The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has long maintained that it is a restoration of the primitive church of Jesus Christ. One of the facets of this Restoration is the designation of the members of the Lord’s church as “saints.”

This designation is meant to follow biblical precedents. In the Old Testament, there are 39 uses of either “saint” or “saints”. Each use refers to a member of the covenant people of Israel. The uses translate four Hebrew words: קַדִּישׁ (qaddish), קָדוֹשׁ (qadosh),  חָסִיד (chasid), and קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh). Each designates someone that is holy, pious, and set apart. In the case of chasid, it also designates someone who is kind. In the New Testament, there are 62 uses of either “saint,” “saints,” or “saints’.” Each use translates the same Greek word: ἅγιος (hagios). Similar to the Hebrew usage, hagios refers to someone who is set apart by God, holy, or sacred.

In modern revelation, the Lord has said that His church shall be called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” (Doctrine & Covenants 115:4). This is a testament to the Church’s status as a restoration of God’s primitive people and church as well as the calling that God has placed on members of this church to become and remain “holy, without spot” (Moroni 10:33). Outside of the Latter Day Saints Movement, the author is unaware of any religious group that uses this same designation. It is a unique and exclusive gift to many of those groups that trace their religious heritage back to Joseph Smith and the church he founded in 1830.