The RLDS Church was founded by the confederation of a number of smaller groups that declined to migrate with
Brigham Young to
Utah Territory or follow any of the others vying to become the successor to Joseph Smith. Prior to the 1860
Amboy Conference, in which the church was formally "reorganized" into the RLDS Church, numerous doctrinal differences were espoused by the leaders of the various splinter groups. Following the reorganization, these differences were solidified into a litany of what might now be called "
wedge issues" that would distinguish it from Young's LDS Church in Utah. The differences enumerated below characterize the major differences between Community of Christ and the LDS Church.
Scriptures Both churches believe in an open canon of scripture founded upon the Bible, the
Book of Mormon, and revelations of God to the church recorded in the
Doctrine and Covenants.
Bible The
Inspired Version of the Bible is part of Community of Christ's canon of scripture, although it does not mandate a single translation of the Bible. and tends to be regarded as the "default" bible in the present Community of Christ The LDS Church edition of the KJV includes curated excerpts from the Inspired Version, which the LDS Church refers to as the "Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible" (JST), in footnotes and an appendix. For
Spanish-speaking members, the LDS Church publishes a slightly modified version of the
Reina-Valera version, including footnotes and annotations comparable to those found in its official King James Version. For other languages, the LDS Church recommends usage of specific traditional translations that are selected based on doctrinal integrity with the other official
standard works.
Book of Mormon Both Community of Christ and LDS Church accept the
Book of Mormon as a second canon of scripture and views it as an additional witness of Jesus Christ that complements the Bible. Community of Christ publishes two versions of the book through its official publishing arm,
Herald House. The Authorized Edition is based on the original printer's manuscript and the 1837 Second Edition (or "Kirtland Edition") of the Book of Mormon. Its content is similar to the Book of Mormon published by the LDS Church. Community of Christ also publishes a 1966 "Revised Authorized Edition", which attempts to modernize some of the language. Community of Christ has removed several early sections and has regularly added new revelations and other inspired documents to the book since the death of Joseph Smith. The LDS Church removed what was Section 101 (the declaration on marriage which prohibited polygamy) in the 1835 edition of the
Doctrine and Covenants and added the
revelation on plural marriage. The LDS Church has added some material to the Doctrine and Covenants since Smith's death, but less than that of Community of Christ. The Community of Christ version currently contains 166 documents, 51 of which were produced after the death of Joseph Smith. The LDS Church version currently contains 140 documents, five of which were produced after Smith's death.
Pearl of Great Price The LDS Church includes the
Pearl of Great Price as part of its
standard works. Community of Christ has never published or considered this book to be scripture. • "A Key to the Revelations of St. John", detailing interpretations of the
Apocalypse of John in
question-and-answer format. This was later added to the LDS Doctrine and Covenants in 1876, and appears as D&C 77 in the current LDS canon; it does not appear in the Community of Christ canon. • "A Revelation and Prophecy by the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator, Joseph Smith", foretelling of a civil war between
slave states and free states and ensuing escalation to a
world war, and admonishing the faithful to "stand ye in holy places, and be not moved" until the
second coming. This was later added to the LDS Doctrine and Covenants in 1876, and appears as D&C 87 in the current LDS canon; it does not appear in the Community of Christ canon. • Several excerpts of documents that already appeared in the Doctrine and Covenants prior to Joseph Smith's death: • "From the Doctrine and Covenants of the Church", comprising several excerpts from LDS D&C 20 / CofC D&C 17 and LDS D&C 107 / CofC D&C 104. • "Extract from a Revelation given July, 1830", also excerpted from the Doctrine and Covenants (part of LDS D&C 27 or CofC D&C 26) • "Rise of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints", also excerpted from the Doctrine and Covenants (the start of LDS D&C 20 or CofC D&C 17) • "Truth", the hymn "O, Say What is Truth?". This is canonised by neither church, although it appears in the
LDS Church hymnbook. In 1976, documents titled "Vision of the Celestial Kingdom" (an excerpt from volume 2 of the
Documentary History of the Church, detailing Joseph Smith's vision of
Alvin Smith in the
Celestial Kingdom) and "Vision of the Redemption of the Dead" (a vision of the
harrowing of the Spirit Prison recorded by
Joseph F. Smith in 1918) were added to the Pearl of Great Price by the LDS Church. successors to Joseph Smith in the presidency of Community of Christ were direct descendants of Smith. McMurray was the first president of the church who was not a member of the Smith family. In 1996, the appointment of McMurray by retiring president
Wallace B. Smith was the justification used by schismatic groups that abandoned Community of Christ. This schism led to the creation of the
Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The president of the Remnant Church at the time,
Frederick Niels Larsen, was a maternal great-great-grandson of Joseph Smith. Larsen's handpicked successor and current head of the Remnant Church, Terry W. Patience, however, is not a descendant of Joseph Smith. The LDS Church determines its presidential successor by principles of apostolic seniority combined with inspiration from God. When a church president dies, the member of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles who has been an apostle the longest—the
President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles—becomes the new president of the church. When McMurray stepped down as president in 2004, he chose not to name a successor, as previous retirees from the position had done. In 2005,
Stephen M. Veazey—who was president of the Twelve, but not the senior member—was selected as successor by the Council of Twelve.
Godhead depiction of the first vision of
Joseph Smith, completed in 1913 by an unknown artist (LDS Museum of Church History and Art). Community of Christ teaches about the
Trinity, which they define as
a God who is a community of three persons. The LDS Church teaches that the Godhead is composed of three physically distinct personages who are united—or "one"—in purpose.
