On Monday, the Pentagon announced that it would update again its list of recognized religious groups, which reduced the number from 180 to 31. The purpose of revising the list was to “streamline the [Department of War] collection of religious preferences for service members to enhance the delivery of targeted religious support from the Chaplaincy.” On the new list, in addition to groups such as Agnostics, Baha’i, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Sikh, and two catch-alls of “No Religion” and “Other Religion,” 22 groups were listed as “Christian.”
However, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often known as the Mormon Church, was not labeled “Christian” like the Baptists, Roman Catholics, Methodists, and many others. Oddly, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Christian Scientists were labeled “Christian,” but Latter-day Saints were not. And that sparked enough significant outrage that the DoW has now revised its new list again, removing the “Christian” designation from all groups.
This satisfied Senator Mike Lee of Utah, the loudest critic of the original list, demanding in a post on X, “Can anyone tell me why The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was left out of the list of Christian churches?” The answer was, apparently, “yes.” Christians from across doctrinal traditions responded to the senator that the most important reason is that the Mormon religion is not Christian.
Of course, it did not make sense to deprive Mormonism of the label while including Jehovah’s Witnesses or Christian Scientists. And, as the DoW admitted, “The Pentagon’s job is not to adjudicate theological debates, but instead to ensure sincerely-held faith is respected and encouraged in our ranks.” Still, the debate about what it means to be Christian clearly needed to happen.
The most common claim from Mormons was that Christian is in the name, as in “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” and that the doctrinal differences are secondary. However, using the same vocabulary does not mean we are using the same dictionary. When it comes to the contrast between Mormonism and Christianity, the differences make all the difference in the world.
For example, as Allie Beth Stuckey and many others noted, the LDS rejection of the Trinity is enough to disqualify them from Christianity. Acton Institute founder Fr. Robert Sirico acknowledged Lee’s gracious tone but pointed to the inadequate portrayal of Jesus in the Book of Mormon and other LDS sources. Kyle Beshears, author of 40 Questions About Mormonism, pointed out that the LDS Church claims to be “the restored church distinct from a fallen Christendom . . . ” And if that is the case, “why is being listed separately a grievance?”
The foundational claim of the LDS Church is that revelations by Joseph Smith in the nineteenth century uncovered what Christians had lost over the generations in a “Great Apostasy.” So, Mormons rejected essential Christian doctrine such as the Trinity and Christ’s status as eternally divine. To Jesus’ work, which the author of Hebrews claimed was complete in the Crucifixion and Resurrection, the Book of Mormon claims additional work in the Americas. As author E. Stephen Burnett put it, the Book of Mormon is “. . . like putting self-insert fanfiction into The Lord of the Rings and insisting Tolkien also wrote this new ‘canon.’” The two stories are too different for both to be true.
The LDS Church is free to make their case about God, Jesus, the Bible, faith, the afterlife, and any other detailed differences from orthodox Christian belief. Despite struggling to do that, they still demand that Christians embrace their claims. But we cannot. Ed Stetzer, Dean of the Talbot School of Theology, offered a straightforward account as to why:
Wanting to use the Christian label without believing biblical Christian theology simply will not work. The fundamental beliefs of Mormonism about Jesus and Scripture are not the same as historic, orthodox Christianity. Paul warned about preaching a different Jesus. We affirm the Bible as the Word of God. This means we reject the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, or The Pearl of Great Price. Can you believe, for instance, that Muhammad is not the prophet and still call yourself a Muslim? The vast majority of Muslims would say you cannot. For Christians, calling yourself a Christian while not believing that God has always existed as the triune Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is just as inconceivable. It may be unpopular to state your belief that a certain religious group is not actually Christian, but it is true.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Lizzie Maher
John Stonestreet is President of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, and radio host of BreakPoint, a daily national radio program providing thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview.
The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of CrosswalkHeadlines.
BreakPoint is a program of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. BreakPoint commentaries offer incisive content people can’t find anywhere else; content that cuts through the fog of relativism and the news cycle with truth and compassion. Founded by Chuck Colson (1931 – 2012) in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today’s news and trends. Today, you can get it in written and a variety of audio formats: on the web, the radio, or your favorite podcast app on the go.
