John Alpheus Cutler (February 29, 1784 – June 10, 1864) was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement who founded the Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite) in 1853. He had previously served in several church positions under Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, as well as captain of Smith's personal bodyguard and "Master Builder and Workman on all God's Holy Houses." Following the death of Joseph Smith in June 1844, Cutler at first followed the Twelve Apostles under Brigham Young, but later left Young's church to reorganize the Church of Jesus Christ, with himself serving as its first president. Cutler claimed that this was the sole legitimate continuation of Smith's organization, and he served as its leader until his death.

Cutler was born in Plainfield, New Hampshire, to Knight Cutler, a veteran of the American Revolution, and Elizabeth Boyd. He married Lois Lathrop of Lebanon, New Hampshire, on November 17, 1808. Lathrop was a descendant of Rev. John Lothropp (1584–1653), and thus a distant cousin of Latter Day Saint prophet Joseph Smith. Cutler fought as a private in the War of 1812, serving in Cpt. E. Smith's company of New York Militia from September to December 1812. Although later Latter Day Saint sources would refer to Cutler as "Captain Alpheus Cutler" and say that he had fought at the battles of Chippewa Falls and Lundy's Lane, his service record does not support either assertion.

Cutler was a stonemason by occupation. He stood over six feet tall, and was described by one biographer as being "heavy set," "powerfully built," "critical" and "sarcastic," while generally expressing himself in "an extremely candid, sharp and brusque manner." Some of Cutler's contemporaries would later refer to him as having a "natural parabolical, allegorical, symbolical, mysterious, secretive way of telling things."

Following the War of 1812, Cutler and his family were living in western New York, where they heard David W. Patten of the Church of Christ preach about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and the ministry of Joseph Smith. Following what they claimed to be a miraculous cure of their daughter by Patten's prayers and laying on of hands, Cutler and his family were baptized by Patten on 20 January 1833. He moved to the main Mormon settlement at Kirtland, Ohio, the following year.

An enthusiastic convert, Cutler was invited to attend Smith's School of the Prophets in Kirtland, and assisted in the construction of the Kirtland Temple there. Although brought before the Kirtland High Council on 15 March 1835 on charges of arguing with fellow member Reynolds Cahoon and complaining about not being paid enough for his work on the temple, Cutler weathered the storm and remained in Smith's good graces. During the building's dedication on 27 March 1836, Cutler claimed to have seen a vision of Jesus Christ descending down a long carpet into the temple; he claimed that Christ spoke to him, but did not record what he said. He also claimed in this vision to have seen a large gold chain draped across the newly completed edifice.

When Joseph Smith moved church headquarters to Caldwell County, Missouri, in 1837, Cutler followed him there and settled in adjacent Ray County. A victim of Governor Lilburn Boggs's "Extermination Order," Cutler was expelled from the state with the other Latter Day Saints during the winter of 1838–39. Together with members of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles and other leading Latter Day Saints, Cutler risked death and slipped back into Far West, where as the newly named "chief architect and master workman of all God's holy houses", Cutler laid the cornerstone for the (never-built) Far West Temple.

Relocating with his religious brethren to Nauvoo, Illinois, Cutler was appointed one of three members of a committee to oversee construction of the Nauvoo Temple on 3 October 1840. Directed to supervise the cutting of timber for the new edifice, Cutler led a group of workmen into the Pineries along the Black River in Wisconsin, where they spent the next year cutting logs and floating them down the Mississippi River to Nauvoo.

While in Nauvoo, Cutler served on the Nauvoo High Council, and the Anointed Quorum; he was also named to Joseph Smith's Council of Fifty. Cutler received his endowment under Smith's hand on 12 October 1843, and subsequently became only the sixth person to be given the rare Second Anointing on 15 November—a full week before Brigham Young received his—which made him a "King and Priest" in Smith's still-secret Kingdom of God (see Council of Fifty). Cutler also served as captain of Smith's bodyguard.