Distinctive Doctrines

There are many doctrines that set the Latter-Day Saints’ beliefs apart from orthodox Christianity, as they are based on the writings and revelations of Joseph Smith and the other presidents of the LDS church. This comes from the belief that the gospel was corrupted after the ministry of Christ’s apostles, and it has now been restored, starting with Joseph Smith and continuing on through the other prophets of the LDS church.¹

Some of the notable doctrines that set the LDS apart from orthodox Christianity concern the nature of God, the Trinity, Jesus, baptism, salvation, priesthood, polygamy, eternal marriage, and the eucharist. This article will address two of these distinctive doctrines: the nature of God and the nature of baptism, and compare them with their orthodox Christian counterparts.

The Nature of God
In the Latter-day Saint belief, God the Father once existed as a physical man and once had a physical body (D&C 130:22). They believe that “both God and Jesus exist as physical beings of flesh and bones. Their influence and power extended everywhere in the universe (D&C 88:12-13), but they exist in physical bodies.”² In one of Joseph Smith’s final sermons, he taught about the connection God and Jesus have to mortal humans and that while angels are humans in different stages of their eternal development, God and Jesus Christ realized the full potential of being human.³ This progression to godhood came about “through obedience to the same Gospel truths that we are given the opportunity to obey today.”⁴ Orson Hyde, an elder of the church, made a statement that God was once a child who grew and progressed through the school of advancement to get to where he is now.⁵ In addition, the LDS church believes that just as God progressed and moved to where he is now, so can humans.⁶ They also believe that there was a succession of Gods.⁷ If Jesus is the son of God, then God must have had a father before him, implying a plurality of Gods using 1 Corinthians 8:5 as evidence.⁸

In contrast, the orthodox Christian doctrine teaches that God the Father is spirit (John 4:24), and that his worshippers worship in truth and spirit. Other Bible verses, such as Numbers 23:19 and Hosea 11:9a, describe God as never being a man or possessing a physical body.⁹ The orthodox view holds to the belief that there is only one God who is creator with none before him (Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 Corinthians 8:6), and that humans and God are distinct (Isaiah 55:8-9).

The Doctrine of Baptism
Another major point of Latter-day Saint doctrine is the doctrine of baptism, chiefly, baptism for the salvation of the dead. According to Joseph Fielding Smith, “the greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon humans is for them to seek after the dead and those who neglect that responsibility on behalf of their dead relatives do it at the peril of their own salvation.”¹⁰

Faithful believers are tasked with the responsibility of making sure that their dead relatives make it to heaven, using 1 Corinthians 15:29 as evidence. In their belief, the Apostle Paul’s reference to the practice implies that early Christians were baptizing for the dead, and now the practice has been restored by the Latter-day Saint church.¹¹

In contrast, baptisms for the dead are not practiced within orthodox Christianity. In their interpretation, the Apostle Paul does not endorse baptism of the dead but rather points out the foolishness of this practice. Rather, they interpret Paul as stating that the concept of baptizing for the dead is nonsensical, and apostolic ministry, which entails unabating danger and daily death, is equally ludicrous if there is no resurrection of the dead.¹² As such, orthodox Christians do not follow the practice, believing that someone cannot be baptized on behalf of another.

