Lutheran Church Statement on the LDS or Mormon Church
Mormons
Q. Are Mormons generally regarded as Christians, and how do their beliefs differ from those of the Missouri Synod?
A.
The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod, together with the vast majority of
Christian denominations in the United States, does not regard the Mormon church
as a Christian church. That is because the official writings of Mormonism deny
fundamental teachings of orthodox Christianity. For example, the Nicene Creed
confesses the clear biblical truth that Jesus Christ, the second Person of the
Trinity, is "of one substance with the Father." This central article of the
Christian faith is expressly rejected by Mormon teaching -- thus undermining the
very heart of the scriptural Gospel itself. In a chapter titled "Jesus Christ,
the Son of God: Are Mormons Christian?" the president of Brigham Young
University (Rex Lee, What Do Mormons Believe? [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book,
1992] summarizes Mormon teaching by stating that the three persons of the
Trinity are "not... one being" (21), but are "separate individuals." In
addition, the Father is regarded as having a body "of flesh and bone" (22). Such
teaching is contrary to the Holy Scriptures, destructive to the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, and indicative of the fact that Mormon teaching is not Christian.
For more information about beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints
read this document prepared by the
Commission on Theology and Church Relations.