The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Jesus Christ=== Church members believe in Jesus Christ as the literal [[Son of God (Christianity)|Son of God]] and [[Messiah]], [[Crucifixion of Jesus|his crucifixion]] as a conclusion of a [[sin offering]], and his subsequent [[Resurrection of Jesus|resurrection]].<ref name=Explanation>{{Cite news |date=October 2, 2009 |title=God: An explantation of Mormon beliefs about God |work=[[BBC]] |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/beliefs/god_1.shtml#h3 |access-date=June 25, 2023}}</ref><ref name=MormonJesus/>{{rp|171–172}} However, Latter-day Saints reject the [[ecumenical creeds]] and the definition of the [[Trinity]].<ref name=CNN>{{Cite news |last=Willingham |first=A. J. |date=April 29, 2023 |title=What do Mormons believe? |work=[[CNN]] |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/29/us/mormon-beliefs-explained-cec/index.html |access-date=June 25, 2023}}</ref> Jesus is also seen as the elder brother of all who live in this world.<ref name=MormonJesus>{{Cite book |last=Turner |first=John G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GZK-CwAAQBAJ |title=The Mormon Jesus: A Biography |date=2016|publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |isbn=978-0-674-73743-3}}</ref>{{rp|155}} The church teaches that Jesus performed a [[substitutionary atonement]]; in contrast with other Christian denominations, the church teaches this atonement began in the garden of [[Gethsemane]] and continued to his crucifixion (rather than the orthodox belief that the crucifixion alone was the physical atonement).<ref name=MormonJesus/>{{rp|178, 291}} The church also teaches that Christ appeared to other peoples after his death, including spirits of the dead in the spirit world,<ref name=Explanation/><ref name=MormonJesus/>{{rp|211}} and indigenous Americans.<ref name=CNN/><ref name=Explanation/><ref>{{Cite news |last=Harris |first=Dan |date=August 22, 2012 |title=What Do Mormons Believe? |work=[[ABC News]] |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/mormons-/story?id=17057679 |access-date=June 25, 2023}}</ref> The church also teaches that Jesus is the true founder and leader of the church itself.<ref>"Today members preach that the Lord has indeed restored His Church with living apostles and prophets, starting with the founding prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Joseph Smith." [https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/latter-day-saints-101 Latter-day Saints 101: What Church Members Believe. Newsroom, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. N.d. Accessed July 29, 2023.]</ref> The physical establishment of the church by Smith in 1830 is seen as simply the reestablishment of the same [[Early Christianity|primitive church]] that existed under Jesus and his Apostles.<ref name = "PMG" />{{rp|37}} Similarly, the church teaches that Jesus leads the church presently through its apostles and prophets,<ref>[https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2020/03/the-lord-leads-his-church-through-prophets-and-apostles?lang=eng The Lord Leads His Church through Prophets and Apostles.] [[Dallin H. Oaks]]. Ensign, March 2020.</ref> especially its current president.<ref name = "PMG" />{{rp|38}} ====Comparison with Nicene Christianity==== {{main|Mormonism and Nicene Christianity}} The LDS Church shares various teachings with other branches of Christianity. These include a belief in the Bible,<ref name = Mason2015>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Mormonism|last=Mason|first=Patrick Q.|encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion|series=[[Oxford Research Encyclopedias]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |date=2015|doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.75|isbn=978-0-19-934037-8}}</ref> the [[divinity of Jesus]], his [[Atonement in Christianity|atonement]] and [[resurrection of Jesus Christ|resurrection]], and a form of [[apostolic succession]].{{efn|However, the [[Catholic Church]] considers doctrinal differences between the two groups to be so great that it will not accept a prior LDS baptism as evidence of Christian initiation, as it will baptism by other Christian groups, such as the [[Eastern Orthodox]] and [[Protestant]] churches.<ref name=Accept>{{Cite news |last=Stammer |first=Larry B. |date=July 20, 2001 |title=Vatican Will Not Accept Mormon Baptisms |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-jul-20-mn-24451-story.html |access-date=June 23, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/question-of-validity-of-baptism-conferred-in-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latterday-saints-10098 |title=The Question of the Validity of Baptism Conferred in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints|first=Luis|last=Ladaria |publisher=[[EWTN]]|access-date=June 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706222609/https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/question-of-validity-of-baptism-conferred-in-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latterday-saints-10098 |archive-date= July 6, 2022|url-status=live}}</ref> The LDS Church, in its turn, does not accept baptisms performed in any other churches, as it teaches that baptism is only valid when it is conducted through proper priesthood authority.