Divergent Paths of the Restoration: An Encyclopedia of the Smith-Rigdon Movement, Volume 1: Sections 1-4

When Joseph Smith founded the Church of Christ in 1830, he declared it to be God’s restoration of true Christianity, the Kingdom of God on earth. Although he foresaw opposition to such bold claims, he could not fathom that time and unforeseen circumstances would help to spawn hundreds of off-shoots and competing denominations—all claiming their origins in a movement born and sustained originally by Smith and Sidney Rigdon. Many of these groups have endured and boast multiple congregations o...