Exaltation The LDS Church teaches the principle of
exaltation, in which people who achieve the highest degree of salvation can become Gods, and in which God the Father was once a man who became an exalted person. This teaching is derived from late-
Nauvoo-period statements of Joseph Smith such as the
King Follett Discourse. This doctrine is not accepted by Community of Christ, which already regarded it as false doctrine as of the tenure of
Elbert A. Smith as presiding patriarch of the RLDS Church (1938–1958). Because Community of Christ was founded by the confederation of a number of smaller groups that declined to accept Young's leadership, the Adam–God doctrine has never been a part of Community of Christ teachings, and it has maintained that the doctrine was first enunciated by Young, not Smith. in accordance with section 116 of the Community of Christ Doctrine and Covenants, received in 1865 and canonised in 1878; it was opened to women in 1984. The LDS Church's priesthood is open to males only and from the mid-1800s until 1978 was not open to people of
Black African descent.
Temples |
Independence Temple of
Community of Christ in Independence, Missouri. Both Community of Christ and the LDS Church operate
temples, which for both groups are separate and distinct from church chapels or meetinghouses. The LDS Church has
202 operating temples. Until 2024, Community of Christ operated two temples, the
Kirtland Temple and the
Independence Temple. On March 5, 2024, the Kirtland Temple was acquired by the LDS Church. In contrast to Brigham Young's position that a specific commandment was not needed before the
Salt Lake Temple was built, Community of Christ traditionally maintains that a specific commandment is required before erecting a temple, noting the existence of such separate commandments for the Kirtland, Nauvoo and
original planned Independence temples, and citing Joseph Smith having halted temple construction in
Far West, Missouri on the basis of the absence of a commandment revealing it to be the will of God. Community of Christ does not practice and has traditionally objected to the idea of
sacraments or rituals being performed in its temples; half of the
eight sacraments (baptism, confirmation, blessing of children, marriage) are not performed in Community of Christ temples (although, for example, the
Lord's Supper and
anointing of the sick are), and neither has a baptismal font. which sanctioned baptism for the dead and other temple rites. Because the membership of the church failed to complete the temple during Smith's lifetime, Community of Christ teaches that the right to perform baptisms for the dead was withdrawn and has not been reinstituted. The LDS Church currently does not use the cross on the grounds that "because the Savior lives, we do not use the symbol of His death as the symbol of our faith", although this aversion to the cross only became dominant in the 20th century. Rather than a cross, the logo of the LDS Church features the
Christus statue as a symbol. Many temples of the LDS Church include a statue of the
Angel Moroni on a spire, but the church does not consider Moroni to be an official symbol and "has no policy regarding the use of statues of the angel Moroni atop temples", but rather includes or excludes a statue from each temple based on local circumstances. Community of Christ does not use the Angel Moroni as a symbol. In the United States, the
Veterans Affairs (VA) emblem for headstones for LDS Church members is a stylized Angel Moroni. For Community of Christ members, the VA emblem is a stylized representation of a child standing between a lion and a lamb, which is an official logo of Community of Christ.
Polygamy In the 19th century, the differences between the LDS Church and the RLDS Church regarding polygamy was the principal distinction between the two churches. The LDS Church openly practiced plural marriage from 1852 to 1890 and taught that the practice was instituted by Joseph Smith and taught in secret to members of the church before his death. For many years, the leaders of the RLDS Church were vocal critics of the LDS Church's polygamy and argued that the practice had been introduced by
Brigham Young, and falsely attributed to Smith after Smith's death. Polygamy was frequently denounced by RLDS leaders and the practice was never accepted by the church. Today, the Community of Christ continues to reject polygamy. However, a divorced or widowered LDS man can be
sealed in the temple to later wives upon remarriage, all of whom he would be married to in the
celestial kingdom, while a woman can only be sealed to one husband at a time while both are alive; this has come under criticism as "polygamy delayed" to the hereafter. Community of Christ does not practice temple sealing.
Tithing Traditionally, Community of Christ taught that
tithing should be calculated as one-tenth of a member's discretionary income. The LDS Church teaches that it is ten percent of one's annual income, with it left to the member to determine how to calculate it (e.g., what constitutes "income" and whether it is ten percent of income after or before tax). Recently, Community of Christ has adopted a program known as Disciples' Generous Response, which encourages financial generosity as a response to God rather than as a set calculated obligation. The LDS Church therefore characterizes itself as a restoration of fallen Christianity and the
one true church that exists. Higdon also suggests that prior claims that the church had been "restored" were tantamount to idolatry. Community of Christ has therefore moved towards
ecumenism and inter-faith dialogue. Nevertheless, Community of Christ "steadfastly affirms the primacy of continuing revelation instead of creedal rigidity". Community of Christ's Doctrine and Covenants continues to contain documents that declare that the church is the one true church. Today,
Community of Christ generally refers to Joseph Smith's
First Vision as the "grove experience" and takes a flexible view about its historicity, emphasizing the healing presence of God and the forgiving mercy of Jesus Christ felt by Smith. In contrast to the LDS Church having canonised the 1838 account of the First Vision, orientation movies at Community of Christ operated historic sites tend to either derive from the earlier 1832 account, or else use vague language. In contrast, the LDS Church strongly affirms the reality of the First Vision and emphasizes its role as the beginning of the restoration of the gospel through God's chosen prophet. ==Summary chart==