The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

A church organized in New York in 1830 around Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, led today by a living prophet and Twelve Apostles, with weekly sacrament meetings, temples, and a call to a life of service.

Newsroom, Style Guide: The Name of the Church

Newsroom, The Church Worldwide: facts and statistics (last updated 31 December 2025)

Learn About the Church, First Presidency (published 28 October 2025)

Newsroom, President Dallin H. Oaks Celebrates 94th Birthday (12 August 2026)

The Articles of Faith (Pearl of Great Price)

Joseph Smith-History 1 (Pearl of Great Price)

Doctrine and Covenants 21 (section heading)

Doctrine and Covenants 27 (section heading)

Doctrine and Covenants 130

Doctrine and Covenants 135 (the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith)

Church History Topics: Brigham Young

Official Declaration 1 (the Manifesto, 1890)

The Book of Mormon, Title Page

Gospel Topics Essay: First Vision Accounts

Topics and Questions: Book of Mormon Translation

Topics and Questions: Godhead

Gospel Topics Essay: Becoming Like God

Topics and Questions: Baptisms for the Dead

Gospel Topics Essay: Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo

Gospel Topics Essay: The Manifesto and the End of Plural Marriage

Gospel Topics Essay: Race and the Priesthood

Gospel Principles ch. 8, Praying to Our Heavenly Father

Gospel Principles ch. 9, Prophets of God

Gospel Principles ch. 10, Scriptures

Gospel Principles ch. 13, The Priesthood

Gospel Principles ch. 14, Priesthood Organization

Gospel Principles ch. 16, The Church of Jesus Christ in Former Times

Gospel Principles ch. 20, Baptism

Gospel Principles ch. 22, The Gifts of the Spirit

Gospel Principles ch. 23, The Sacrament

Gospel Principles ch. 24, The Sabbath Day

Gospel Principles ch. 40, Temple Work and Family History

Gospel Principles ch. 41, The Postmortal Spirit World

Gospel Principles ch. 47, Exaltation

General Handbook ch. 18, Performing Priesthood Ordinances, Including Blessings

General Handbook ch. 19, Music in the Church

General Handbook ch. 29, Meetings in the Church

Publishers Weekly review of Richard Lyman Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 25 July 2005 (secondary)

Jana Riess, review of Terryl L. Givens, By the Hand of Mormon (Oxford University Press, 2002), Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 35, no. 3, review beginning p. 242 (secondary)

General Handbook ch. 12, Primary

General Handbook ch. 15, Seminaries and Institutes of Religion

General Handbook ch. 21, Ministering

General Handbook ch. 22, Providing for Temporal Needs and Building Self-Reliance

General Handbook ch. 24, Missionary Recommendations and Service

General Handbook ch. 26, Temple Recommends

General Handbook ch. 31, Interviews and Other Meetings with Members

General Handbook ch. 32, Repentance and Church Membership Councils

Missionary Standards for Disciples of Jesus Christ, ch. 2, Missionary Organization and Activities

Missionary Standards for Disciples of Jesus Christ, ch. 3, Missionary Conduct

The Friend, About the Friend

Ezra Taft Benson, Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet (1980 BYU devotional; text hosted by BYU, not by the Church)

The Book of Mormon, Introduction

1 Nephi 13 (Book of Mormon)

Topics and Questions: Bible, Inerrancy of (2023)

Topics and Questions: Apostasy (2023)

Gospel Topics Essay: Peace and Violence among 19th-Century Latter-day Saints

Gospel Topics Essay: Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham

The Church traces its beginning to the spring of 1820, when Joseph Smith, then a boy, reported that God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him in a grove of trees in New York, and to the publication of the Book of Mormon and the organization of the Church in 1830. The members were driven from place to place in the nineteenth century, settled in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, and grew from six members at the start to a worldwide church. Three turning points shaped it: plural marriage, which began in Joseph Smith's lifetime and ended after 1890; the long restriction of the priesthood to men who were not of black African descent, which ended in 1978; and the growth outside North America. We give each as the Church's own essays tell it.

Joseph Smith is born

Joseph Smith writes that he "was born in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and five, on the twenty-third day of December, in the town of Sharon, Windsor county, State of Vermont." His father moved the family to Palmyra, in western New York, when Joseph was "in my tenth year, or thereabouts."

The First Vision

The Church's essay says: "In his 1838 history, Joseph Smith said that his First Vision occurred in the spring of 1820." He testified that God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him near his parents' home when he was about fourteen. The essay notes that he and others recorded several accounts of it.

The translation of the Book of Mormon

The Church's essay on the translation says Joseph dictated the book to scribes at a breathtaking pace, "completing almost the entire translation between April and June of 1829." Joseph Smith declared that he translated the record "by the gift and power of God." Three witnesses, Martin Harris, Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer, attested that an angel showed them the plates.

The Book of Mormon is published

The title page of the Church's edition says: "First English edition published in Palmyra, New York, USA, in 1830." The book bears the subtitle "Another Testament of Jesus Christ."

The Church is organized at Fayette

The heading of Doctrine and Covenants 21 reads: "Revelation given to Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Fayette, New York, April 6, 1830. This revelation was given at the organization of the Church, on the date named, in the home of Peter Whitmer Sr." The Church says it was organized "to restore the ancient Church of Jesus Christ." It grew from six members at the start to one million in 1947.

Elijah in the Kirtland Temple

At Kirtland, Ohio, as the Church's essay records, "the Old Testament prophet Elijah appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple and restored the priesthood keys necessary to perform ordinances for the living and the dead, including sealing families together." This is the Church's account of where temple sealing began.

Plural marriage at Nauvoo

The essay on Kirtland and Nauvoo says: "The first plural marriage in Nauvoo took place when Louisa Beaman and Joseph Smith were sealed in April 1841." It adds that "by June 1844, when Joseph died, approximately 29 men and 50 women had entered into plural marriage, in addition to Joseph and his wives." The Church says "the initial command to practice plural marriage came through Joseph Smith."

Joseph and Hyrum Smith are killed at Carthage

The Church's scripture records that Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum "were shot in Carthage jail, on the 27th of June, 1844, about five o'clock p.m., by an armed mob." Its heading calls it "the martyrdom of Joseph Smith the Prophet and his brother, Hyrum Smith the Patriarch."

The Saints enter the Salt Lake Valley

The Church's statistics page says: "Eventually, intense persecution led the Latter-day Saints to settle in what would later become Utah in the western United States." The Kirtland and Nauvoo essay notes that when the Saints entered the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, at least 196 men and 521 women had entered into plural marriages.

The priesthood limit is announced

The Church's essay on race says: "In 1852, President Brigham Young publicly announced that men of black African descent could no longer be ordained to the priesthood, though thereafter blacks continued to join the Church through baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost." The limit lasted "from the mid-1800s until 1978."

