Latter-day Saints
Catholic and Latter-day Saint (Mormon)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that the fullness of the gospel was restored through Joseph Smith after a complete apostasy of the ancient Church, and adds the Book of Mormon as additional scripture, contrasting sharply with the Catholic claim of unbroken continuity from the apostles.
Catholic view
The Catholic Church teaches that Christ promised the gates of hell would never prevail against his Church, and that the apostolic ministry and sacraments have continued in unbroken succession since the apostles, so that no total apostasy or later restoration was necessary; public revelation closed with the death of the last apostle.
Their view
Latter-day Saints, following Joseph Smith's account of visions beginning in 1820 and the publication of the Book of Mormon in 1830, teach that the original Church fell into a Great Apostasy after the apostolic age and that priesthood authority and true doctrine were restored to Smith and his successors, alongside ongoing revelation through a living prophet.
Key differences
Nature of God
- Catholic view
- One God, a pure, eternal, immaterial spirit in three divine Persons.
- Their view
- God the Father has a glorified, physical body, and the Godhead consists of three distinct beings united in purpose.
Scripture and continuing revelation
- Catholic view
- Public revelation closed with the death of the last apostle; the canon of Scripture is fixed.
- Their view
- The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price stand alongside the Bible as scripture, with revelation continuing through living prophets.
Historical continuity of the Church
- Catholic view
- The Church founded by Christ has persisted without interruption since the apostles.
- Their view
- A Great Apostasy corrupted the original Church, requiring a full restoration in the nineteenth century.
Human destiny
- Catholic view
- The redeemed enjoy eternal beatific communion with God without becoming gods themselves.
- Their view
- Faithful members may progress toward exaltation and eventual godhood in the celestial kingdom.
Common ground
Both affirm belief in Jesus Christ as Savior, the importance of family life, moral discipline, missionary evangelization, and reverence for scripture as containing God's word to humanity.
Biblical foundation
Catholics point to Matthew 16:18 and Matthew 28:20 as promising the Church's indefectible perpetuity, and to Revelation 22:18-19 and Jude 3 as indicating the completeness of the apostolic faith once delivered, while Latter-day Saints appeal to Amos 3:7 and Acts 3:21 regarding ongoing prophetic revelation and a restoration of all things.
Historical evidence
Joseph Smith founded the Church of Christ in Fayette, New York, in 1830 after reporting visions and the discovery of golden plates translated as the Book of Mormon, while historical and archaeological evidence, including continuous episcopal lists and patristic writings, documents the ongoing life of the Catholic Church from the first century onward without a documented total apostasy.
The Church Fathers
“We can enumerate those who were instituted bishops in the churches by the apostles and their successors down to our own times.”