Mormonism and Jesus Christ
Mormons openly profess to believe in Jesus Christ. But is their Jesus different from the Jesus of the Bible?
It's not uncommon for Mormons to argue that they should be regarded as Christians because their faith is centered on Jesus Christ. And while this may appear to be the case from the perspective of the Mormon Church, there can be little doubt that the Jesus preached by Mormonism is not the Jesus of the Bible.
Simply believing in someone named Jesus will not solve the issue for Mormons because - as the apostle Paul warns in 2 Corinthians 11:4 - there are some who preach a different Jesus. For example, while the Bible teaches that Jesus has always existed as God (John 1:1), Mormons see Jesus as someone who worked His way up to godhood. In fact, to Mormons, Jesus is merely one in purpose with God the Father; whereas the Bible declares that the Father and the Son are also one in essence (cf. Phil. 2:6) - that they are both equally God and members of the Holy Trinity.
This leads me to what is perhaps the most problematic matter facing Mormons with regard to their view of Christ. You see, in their attempt to evade charges of polytheism - which, of course, is the belief in or worship of more than one god - Mormons end up prohibiting prayer to Jesus. Mormons confess that they believe in the existence of many gods but pray only to God the Father. Well, in light of the Bible's explicit command to pray to Jehovah (cf. Deut. 4:7; 2 Chron. 7:14; Pss. 5:2; 32:6; Jer. 27:7, 12), it's simply incredible that Mormons refuse to pray to Jesus while yet acknowledging Him to be Jehovah! In addition, let me point you to passages like John 14:14 and Romans 10:12 which demonstrate beyond the shadow of a doubt that believers ought to pray to Jesus.
Mormons can claim to believe in Jesus all they want, but it's apparent from their teachings that the Jesus they profess is definitely not the Jesus of the Bible. The truth is they worship another Jesus, proclaim another gospel, and teach the skin of the truth stuffed with a lie. Ultimately, all cults and world religions, in one way or another, compromise the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
We recommend the tapes "Mormonism: Jesus - Who is He? (C131/$6) or "Maze of Mormonism" (C040/$6), both by Walter Martin. We also recommend the book Reasoning From the Scriptures With the Mormons by Ron Rhodes and Marian Bodine (B325/$12). These resources are available through CRI. For shipping and handling Information, please refer to our Resource Listing. To place a credit card order, call toll-free (888) 7000-CRI. To receive a free copy of our Resource Listing, call, fax or write us with your request (information below and at the top of this page).