The Manifesto ends plural marriage

President Wilford Woodruff issued the Manifesto, and the Church's scripture states that it "was accepted by the Church as authoritative and binding on October 6, 1890. This led to the end of the practice of plural marriage in the Church." The Church's essay adds that the end "was a process rather than a single event." The Manifesto itself was dated 24 September 1890, and in it President Woodruff declared: "We are not teaching polygamy or plural marriage, nor permitting any person to enter into its practice."

The revelation on the priesthood

The essay says that in June 1978 Church President Spencer W. Kimball, his counselors and members of the Quorum of the Twelve "received a revelation" after "spending many hours in the Upper Room of the [Salt Lake] Temple supplicating the Lord for divine guidance." The priesthood and the temple were opened to all worthy members. Today, the essay says, the Church "disavows the theories advanced in the past that black skin is a sign of divine disfavor or curse."

Dallin H. Oaks becomes the 18th President

The Church's page on its First Presidency says that President Dallin H. Oaks "was sustained and set apart as the 18th president and prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Tuesday, October 14, 2025." Henry B. Eyring was sustained as First Counselor and D. Todd Christofferson as Second Counselor on the same day.

Joseph Smith

The founding prophet. He reported the First Vision as a boy, translated the Book of Mormon, and organized the Church at Fayette on 6 April 1830. He and his brother Hyrum were shot in Carthage Jail, Illinois, on 27 June 1844, by what the Church's scripture calls "an armed mob."

Brigham Young

Born in Vermont in 1801. After Joseph Smith's death he proposed that the Twelve lead the Church as a quorum, guided the vanguard company to the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, and reorganized the First Presidency that December. He dedicated the St. George temple and died on 29 August 1877.

Wilford Woodruff

He issued the Manifesto on 24 September 1890, which the Church accepted as binding on 6 October 1890 and which led to the end of plural marriage in the Church.

Spencer W. Kimball

President at the June 1978 revelation that opened the priesthood to all worthy male members and the temple to all worthy members.

Dallin H. Oaks

The 18th President of the Church. The Church's newsroom noted his 94th birthday on 12 August 2026 as "his first birthday since becoming the Church's 18th President." He leads with Henry B. Eyring and D. Todd Christofferson as counselors.

The founder, as a historian saw him. Richard Lyman Bushman, a Latter-day Saint who is a historian, wrote the standard scholarly biography, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (Knopf, 2005). Publishers Weekly said of it that it "does not avoid the problematic aspects of Smith's life and work, such as his practice of polygamy, his early attempts at treasure-seeking and his later political aspirations." That review is a secondary source; this chart takes dates and facts from the Church's own pages.

The book, as a scholar read it. Terryl L. Givens, a Latter-day Saint scholar, argued in By the Hand of Mormon (Oxford University Press, 2002) that the book's message is bound up with how it came. Jana Riess, reviewing it in Dialogue, gives his thesis in his words: "the message of the Book of Mormon was and continues to be inseparable from the story of its origins." The review is a secondary source.

Polygamy and the Manifesto. The Church's essay on the end of plural marriage says: "For much of the 19th century, a significant number of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints practiced plural marriage—the marriage of one man to more than one woman. The beginning and end of the practice were directed by revelation through God's prophets." From 1862 the United States government passed laws against it, and in 1879 the Supreme Court ruled against the Church in Reynolds v. United States. The last path of legal appeal closed in May 1890. The essay adds that after the Manifesto some plural marriages continued, chiefly in Mexico and Canada, and that President Lorenzo Snow later issued a statement clarifying that the Manifesto extended to all parts of the world. The Church today does not practice plural marriage and says it is not affiliated with polygamous groups.

1978. The Church's essay says that "the Church did not ordain men of black African descent to its priesthood or allow black men or women to participate in temple endowment or sealing ordinances" from the mid-1800s until 1978. The 1978 revelation ended this. The essay says that Church leaders "unequivocally condemn all racism, past and present, in any form."

The Bible and three added books are scripture, and a living prophet speaks for God today.

The Church accepts "four books as scripture": the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price, which it calls the standard works. It adds that "the inspired words of our living prophets are also accepted as scripture." The Articles of Faith say the Bible is the word of God "as far as it is translated correctly," and that the Book of Mormon is also the word of God. They also say that God "does now reveal," and "will yet reveal many great and important things." The Church teaches that an apostasy followed the death of the apostles, and that the Church was restored through Joseph Smith. The President of the Church is the living prophet, and he "has the right to revelation for the entire Church."

We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.

We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints accepts four books as scripture: the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price.

The living prophet. The Church's manual says: "We know that God communicates to the Church through His prophet." The prophet "is the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." He holds "the keys of the kingdom," and so has "the authority to direct the entire Church." The manual adds: "Latter-day Saints sustain the First Presidency and the Twelve Apostles as prophets."

The apostasy and the restoration. The Church's manual (Gospel Principles, chapter 16) teaches: "There were no Apostles or other priesthood leaders with power from God, and there were no spiritual gifts," and "Many of the ordinances were changed because the priesthood and revelation were no longer on the earth." The Church's own account of its beginning is that it was organized "to restore the ancient Church of Jesus Christ."

Salvation comes through the Atonement of Christ by obedience to the ordinances of the gospel, beginning with immersion for the remission of sins at age eight.

The Articles of Faith say: "through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel." The first principles are faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance, "Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins," and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. Baptism must be by immersion, by one who holds the priesthood, and "only one correct mode of baptism" is allowed. A child is baptized at eight, the age of accountability; the Church teaches that infant baptism is "not in keeping with the teachings of the Savior." The Church also teaches that the ordinances of the temple, "like baptism," are "necessary for our salvation," and that the dead may receive them through members acting for them. The Church teaches that there are three kingdoms of glory in heaven, and that exaltation, the highest, is the fullness of salvation.

We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Every person who has reached eight years of age and is accountable (responsible) for his or her actions should be baptized.

Authority to baptize. The General Handbook says: "Baptism by immersion in water by one having authority is necessary for a person to become a member of the Church and receive the Holy Ghost." Gospel Principles says: "Baptism by immersion by a person having the proper authority is the only acceptable way of being baptized." The Church also says that some people "were baptized, but without proper authority," and offers them baptism through the temple work described below.

The temple. Gospel Principles says: "Like baptism, these ordinances and covenants are necessary for our salvation. They must be performed in the temples of the Lord."

The sacrament is taken every Sunday, with bread and water blessed by priesthood holders in words the Church holds were given.

Latter-day Saints call the Supper the sacrament. The Church teaches that "members of the Church meet each Sabbath day to worship and partake of the sacrament," and that it is "a holy priesthood ordinance." The elements are bread and water. The Church says that in 1830 Joseph Smith set out to buy wine for a service and received a revelation that "it mattereth not what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink when ye partake of the sacrament," and the heading of that section adds: "Water is now used instead of wine in the sacramental services of the Church." The prayers have fixed wording, which the Church holds Jesus revealed. Priests, who are Aaronic Priesthood holders, or Melchizedek Priesthood holders bless the bread and the water, and deacons, teachers, priests or Melchizedek holders pass them to the members. The members renew their covenants as they partake.

During the sacrament, we partake of bread and water.

