Mormon Trivia Quiz Questions With Answers

Free very long trivia quiz with answers about Mormons and the LDS Church

Mormon Trivia Quiz Questions With Answers

What is Mormonism?
A: Mormonism is the predominant religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 30s.

After Smith was killed in 1844, most Mormons followed Brigham Young on his westward journey to the area that became the Utah Territory, calling themselves what?
A: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).

Other sects include Mormon fundamentalism, which seeks to what?
A: Maintain practices and doctrines such as polygamy, and various other small independent denominations.

The second-largest Latter Day Saint denomination, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, since 2001 called the Community of Christ, does not describe itself as what?
A: "Mormon", but instead follows a Trinitarian Christian restorationist theology, and also considers itself Restorationist in terms of Latter Day Saint doctrine.

The word Mormon originally derived from what?
A: The Book of Mormon.

The book describes itself as a what?
A: A chronicle of early indigenous peoples of the Americas and their dealings with God.

Based on the name of that book, early followers of Smith were more widely known as Mormons, and their faith was called what?
A: Mormonism.

Mormonism shares a common set of beliefs with the rest of the Latter Day Saint movement, including use of and belief in the what?
A: The Bible, as well as in other religious texts including the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants.

Mormonism originated in the 1820s in western New York during a period of religious excitement known as the what?
A: The Second Great Awakening.

After praying about which denomination he should join, Joseph Smith, Jr. said he what?
A: Received a vision in the spring of 1820.

Called the "First Vision", Smith claimed God the Father instructed him to do what?
A: Join none of the existing churches because they were all wrong.

During the 1820s Smith reported several what?
A: Angelic visitations, and was eventually told that God would use him to re-establish the true Christian church, and that the Book of Mormon would be the means of establishing correct doctrine for the restored church.

In what year did Smith, Oliver Cowdery, and other early followers, begin baptizing new converts?
A: In 1829.

Smith was seen by his followers as a modern-day what?
A: Prophet.

Joseph Smith claimed the Book of Mormon was translated from what?
A: Writing on golden plates in a reformed Egyptian language, translated with the assistance of the Urim and Thummim and seer stones.

Both the special spectacles and the seer stone were at times referred to as the what?
A: "Urim and Thummim".

Who did he say first showed him the location of the plates in 1823?
A: An angel.

They were buried in a nearby hill, but he was not allowed to do what?
A: Take the plates until 1827.

When did Smith begin dictating the text of The Book of Mormon?
A: Around the fall of 1827 until the summer of 1828 when 116 pages were lost.

After the translation was completed, Smith said the plates were what?
A: Returned to the angel.

The book described itself as a chronicle of an early Israelite diaspora, integrating with whom?
A: The pre-existing indigenous peoples of the Americas, written by a people called the Nephites.

According to The Book of Mormon, what did Lehi's family do?
A: They left Jerusalem at the urging of God c. 600 BC, and later sailed to the Americas c. 589 BC.

The Nephites are described as descendants of whom?
A: Nephi, the fourth son of the prophet Lehi.

The Nephites are portrayed as having a belief in Christ hundreds of years before what?
A: His birth.

What has never been discovered?
A: Archaeological, linguistic, or other evidence of the use of Egyptian writing in ancient America

To avoid confrontation with New York residents, the members moved to where?
A: Kirtland, Ohio.

What did they hope to establish there?
A: A permanent New Jerusalem or City of Zion in Jackson County, Missouri.

In 1833 they were expelled from Jackson County and fled where?
A: To other parts of Missouri in 1838.

Violence between the Missourians and church members resulted in the governor of Missouri issuing what?
A: An "extermination order," again forcing the church to relocate.

The displaced Mormons fled to where?
A: Illinois, to a small town called Commerce.

The church bought the town, and renamed it what?
A: Nauvoo, and lived with a degree of peace and prosperity for a few years.

Tensions between Mormons and non-Mormons again escalated, and in 1844 what happened to Smith?
A: He was killed by a mob, precipitating a succession crisis.

The largest group of Mormons (LDS Church) accepted whom as the new prophet/leader?
A: Brigham Young.

Where did they emigrated to?
A: What became the Utah Territory.

There, the church began the open practice of what?
A: Plural marriage, a form of polygamy which Smith had instituted in Nauvoo.

In the 1890 Manifesto, church president Wilford Woodruff announced what?
A: The official end of plural marriage.

Because of the formal abolition of plural marriage in 1890, what did several smaller groups of Mormons do?
A: They broke with the LDS Church forming several denominations of Mormon fundamentalism.

The church is becoming a part of the American and international what?
A: Mainstream.

Like most other Christian groups, Mormonism teaches that there is what?
A: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Unlike Trinitarian faiths, the LDS Church teaches that they are what?
A: Separate and distinct beings with the Father and Son having perfected physical bodies and the Holy Ghost having only a body of spirit.

While the three beings are physically distinct, in Mormon theology they are one in what?
A: Thoughts, actions, and purpose.

They are commonly referred to collectively as what?
A: The "Godhead".

Also, Mormonism teaches that God the Father is the literal father of what?
A: The spirits of all men and women, which existed prior to their mortal existence.

The LDS Church also believes that what exists?
A: A Heavenly Mother.

