Latter-day Saints

What Latter-day Saints Believe

Latter-day Saints believe in God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost as three separate beings, one in purpose. They teach that all people lived before birth as God's spirit children and can become like him through Christ's Atonement, ordinances, and covenants. Nicene Christians, who hold one God in three persons, describe these teachings as differing from their own.

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This page describes The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, called the Latter-day Saint church here, from its own sources: scriptures, leaders' statements, and its Topics and Questions pages and Gospel Topics essays.1 Latter-day Saints speak of themselves as Christians, and the church's essay on the question says that they are.2 This page sets Nicene Christian teaching beside Latter-day Saint teaching on each question.

The column labeled Nicene Christian teaching gives what Nicene churches teach, from their own texts. These are Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant churches whose texts teach one God in three persons.345678 The Orthodox sources are from the Orthodox Church in America, an Eastern Orthodox body.9

What is ultimate reality?

Latter-day Saints teach that God the Father is the Supreme Being. With his Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost he forms the Godhead: three separate beings, one in purpose.1011

Latter-day Saint teaching

The first Article of Faith states: We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. (Articles of Faith 1:1)12 The church teaches that these three are separate beings, one in purpose and doctrine. The Father and the Son have bodies of flesh and bones. The Holy Ghost is a personage of spirit.1112

Latter-day Saints hold that the true doctrine of the Godhead was lost after the apostles died and began to be restored in Joseph Smith's First Vision.11

Nicene Christian teaching

The Nicene Creed, in the Orthodox Church in America's text, confesses one God, the Father Almighty, and Jesus Christ as begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father3.3 The Catholic Catechism teaches one God in three persons4, really distinct yet one in being.4

The Lutheran Augsburg Confession teaches one divine essence and three persons of the same essence and power.5 The Anglican Articles describe one living and true God, without body, parts, or passions6, and the Methodist Articles three persons of one substance, power, and eternity.67

How each side describes the difference. The Catholic commentary on the 2001 ruling that Latter-day Saint baptism is invalid says the Latter-day Saint church's Father, Son, and Holy Spirit differ from the Trinity.13 The church's Godhead page says its view of the Godhead corresponds in a number of ways with others in the Christian world, but with significant differences.11

What is a human being?

Latter-day Saints teach that every person is a spirit child of heavenly parents who lived before birth, and that all can become like God.1415

Latter-day Saint teaching

Before birth, the church teaches, people lived in God's presence as his spirit children, without physical bodies. At a council the Father presented the great plan of happiness16, and those who followed it came to earth to gain a body and face trials.1416 God's purpose, in the Pearl of Great Price, is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. (Moses 1:39)12

The church's essay "Becoming Like God" teaches that every person is divine in origin, nature, and potential, and that God organized the universe from existing elements.15

Nicene Christian teaching

The Catholic Catechism teaches that God creates freely out of nothing17, and the Westminster Confession says God made the world from nothing.178 The human person is made in God's image, and every soul is created immediately by God18, is not produced by the parents, and is immortal.18

Orthodox teaching holds that humans are called to become by divine grace all that God Himself is by nature19, and that human life is never finished, because God's life has no limits. Catholic teaching also speaks of sharing in God's divinity.1920

How each side describes the difference. The Catholic commentary on the 2001 ruling says the Latter-day Saint church teaches that God and humans share the same nature.13 The church's essay answers that exaltation, becoming like God, does not make Latter-day Saints polytheists, because God's children will always worship him.15

What is wrong with the world?

Latter-day Saints teach that Adam and Eve's transgression brought death into the world, that this fall was an integral part of God's plan, and that agency lets people respond.2122

Latter-day Saint teaching

Adam and Eve's transgression, the church teaches, cast them out of God's presence and made them mortal. Yet the fall is an integral part21 of the plan of salvation, with a twofold direction, downward yet forward21.21 Lehi, in the Book of Mormon, teaches: Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. (2 Nephi 2:25)12 The second Article of Faith adds: We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression. (Articles of Faith 1:2)12

Agency is the ability and privilege God gives us to choose and to act for ourselves22.22