Water is now used instead of wine in the sacramental services of the Church.

The person blessing the water kneels and says the sacrament prayer for the water (see Doctrine and Covenants 20:79). He uses the word water instead of wine.

The prayers and the day. Gospel Principles says: "Jesus has revealed the exact words for both sacrament prayers." The prayer over the water asks "to bless and sanctify this wine [water] to the souls of all those who drink of it, that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy Son." The Church sets the day by its Sabbath commandment: "The Lord has given us a direct commandment in these days that we too should honor Sunday, the Lord's day, as our Sabbath."

Who administers. The General Handbook says: "Deacons, teachers, priests, and Melchizedek Priesthood holders may pass the sacrament." The handbook says of sacrament meeting, "All are invited to attend," and of the emblems: "Although the sacrament is for members of the Church, nothing should be done to prevent others from partaking of it." Gospel Principles adds that "no one should partake of the sacrament unworthily," which it explains means that members "must repent of our sins before taking the sacrament."

A living prophet and Twelve Apostles lead the Church; bishops lead each ward, and worthy men hold the priesthood.

The Church says it has "the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth." At the head is the First Presidency: the President of the Church, who is the senior Apostle, and two counselors. Under them are the Twelve Apostles. Each ward is led by a bishop and his counselors, and above the bishop stands a stake president. A bishop is "ordained and set apart to preside over the Aaronic Priesthood in a ward" and is also a high priest, so that he can preside over all the ward's members. The Church teaches that "Our Heavenly Father delegates His priesthood power to worthy male members of the Church." A man "must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority." Women and men hold callings as teachers and officers in the wards.

We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.

We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.

Our Heavenly Father delegates His priesthood power to worthy male members of the Church.

The offices. Gospel Principles says: "The offices in the Aaronic Priesthood are deacon, teacher, priest, and bishop." Those who hold the Melchizedek Priesthood "have the power and authority to lead the Church and direct the preaching of the gospel in all parts of the world." Stake presidents, mission presidents, high councilors and bishops are ordained high priests.

Succession. The Church's page on its First Presidency says: "The President of the Church is always the senior Apostle—the person who has served as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for the longest time."

The Sunday sacrament meeting is built around the sacrament, with hymns, prayer and messages from members; prayer is to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ.

The Church says the purpose of sacrament meeting is to "remember Jesus Christ by partaking of the sacrament," and also to worship, to build faith and testimony, and to conduct ward business. The bishopric plans the meeting; it includes hymns the congregation sings, a prayer at the start and at the end, and talks by members. A piano, organ or another instrument approved by the bishopric may accompany the singing. Prayer is offered to God the Father: "We should pray to God and to no one else." The prayers over the sacrament are fixed in wording. The Church sets Sunday apart as its Sabbath. Temple worship, the sealing of families and baptism for the dead are carried out in the temples, separate from the Sunday meetings.

Remember Jesus Christ by partaking of the sacrament.

The piano, organ, or another instrument approved by the bishopric may be used to accompany congregational singing in sacrament meeting

We should pray to God and to no one else.

Liberty to worship. The Articles of Faith say: "We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may."

The gifts of the Spirit, including tongues, prophecy, visions and healing, are present today; the gift of the Holy Ghost is conferred by the laying on of hands after baptism.

The Articles of Faith say: "We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth." Gospel Principles teaches that "following baptism, each of us had hands laid on our heads to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost," and that those who are faithful can have the Spirit's influence continually. The laying on of hands is done by a Melchizedek Priesthood holder, in a rite called confirmation. Through the Holy Ghost, the Church teaches, each member "can be blessed with certain spiritual powers called gifts of the Spirit."

We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.

Following baptism, each of us had hands laid on our heads to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Who confirms. The General Handbook says: "Only a Melchizedek Priesthood holder who is temple worthy may act as voice for a confirmation."

The dead wait in the spirit world, are judged and raised, and enter one of three kingdoms of glory; Zion will be built in America and Christ will reign on earth.

The Articles of Faith speak of "the literal gathering of Israel," that "Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent," and that "Christ will reign personally upon the earth." Gospel Principles teaches that at death the spirit goes to the spirit world, "a place of waiting, working, learning, and, for the righteous, resting from care and sorrow." There the gospel is taught to those who did not hear it, and temple work is done for them on earth. The Church teaches that there are "three kingdoms of glory in heaven." The highest degree of the celestial kingdom is exaltation, which the Church describes as "the kind of life God lives."

We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.

The spirit world is a place of waiting, working, learning, and, for the righteous, resting from care and sorrow.

From the scriptures we learn that there are three kingdoms of glory in heaven.

Exaltation. Gospel Principles says: "Exaltation is eternal life, the kind of life God lives." The highest reward is life in "the highest degree of the celestial kingdom," in "eternal families." The next section sets this beside the Church's teaching on God.

The added scripture

The Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price stand beside the Bible as the word of God.

The Book of Mormon is subtitled "Another Testament of Jesus Christ." The Church says the plates were "entrusted to Joseph Smith by an angel named Moroni," that Joseph translated it "by the gift and power of God," and that its first English edition was published at Palmyra, New York, in 1830. The Doctrine and Covenants is "a collection of modern revelations," and the Pearl of Great Price holds the books of Moses and Abraham and writings of Joseph Smith. The Church holds the Bible to be the word of God "as far as it is translated correctly." The words of the living prophets are also accepted as scripture.

Joseph Smith declared that he translated the record "by the gift and power of God."

The Doctrine and Covenants is a collection of modern revelations.

Beloved, while I was giving all diligence to write unto you of our common salvation, I was constrained to write unto you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints.

But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema.

I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.

Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness: that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.

Jude says the faith was "once for all delivered unto the saints" (Jude 1:3), and he writes so that they will contend for it, not wait for more. Paul curses any gospel beyond the one the apostles preached, even one brought by "an angel from heaven" (Galatians 1:8), and the Church's own account is that the plates came to Joseph Smith by an angel. Scripture already makes "the man of God" "furnished completely unto every good work" (2 Timothy 3:17), and John's warning against adding to "the words of the prophecy of this book" (Revelation 22:18) shows how God regards such additions. The Articles of Faith show where the weight falls: the Bible is the word of God only "as far as it is translated correctly," while the Book of Mormon carries no such condition. The Church deserves credit for honoring the Bible and confessing Jesus Christ as the Savior, but its added scripture is the point on which the rest of its teaching depends.

What the verdict does not say. It does not say the Book of Mormon's readers are insincere. It says that a book given after the apostles cannot be placed beside the apostolic word, and that where the added books teach what the New Testament does not, the New Testament stands.

God the Father has a body of flesh and bones

The Father and the Son have bodies, and the Holy Ghost is a spirit; the three are separate beings.

The Church says: "we know that the members of the Godhead are three separate beings. The Father and the Son have tangible bodies of flesh and bones, and the Holy Ghost is a personage of spirit." Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 states the same in scripture. The Church adds that "they are one in purpose and doctrine." It calls the Father "the Father of spirit children."

we know that the members of the Godhead are three separate beings. The Father and the Son have tangible bodies of flesh and bones, and the Holy Ghost is a personage of spirit.

