Who identifies and interprets the canon?
Sola scriptura depends on a canon and an interpretive method that the Bible does not supply by itself.
A Latter-day Saint field guide
Start with the claim. Then read the text.
Hear the objection in its strongest form. See the short answer. Read the passages in context. Then ask the question that tests the critic's assumptions.
89recurring claims mapped
51inline response sets
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The claims you hear most
Each response opens with the criticism, gives you a usable answer, and keeps the full argument on the same page. No download and no PDF viewer.
The Trinity Is Biblical Orthodoxy
The New Testament teaches the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, their real distinction, and their perfect unity. Latter-day Saints accept those claims while disputing that the fourth-century Nicene formula is the only faithful way to hold them together.
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Sola Scriptura: Bible Is the Sole Authority
The Bible teaches its own inspiration, but it never says that a completed Bible will be the Church's only authority. Its pattern is scripture joined with apostles, prophets, the Holy Spirit, and a worshipping community.
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Mormons Are Not Real Christians
Latter-day Saints worship Jesus Christ as the divine Son of God, risen Lord, Redeemer, and only source of salvation. Other Christians may reject LDS theology, but disagreement over later creeds does not make devotion to Christ disappear.
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The Great Apostasy Never Happened
The "gates of Hades" in Matthew 16:18 are the power of death, not a guarantee that every later church office would continue without interruption. Christ broke those gates through His Resurrection. The verse promises death will not hold His people; it does not settle the separate historical question of apostolic authority.
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Salvation by Grace Alone, Not Works
Latter-day Saints do not teach that anyone earns resurrection or forgiveness apart from Christ. Covenants, baptism, and obedience are ways of receiving and living in His grace, not a competing source of saving power.
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Biblical Inerrancy and Sufficiency
The Bible can be inspired and authoritative without requiring every copyist, translator, or interpreter to be infallible. The Latter-day Saint position takes the Bible seriously while leaving room for textual history and for God to keep speaking.
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Mormons Believe in Multiple Gods (Polytheism)
Latter-day Saints distinguish the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost while worshipping them as one perfectly united Godhead. The disagreement with Nicene Christianity concerns divine unity and being; calling it ordinary polytheism skips that distinction.
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Canon Was Closed and No New Scripture Allowed
The warning in Revelation 22 concerns adding to that prophecy; it never says God has finished revealing scripture. The Bible contains no inspired table of contents and no verse announcing that future revelation has ended.
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The offensive side
Check the assumptions underneath it
Many objections only work after a disputed assumption has been granted. These are the pressure points worth slowing down and examining.
Which Christianity counts as original?
Later creeds may organize Christian thought, but their categories should not be smuggled back into every first-century text.
Does the standard survive the Bible?
Tests aimed at Joseph Smith, modern prophets, or additional scripture should also be applied to biblical prophets and institutions.
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Browse by doctrinal question
Topics group connected claims so you can see how one assumption about authority, God, or revelation creates several objections at once.
10 answers
Defending the Faith
Responding to Common Criticisms
7 answers
Apostasy & Restoration
The Great Falling Away
7 answers
Nature of God
Physical Form & Deification
6 answers
Joseph Smith
Translation, Calling & Historical Claims
4 answers
Epistemology & Testimony
How We Know Truth
3 answers
Sola Scriptura
Scripture & Church Authority
3 answers
Salvation & Grace
Grace, Works & Agency
3 answers
Plural Marriage
Sealings, Evidence & Moral Questions
2 answers
Trinity & Godhead
The Nature of the Three