections may have been lost over the centuries.
The Church of Jesus Christ believes that many revelations began to enter into the church through Smith that were contrary to the scriptures and the will of God. In contrast with other Latter Day Saint denominations, the church does not believe that Smith was the "choice seer" predicted by the Book of Mormon (2 Nephi 3:6-7).
Over time, Smith widely and clearly articulated a belief that God was an advanced and glorified man, [6] embodied within time and space. [7] [a] By 1841, he publicly taught that God the Father and Jesus were distinct beings with physical bodies. [9] Nevertheless, he conceived of the Holy Spirit as a "personage of Spirit". [10]
In Mormonism, life on earth is just a short part of an eternal existence. Mormons believe that in the beginning, all people existed as spirits or "intelligences", in the presence of God. [46] In this state, God proposed a plan of salvation whereby they could progress and "have a privilege to advance like himself."