<ref>{{Cite book |last=MacKay |first=Michael Hubbard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T9fTDwAAQBAJ |title=Prophetic Authority: Democratic Hierarchy and the Mormon Priesthood |date=2020|publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]] |isbn=978-0-252-05187-6 |pages=32–34}}</ref><ref name=High>{{cite book |last1=Prince |first1=Greg |author-link=Gregory Prince |title=Power from on High: The Development of Mormon Priesthood |date=August 15, 1995 |publisher=[[Signature Books]] |chapter=Ordinances: The Second Anointing |location=Salt Lake City |isbn=978-1-56085-071-7 |chapter-url=http://signaturebookslibrary.org/power-from-on-high-06/|via=[[Internet Archive]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220817204045/http://signaturebookslibrary.org/power-from-on-high-06/|archive-date=August 17, 2022}}</ref>{{rp|41}}}} Nevertheless, the LDS Church differs from other churches within contemporary Christianity in other ways. Differences between the LDS Church and most of traditional Christianity include disagreement about the nature of God, belief in a theory of [[Plan of salvation (Latter Day Saints)|human salvation]] that includes three [[degrees of glory|heavens]], a doctrine of [[Exaltation (Latter Day Saints)|exaltation]] which includes the ability of humans to become gods and goddesses in the [[afterlife]],<ref name="EoM Godhood" /><ref name=Fundamentals/> a belief in [[continuous revelation|continuing]] [[revelation (Latter Day Saints)|revelation]] and an open scriptural canon, and unique ceremonies performed privately in temples, such as the endowment and sealing ceremonies. A number of major Christian denominations view the LDS Church as standing apart from [[creed]]al Christianity.{{efn|Examples include the [[Presbyterian Church USA|US Presbyterian Church]],<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ankerberg |first1=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tNHK6NkTk8IC |title=Fast Facts on Mormonism |last2=Weldon |first2=John |year=2003 |publisher=[[Harvest House Publishers]] |isbn=978-0-7369-3579-1 |via=[[Google Books]]|page=90|quote=Mormonism is a new and emerging religious tradition distinct from the historic apostolic tradition of the Christian Church}}</ref> [[Evangelical Lutheran Church in America|US Evangelical Lutheran Church]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://download.elca.org/ELCA%20Resource%20Repository/Do_Lutherans_rebaptize_former_Mormons_who_are_joining_the_congregation.pdf |publisher=[[Evangelical Lutheran Church in America]] |title=Do Lutherans re-baptize former Mormons who are joining the congregation? |access-date=June 23, 2023|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230620042936/https://download.elca.org/ELCA%20Resource%20Repository/Do_Lutherans_rebaptize_former_Mormons_who_are_joining_the_congregation.pdf |archive-date=June 20, 2023 |quote=[LDS doctrine on the Trinity is] substantially different from that of orthodox, creedal Christianity ....}}</ref> [[Catholic Church]],<ref name=Accept/><ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20010605_battesimo_mormoni_en.html |title=''"Response to a 'dubium' on the validity of baptism conferred by 'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints', called 'Mormons{{'"}}''|publisher=[[Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith]]|date=June 5, 2001|first=Joseph|last=Ratzinger|access-date=August 15, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060814140809/http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20010605_battesimo_mormoni_en.html|archive-date=August 14, 2006|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Episcopal Church (United States)|US Episcopal Church]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.getreligion.org/?p=847|title=Latter-day politics|first=Douglas|last=LeBlanc|work=GetReligion|publisher=[[Terry Mattingly]]|date=June 13, 2005|access-date=November 22, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928222845/http://www.getreligion.org/?p=847|archive-date=September 28, 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Eastern Orthodox Church]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/cultswithinwithout.aspx|title=Cults Within & Without|work=Orthodox America|first=Alexey|last=Young|date=March–April 1996|access-date=June 19, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100929151046/http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/cultswithinwithout.aspx|archive-date=September 29, 2010|url-status=live}}</ref>}}<ref name="kennedy2004"/> However, church members self-identify as Christians.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2012/01/12/mormons-in-america-executive-summary/ |title=Mormons in America: Certain in Their Beliefs, Uncertain of Their Place in Society |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230521004033/https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2012/01/12/mormons-in-america-executive-summary/ |archive-date=May 21, 2023 |publisher=[[Pew Research Center]] |url-status=live |date=September 24, 2015 |quote=Mormons are nearly unanimous in describing Mormonism as a Christian religion, with 97% expressing this point of view.|page=10}}</ref> The faith itself views other modern Christian faiths as having departed from true Christianity by way of a [[Great Apostasy|general apostasy]] and maintains that it is a restoration of 1st-century Christianity and the only true and authorized Christian church. [[One true church#Latter Day Saint movement|Church leaders assert it is the only true church]] and that other churches do not have the authority to act in Jesus' name.{{efn|According to [[Joseph Smith]], Jesus told him that the other churches claiming to be Christian creeds "were an abomination in the Lords sight; that those professors [of religion] were all corrupt".<ref>{{Cite news |last=O'Hehir |first=Andrew |date=December 6, 2007 |title=This is not Romney's Kennedy moment |url=https://www.salon.com/2007/12/06/romney_ohehir/ |website=[[Salon.com]] }}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Wright |first=Lawrence |date=January 22, 2002 |title=Mormonism's Troubled Legacy |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/01/21/lives-of-the-saints |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |issn=0028-792X |url-access=limited |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409054004/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/01/21/lives-of-the-saints |archive-date=April 9, 2023| url-status=live |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page