| a.k.a. | | Latter-Day Saint |
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| Number of Members | 210,000,000[1] | 16,800,000[2] |
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| How does one get saved? | Repent of your sins, believe in Jesus Christ's death and resurrection, and be baptized.[3] | There is no singular salvation for Mormons: Exaltation, or going to the highest of the three degrees of glory and becoming a god, is achieved by getting baptized, confirmed, ordained in the Melchizedek priesthood (if a man), endowed, and married and then by keeping the covenants for the rest of one's life. |
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| Who gets saved? | Anyone who chooses by his own free will to believe and accept God's gift of grace will be saved. | Anyone who chooses by his own free will to believe and accept God's gift of grace will be saved. |
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| Can one lose his salvation? | Yes, a Christian can lose his salvation by apostasy. | Yes, the promise of exaltation can be lost by breaking one's covenants, except for a select few couples who are chosen for a second anointing which guarantees exaltation unless one sins against the Holy Ghost or commits murder. |
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| Who gets baptized and why? | The unsaved, typically as infants, get baptized as the first sacrament of Christian initiation, cleansing them of all sins. | Understanding persons get baptized as the first ordinance, cleansing them of all sins. |
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| How should baptism be done? | Baptism should be by triple immersion. | Baptism should be by immersion. |
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| When does one receive the Holy Spirit? | The Holy Spirit is received at chrismation, generally immediately after baptism. | The gift of the Holy Ghost is received at confirmation. |
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| What is the trinity? | The Trinity is God existing as one god in three equal, eternal, cosubstantial persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. | The Godhead comprises three separate gods—God the Father, his son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. |
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| What is the human nature? | Human nature is intrinsically good but is wounded and incapable of choosing God in our fallen environment.[4][5] | Humans are neither inherently good nor inherently evil. |
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| Are we guilty of Adam's original sin? | No, we are not guilty of Adam's sin, nor did we inherit a sinful nature from him, but we did inherit the consequences.[6] | No, "men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression." |
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| Are Christians required to keep the Old Testament ceremonial laws? | No, the ceremonial laws of Judaism were fulfilled and done away with by Jesus. | No, the ceremonial laws of Judaism were fulfilled and done away with by Jesus. |
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| Can Christians become sinless in this earthly life? | Yes, Christian perfection is possible. | No, although Christians can and should sin less, they can never become sinless in this life. |
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| Do the elements of communion become the body and blood of Christ? | Metousiosis: Yes, the bread and the wine change in essence into the body and blood of Christ. | No, the elements merely symbolically represent the body and blood of Christ. |
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| Can one be baptized of behalf of someone who has died? | No, the dead cannot be baptized. | Yes, a living person can be a proxy for the dead to be baptized, who then can accept or reject it in the afterlife. |
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| What happens if a saved person dies without being perfect? | There is no purgatory, but Christians will continue in theosis after death.[7] | Once Christians leave their sinful bodies, nothing else is needed to receive glorified, sinless bodies. |
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| Did Mary ever sin? | Mary was prone to sin like anyone else, but no, through her own free will she still never did. | Yes, Mary sinned like all other humans except Jesus. |
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| What spiritual gifts are available today? | Continuationism: All spiritual gifts are still available to believers. | Continuationism: All spiritual gifts are still available to believers.[8] |
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| What framework has God used in dealing with man? | | God has different periods of history where he has at least one authorized servant on earth.[9][10] |
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| What is the gift of tongues? | Speaking in tongues is sometimes unintelligible and sometimes foreign human languages.[11][12] | Speaking in tongues is sometimes unintelligible and sometimes foreign human languages.[13] |
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| What are the requirements for clergy? | Priests must be men over 30 ordained by bishops. | |
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| How many church ordinances/sacraments are there? | The church has seven sacraments: Baptism, Chrism, Holy Eucharist, Confession, Ordination, Marriage, and Holy Unction.[14] | The Church has five saving ordinances: Baptism, Confirmation, Ordination to the Melchizedek Priesthood (for men), the Temple Endowment, and the Marriage Sealing. There are roughly a dozen other ordinances important for comfort.[15] |
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| Who can take communion? | Only members of the church can participate in Holy Communion.[16] | |
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| To whom do Christians need to confess their sins? | Confession should be made to God before a priest.[17] | Confession should be made directly to God unless the church might discipline for such sin, in which case it must be confessed to the bishop.[18][19] |
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| How should a church be structured? | Episcopal: Churches should be governed by the bishop in that episcopacy, who in turn is governed by a patriarch of an autocephalous church. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is first among equals. | Wards should be governed by the president in that stake, who in turn is governed by the seventies, who are governed by the Twelve, who are governed by the President of the Church.[20][21] |
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| What day of the week should Christians worship? | Christians worship on Sunday. | Christians worship on Sunday. |
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| How does God's revelation come to us today? | Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition have equal authority and comprise one finished deposit of faith. | There are many sources of God's revelation. |
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| How many books are in the Bible? | There are 76 canonical books of the Bible: 39 protocanonical books, 10 deuterocanonical books, and 27 New Testament books. | There are 66 canonical books of the Bible—39 Old Testament books and 27 New Testament books—and three other canonical books: the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. |
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| Was the Bible written inerrantly? | | No, the Bible is not inerrant in any respect.[22][23] |
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| Who can speak with God's authority today? | The church as a whole speaks with God's authority at ecumenical councils. | The President of the Church and the Twelve Apostles are prophets, seers, and revelators who speak for God and whose prophecies shall all be fulfilled.[24][25] |
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| How was the earth created? | No established doctrine | The earth was created by God organizing matter which has existed eternally.[26] |
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| What is marriage? | Marriage is a covenant before God between one man and one woman. | Marriage is a covenant before God between one man and one woman.[27] |
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| Is sex permissible outside marriage? | No, sex outside of marriage is not permissible. | No, sex outside of marriage is not permissible.[27] |
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| When is divorce permissible? | Divorce is permissible for adultery, abuse, or abandonment.[28][29] | Divorce is permissible for any reason allowed by law.[30] |
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| May a Christian remarry while his former spouse is still alive? | Yes, a Christian may remarry a second or third time for human weakness.[29] | Yes, a Christian may freely remarry after divorce.[31] |
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| When does a fetus become human? | Humanity begins at conception.[32] | No established doctrine, but the church opposes elective abortions.[33][34] |
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| Is contraception permissible? | Most believe that yes, contraceptives are permissible.[35][36] | Yes, contraceptives are permissible.[37] |
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| Are blood transfusions permissible? | Yes, blood transfusions are permissible. | Yes, blood transfusions are permissible. |
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| Should women cover their heads? | Varies widely | No, head coverings are no longer required due to cultural changes.[38] |
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| Should Christians drink alcohol? | Yes, drinking alcohol is fine as long as one does not get drunk. | No, alcohol should be totally avoided. |
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| Should Christians fight in wars? | Yes, Christians can fight in just wars.[39][40][41] | Yes, Christians should fight in just wars.[42][43] |
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| Whom does the Holy Spirit come from? | The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father alone. | The Holy Spirit is a separate god. |
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| Do icons glorify God? | Yes, icons are holy and should be venerated.[44] | |
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| Where does a Christian's soul go after death? | After death, souls sit conscious in an Intermediate State, with a foretaste of heaven for Christians.[45] | The righteous await the resurrection in Paradise, part of the spirit world.[46][47] |
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| When will the church be raptured? | The church will not be raptured at any point. | |
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| When is the millennial reign of Christ happen? | Amillennialism: The millennial reign of Christ is an indefinite period of time beginning on the day of Pentecost and ending at His Second Coming. | |
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