About Us

Study by Faith is not an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, it aims to recount the history of [glossary_tooltip content=”In this site, the term the Church means The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, unless context suggests otherwise.”]the Church[/glossary_tooltip] and [glossary_tooltip content=’In restating the Church’s doctrine, the site aims to do for that doctrine what the American Law Institute’s Restatements of the Law and Principles of the Law do for law in the United States.’]restate[/glossary_tooltip] its doctrine [glossary_tooltip content=”Users who feel they have detected an inaccuracy in the site may report it on the Contact Us page”]accurately[/glossary_tooltip] for the benefit of the Church’s [glossary_tooltip content=’Unlike some religious institutions, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has clear rites of initiation for membership (baptism and confirmation and maintains official lists of its members.’]members[/glossary_tooltip] and those who wish to learn about the Church, including scholars, journalists, investigators, and others who care about representing the history and doctrine accurately and not relying on [glossary_tooltip content=”Historically, some of the Church’s leaders and members have engaged in doctrinal speculation. Such speculation does not constitute the Church’s doctrine.”]speculation[/glossary_tooltip] or [glossary_tooltip content=”Anomalies are deviations from the norm, or in other words, something that is peculiar or inconsistent. Anomalies do not constitute the Church’s doctrine.”]anomalies[/glossary_tooltip].

Because the primary audience is Church members, this site uses the devotional language characteristic of believers. Others who choose to use this site are invited to do so with the same sense of respect that an anthropologist would accord to any people being studied. In general, modern scientists want to hear from a people in their own terms, not in language that has been filtered for an outside audience and is thereby incomplete because it omits the beliefs that drive people’s behavior. Latter-day Saints believe God continues to speak to them today, and this site reflects that belief.

Many references found in the notes are to books of Latter-day Saint scripture. These are readily available online at the Church’s official website.