Category: A-Z Glossary
Click here for the full A-Z glossary.
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Mercy (Defined)
Mercy. God gives a reprieve for justice to only those sinners who earn this right by keeping their end of the agreement and doing good works. As thirteenth President Ezra Taft Benson explained, “We go to our chapels each week to worship the Lord and renew our covenants by partaking of the sacrament. We thereby…
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Melchizedek Priesthood (Defined)
Melchizedek Priesthood. A special authority given to Mormon men eighteen years and older, designed to enable them to gain exaltation in the highest heaven. It is taught that this priesthood was restored sometime between May 15, 1829 and April 6, 1830, although there is no written documentation for such an event prior to late 1834.…
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Meetinghouse (Defined)
Meetinghouse.
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Marriage Definition (Defined)
Marriage. A requirement for a couple to go to become exalted. As one church manual put it, “Consider this fact: Your marriage is a laboratory for godhood” (Achieving a Celestial Marriage, 1976, p. 65). According to Joseph Smith, “Except a man and his wife enter into an everlasting covenant and be married for eternity, while in…
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Manifesto (Defined)
Manfiesto. A declaration signed by fourth LDS President Wilford Woodruff in 1890, officially promising the abolition of the practice of polygamy. This was in response to allegations that Mormon leaders were still teaching and encouraging the practice of plural marriage even though it was illegal.
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Man (Defined)
Man. All mankind was “in the beginning with God” (D&C 93:29). Joseph Smith taught “the mind or intelligence which man possesses is co-equal with God himself…. There never was a time when there were not spirits; for they are co-equal with our Father in heaven” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 353). When editing this sermon, Church historian B. H. Roberts…
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Lucifer (Defined)
Lucifer. One of the literal sons of Elohim and Heavenly Mother, the spirit brother of all mankind, including Jesus (Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 34). “On first hearing, the doctrine that Lucifer and our Lord, Jesus Christ, are brothers may seem surprising to some—especially to those unacquainted with latter-day revelations.
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Loyalty (Defined)
Loyalty. Remaining faithful to LDS leaders is emphasized in general conference addresses and in curriculum produced by the church. According to fifteenth President Gordon B. Hinckley, “Loyalty to leadership is a cardinal requirement of all who serve in the army of the Lord. A house divided against itself cannot stand. (See Mark 3:25.) Unity is…
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Lorenzo Snow Couplet (Defined)
Lorenzo Snow Couplet. Lorenzo Snow, the fifth president and prophet of the mainstream sect of Mormonism, is famous both in and outside of Mormonism for his couplet: “As man is God once was, as God is man may be.” This short couplet summarizes the traditional understanding of what Joseph Smith taught in the “Sermon in…
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Liahona (Defined)
Liahona. An instrument, like a compass (Alma 37:38), that God gave to Lehi’s famiy to help them through the Arabian wilderness and across the ocean to arrive in America. Also, a monthly magazine produced for the Latter-day Saints outside the United States in 51 different languages.
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Levi/Levites (Defined)
Levi. Return to dictionary here.
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Lehi (Defined)
Lehi. According to the Book of Mormon, Lehi was a righteous man who was told to flee Jerusalem before its destruction in 600 B.C. He led his family by boat to the American continent. Others mentioned in the Book of Mormon by this name include Lehi, the son of Zoram; Lehi, the Nephite commander; Lehi, the son of…
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Lectures on Faith (Defined)
Lectures on Faith. A series of seven lectures produced by Joseph Smith in the winter of 1834-5 and delivered to a group of men who belonged to what was called “School of the Elders.” These were included in the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants.
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Laws and Ordinances (Defined)
Laws and Ordinances. According to the Articles of Faith, “We believe that through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel” (The Articles of Faith 1:3). Apostle Boyd K. Packer told a general conference audience, “We came to earth to be tested and to…
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Latter-day Saint (LDS) (Defined)
Latter-day Saint (LDS). A baptized member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. According to Mormonism, a Latter-day Saint is a Christian even though they are unique. Apostle David B. Haight told a general conference audience, “Our position among the Christian denominations of the world is unique. We are not affiliated, either directly…
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Lamanites (Defined)
Lamanites. The followers of Laman, who is mentioned in the Book of Mormon as the eldest and wicked son of Lehi. First Nephi 12:23 states that after the Lamanites “dwindled in unbelief they became a dark, and loathsome, and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations.” The Lamanites annihilated the light-skinned Nephites at the…
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King James Version of the Bible (Defined)
King James Version of the Bible. The official Bible version of the LDS Church. Although official Mormon sources also utilize the Joseph Smith Translation, or the Inspired Version, the church does not own the copyright and does not use this as its official version.For more information, see Joseph Smith Translation and the Bible.
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King Follett Discourse (Defined)
King Follett Sermon. A sermon given by Joseph Smith just three months before Joseph Smith was killed in a gun battle. On April 7, 1844, Smith declared that Joseph Smith was an exalted man who lived on an earth. It should be the goal of every person, he said, to be like God. In the…
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Kolob (Defined)
Kolob. Described as a star or planet nearest to the residence of God. It is near Kolob where God resides and where all humans live until they take human form here on earth. Tenth Mormon President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote, “He [Eternal Father] revealed to Abraham that his throne is near Kolob, the great governing star…