The use of the word “church” in the Book of Mormon is a bit anachronistic. The word does not appear in the Old Testament, but (in most cases) its use in the Book of Mormon is either in the context of a prophecy, or in reference to a proto-Christian religious organization. Neither need be linked to an Old Testament concept. In one case, however (1 Nephi 4:26), Nephi uses the word to refer to a presumably religious body of which Laban might have been an “elder.” For purposes of my Plain English project, I render that usage of “church” as “congregation,” the most relevant KJV term I could identify.

Otherwise, Nephi’s use of the word is always in the context of a prophecy. It would seem to be plain enough English, but the temptation to interpret it as “denomination” has been so overwhelming, that I prefer to use alternative language. (”Denomination” is actually the correct interpretation in one case, as I will explain below). The biggest clue that “denomination” is generally not the correct interpretation comes in 1 Nephi 14:10, where Nephi is informed that “there are save two churches only.” Obviously, there are more than two denominations, so it must refer to something else. One of the two churches is identified as the “church of the Lamb of God” and the other as the “church of the devil,” elsewhere referred to as the “great and abominable church, which is the whore of all the earth” (1 Nephi 22:13).

These usages of “church” are difficult to reconcile with the dictionary. The most useful approach is to adopt the concept of the “church invisible” which is defined in Websters as “the whole number of the elect that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one under Christ.” That concept would seem to correspond to the “church of the Lamb of God,” and its converse to the “church of the devil.” The term “church invisible,” however, is not a concept well known among Mormons and would probably represent a step backwards in the plain English department. Instead, I render it as “religion,” which the dictionary does not require to be linked to a formal organization, but instead to a “personal set of attitudes, beliefs, and practices.”

Since “religion” can be interpreted as “denomination” just as easily as “church,” does “religion” really represent an improvement over just leaving it as “church”? When taken together with other interpretations of “church” in the Book of Mormon, I believe it does. Each concept for which “church” is used gets its own word. Ultimately, I reserve the word “church” for a formally organized religious body, specifically the proto-Christian one organized by Alma. (I also capitalize it in that case). Any other reference to formally organized religious bodies, I render as “denominations.” In 1 Nephi, the only time that happens is in chapter 22, verse 23, where Nephi refers to “all churches which are built up to get gain.” The plural implies that there is more than one, and the church of the Lamb of God could not be one of them. Hence, the whole binary “church invisible” concept does not apply, and the more intuitive interpretation of “denomination” is appropriate.