A Numos accepts the core Mormon beliefs that Joseph Smith was a prophet, the Book of Mormon is scripture, and that the original Church founded by Joseph Smith had divine authority, but unlike the typical Active Latter-Day Saint, Numos identify that something changed along the way for the Church. This development caused the Church to lose its once-sacred powers, revelation, and position, which gave room for false doctrine and missteps that rightfully fuel Anti-Mormon and questioning members' sentiment.

 

There is a pattern of events initiated by the Lord in the early years of the Church that occurred, showing when and why the Church lost its divine authority and became like any other man-made church. The general membership's failure to repent led to the final penalty, much like the Children of Israel who were kept out of the Promised Land.

 

The Church of Christ was established in 1830 by Joseph Smith. By 1832, the Church fell under condemnation. (See D&C 84:54-58)  In 1834, when the membership ignored the call to repent, the Lord removed His name from the Church, changing it from the Church of Christ to the new name, the Church of the Latter-day Saints. A decade later, the Church slid still further from condemnation to outright rejection by the Lord in 1844. (See D&C 124: 31-33 and 44-45)

 

This loss of divine authority and Joseph Smith's murder allowed Brigham Young to insert himself as the leader of the Church and falsely altered many of Joseph Smith's original teachings and historical records to advance his own self-serving interests. Polygamy was one of the polarizing false teachings that Brigham Young pushed, which Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon condemned.