Tradition Comparator
How do Latter-day Saint scriptures ground priesthood authority, and how does that account compare with other accounts of authority?
Each row is one tradition: its answer in its own categories, the reading principles its lens removes, and which of the case’s positions still stand when the record is read through that lens.
Not every row answers the same question. Each row applies one tradition’s lens — removing the reading principles it rejects or sets aside — and shows which positions are still supported under that lens. A lens records explicit rejections only; principles a tradition does not address are left in place. Where a tradition asks a different question, the row says so.
| Tradition | Answer | Lens removes | Restored by angelic conferral | Continued in apostolic succession | Christ alone; all believers priests |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Latter-day Saint | Addresses the question Authority was lost after the apostles and restored by heavenly messengers; it is transmitted by ordination and governed by priesthood keys. Restoration · priesthood keys · Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthood · Apostasy Position: AM-CLAIM-000270 | AM-AX-005, AM-AX-007, AM-AX-008, AM-AX-012, AM-AX-013 | Supported under selected assumptions | Not established under selected assumptions | Not established under selected assumptions |
| Catholic | Asks a different question Asks how authority is transmitted, not how it was restored: apostolic authority continues in the episcopate without interruption. apostolic succession · episcopate · sacrament of order Position: AM-CLAIM-000274 | AM-AX-005, AM-AX-007, AM-AX-008, AM-AX-009, AM-AX-011, AM-AX-013 | Not established under selected assumptions | Supported under selected assumptions | Not established under selected assumptions |
| Eastern Orthodox | Asks a different question As for Catholic teaching: authority continues in the succession of bishops within Holy Tradition. apostolic succession · Holy Tradition Position: AM-CLAIM-000274 | AM-AX-005, AM-AX-007, AM-AX-008, AM-AX-009, AM-AX-011, AM-AX-013 | Not established under selected assumptions | Supported under selected assumptions | Not established under selected assumptions |
| Lutheran | Asks a different question Locates priesthood in Christ and the whole baptized community; authority to minister is a call to an office, not a transmitted priesthood. priesthood of all the baptized · call to the ministry Position: AM-CLAIM-000202 | AM-AX-005, AM-AX-007, AM-AX-008, AM-AX-009, AM-AX-011 | Not established under selected assumptions | Supported under selected assumptions | Supported under selected assumptions |
| Rabbinic Judaism | Not comparable Priestly status is hereditary in the line of Aaron and is not conferred by ordination; rabbinic authority (semikhah) is a different institution. The question of restored Christian priesthood is not its own. kohanim · semikhah | AM-AX-001, AM-AX-008, AM-AX-009, AM-AX-011 | Not established under selected assumptions | Supported under selected assumptions | Not established under selected assumptions |
| Sunni Islam | Not comparable Islam has no priesthood or ordination; religious authority rests on knowledge (ʿilm) and, for Shiʿi Islam, on the Imams. ʿulamāʾ · ʿilm | AM-AX-001, AM-AX-005, AM-AX-007, AM-AX-010, AM-AX-011 | Not established under selected assumptions | Supported under selected assumptions | Not established under selected assumptions |
| Historical-critical scholarship | Asks a different question Asks when and how the restoration accounts were recorded: the narratives appear in documents of 1832–1835, and one key passage was added between the 1833 and 1835 printings. documentary history · textual development | AM-AX-001, AM-AX-002, AM-AX-003, AM-AX-004, AM-AX-005, AM-AX-007, AM-AX-008, AM-AX-009, AM-AX-010, AM-AX-011, AM-AX-012, AM-AX-013 | Not established under selected assumptions | Not established under selected assumptions | Not established under selected assumptions |
Open the case · JSON · MCP tool compare_traditions