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.

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye behold me having.

who only hath immortality, dwelling in light unapproachable; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and power eternal. Amen.

Can any hide himself in secret places so that I shall not see him? saith Jehovah. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith Jehovah.

The Church is right that the risen Lord has a body, for he said, "a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye behold me having" (Luke 24:39). The same Lord said of the Father, "God is a Spirit" (John 4:24), and his two sayings set side by side settle the question: a spirit has not flesh and bones, and the Father is spirit. Paul says of him that no man "hath seen, nor can see" (1 Timothy 6:16), and the Lord asks, "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" (Jeremiah 23:24), which a body of flesh cannot do. The text the Church cites, that man was made "in the image of God" (Genesis 1:27), names "male and female" alike as that image, so it speaks of likeness and not of the Father's flesh. To give the Father a body like man's is to set aside what Jesus said about the God we worship.

The Son's body. The Church holds one thing here that the apostles hold: the Son took flesh and was raised in a body. The line is crossed in saying the Father is the same kind of being as the Son in that respect.

Exaltation: becoming like God

Faithful members may become like the Father, and the Church describes this as eternal life.

Gospel Principles teaches: "We can become like our Heavenly Father. This is exaltation." Exaltation is "eternal life, the kind of life God lives," and the same chapter says of God: "He is a creator." Of the exalted it says: "They will become gods." The Church's essay says: "The teaching that men and women have the potential to be exalted to a state of godliness clearly expands beyond what is understood by most contemporary Christian churches and expresses for the Latter-day Saints a yearning rooted in the Bible to live as God lives, to love as He loves." The Church holds that the faithful will "live in the highest degree of the celestial kingdom" with their families.

We can become like our Heavenly Father. This is exaltation.

Exaltation is eternal life, the kind of life God lives.

The teaching that men and women have the potential to be exalted to a state of godliness

Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, and my servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.

Thus saith Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts: I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God.

whereby he hath granted unto us his precious and exceeding great promises; that through these ye may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust.

Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know that, if he shall be manifested, we shall be like him; for we shall see him even as he is.

The New Testament does promise the believer a share in God's glory: we may become "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4), and "we shall be like him" (1 John 3:2). But the likeness Scripture names is holiness and the image of the Son, never the rank of God. The Church's manual says of the exalted, "They will become gods," and its essay quotes Lorenzo Snow's couplet, "As God now is, man may be." The Lord answers through Isaiah: "before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me" (Isaiah 43:10), and "besides me there is no God" (Isaiah 44:6). The Church is right that God wants his children near him, but no god will be formed after him, and a hope that says otherwise goes past the text.

Where the line falls. The verdict does not deny a high hope. It denies that the redeemed become gods. Scripture promises that the redeemed will be like Christ and reign with him, and it never says they become what he is in being.

The first half of the couplet. The Church's essay says of "As man now is, God once was" that "little has been revealed about the first half of this couplet, and consequently little is taught." This chart therefore weighs the second half, which the manual teaches plainly.

The Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods

Two priesthoods, the Aaronic and the Melchizedek, are held by worthy men and boys and are needed for the ordinances.

The Church's manual says: "The priesthood is the eternal power and authority of God." It teaches two priesthoods. The lesser, the Aaronic Priesthood, is "called the Aaronic Priesthood because it was conferred on Aaron and his sons," and its offices are deacon, teacher, priest and bishop. The higher is the Melchizedek Priesthood, which holds the right to lead the Church. The manual teaches that "Our Heavenly Father delegates His priesthood power to worthy male members of the Church," and that "We must have priesthood authority to act in the name of God when performing the sacred ordinances of the gospel, such as baptism, confirmation, administration of the sacrament, and temple marriage."

The offices in the Aaronic Priesthood are deacon, teacher, priest, and bishop.

We must have priesthood authority to act in the name of God when performing the sacred ordinances of the gospel, such as baptism, confirmation, administration of the sacrament, and temple marriage.

Now if there was perfection through the Levitical priesthood (for under it hath the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should arise after the order of Melchizedek, and not be reckoned after the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. For he of whom these things are said belongeth to another tribe, from which no man hath given attendance at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord hath sprung out of Judah; as to which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priests. And what we say is yet more abundantly evident, if after the likeness of Melchizedek there ariseth another priest, who hath been made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life: for it is witnessed of him, Thou art a priest for ever After the order of Melchizedek. For there is a disannulling of a foregoing commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness (for the law made nothing perfect), and a bringing in thereupon of a better hope, through which we draw nigh unto God. And inasmuch as it is not without the taking of an oath (for they indeed have been made priests without an oath; but he with an oath by him that saith of him, The Lord sware and will not repent himself, Thou art a priest for ever); by so much also hath Jesus become the surety of a better covenant. And they indeed have been made priests many in number, because that by death they are hindered from continuing: but he, because he abideth for ever, hath his priesthood unchangeable. Wherefore also he is able to save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such a high priest became us, holy, guileless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; who needeth not daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people: for this he did once for all, when he offered up himself. For the law appointeth men high priests, having infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was after the law, appointeth a Son, perfected for evermore.

And no man taketh the honor unto himself, but when he is called of God, even as was Aaron. So Christ also glorified not himself to be made a high priest, but he that spake unto him, Thou art my Son, This day have I begotten thee: as he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever After the order of Melchizedek.

But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

Hebrews says the Levitical priesthood was set aside: "the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law" (Hebrews 7:12). The Church cites "no man taketh the honor unto himself, but when he is called of God, even as was Aaron" (Hebrews 5:4) for its priesthood, but the next verse names the one so called, "So Christ also glorified not himself to be made a high priest" (Hebrews 5:5), and he holds it alone, for "he abideth for ever, hath his priesthood unchangeable" (Hebrews 7:24). To ordain men to the Aaronic order revives what the letter says has ended, and to ordain them to the Melchizedek order shares among men what it gives to Christ alone. Peter gives the priesthood to every believer, "a royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9), and the New Testament names no priestly class in the churches, only elders and deacons. Ward members who speak and serve are closer to the New Testament than a professional clergy, but the priesthood offices still stand above the people.

The difference in practice. The Church credits itself with a lay ministry, and its Sunday messages come from ward members, including youth and children. That is a real strength. The weighing is of the claim of a priesthood held only by worthy men, not of the willingness of these men to serve.

Baptism for the dead

Living members are baptized on behalf of those who died, in the temples.

The Church says: "By performing proxy baptisms on behalf of those who have died, Church members offer these blessings to deceased ancestors." It says: "Individuals can then choose to accept or reject the ordinances that have been performed on their behalf." It adds: "The names of deceased persons are not added to the membership records of the Church." Members trace their families, go to a temple, and are baptized for ancestors who did not receive baptism. The Church teaches that the dead are taught the gospel in the spirit world. It cites Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 15:29 as showing that baptism for the dead was done in the New Testament church.

