Many people are unfamiliar with the many denominations that believe in the Book of Mormon. When Joseph Smith Jr was killed, only approximately 5% to 10% of the church went to Utah to form the Utah-based Latter Day Saints (LDS) church. Many other denominations exist because they never believed the false doctrines of Brigham Young. These other denominations exist just as there are many denominations of Protestant Churches, Evangelical Churches, and Catholic Churches. As a way of showing the different denominations that trace their roots to the church restored by Joseph Smith Jr, a number of topics are included below with the doctrinal stances of two of the main "Book of Mormon" denominations.
The two main denominations are the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) headquartered in Utah and the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS). The RLDS Church was renamed Community of Christ after they introducing new, non-scriptural doctrines and de-emphasized the Book of Mormon, which caused a split into the Restoration Branches which today maintain the same doctrines as the original RLDS church and emphasize the Book of Mormon.
Choose any one of the topics above to see how they differ ...