The Pentagon’s review of its list of Christian religions this week reignited a nearly 200-year-old debate: Is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints a Christian sect?
Most Latter-day Saints consider themselves Christians. But there are many prominent Christian clergy and scholars who disagree, pointing to fundamental differences in how they view God and the Trinity and venerate Scripture that is not part of the two-testament Christian Bible.
Utah’s U.S. Senators Mike Lee and John Curtis, both Republicans and Latter-day Saints, have challenged the Pentagon’s exclusion of their faith from its list of Christian religions. This has been part of a notable recent effort by the Department of Defense Peel down A list of more than 200 religious affiliations that troops can choose from, omitting categories such as atheists, monotheists, pagans, and Wiccans.
“Latter-day Saints are among the most patriotic and service-oriented individuals in our country,” Curtis posted on X in defense of his faith. “They are also unequivocally Christian – just look at who is in the name of the church.”
He also said in his post that it was “unacceptable” for the government to describe a faith in a way that contradicts the way the religion defines itself — a sentiment widely echoed in negative reactions on social media.
The Pentagon responded on Monday by removing the Christian designation from 20 other denominations, including Catholicism, Lutheranism and Pentecostals, and moving away from classifying Latter-day Saints as Christians. The ministry also issued a statement saying the new title is not intended to “make any claims about the legitimacy of any religious doctrine or belief,” but to help pastors do their jobs and organize resources quickly and efficiently.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon Church, has approximately 18 million members worldwide with the highest concentration in Utah. The church has a long history of military service. It emphasizes patriotism and support for worship.
In a social media post, Lee said: “My church membership is inextricably intertwined with my Christianity, as is 17 million other Latter-day Saints. No matter what the Pentagon thinks.”
The church’s website states that it is a “Christian church, but neither Catholic nor Protestant.”
The website also explains: “It is rather a restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ as it was founded by the Savior in the New Testament of the Bible.” “Jesus Christ is the center of the lives of church members. They seek to follow his example through baptism, praying in his holy name, receiving communion, doing good to others and bearing witness to him in word and deed. The only way to salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ.”
However, the debate over whether Latter-day Saints are Christians goes back nearly 200 years, to the founding days of the church.
Matthew Bowman, chair of Mormon studies at Claremont Graduate University in Southern California, said the fundamental difference between major Christian denominations and Latter-day Saints lies in how they define the nature of God, their view of the Trinity, and the spiritual relationship between God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. He added that most Christian religions believe that God is a spirit, while the founders of the Latter-day Saints believe that God is a human who has achieved divinity.
Latter-day Saints also refuse Nicene CreedWhich emphasizes the doctrine of the Trinity as one divine being.
“They believe that even though there is a relationship between the three, they are distinct beings,” Bowman said.
The Catholic Church has long held that Latter-day Saints are not Christians. As recently as 2012, the Vatican stated that even if the Latter-day Saint baptism ritual refers to the Trinity, the church’s beliefs about the identities of the three are so different from mainline Catholic and Christian beliefs that the ritual cannot be considered Christian baptism.
This debate has raged in American politics for decades, leading to tensions between evangelical Christians and Latter-day Saints who have long considered themselves members of the religious right. Like evangelicals, most Latter-day Saints hold conservative views on topics such as abortion and LGBTQ+ issues.
The issue of Latter-day Saints’ Christian identity exploded during Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign, Bowman said.
“At that time — and often since — there was still a sense of surprise among Latter-day Saints that evangelicals did not consider them Christians, and among evangelicals when they learned that Latter-day Saints actually considered themselves Christians.”
Bowman said the rise of Donald Trump has created a feeling among Latter-day Saints that their ancient alliance with evangelical Christians is more shaky than ever, especially with younger Latter-day Saints who view evangelicals as a hostile group.
He added: “In the past five years or so, there has been a growing push among evangelicals to create a stronger, more vocal, masculine Christianity in doctrine, with some calling (Mormons) heretics.”
Philip McLemore, who served as a Latter-day Saint chaplain in the Air Force from 1984 to 2005, said he and others felt discriminated against at the time and were denied promotions because of his faith.
“It came mostly from pastors and other Christian supervisors who thought Mormon pastors were not Christians,” he said. “They also felt the same way about Christian Scientists.”
McLemore said some other Christian priests told him they feared Latter-day Saint priests would use the military to proselytize and convert. But he said he can see why other Christians would be suspicious of Latter-day Saints.
“Mormonism does not fit comfortably with most classical Christianity because of the founders’ claims to exclusive truth and authority that can be offensive to some,” he said. “Joseph Smith’s first vision—a founding event for the church—was a vision of Jesus telling him that all other churches were false and that their doctrines were an abomination.”
Overall, McLemore doesn’t think doctrine matters much in the military.
“In my experience, service members didn’t know what denomination you were, and they didn’t care,” he said. “They did not consult priests on religious matters. They needed priests to solve personal problems, work issues, mental health and marriage.”
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AP reporters Konstantin Torobin and Tiffany Stanley contributed to this report.
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