By performing proxy baptisms on behalf of those who have died, Church members offer these blessings to deceased ancestors.

The New Testament indicates that baptisms for the dead were done during the time of the Apostle Paul.

For those who died without baptism or the temple ordinances, He has provided a way for this to happen.

Else what shall they do that are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them? why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour?

And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment;

And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that they that would pass from hence to you may not be able, and that none may cross over from thence to us.

Paul's one sentence stands in a chapter arguing for the resurrection: "what shall they do that are baptized for the dead?" (1 Corinthians 15:29), and then he turns to his own company, "why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour?" (1 Corinthians 15:30). He speaks of "they," not "we," uses the practice only to show it would be empty without a resurrection, and nowhere commands or approves it; nothing else in the New Testament mentions it. Where Paul teaches what baptism is, it is the believer's own: all who "were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death" (Romans 6:3). The rest of Scripture shuts the door the practice needs: "it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment" (Hebrews 9:27), and "there is a great gulf fixed" (Luke 16:26). Proxy baptism is not in the apostles' teaching, and neither is the second chance it assumes.

Credit. The Church's concern for the dead comes from love for family, and it is careful to say that the dead keep their choice. That concern does not make a rite the apostles did not teach.

Temple sealing and eternal marriage

In the temple, marriages and families are sealed together beyond death.

Gospel Principles says: "Only in the temple can we be sealed together forever as families. Marriage in the temple joins a man and woman as husband and wife eternally if they honor their covenants." The Church holds that Elijah restored the sealing keys in the Kirtland Temple on 3 April 1836, and that "ordinances performed on earth are sealed, or bound, in heaven." It points to Jesus' words to Peter that "whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven" (Matthew 16:19).

Only in the temple can we be sealed together forever as families.

Marriage in the temple joins a man and woman as husband and wife eternally if they honor their covenants.

For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as angels in heaven.

And Jesus said unto them, The sons of this world marry, and are given in marriage: but they that are accounted worthy to attain to that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: for neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.

For the woman that hath a husband is bound by law to the husband while he liveth; but if the husband die, she is discharged from the law of the husband. So then if, while the husband liveth, she be joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if the husband die, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress, though she be joined to another man.

The Sadducees put exactly this question to Jesus, whose wife a woman would be in the resurrection, and he answered: "in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as angels in heaven" (Matthew 22:30). Luke gives the reason: those counted worthy of that age "neither marry, nor are given in marriage" (Luke 20:35). Paul likewise says a wife "is bound by law to the husband while he liveth" (Romans 7:2), and the bond ends with death. A rite that binds marriage for the age to come answers the question the Lord already answered. The Church is right to honor marriage and family, and to teach that homes are to be kept together in love, but a marriage sealed forever is not what Jesus taught.

The text the Church cites. The Church points to Matthew 16:19 for the power to bind on earth and in heaven. The Lord gave it to the apostles for the kingdom's work, and nothing in the context links it to marriage.

Only new marriages? One may answer that Jesus rules out new marriages in the resurrection, not the keeping of marriages sealed on earth. But the Sadducees asked about marriages made on earth, whose wife she would be, and that is the question he answered. Luke gives his reason, "for neither can they die any more" (Luke 20:36), which ties marriage to the age in which men die.

Oversight of members' lives

Leaders interview youth and adults, ask set questions before the temple, and hold councils over members who oppose the Church.

The General Handbook sets out how leaders oversee members at each stage of life. It says: "The bishop or one of his counselors meets with each youth at least twice a year." From the year a youth turns 16, "both meetings during the year should be with the bishop if possible." A member of the bishopric also meets each 11-year-old as he or she moves up from Primary. Interviews "are required for sacred matters such as temple recommends, priesthood ordinations, and mission calls," and a parent or another adult must be present when a youth meets with a leader. An adult who wants to enter the temple is asked a set of questions. They include whether he or she sustains the President of the Church as "the only person on the earth authorized to exercise all priesthood keys," whether he or she is "a full-tithe payer," and whether he or she will "understand and obey the Word of Wisdom." The Handbook quotes the First Presidency on the temple garment: "You should wear the garment day and night throughout your life." The Handbook also provides for membership councils. It says apostasy includes "Repeatedly acting in clear and deliberate public opposition to the Church, its doctrine, its policies, or its leaders" and "Formally joining another church and promoting its teachings." It adds that "Total inactivity in the Church or attending another church does not by itself constitute apostasy," and that "only the stake president decides whether a membership council or other action is necessary." Missionaries live under their own rules. The Missionary Standards say: "You should be able to see and hear your companion at all times unless you are in the bathroom, in an interview with a mission leader, or conducting a baptismal interview." A missionary contacts family on the weekly preparation day and replies to messages "only on preparation day unless it is an emergency," and the Standards say: "Generally, family and friends should not visit you during your mission," though the mission president may approve an exception.

The bishop or one of his counselors meets with each youth at least twice a year.

Do you sustain the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the prophet, seer, and revelator and as the only person on the earth authorized to exercise all priesthood keys?

You should be able to see and hear your companion at all times unless you are in the bathroom, in an interview with a mission leader, or conducting a baptismal interview

neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock.

Not that we have lordship over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for in faith ye stand fast.

If ye died with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, do ye subject yourselves to ordinances, Handle not, nor taste, nor touch (all which things are to perish with the using), after the precepts and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and severity to the body; but are not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh.

For freedom did Christ set us free: stand fast therefore, and be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage.

A bishop or his counselor sits with each young person at least twice a year, and that care is not the fault, for elders "watch in behalf of your souls" (Hebrews 13:17). The fault is in what the oversight tests: a temple recommend turns on whether a member sustains one man as the only holder of all the keys and keeps the tithe, the Word of Wisdom and the garment day and night, rules the apostles never bound. Paul asks believers who died with Christ why they "subject yourselves to ordinances" (Colossians 2:20-23), "after the precepts and doctrines of men" (Colossians 2:20-23), and elders are to lead "neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you" (1 Peter 5:3). The apostles marked those who cause divisions "contrary to the doctrine which ye learned" (Romans 16:17), but the Handbook also counts public opposition to the Church's policies or its leaders as apostasy. Christ set his people free to "be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage" (Galatians 5:1), and an office that binds rules of its own on the conscience stands where the apostles refused to stand.

What is required, and what is not. The interviews are required for the sacred steps the Handbook names, the temple recommend, ordination and a mission call, and not for attending Sunday meeting or taking the sacrament, which are open to all. The recommend questions apply only to those who seek to enter the temple. The Handbook says that inactivity, or attending another church, is not by itself apostasy, and a council for apostasy is the stake president's decision alone. A parent or other adult must be present at a youth interview.

Credit. A bishop who knows each child by name is a kind of care that many congregations lack, and the Church states its rules openly. The weighing is of the oversight itself: a leader's place in the New Testament is to be an example to the flock, and not to be a judge of the believer's loyalty, diet and dress.