Conclusion
There are many significant differences between the beliefs of the Latter-day Saints and orthodox Christianity as discussed above. These distinctions can be directly attributed to the differences in how the two groups view the inerrancy of the Bible. While the orthodox Christian view holds to the belief that the Bible has been translated correctly and has not been corrupted, the Latter-day Saints believe that the Bible has been deliberately tampered with.¹³ As such, while orthodox Christians rely on the Bible alone, Latter-day Saints use the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, and other revelations as their interpretative guides for reading the Bible,¹⁴ leading to the differences in doctrine.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Restoration of the Gospel,” www.churchofjesuschrist.org, 2025, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/gs/restoration-of-the-gospel?lang=eng. ↩︎
“Commentary on Doctrine & Covenants 130 | Doctrine and Covenants Central,” Doctrine and Covenants Central, 2020, https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/sections/commentary-on-dc-130/?Verses-20-21. ↩︎
Ibid. ↩︎
Milton Reed Hunter, The Gospel through the Ages (Salt Lake City: UT, Stevens and Wallis, Inc., 1945), 104. ↩︎
Ibid. ↩︎
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Becoming like God,” www.churchofjesuschrist.org, n.d., https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/becoming-like-god?lang=eng. ↩︎
Wikipedia Contributors, “God in Mormonism,” Wikipedia (Wikimedia Foundation, July 15, 2025), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_in_Mormonism#Plurality_of_gods. ↩︎
Joseph Fielding Smith, “Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith,” Internet Archive, 1938, https://archive.org/details/teachingsofproph00smit/page/370/mode/2up. ↩︎
Sandra Sundholm and Conrad Sundholm, Understanding Mormonism, 6th ed. (1989; repr., Milwaukie, Oregon: Truth-In-Love Ministries, Inc, 2000), 6.2. ↩︎
Bill McKeever and Eric Johnson, Mormonism 101: Examining the Religion of the Latter-Day Saints (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2015), 214 ↩︎
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Baptisms for the Dead,” www.churchofjesuschrist.org, n.d., https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/baptisms-for-the-dead?lang=eng. ↩︎
Mark E. Taylor, 1 Corinthians, ed. E. Ray Clendenen, vol. 28, The New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2014), 391. ↩︎
Dennis L. Largey, “The Book of Mormon as an Interpretive Guide to the New Testament,” Byu.edu, 2022, https://rsc.byu.edu/sperry-symposium-classics-new-testament/book-mormon-interpretive-guide-new-testament. ↩︎
Ibid; Robert L. Millet, “An Everlasting Covenant: The Old Testament through the Lenses of the Restoration,” Byu.edu, 2022, https://rsc.byu.edu/vol-5-no-1-2004/everlasting-covenant-old-testament-through-lenses-restoration.. ↩︎

Bibliography

“Commentary on Doctrine & Covenants 130 | Doctrine and Covenants Central.” Doctrine and Covenants Central, 2020. https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/sections/commentary-on-dc-130/?Verses-20-21.

Smith, Joseph Fielding. “Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith.” Internet Archive, 1938. https://archive.org/details/teachingsofproph00smit/page/370/mode/2up.

Hunter, Milton Reed. The Gospel through the Ages, 1945.

Largey, Dennis L. “The Book of Mormon as an Interpretive Guide to the New Testament.” Byu.edu, 2022. https://rsc.byu.edu/sperry-symposium-classics-new-testament/book-mormon-interpretive-guide-new-testament

McKeever, Bill, and Eric Johnson. Mormonism 101: Examining the Religion of the Latter-Day Saints. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, A Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2015.

Millet, Robert L. “An Everlasting Covenant: The Old Testament through the Lenses of the Restoration.” Byu.edu, 2022. https://rsc.byu.edu/vol-5-no-1-2004/everlasting-covenant-old-testament-through-lenses-restoration.

Sundholm, Sandra, and Conrad Sundholm. Understanding Mormonism. Sixth. 1989. Reprint, Milwaukie, Oregon: Truth-In-Love Ministries, Inc., 2000.

Taylor, Mark Edward. 1 Corinthians. Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman & Holman, 2014.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “Baptisms for the Dead.” www.churchofjesuschrist.org, n.d. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/baptisms-for-the-dead?lang=eng

———. “Becoming like God.” www.churchofjesuschrist.org, n.d. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/becoming-like-god?lang=eng

———. “Restoration of the Gospel.” www.churchofjesuschrist.org, 2025. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/gs/restoration-of-the-gospel?lang=eng

Wikipedia Contributors. “God in Mormonism.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, July 15, 2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_in_Mormonism#Plurality_of_gods