Nicene Christian teaching

Catholic teaching holds that all people are implicated in Adam's sin, a deprivation of original holiness that does not have the character of a personal fault23; baptism erases it.23 Orthodox teaching holds that everyone bears the consequences of the first sin, above all death, but that only Adam and Eve are guilty.24

The Anglican Articles call original sin the fault and corruption of the Nature of every man6.6 The Methodist Articles say that after the fall a person cannot turn to God by natural strength, and that God's grace goes before the will.7 The Catechism quotes the hymn O happy fault23.23

How each side describes the difference. The Catholic commentary on the 2001 ruling says the Latter-day Saint church denies original sin and so baptizes no one under eight.13 The church's baptism page teaches that little children are redeemed through the mercy of Jesus Christ and need no baptism.25

What is the way forward?

Latter-day Saints teach that the way forward is the Atonement of Jesus Christ, received through faith, repentance, and the ordinances and covenants of the gospel.2627

Latter-day Saint teaching

Jesus's atoning sacrifice took place in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross at Calvary26.26 Grace is divine help through the Atonement that strengthens people to do good works they could not do on their own: it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do. (2 Nephi 25:23)1228

Ordinances are sacred acts performed by priesthood authority. Those essential to exaltation include baptism, confirmation, ordination to the Melchizedek Priesthood (the church's higher priesthood) for men, the temple endowment (a ceremony of instruction and covenants), and the marriage sealing, which unites a couple for eternity. Each is joined to covenants (promises with God).2729303132 For the dead, temples offer proxy baptisms, which each person may accept or reject.33

Nicene Christian teaching

The Catholic Catechism calls Christ's death the sacrifice that accomplishes the definitive redemption of men34. Orthodox teaching describes atonement as reconciliation with God the Father through the forgiveness of sins35.3435 The Lutheran Augsburg Confession teaches that people are freely justified for Christ's sake, through faith5, and the Methodist Articles that they are accounted righteous only for Christ's merit, by faith.57

The branches count the sacraments differently: seven in Catholic and usually in Orthodox teaching, and two Sacraments ordained of Christ6 in the Anglican Articles.36376 The Catechism calls baptism necessary for those to whom the gospel has been proclaimed, entrusts unbaptized children to God's mercy, and holds that a person ignorant of the gospel who seeks truth can be saved.38

How each side describes the difference. The Catholic commentary on the 2001 ruling says Latter-day Saint baptism differs in its faith in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and in its relationship to Christ, who instituted baptism, but that the ruling is not a judgment on the Latter-day Saint church's members.13 The Orthodox Church in America's 2023 guidelines and the United Methodist General Conference in 2000 require baptism of Latter-day Saints who join those churches.3940

The Methodist statement, as the Associated Press reported it, said the Latter-day Saint church has some radically differing doctrine on such matters of belief as the nature and being of God; the nature, origin, and purpose of Jesus Christ; and the nature and way of salvation41.41 It also said that the Latter-day Saint church, by self-definition, does not fit within the bounds of the historic, apostolic tradition of the Christian faith42.42

The church replied that Latter-day Saints embrace both ancient and modern revelations that proclaim Jesus Christ as the living, divine Son of God, the Savior and Redeemer of the world41.41 It added that any assertion otherwise demonstrates a lack of knowledge of its doctrine.41 It teaches that baptism requires priesthood authority restored through Joseph Smith, and the Associated Press reported that its new members have always been rebaptized, whatever their previous faith.254340

What happens after death?

Latter-day Saints teach that the spirit lives on, that all people will be resurrected, and that people will then receive a kingdom of glory, except the sons of perdition (defined below). Temple marriages, they teach, can continue forever.164445

Latter-day Saint teaching

After death, the church teaches, the righteous wait in paradise, while those who did not know the gospel, or were wicked, are in spirit prison, a temporary state where they may learn it and accept ordinances done for them in temples.4647 After the resurrection and judgment, people receive a kingdom of glory according to their desires and actions: celestial, the highest; terrestrial; or telestial. The sons of perdition, those who know God's power, have been made partakers of it, and then deny the truth and defy it, receive no kingdom of glory.44

People married in the temple can be together forever if they keep their covenants, the church teaches.45 The highest degree of celestial glory requires temple marriage, and all who are worthy will have that opportunity, in this life or afterward.44