Forming children and youth

Children are taught from the nursery on, give testimonies in their own meetings and study the teachings of latter-day prophets, in a Church that teaches its President will not lead it astray.

The Church teaches its members from infancy. Its Handbook says: "Nursery helps children 18 months to 3 years feel Heavenly Father's love and learn about His plan of happiness." "Primary meetings for children ages 3–11 are held every Sunday for 55 minutes while adults and youth attend their classes." Primary lessons follow Come, Follow Me, the Church's home-and-church curriculum, and the Church's children's magazine, the Friend, offers "ideas to make home evening and Come, Follow Me lessons fun for children of all ages." Children take part in their own meetings: "Children may sing, give talks, and share stories, scriptures, or testimonies." From about 14 to 18, youth study in seminary, which the Handbook calls "a four-year program in which youth study the gospel of Jesus Christ as found in the scriptures and the teachings of latter-day prophets." The Church teaches that "We know that God communicates to the Church through His prophet." Wilford Woodruff, the President who issued the Manifesto, told a general conference of the Church on October 6, 1890, in words the Church prints with Official Declaration 1: "The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray." Ezra Taft Benson, then an Apostle, taught in a 1980 BYU devotional (the text is hosted by BYU, not by the Church): "First: The prophet is the only man who speaks for the Lord in everything." and "Fourth: The prophet will never lead the Church astray."

Children may sing, give talks, and share stories, scriptures, or testimonies.

The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray.

Fourth: The prophet will never lead the Church astray.

And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but nurture them in the chastening and admonition of the Lord.

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so.

and he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church,

Teaching children is commanded, and the Church does it with care: fathers are to "nurture them in the chastening and admonition of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4), and Timothy knew "the sacred writings" "from a babe" (2 Timothy 3:15). The charge is what the children are formed in. From the nursery to seminary they learn to bear testimony and to study "the teachings of latter-day prophets," in a Church that teaches that its President will never be allowed to lead it astray, and they learn it before they can weigh it. John says, "prove the spirits, whether they are of God" (1 John 4:1), and the Bereans were "more noble" because they were "examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11). There is one head of the church, for God "gave him to be head over all things to the church" (Ephesians 1:22), and a church that teaches that its President will not be allowed to lead it astray sets a second voice beside him.

What the verdict does not say. It does not say a child should be left untaught. Moses told Israel to "teach them diligently unto thy children" (Deuteronomy 6:7), and the Church takes that seriously. The weighing is of the teaching that a living prophet cannot lead the Church astray, which asks a child to trust a man before it has learned to test what he says by the apostles' word.

Where the quotations come from. The first quotation on the prophet is from Gospel Principles, a Church manual, and the second is from Wilford Woodruff's 1890 address, which the Church prints with Official Declaration 1. The Benson talk is a BYU devotional from 1980, quoted from the copy the university hosts.

The Bible corrupted, the Church lost, the Church restored

The Church teaches that plain parts of the Bible were lost, the apostles' church fell away, and Joseph Smith restored what was missing.

The Book of Mormon speaks of "many plain and precious things taken away from the book" (1 Nephi 13:28). The Church's page on the Bible says: "As the Bible was compiled, organized, translated, and transcribed, many errors entered the text." It adds that Latter-day Saints "do not believe the Bible, as it is currently available, is without error." On the church itself it says: "After the deaths of the Savior and His Apostles, men corrupted the principles of the gospel and made unauthorized changes in Church organization and priesthood ordinances." It says: "Because of this widespread apostasy, the Lord withdrew the authority of the priesthood from the earth." Joseph Smith's account of the First Vision says that the Personage who spoke to him told him that "all their creeds were an abomination in his sight." The Book of Mormon's Introduction prints his statement that it is "the most correct of any book on earth." The Church teaches that this apostasy lasted until the Father and the Son appeared to Joseph Smith in 1820, and that through the priesthood conferred on him "the authority to act in God's name was brought back to the earth."

After the deaths of the Savior and His Apostles, men corrupted the principles of the gospel and made unauthorized changes in Church organization and priesthood ordinances.

As the Bible was compiled, organized, translated, and transcribed, many errors entered the text.

all their creeds were an abomination in his sight

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

For, All flesh is as grass, And all the glory thereof as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower falleth: But the word of the Lord abideth for ever. And this is the word of good tidings which was preached unto you.

And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

Jesus said, "my words shall not pass away" (Matthew 24:35), and Peter says that "the word of the Lord abideth for ever" (1 Peter 1:24-25), and that this is the word "which was preached unto you" (1 Peter 1:24-25). Jude writes that the faith was "once for all delivered unto the saints" (Jude 1:3), a faith to be held and defended, and not one to be lost and found again. Christ promised of his church that "the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18), and a church that teaches that the apostles' church was lost, and that its Scripture was corrupted, says that his promise failed. To call the creeds an abomination and the Bible's text flawed clears the ground for a new gospel, and Paul has already said what becomes of that (Galatians 1:8).

What the verdict does not say. Copies of the New Testament differ in small matters, and translations differ more, and Christians have always compared them. That is a reason to study the manuscripts, not a reason to say the apostles' teaching was taken away. The weighing is of the claim that the church fell and the word was lost, which Christ and the apostles said would not happen.

Not the same as the added books. The added scripture is weighed above, under the added scripture. This entry weighs the claim that makes room for it.

The leaders' own record

The Church's own essays tell of the founder's sealings to women already married and to a girl not yet fifteen, a massacre by Latter-day Saint militiamen, and papyri whose surviving characters do not match the book of Abraham.

The Church publishes essays on hard parts of its history, and they say plainly: "Joseph Smith was sealed to a number of women who were already married." The same essay says of the women that "several women said they were for eternity alone." It names the youngest woman sealed to him: "The youngest was Helen Mar Kimball, daughter of Joseph's close friends Heber C. and Vilate Murray Kimball, who was sealed to Joseph several months before her 15th birthday." The essay on violence among nineteenth-century Latter-day Saints says of Mountain Meadows in 1857: "Latter-day Saint militiamen planned and carried out a deliberate massacre." It says the massacre "destroyed the lives of 120 men, women, and children," and that "Isaac C. Haight, a stake president and militia leader, sent John D. Lee, a militia major, to lead an attack on the emigrant company." The essay adds that only Lee was convicted and executed, which "fueled false allegations that the massacre had been ordered by Brigham Young." The Church quotes Henry B. Eyring calling the massacre "a terrible and inexcusable departure from Christian teaching and conduct." The essay on the book of Abraham says: "The book originated with Egyptian papyri that Joseph Smith translated beginning in 1835." It reports: "None of the characters on the papyrus fragments mentioned Abraham's name or any of the events recorded in the book of Abraham." It adds that "Latter-day Saint and non-Latter-day Saint Egyptologists agree that the characters on the fragments do not match the translation given in the book of Abraham." It notes that most of the papyri were lost, so that "the relationship of the papyri to the published text cannot be settled conclusively by reference to the papyri."

Joseph Smith was sealed to a number of women who were already married.

Latter-day Saint militiamen planned and carried out a deliberate massacre.

