What is the difference between mormon religion and christianity

My family and I live in a city in Arizona with a high Mormon population. We have many Mormon friends and neighbors who we love. They are kind-hearted people with strong moral convictions.

It naturally raises a lot of questions about the difference between what Mormons like them and Christians like us believe.

A few years ago, my wife and I were invited by a friend, Ken, to tour a new Mormon temple being built near our home.

We jumped at the opportunity to see the ornate building because the only time that people who are not church members are ever allowed to enter a temple is during the final phase of construction. I had read about Mormonism in books but was excited to learn more about the faith of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) firsthand.

During the tour, Ken was gracious to answer all of my questions, so I reached out to him later to ask if I could interview him about what he believes about Jesus.

How is his view similar and different than my traditional Christian understanding?

Ken agreed.

We met in the back of a Chick-fil-A so our kids could play while we talked. I ordered a Coke. He got a Sprite—since Mormons don’t drink caffeine.

I thanked Ken for taking the time to meet with me, and he was genuinely happy to share his thoughts with me (with the disclaimer that he was not an official representative of the views of the LDS church).

Ken was raised in the church and can trace his family’s LDS heritage back to his great-grandfather. After high school, as many Mormons do, he served on a two-year mission. He currently serves in his church leading Sunday school and teenage boys group.

What Mormons Believe About Jesus

I jumped right in with my big question, “Who is Jesus?”

Ken replied, “He is the Son of God, the savior of everyone, and the only way to salvation.”

I was surprised at how similar his answer was to my own. No Christian would argue with his statement. On this, we can all agree. Maybe his beliefs weren’t that different from my own.

“Is Jesus divine or human?” I asked.

“Divine.” Ken said, “He came to earth and lived as a human, in a human body of flesh and blood. He experienced everything we experience, and suffered like us. But he was perfect. He is a divine member of the Godhead—the three persons of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.”

Again, I was fascinated by how much this sounded like orthodox theology. I’d argue the same.

So we had similar terminology, but I needed to dig deeper to make sure we meant the same thing. I pressed, “So would you say that the trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all one person?”

“No,” he said to my surprise. “They are three separate divine persons, but they are united in their purpose.”

To clarify I asked, “So you would say they are singular in purpose, but separate in person?” He nodded, “Yes.”

Our theology became more different the more we defined our terminology.

Over the next hour of conversation, Ken continued to explain to me how he believes that the Father is who the Old Testament refers to as Elohim, but when the Old Testament says Jehovah, it is referring to Jesus.

He believes that Jesus was pre-existent with God in heaven before the creation of the world. But he also believes that all people exist as spirit children before being born on earth. So Jesus is like us because we all lived in heaven before coming to earth, taking on flesh and blood (although Jesus’ virgin birth was unique).

Ken affirms the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. Jesus died and rose again in three days. But when I asked what Jesus did between his time of death and resurrection, Ken had an interesting answer.

He believes that Jesus went to the spirit world. Righteous people who die go to paradise, but all others go to prison. So Jesus sent others to do missionary work in the spirit prison to give them the opportunity to repent. After Jesus ascended to heaven, he continues to work today to save those in the spirit prison. This is why Ken said that the Mormon church practices what they call “temple work.” These are the ceremonies like marriage and baptisms for the dead.

Through these ceremonies, he believes families are sealed together for eternity. So they get baptized on behalf of family members who did not believe in this life and might be in the spirit prison.

When I asked what made Jesus different than other people, Ken said that Jesus is the only perfect person to ever live. While our purpose is to come to earth and receive a body to work our way to become like God, Jesus had already achieved godliness before the Incarnation. But Jesus is not all that different from us. According to Ken, “We can become like Jesus and the Father because we are created in God’s image.” We can become gods.