Further, it is believed that all humans as children of God can become exalted, inheriting what?
A: All that God has, as joint-heirs with Christ, and becoming like him as a God.

Mormonism describes itself as falling within world what?
A: Christianity.

It characterizes itself as the only true form of the Christian religion since the time of a Great Apostasy that began when?
A: Not long after the ascension of Jesus Christ.

Mormons believe that God re-established the early Christian Church as found in the New Testament through whom?
A: Joseph Smith.

In particular, Mormons believe that angels such as Peter, James, John, and John the Baptist did what?
A: Appeared to Joseph Smith and others and bestowed various Priesthood authorities on them.

Why do Mormons thus believe that their Church is the "only true and living church"?
A: Because divine authority was restored to it through Smith.

In addition, Mormons believe that Smith and his legitimate successors are modern what?
A: Prophets who receive revelation from God to guide the church.

They maintain that other religions have a portion of the truth and are guided by what?
A: The light of Christ.

Mormon cosmology presents a unique view of God and the universe, and places a high importance on what?
A: Human agency.

In Mormonism, life on earth is what?
A: Just a short part of an eternal existence.

Mormons believe that in the beginning all people existed as what?
A: Spirits or "intelligences," in the presence of God.

In this state, God proposed a plan of what?
A: Salvation whereby they could progress and "have a privilege to advance like himself."

The spirits were free to accept or reject this plan, and a "third" of them, led by Satan did what?
A: Rejected it.

The rest accepted the plan, coming to earth and receiving what?
A: Bodies with an understanding that they would experience sin and suffering.

In Mormonism, what is the central part of God's plan?
A: The atonement of Jesus Christ.

Mormons believe that one purpose of earthly life is to learn what?
A: To choose good over evil.

In this process, people inevitably make mistakes, becoming unworthy to what?
A: Return to the presence of God.

Mormons believe that Jesus paid for the sins of the world, and what?
A: That all people can be saved through his atonement.

The Earth is just one of many inhabited worlds, and there are many governing heavenly bodies, including what?
A: The planet or star Kolob, which is said to be nearest the throne of God.

In Mormonism, an ordinance is a religious ritual of special significance, often involving what?
A: The formation of a covenant with God.

Mormons believe in the Old and New Testaments, and the LDS Church uses what Bible as its official scriptural text of the Bible?
A: King James Bible.

While Mormons believe in the general accuracy of the modern day text of the Bible, they also believe that it is what?
A: Incomplete and that errors have been introduced.

In Mormon theology, many lost truths are restored in what?
A: The Book of Mormon, which Mormons hold to be divine scripture and equal in authority to the Bible.

In Mormonism, continuous revelation is the principle that God or his divine agents still what?
A: Continue to communicate to mankind.

Mormons believe that Smith and subsequent church leaders could do what?
A: Speak scripture "when moved upon by the Holy Ghost."

In addition, many Mormons believe that ancient prophets in other regions of the world received revelations that resulted in what?
A: Additional scriptures that have been lost and may, one day, be forthcoming.

Latter Day Saints believe that the United States Constitution is a what?
A: A divinely inspired document.

Mormons believe that the people of the Book of Mormon lived where?
A: In the western hemisphere.

They believe that Christ appeared in the western hemisphere after what?
A: His death and resurrection.

The faith incorporates many Old Testament ideas into its theology, and the beliefs of Mormons sometimes parallel those of what?
A: Judaism and certain elements of Jewish culture.

In the earliest days of Mormonism, Joseph Smith taught that the Indigenous peoples of the Americas were what?
A: Members of some of the Lost Tribes of Israel.

Later, he taught that Mormons were what?
A: Israelites, and that they may learn of their tribal affiliation within the twelve Israelite tribes.

Smith named the largest Mormon settlement he founded Nauvoo, which means what in Hebrew?
A: To be beautiful.

What did Brigham Young name a tributary of the Great Salt Lake?
A: The "Jordan River".

Mormons believe that when the dead are baptized through proxy, they have the option of what?
A: Accepting or rejecting the ordinance.

Since its origins in the 19th century, Mormonism has been compared to what?
A: Islam, often by detractors of one religion or the other.

Comparison of the Mormon and Muslim prophets still occurs today, sometimes for what reasons?
A: Derogatory or polemical reasons.

While Mormonism and Islam have many similarities, there are also what?
A: Significant, fundamental differences between the two religions.

Islam and Mormonism both originate in what traditions?
A: The Abrahamic traditions.

Each religion sees its founder (Muhammad for Islam, and Joseph Smith for Mormonism) as being a true what?
A: Prophet of God, called to re-establish the truths of these ancient theological belief systems that have been altered, corrupted, or lost.

In addition, both prophets received visits from what?
A: An angel, leading to additional books of scripture.

Both religions share a high emphasis on what?
A: Family life, charitable giving, chastity, abstention from alcohol, and a special reverence for, though The religions differ significantly in their views on what?
A: God.

Islam insists upon the complete oneness and uniqueness of God (Allah), while Mormonism asserts what?
A: That the Godhead is made up of three distinct "personages."

Mormonism sees Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah and the literal Son of God, while Islam insists what?
A: That the title "Messiah" means that Jesus (or "Isa") was a prophet sent to establish the true faith, not that he was the Son of God or a divine being.