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Mormonism and Christianity

Mormonism and Christianity

Last updated on: June 24, 2026 at 1:25 pm by Layne Wallace

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Mormonism and Christianity 2026-06-24T13:25:24-04:00 Layne Wallace

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Senator Lee and Secretary Hegseth

In recent weeks, an online hullabaloo has emerged about the nature of Mormon thought and Christian thought. The question is specifically, “Is Mormonism Christian?” The recent controversy arose from a religious schema the Department of Defense uses to codify religions. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth reduced the number of codes from 211 to 31. Interestingly, the War Department gave Mormonism its own code and did not list it as a Christian denomination, while other groups, such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, were listed as Christian. Senator Mike Lee of Utah, a Mormon himself, was outraged, claiming that Mormonism was a Christian denomination. Denying the Christian nature of Mormonism, he claimed, was “repugnant to any sense of decency.” In looking at Mormonism, however, there are significant structural differences that are incompatible with Christianity.

A disclaimer is important here. This article is a comparison of Mormonism with orthodox Christianity, and is by no means intended to be an insult to Mormons. Mormons are, some of the kindest, most generous, most hospitable people one could ever get to know. Their patriotism and community spirit is legendary, rightly so. None of that means, however, that Mormon theology is consistent with Christianity—at least of the orthodox variety.

What Do We Mean by the Word “God?”

Mormons claim that they worship Jesus, and try to put his teachings into practice. Even Jesus’ name is in the church. How then can they not be Christian?

The problems with Mormon theology begin with the word “God.” Mormons and orthodox Christians understand God in fundamentally different and irreconcilable ways. The great Eastern Orthodox philosopher David Bentley Hart summarizes the way Christians have spoken about God by saying,

To speak of “God” properly then … is to speak of the one infinite source of all that is: eternal, omniscient, omnipresent, uncreated, uncaused, perfectly transcendent of all things and for that reason absolutely immanent to all things. God so understood is not something posed over against the universe, in addition to it, or is He the universe itself … all things that exist receive their being continuously from Him, who is the infinite wellspring of all that is, in whom … all things live and move in have their being … he is the absolute upon which the contingent is utterly dependent … Infinite being, infinite consciousness, infinite bliss, from whom we are, by whom we are known, and in whom we find our only true consummation (David Bentley Hart, The Experience of God, 30).

Adding to Hart, or perhaps clarifying his definition, God is Spirit, and God is one. None of God’s attributes can be added up to create God, nor can any of His attributes be removed. God is all that God has. God is not just good, God is goodness itself, for example. God is changeless, because change invites improvement from one state to another. No, God is all that God has always been.

The Contrast

When we come to the Mormon definition of God we find deep contrast. The God of Mormonism can change. Joseph Smith writes, “As man is now, God once was. As God now is, man may be.”[1] In the Doctrines and Covenants 130:22 the author writes, “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as a man’s.” Joseph Smith writes, “God himself is an exalted Man…” [2]

The Old and New Testaments leave no room for that view. Jesus says in John 4:24, “ … God is Spirit … ” Numbers 31:3 says, “God is not a human, that He should lie, not a human being, that He should change His mind … ” The Bible is quite clear on this definition. God is Spirit.

Where Is God

If Mormonism insists that God has a body, then that body necessarily exists somewhere, and God’s existence is within this universe. Mormon theology, therefore, has to redefine God’s transcendence. Deriving from the doctrine of creation, Christian thought is that God is radically transcendent from the world. In Mormon thought, God is one among the realities that are co-eternal with Him.[3]

One of the most striking differences between Mormon theology and orthodox Christian theology is that orthodox Christian theology thinks of God as the ground of all being, while Mormon theology sees God as the highest being within the eternal universe. While Mormon theologians would reject this description, this version of God is inherently not transcendent. This version of God is, as Karl Barth might say, “Man shouted in a loud voice.”

Humanity

One of the critiques that Mormons make against orthodox Christianity, creedal Christianity as they call it, is that Christianity became enmeshed in and corrupted by Greek philosophy early in its development. The doctrine that man existed along with God in the beginning sounds very similar to Plato, Pythagoras, and Empedocles, although there are important differences. If one wants to argue that the Nicene Creed was overly influenced by Greek philosophy, arguing for man being in the beginning with God is a strange way to do it.

Salvation

When it comes to salvation, Mormons have a strong difference with orthodox Christianity as well. For the orthodox Christian, salvation is a restoration of the relationship with God humans had at the beginning and lost in the fall. It is sharing communion with God by God’s grace. In Mormonism, salvation is exaltation to the point that humans become divine. Doctrine and Covenants Section 132 states, “Celestial marriage and a continuation of the family unit will enable men to become gods…”[4]

The section continues:

Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them.

The deviation here is quite significant. Humans do not just share eternal fellowship with God. They do not just inherit the responsibility of ruling with God for eternity. They have “all power.” All power is for God alone, however. Of course, a Mormon thinker would say that is the argument precisely. Humans become what God is.

Trinity

Mormons reject the doctrine of the Trinity, holding it in a bit of contempt. The Trinity is a foundational doctrine of the Christian faith. The earliest believers wrestled with the fact that the Scriptures reveal Jesus as God and yet still maintain that God is one. Further, the Scriptures use the terms Spirit of God and Spirit of Christ interchangeably. Wrestling with these ideas, the earliest believers came to a consensus and codified it at Nicaea. It is hard to see why someone would want to reject the Trinity and claim to be Christian, yet that is precisely what Mormon thinkers want to do.

WWAT? (What Would Athanasius Think?)

These are but some of the differences between Mormon theology and orthodox Christian theology. Mormons are aware of these differences. Some have even claimed the creeds of Christianity are an abomination in the sight of God.

Why Call It Christian?

With all of these differences, it is difficult to understand why Mormons would want to be lumped together with the average evangelical Christian. Saying, however, that Mormon theology is not Christian theology meets with controversy and anger among Mormons. The truth, however, is that the differences between Mormonism and Christianity in the doctrine of God, the nature of salvation, the Trinity, and the nature of creation are too sharp to consider them to be one and the same faith. They are not.

[1] https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/teachings-of-presidents-of-the-church-lorenzo-snow/chapter-5-the-grand-destiny-of-the-faithful?lang=eng

[2] https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/teachings-joseph-smith/chapter-2?lang=eng

[3] https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/93?lang=eng

[4] https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/132?lang=eng

Also by Layne Wallace:

The Problems with Progressive Theology

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Philosophy of Religion

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