Answer
The question of whether Christians and Mormons (or Latter-day Saints) worship the same Jesus sparks numerous debates. Some view Mormons as a branch of Christianity—akin to Pentecostals or Baptists—but there are key differences between the Mormon view of Jesus and that of orthodox Christianity.
At first glance, the differences between the Jesus worshiped in Mormonism and the Jesus of orthodox Christianity seem slight: “Latter-day Saints believe in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and believe that salvation comes only through Him. They believe He is the Son of God whose birth and ministry was prophesied in the Old Testament. Latter-day Saints believe Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem, ministered in Jerusalem and surrounding regions until His persecution and death on the cross, and later resurrected as a glorified being” (https://faq.churchofjesuschrist.org/do-mormons-believe-in-jesus, accessed 9/13/23).
But, looking more deeply, the Jesus of traditional Mormonism is quite different from the Bible’s Jesus. Mormons follow the teachings of Joseph Smith, believing that Jesus is one god among many gods; they do not believe that He is the one-and-only God. Mormons view the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three distinct beings forming a council known as the Godhead. They call God the Father Elohim and God the Son Jehovah, asserting these beings possess both physical and spiritual attributes. The Holy Spirit is perceived as different, possessing solely spiritual properties, yet, even so, “there is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter” (Doctrine and Covenants 131:6).
Mormonism further deviates from Christianity in the belief that the Father was once a man on another planet who elevated himself to divinity (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith, 1976, pp. 345–46). God the Father had a father, who also had a father, etc. This contrasts sharply with the Bible’s revelation of the eternal and transcendent God who is the uncreated Creator of all things. Additionally, Mormonism posits that the Father has wives, and that all humans on Earth are children of a Heavenly Mother who mated with the Father. Jesus is the eldest child of those unions (Mormon Doctrine, pp. 129 and 516).
We can conclude that Mormons, including those in the Community of Christ, don’t worship the same Jesus as Christians. Latter-day Saints are a modern group espousing the ancient heresy of Arianism, the belief that Christ was a created being. The disagreements between Mormonism and orthodox Christianity are not secondary issues that we can agree to disagree on. Mormon beliefs challenge foundational notions about God, Jesus, and Scripture and cannot be reconciled with the teachings of the Bible.