Nicene Christian teaching

The Nicene Creed ends: I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.3 Catholic teaching names heaven, purgatory (a cleansing for some after death), and hell, which it holds is eternal.3484950 The Reformed Westminster Confession holds that there are only two destinations, heaven and hell.8 Orthodox teaching holds that God's presence will be paradise for those who love him and hell for those who hate him.51

On marriage and death, Catholic and Orthodox sources speak in different terms. Catholic canon law holds that a valid, consummated marriage between baptized persons can be dissolved by no cause except death52.52 The Orthodox Church in America teaches that what is begun on earth does not part in death but continues most perfectly in the Kingdom of God53.53

How each side describes the difference. The Catechism says hell exists and is eternal.50 The Latter-day Saint church's Topics and Questions page says hell is in one sense a temporary spirit prison, and in another the permanent place of Satan, his followers, and the sons of perdition.47

How should a person live?

Latter-day Saints teach that a person should love God and others, keep the commandments and covenants, and follow living prophets.5455

Latter-day Saint teaching

The church teaches that the two great commandments are to love God first and to love one's neighbor. Members show love of God by keeping his commandments, among them the Ten Commandments, the Sabbath, the law of chastity, the Word of Wisdom (a law of health), and tithing, one-tenth of income. They love others by serving them, forgiving freely, and treating all people with respect.54 Baptismal covenants are renewed each time a person takes the sacrament.29

The church sustains the President of the Church, his counselors, and the Twelve Apostles as prophets, seers, and revelators, and teaches that the President alone receives revelation to guide the entire church.55

Nicene Christian teaching

Catholic, Orthodox, and Reformed churches teach that a person should love God and neighbor. The Catholic Catechism reads the Ten Commandments in the light of that double command of love, and the Westminster Shorter Catechism calls it their sum.565758 The Catechism teaches that no new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ59, while recognizing private revelations that do not add to the faith.59

The Westminster Confession holds that nothing is to be added to Scripture by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men8.8 Orthodox teaching places authority in Holy Tradition, not at all limited to what is written60.60

How each side describes the difference over authority. On conduct, both columns name love of God and neighbor.545658 On authority, the Catechism holds that public revelation is complete.59 The Latter-day Saint church's essay lists its expanded canon and the fact that it does not descend from the Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant churches among the reasons some give for calling it non-Christian. It replies that it is a restored church and that its doctrine is consistent with early Christianity.2

Key terms

Term Meaning
Godhead The church's term for God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost, separate beings one in purpose.11
Plan of salvation God's plan for his children, from life before birth to exaltation.161554
Kingdoms of glory The celestial, terrestrial, and telestial kingdoms received after judgment.44
Exaltation The reward of receiving one's full inheritance as a child of God.15
Sealing A temple ordinance uniting husband and wife, or children and parents, for eternity.32
Restoration The church's teaching that the fulness of the gospel, with the priesthood authority lost after the apostles died, was restored through Joseph Smith, from the First Vision in 1820 and the priesthood in 1829.4354