None of the characters on the papyrus fragments mentioned Abraham's name or any of the events recorded in the book of Abraham.

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. By their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but the corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Therefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

when a prophet speaketh in the name of Jehovah, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which Jehovah hath not spoken: the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously, thou shalt not be afraid of him.

The bishop therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, orderly, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

Jesus warns, "Beware of false prophets," and gives his hearers the way to judge them: "By their fruits ye shall know them" (Matthew 7:15-20). The apostles' rule for an overseer is that he be "without reproach, the husband of one wife" (1 Timothy 3:2), and the Church's own essay records that Joseph Smith was sealed to women who were already married to other men, and to a girl months before her fifteenth birthday. At Mountain Meadows, by the Church's own account, its militiamen under a stake president carried out a massacre, and the Church does not say that Brigham Young ordered it. God gave Israel a test for a prophet's word: where it does not hold, "that is the thing which Jehovah hath not spoken" (Deuteronomy 18:22), and the essay reports that Egyptologists agree the characters on the surviving papyri do not match the translation. The Church's own essays show its founder and early leaders doing what the apostles forbade, and a prophet's word cannot stand above that record.

Credit. The Church tells this record in its own essays and does not hide it. It calls Mountain Meadows "a terrible and inexcusable departure from Christian teaching and conduct," and its essay says Brigham Young did not order it. That openness is to its credit.

The essay's answer on the papyri. The essay offers that Joseph's study of the papyri "may have led to a revelation about key events and teachings in the life of Abraham," and was not a literal rendering. The verdict weighs what the essay itself grants: the characters that survive do not match.

What the verdict weighs. It does not weigh whether each member today shares these acts, or the people who suffered them. It weighs the claim that Joseph Smith and his successors spoke for God. The end of plural marriage and of the priesthood limit is told in Part 2 and under Authority, and is not repeated here.

The test is the same for every body: what the New Testament shows the first-century church doing and teaching, set beside what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints holds today. The Church is not a body on this site's lineage chart; it stands there as an event in 1830, because it measures itself by added revelation and not by the New Testament alone. So each of the five placements below rests on the lineage rubric's rungs, and the reason is given with it. The Church stands near the pattern in how it baptizes, in the day it keeps the Supper and in its call to a serious life. It stands far from it in what it adds to Scripture and to the church's offices.

The Church honors the Bible and confesses Jesus Christ, and that is to its credit. But it binds three more books and a living prophet beside the Bible, and the Bible says it is complete: Scripture makes "the man of God" "furnished completely unto every good work" (2 Timothy 3:17), the faith was "once for all delivered unto the saints" (Jude 1:3), and any gospel beyond the apostles' is under a curse: "let him be anathema" (Galatians 1:8). On the lineage rubric, an added book and continuing revelation take the last rung for the rule of faith, and an institution that supplies what Scripture does not say takes the last rung for its silence. Bound teaching takes the last rung too, a large body of doctrine the New Testament does not teach, including a Father of flesh and bones and temple ordinances that are, like baptism, "necessary for our salvation," so the placement is the far end.

What the Church's own essays show. The Church says that plural marriage and its end were each "directed by revelation through God's prophets." Scripture states the pattern for marriage at the start: "shall cleave unto his wife" (Genesis 2:24), and an overseer is to be "the husband of one wife" (1 Timothy 3:2). The restriction of the priesthood by lineage, which ran "from the mid-1800s until 1978," was also taught as God's will, until the 1978 revelation ended it. The New Testament says: "God is no respecter of persons" (Acts 10:34) and "ye all are one man in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). The Church now "disavows the theories advanced in the past" and its leaders "unequivocally condemn all racism, past and present, in any form," and that is to its credit. The weighing is this: when a living prophet's word can command, then end, and then be explained away, the church stands on a moving floor. The apostles' word does not move.

And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.

And as they went on the way, they came unto a certain water; and the eunuch saith, Behold, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.

for by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, that no man should glory.

not by works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,

The Church baptizes its own converts as the apostles did: a believer who repents is immersed "unto the remission of your sins" (Acts 2:38) and is "buried therefore with him" (Romans 6:4), and few bodies keep both the mode and the purpose as fully. Setting the age at eight, as the age of accountability, blurs "believers only" a little. The larger departure is in who is baptized: in the temples the Church baptizes the living on behalf of the dead, and the person the baptism is counted for has not believed, has not repented and is not in the water. In the New Testament the one baptized is the one who asks and answers for himself, "what doth hinder me to be baptized?" (Acts 8:36), so a baptism for one who made no confession breaks the rule that the subject is a believer, as the baptism of infants does, and here it is a regular practice beside the baptism of converts. That moves the placement one step off the line.

Credit. The Church teaches faith in Jesus Christ and repentance as the first principles, and it holds up immersion with the Romans 6 picture of burial and resurrection. For the living convert, a body that baptizes believers by immersion for the forgiveness of sins stands where the apostles stood.

The one baptized. Peter's command is to the hearer, "Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you" (Acts 2:38), and Paul's picture is of the believer's own burial: "all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death" (Romans 6:3). When Philip baptized the eunuch, "they both went down into the water" (Acts 8:38). Proxy baptism itself is weighed in full in Part 4.

Not charged twice. The Church also says the temple ordinances are, like baptism, "necessary for our salvation," while Paul says "by grace have ye been saved through faith" (Ephesians 2:8), "not by works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves" (Titus 3:5). That chain of ordinances is weighed under authority as added doctrine. The rule that only a priesthood holder may baptize is weighed under leadership and the priesthoods.

And upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul discoursed with them, intending to depart on the morrow; and prolonged his speech until midnight.

And he took a cup, and gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many unto remission of sins. But I say unto you, I shall not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.

For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, This is my body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of me. In like manner also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he come.

But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.

The Church keeps the Supper every first day of the week, in the assembly, as the church at Troas did "upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread" (Acts 20:7), and it keeps that apostolic example faithfully. It departs in the cup: Jesus "took a cup" and said "Drink ye all of it" (Matthew 26:27), and named its contents "this fruit of the vine" (Matthew 26:29), but the Church's own heading says "Water is now used instead of wine." Its members never drink the fruit of the vine, so the cup the Lord commanded is withheld from every one of them, and on the rubric's access question that is the rung for the cup withheld from members. The table is otherwise open, for the handbook says "nothing should be done to prevent others from partaking of it," and the memorial carries only the added sense of renewing covenants. So the placement stands one step from the line, and the step is the cup.

The memorial and the covenant. The Church treats the sacrament as a memorial of the Lord's body and blood and as the renewal of the members' own covenants. The Lord's words were "in remembrance of me" (1 Corinthians 11:25), a memorial and a proclamation of his death, and nothing there makes the emblem a renewal of a baptismal covenant.

Who blesses. Priesthood holders bless and pass the emblems, and the members are asked to prepare. Paul puts the test on each person: "let a man prove himself, and so let him eat" (1 Corinthians 11:28). Gospel Principles asks each member to prepare before partaking, and that part of the text the Church honors.

