Most Catholics, Protestants and other Christian denominations have fundamental doctrinal differences with Mormons. Here is a summary.
What is the nature of God?
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are three separate entities. The faith’s Doctrine and Covenants states: “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit.”
Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant churches rely on the Nicene Creed, which states God is a divine entity consisting of three persons, the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, but of one spiritual substance.
What is the nature and origin of Jesus Christ?
Mormon doctrine holds that Christ was begotten of the Father and a Heavenly Mother, as are all human beings. Jesus first was Jehovah of the Old Testament, the first begotten and eldest of God’s spirit children, and later was born to Mary.
Mainstream Christian churches’ view that Jesus is co-eternal with the Father and of one substance with Him, that he is the only begotten son of God and yet incarnate as a human being born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary.
What is the nature of the afterlife?
Latter-day Saints strive to obtain the highest level of a three-tiered Heaven, the Celestial Kingdom is reserved for Mormon couples married for eternity. There, Mormons can eventually become gods and goddesses. Non-Mormons who have lived righteous lives and accepted Mormonism may aspire to the Celestial Kingdom.
The midlevel Terrestrial Kingdom is reserved for good people who never accepted Mormonism. The third level, the Telestial Kingdom, is for the wicked. Hell is for the especially evil “sons of perdition,” along with Satan and his demons.
Most Christians are taught that Heaven is for those who accept Christ’s sacrifice and God’s forgiveness, as expressed through prayer, baptism and their living of Jesus’ teachings. Those who reject God risk the punishment of hell.
What is the nature of spiritual authority?
The LDS Church recognizes the Bible as scripture but includes in its canon the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price as works equally sacred.
Both Catholics and Protestants recognize the Old Testament and New Testament, with some minor exceptions for the so-called Apocrypha that Catholics include in their Bible, as authoritative scripture.
Bob Mims, The Salt Lake Tribune
Sources: Mims, Encyclopedia of Mormonism