Sources

  1. Scriptures, Topics and Questions (2026). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2026. Accessed 2026-11-03.
  2. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Are "Mormons" Christian?. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Gospel Topics Essays, 2016. Accessed 2026-10-28.
  3. Thomas Hopko. The Orthodox Faith, Volume I, The Symbol of Faith, Nicene Creed. Orthodox Church in America, 1981. Accessed 2026-10-28.
  4. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 232 to 267 (The Holy Trinity). The Holy See (Libreria Editrice Vaticana), paragraphs 234, 246 to 248, 253 and 254. Accessed 2026-10-28.
  5. The Augsburg Confession. BookOfConcord.org, Articles I to IV, VI, and XVII. Accessed 2026-10-28.
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  9. World Council of Churches. Church families: Orthodox churches (Eastern). World Council of Churches. Accessed 2026-10-28.
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  11. Gospel Topics: Godhead. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Accessed 2026-10-28.
  12. The Book of Mormon (1920 edition), the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price (1921 editions). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1920. Accessed 2026-10-28.
  13. Luis Ladaria. The Question of the Validity of Baptism Conferred in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Holy See (L'Osservatore Romano, weekly edition in English, August 1, 2001, page 4), 2001. Accessed 2026-10-28.
  14. Premortality, Topics and Questions (2023). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2023. Accessed 2026-11-03.
  15. Becoming Like God, Gospel Topics Essays. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2016. Accessed 2026-11-03.
  16. Plan of Salvation, Topics and Questions (2023). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2023. Accessed 2026-11-03.
  17. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 296 to 298 (creation out of nothing). Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1992, paragraphs 296 to 298. Accessed 2026-10-28.
  18. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 355 to 384 (Man). The Holy See (Libreria Editrice Vaticana), paragraphs 356, 357, 362 to 366. Accessed 2026-10-28.
  19. Thomas Hopko. The Orthodox Faith, Volume I, The Symbol of Faith, Man. Orthodox Church in America, 1981. Accessed 2026-10-28.
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  21. Fall of Adam and Eve, Topics and Questions (2023). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2023. Accessed 2026-11-03.
  22. Agency and Accountability, Topics and Questions (2023). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2023. Accessed 2026-11-03.
  23. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 385 to 421 (The Fall). The Holy See (Libreria Editrice Vaticana), paragraphs 385 to 421. Accessed 2026-10-28.
  24. Original sin (Questions and Answers). Orthodox Church in America. Accessed 2026-10-28.
  25. Baptism, Topics and Questions (2023). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2023. Accessed 2026-11-03.
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  27. Ordinances, Topics and Questions (2023). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2023. Accessed 2026-11-03.
  28. Grace, Topics and Questions (2023). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2023. Accessed 2026-11-03.
  29. Covenant, Topics and Questions (2023). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2023. Accessed 2026-11-03.
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  32. Sealing. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Accessed 2026-11-03.
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  39. Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America. Guidelines for Clergy (2023), section on the reception of converts. Orthodox Church in America, 2023, printed p. 16, item 4 under "The Reception of Converts". Accessed 2026-11-04.
  40. Associated Press. Methodists say LDS church is outside Christian tradition. Deseret News, 2000. Accessed 2026-10-28.
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  42. Associated Press. Methodists say LDS church is outside Christian tradition. Deseret News, 2000. Accessed 2026-10-28.
  43. Apostasy, Topics and Questions (2023). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2023. Accessed 2026-11-03.
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  48. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1023 to 1029 (Heaven). The Holy See (Libreria Editrice Vaticana), paragraph 1024. Accessed 2026-10-28.
  49. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1030 to 1032 (Purgatory). The Holy See (Libreria Editrice Vaticana), paragraphs 1030 to 1032. Accessed 2026-10-28.
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  51. Thomas Hopko. The Orthodox Faith, Volume I, The Symbol of Faith, Judgment. Orthodox Church in America, 1981. Accessed 2026-10-28.
  52. Code of Canon Law, Book IV, Part I (canons 998 to 1165), including the canons on marriage. Libreria Editrice Vaticana (Holy See), canons 1061 and 1141. Accessed 2026-11-04.
  53. Orthodox Church in America. The Orthodox Faith, Volume II, Worship, The Sacraments, Marriage. Orthodox Church in America. Accessed 2026-11-03.
  54. Preach My Gospel (2023), Lesson 4: Becoming Lifelong Disciples of Jesus Christ. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2023. Accessed 2026-11-03.
  55. Prophets, Topics and Questions (2023). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2023. Accessed 2026-11-03.
  56. Catechism of the Catholic Church, The Ten Commandments, paragraphs 2052 to 2074. The Holy See (Libreria Editrice Vaticana), paragraphs 2052 to 2055. Accessed 2026-10-28.
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  58. The Westminster Shorter Catechism. The Orthodox Presbyterian Church, Question 1. Accessed 2026-10-28.
  59. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 65 to 67 (no further public revelation). Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1992, paragraphs 66 and 67. Accessed 2026-11-03.
  60. Thomas Hopko. The Orthodox Faith, Volume I: Doctrine and Scripture, Sources of Christian Doctrine: Tradition. Orthodox Church in America. Accessed 2026-10-28.