And when they had appointed for them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they had believed.

And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called to him the elders of the church.

Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops, to feed the church of the Lord which he purchased with his own blood.

The elders therefore among you I exhort, who am a fellow-elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according to the will of God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock.

The Church uses the New Testament names (apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers), and its wards draw on members to speak and serve, which is real credit. But the pattern in each church was a plurality of elders: Paul and Barnabas "appointed for them elders in every church" (Acts 14:23), and Peter, an apostle, calls himself "a fellow-elder" (1 Peter 5:1). The Church has one bishop over a ward, a stake president over bishops, Twelve Apostles over the stakes and one President over all, who "has the right to revelation for the entire Church." On the rubric, an office above the bishops and a hierarchy that ends in one man take the last rungs, and a priesthood order holding powers the members do not takes the next to last, so the placement is the far end. That President also binds revelation of his own on every member, which would move a placement one step further from the line, but the mean is already the last rung; an elder is to be "holding to the faithful word which is according to the teaching" (Titus 1:9), not adding to it.

The elders at Ephesus. The "elders of the church" at Ephesus are the ones the Holy Spirit "hath made you bishops" over (Acts 20:17, 28), and Peter tells the elders, "Tend the flock of God which is among you" (1 Peter 5:2). The oversight was shared, and it stayed in each church.

The priesthood of all. Peter calls all believers "a royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9). The Church gives a priesthood to worthy men and boys alone and reserves its higher offices to them. The distinctive weighed below, on the two priesthoods, takes this further.

speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God.

What is it then, brethren? When ye come together, each one hath a psalm, hath a teaching, hath a revelation, hath a tongue, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.

The Sunday meeting is closer to the apostles' than most. The Church gathers every first day, the congregation sings hymns, prayer goes to the Father in the name of his Son, and ward members teach and speak. That fits "each one hath a psalm, hath a teaching" (1 Corinthians 14:26). Two things differ. The Church allows a piano, an organ or other instruments to accompany the singing, and Paul's picture is "speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:19), a picture with no instrument in it. The sacrament prayers are fixed in wording, as a mandated form. The placement on the rubric's three questions is near the line, and it is left there.

What Scripture says about music. Every reference to music among Christians in the New Testament is vocal. The rubric marks the use of instruments as the one contested step; this chart gives the verdict above on the text and does not treat it as heresy.

Now when the apostles that were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit: for as yet it was fallen upon none of them: only they had been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money,

how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard; God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will.

Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away.

being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner stone;

The Church holds that the gifts named in the New Testament, "tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing," are present today, and it gives the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands after baptism. Scripture ties both to the apostles. Philip preached and baptized in Samaria, and the Spirit was not given until Peter and John came: "through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given" (Acts 8:18). The message was "confirmed unto us by them that heard," "God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders" (Hebrews 2:3-4). Paul says "whether there be tongues, they shall cease" (1 Corinthians 13:8), and the church stands on "the foundation of the apostles and prophets" (Ephesians 2:20), which is laid once. A church that claims new prophets, new visions and new revelation stands on a floor the apostles did not lay.

Credit. The Church takes the Holy Spirit seriously and teaches its members to seek his guidance each day. That is better than a church that has forgotten him. The weighing falls on what is claimed today in his name.

Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.

And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life.

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.

The Church looks for Christ to return and for the resurrection, and in this it stands with the apostles. But its account adds to what Scripture gives. Its tenth Article of Faith binds as an article a personal reign of Christ on the earth, a renewed earth and a Zion in America, an arrangement the text does not state. Jesus speaks of two resurrections, "unto the resurrection of life" and "unto the resurrection of judgment" (John 5:29), and two ends, "eternal punishment" and "eternal life" (Matthew 25:46). The Church teaches three kingdoms of glory, with exaltation above them. Scripture says "it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment" (Hebrews 9:27); the Church teaches a spirit world where the dead are taught and can accept ordinances done for them. John saw the New Jerusalem "coming down out of heaven from God" (Revelation 21:2), and the Church says Zion "will be built upon the American continent."

Limits of the record. The Church's pages read here do not say how it describes the final state of those who reject the gospel, so the verdict weighs only what the pages state.

Latter-day Saints hold much that the New Testament holds. They baptize believers by immersion, for the forgiveness of sins, in the pattern of Acts 2:38 and Romans 6. They keep the Lord's Supper every first day of the week. They pray to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, sing hymns together, and let ordinary members speak in the assembly. They confess faith in "God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ," and look for his return. They call members to a life that the Articles of Faith describe as "honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous," and the Church reports humanitarian aid in 175 countries since 1985. This call to moral living is real, and it is not a small thing.

Two things here are worth copying. The first is their commitment to carrying what they teach to others. The General Handbook says: "The Lord asks every worthy, able young man to prepare for and serve a mission." Single men ages 18–25 may serve as teaching missionaries, and the Handbook says they "usually serve for 24 months"; single women ages 18–29 "usually serve for 18 months," and for young women a mission is "a powerful, but optional, opportunity." The Church reports 78,596 missionaries, and the Missionary Standards give a sample daily schedule that begins at 6:30 a.m. and ends with bed at 9:30 to 10:30 p.m. Most congregations ask far less of their young people. The going is apostolic: Jesus said, "Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations" (Matthew 28:19), and those who were scattered "went about preaching the word" (Acts 8:4). The zeal, though, carries a gospel beyond the apostles' (Galatians 1:8), so it is the zeal that is to be copied and not the message.

The second is their care for their own. The Handbook says "priesthood holders are assigned as ministering brothers to each member household," and every adult sister is assigned ministering sisters. Each ward and stake keeps what the Handbook calls the Lord's storehouse, supplied by the offerings of members, and when members fast they are invited to give an offering "at least equal to the value of the meals not eaten." Compare the first church, where all that believed "had all things common" and parted goods "according as any man had need" (Acts 2:44-45), and Paul's rule: "let us work that which is good toward all men, and especially toward them that are of the household of the faith" (Galatians 6:10). Ward-by-ward care of this kind is something many congregations have let slip. The oversight that comes with that closeness is weighed in Part 4.

The test falls hardest where the Church is most distinct. It sets three books and a living prophet beside the Bible, and the Bible says it is complete. It teaches that the Father has a body and that the faithful may become gods, and Isaiah has the Lord say there is no God formed before or after him. It gives the priesthood to worthy men and divides among them what belongs to Christ alone, baptizes for the dead, and seals marriages beyond death, and each of these goes past what the apostles taught. It changes the cup of the Supper, and the Lord's own words named the cup. It makes rules of its own into tests of a member's standing, from the temple recommend questions to councils over those who oppose its leaders, and its own essays show its founder and early leaders doing what the apostles forbade, so no prophet's word can stand above that record.

These verdicts rest on the text, and not on the sincerity of the people, which is plain in their service and their families. The way back is the one the Church says it is on: the faith "once for all delivered unto the saints" (Jude 1:3), as the apostles left it.

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