The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is not the only church that was born when Joseph saw his vision. In fact, the church he led has since splintered into over seventy denominations. Most of these denominations still read from the Book of Mormon and consider it true, translated scripture. Most consider Joseph the first true Prophet of the restoration. Most have some justifiable claim to authority from God or Joseph.

With such confusion in a religion, restored (ostensibly) to eliminate confusion, I believe it is now necessary for the Saints of whatever denomination to ask the question which Joseph himself purportedly asked—the question that began it all:

Which of these churches is correct?

I write specifically to the members of the largest denomination – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

It is natural, even expected, to assume that your branch of the restored Church is the most correct. Perhaps you believe that yours is the only branch with the true authority of Christ; that yours is the only branch with a true line of authority passed from Joseph himself. You may see the other branches as mere splinters of a true religion; fragments of truth with no real authority. Perhaps that is why your branch of the restored Church is so much more prolific, and vast in membership than the others.

If one is to believe that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the one true and restored Church of Jesus Christ upon the Earth, one must come to two conclusions: first, one must conclude that the Church which was established on the Earth by Jesus Christ was, after its destruction, restored in its entirety by the Prophet Joseph Smith. Second, and perhaps most importantly, one must conclude that the current Church, the living Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, led by Prophets and Apostles, is the very same Church which the Lord Jesus Christ established on the Earth. In other words, one must believe that the church was, in fact, restored completely, and that it has remained so.

I do not wish to address the truthfulness of the Restoration. That has been done ad infinitum by people much more knowledgeable than I. Rather, I wish to address the second question under the assumption that Joseph did restore the church. In order to answer the second question, we must assume that Joseph did experience a vision in the woods in whichever year he claimed to have done so. We must assume that the Book of Mormon was found in a cement box on the hill Cummorah, and that young Joseph did translate those plates into the book we read today. Under these assumptions, we are able to answer the second question: Is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that same religion that Joseph restored? Which of Joseph’s churches is true? We must be sure. There are 70 possibilities and everything is at stake if we choose incorrectly.