Ecumenical Council — Doctrine Settled
LDS Revelation / Doctrine
LDS Reversal or Abandonment
The Catholic Church
Ecumenical Councils
Ecumenical Councils
A.D.
The LDS Church
Revelations & Reversals
Revelations & Reversals
Doctrine Settled
First Council of Nicaea
Defined the full divinity of Christ (homoousios — "of the same substance" as the Father). Condemned Arianism. Established the Nicene Creed and unified date of Easter.
325
— no LDS parallel —
Doctrine Settled
First Council of Constantinople
Confirmed the full divinity of the Holy Spirit. Completed and ratified the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed — the definitive Trinitarian formula still used universally today.
381
— no LDS parallel —
Doctrine Settled
Council of Ephesus
Declared Mary Theotokos (God-bearer / Mother of God), affirming that Christ is one Person with two natures. Condemned Nestorianism. Unified Christology across East and West.
431
— no LDS parallel —
Doctrine Settled
Council of Chalcedon
Defined Christ as one Person in two natures — fully divine and fully human — without confusion, change, division, or separation. The definitive statement of orthodox Christology.
451
— no LDS parallel —
Doctrine Settled
Second Council of Constantinople
Reaffirmed Chalcedon against Neo-Nestorian tendencies. Condemned the "Three Chapters" and further clarified the hypostatic union. Continued harmonizing Eastern theological language.
553
— no LDS parallel —
Doctrine Settled
Third Council of Constantinople
Defined that Christ has two wills — divine and human — acting in harmony. Condemned Monothelitism. The full humanity of Christ's will was affirmed against those who sought to reduce it.
680
— no LDS parallel —
Doctrine Settled
Second Council of Nicaea
Restored the veneration of sacred images (icons), affirming the legitimacy of depicting the Incarnate Christ. Distinguished veneration from worship. Ended the Iconoclast controversy.
787
— no LDS parallel —
— Catholic doctrine unchanged —
1830
New Revelation
Book of Mormon Published; Church Founded
Joseph Smith publishes the Book of Mormon, which describes God in terms broadly consistent with classical monotheism. "Infinite and eternal" (Alma 34:14); Christ "is the Father and the Son" (Mosiah 15:3).
— Catholic doctrine unchanged —
1833
New Revelation
Word of Wisdom Revealed (D&C 89)
A health code initially described as a "principle with promise," not a commandment. Wine was still used in LDS sacrament through the 1800s. Later reinterpreted as a strict prohibition.
— Catholic doctrine unchanged —
1843–
1890
1890
⚠ Revealed, Then Reversed
Plural Marriage: Commanded, Then Abandoned
D&C 132 (1843): Joseph Smith claims eternal plural marriage as an "everlasting covenant," promising condemnation for refusal. Official Declaration 1 (1890): Wilford Woodruff discontinues polygamy under federal legal pressure — not by new revelation about its eternal status.
— Catholic doctrine unchanged —
1844
⚠ Contradicts 1830 Teaching
King Follett Discourse — God Was Once a Man
"God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man." This directly contradicts the Book of Mormon's language about an eternal, infinite God. The LDS concept of God had materially changed within 14 years.
— Catholic doctrine unchanged —
1852–
1976
1976
⚠ Taught, Then Disavowed
Adam-God Theory
Brigham Young publicly taught that Adam is our Father and God — a doctrine repeated for decades in official settings. By 1976, LDS President Spencer W. Kimball declared it false, though it was never formally retracted via revelation.
— Catholic doctrine unchanged —
1852–
1978
1978
⚠ Policy Reversed After 126 Years
Priesthood Ban on Black Members Lifted
For 126 years, LDS policy denied the priesthood and temple ordinances to members of Black African descent — defended by multiple prophets as God's will. Official Declaration 2 (1978) reversed this, though the LDS Church's 2013 Gospel Topics Essay disavows the prior theological justifications.
— Catholic doctrine unchanged —
2015–
2019
2019
⚠ Policy Reversed Within 4 Years
Children of Same-Sex Couples Policy
In 2015, a policy classified children of same-sex couples as "apostates," barring them from baptism. LDS President Russell Nelson called it a "revelation." In 2019, the policy was fully reversed — also described as revelation. Both decisions cannot simultaneously reflect the eternal will of God.
The Contrast Is The Argument
The seven Ecumenical Councils did not reverse each other. Nicaea (325) was not contradicted by Constantinople (381), nor Chalcedon (451) by Nicaea II (787). Each council built upon the last, developing what was already implicit in Scripture and Tradition. The Catholic Church does not teach that later revelation can annul earlier revelation — because God does not contradict Himself. The repeated reversals in LDS doctrinal history are not evidence of progressive revelation. They are evidence of human institution subject to human pressure.