As with the pre-1844 church led by Joseph Smith, an important part of patriarchal blessing in the LDS Church is the declaration of lineage. Members receiving the blessing are told to which of the twelve Israelite tribes they belong. Opinions differ as to whether the lineage is intended to mean literal ancestry, or whether the lineage is metaphorical or adoptive, as there are many recorded instances of children having a different lineage from their parents. Daniel H. Ludlow has said "in a patriarchal blessing, lineage is being declared ... when terms indicating direct descent are used, such as 'son of,' 'daughter of,' 'seed of,' 'blood of,' 'descendant of,' or 'from the loins of.'" The church also teaches that "each of us has many bloodlines running in us, two members of the same family may be declared as being of different tribes in Israel". In the early 19th and 20th centuries, members were more likely to believe they were literally descended from a certain tribe.