Trying to understand this idea of becoming a god, I asked if we would then become equal to Jesus and the Father. “In theory,” he said “yes.” But he believes that God and Jesus are progressing through eternity. While we will continue to grow, they have such a big head start that we’ll never catch up to them. So, theoretically, we could become like they are now, but in that time they will have become greater. He didn’t know exactly how it would all work, but he believed there would always be some form of hierarchy where the Father, Son, and Spirit are greater than us.

Ken also believes that Jesus still speaks and provides further revelation today. He used the example of how Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon faith, didn’t know which church was the true church. So he followed the advice of James 1:5 to pray for wisdom. Joseph prayed and claimed that both the Father and Jesus visited him. They told to him that all churches had the incomplete truth, and revealed the whole truth to Joseph so that he would become a prophet to restore the church. So Jesus spoke to Joseph Smith, and Jesus has continued this method of face-to-face revelation today with the current prophet of the LDS church.

Only One God, Not Many

I give Ken a lot of credit for being willing to talk to me about his beliefs. He was more knowledgeable about his theology than the average Christian in our churches would be. But his LDS theology has some significant inconsistencies with the Bible he says he also believes.

The more we talked, the clearer it became that our beliefs about Jesus have major differences. While there is not enough time in this article to refute all the differences, the most important distinction in our theology surrounds Jesus’ divinity.

We both agree that Jesus is divine, but we disagree about the specific nature of his divinity.

Ken believes that Jesus is one of three gods who share a singular purpose. But I would argue that there is only one trinitarian God, and Jesus is part of the Trinity—one God in three persons.

Jesus was referring to his nature, not his purpose, when he said, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). Also, John writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Jesus (the Word) was not just with God, like a separate divine person, he also was God. Jesus also said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Furthermore, in Hebrews, we read that Jesus “is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Heb 1:3).

While Mormons believe in many gods, the Bible also explicitly teaches that there is only one God. Deuteronomy 4:35 says, “To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him.” God declares, “there is no god beside me” (Deut 32:39). David asks, “who is God, but the Lord?” (Ps 18:31). In Isaiah, God proclaims, “Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior” (Isa 43:10-11).

Additionally, I see a problem with Ken’s evidence for multiple gods by pointing to how in the Old Testament, Elohim refers to God the Father, and Jehovah refers to Christ the Son. These are two different names for God, but that doesn’t mean there are two distinct gods.

Based on Scripture, we’d be more accurate to understand them as interchangeable names for the same God. For example, Genesis 27:20 uses both names sayings, “The Lord [Jehovah] your God [Elohim] granted me success.” Also, Deuteronomy 6:4 says, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord [Jehovah] our God [Elohim], the Lord [Jehovah] is one.”

We even have reason to believe that Jesus is also both Jehovah and Elohim. In Isaiah’s prophecy about the coming of Jesus, he uses both names: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord [Jehovah]; make straight in the desert a highway for our God [Elohim]” (Isa 40:3).

Jehovah and Elohim are two names for one God. Even more interesting, Jehovah and Elohim, they are often translated “Lord” and “God” respectively, and when Thomas sees Jesus after the resurrection, he proclaims, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).

Based on this evidence and more, Jesus, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit are all one God in three persons (the Trinity).

Mormons and Christians: The Difference is the Definition of Jesus

In essence, Mormonism is polytheistic. They believe that there are many gods, Jesus is a god, and we can all become gods too.

Christianity is monotheistic. There is only one God eternally existing in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We can never work our way to become a god, and are only permitted in God’s presence by grace through faith in Jesus.

So when Mormons say that they are the church of Jesus Christ or that they are also Christians because they follow Jesus, we must be aware that we are not talking about the same Jesus.

Christians are talking about the Jesus of the Bible. Mormons are talking about the Jesus of the Bible and the Book of Mormon and their other sacred writings.

Jesus is the cornerstone of our faith (Eph 2:20). Everything we believe rests on who we believe he is. If you follow a different Jesus, you’ll follow a different gospel.

Although Christians and Mormons may share some words, the difference is in the definitions.