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No. Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth for the Coulson Center on Jumpstone Street. On Monday, the Pentagon announced that it would update again its updated list of recognized religious groups, which had already reduced the number from 180 to just 31.
Now, the purpose of revising the list was to, and I quote here, streamline the DOW, its Department of War, collection of religious preferences for service members to enhance the delivery of targeted religious support from the chaplaincy. On the new list, in addition to groups like the Agnostics, Baha'i, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Sikh, and two catch-alls of no religion and other religion, were 22 groups listed as Christian.
However, the Church of Latter-day Saints, known as the Mormon Church, was not labeled Christian, like the Baptists, the Roman Catholics, the Methodists, and many others. Oddly, Jehovah's Witnesses and Christian scientists were labeled Christian on the list, but Latter-day Saints were not. And that sparked significant enough outrage that the DOW has now revised the new list again, removing the Christian designation from all groups. That seemed to satisfy Senator Mike Lee of Utah, who was the loudest critic of the original list, demanding in a post on X, can anyone tell me why the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was left out of the list of Christian churches?
Well, the answer to his question was apparently yes. Many people could tell him, and they did, from across doctrinal traditions. They responded to the senator that the most important reason for leaving Mormon out of the list of Christian religions is that it wasn't Christian.
Now, of course, objectively, it doesn't make sense to deprive... Mormonism of the label Christian while also including Jehovah's Witnesses or Christian scientist. And as the DOW eventually admitted, and I quote here again, the Pentagon's job is not to adjudicate theological debates, but instead to ensure sincerely held faith is respected and encouraged in our ranks, end quote.
Well, they're right about that. We certainly don't want the Pentagon doing that job, but the debate that was sparked about what it means to be Christian clearly needed to happen. The most common claim from Mormons was that Christian is in the very name, as in Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and that the doctrinal differences are secondary.
However, using the same vocabulary does not mean we are using the same dictionary. And when it comes to the contrast between Mormonism and Christianity, the differences make all the difference in the world. For example, as Ali Bestucke and many others noted, the LDS rejection of the Trinity would be enough to disqualify them from being considered Christian. Acton Institute founder Father Robert Sirico acknowledged Lee's gracious tone, but pointed to the inadequate portrayal of Jesus in the Book of Mormon and the other LDS sources. Kyle Bashiers, who is the author of 40 Questions About Mormonism, pointed out that the LDS church itself claims to be the restored church distinct from a fallen Christendom.
And if that's the case, why is being listed separately a grievance in the first place? In fact, the foundational claim of the LDS Church is that the revelations by Joseph Smith in the 19th century uncovered things that Christians had lost over the generations in the great apostasy.
So Mormons rejected essential Christian doctrine like the Trinity or Christ's status as uncreated and eternally divine. The Jesus work, which the author of Hebrews claimed was complete in the crucifixion and resurrection, the Book of Mormon claimed additional work that happened in the Americas. As author E. Stephen Burnett put it, the Book of Mormon is like putting self-insert fanfiction into the Lord of the Rings and then insisting that Tolkien also wrote this new canon. but the two accounts of Jesus are too different for both to be true.
Look, the LDS Church is free to make their case about God, about Jesus, about the Bible, the faith, the afterlife, any other detailed differences from Orthodox Christian belief. And yet, despite struggling to do that, they still demand that Christians embrace their claims. But we cannot. Ed Stetzer, dean of the Talbot School of Theology, offered a straightforward account as to why. Quote, Wanting to use the Christian label without believing biblical Christian theology simply will not work.
The fundamental beliefs of Mormonism about Jesus and Scripture are not the same as historic Orthodox Christianity. Paul warned about preaching a different Jesus. We affirm the Bible as the Word of God. That means we reject the Book of Mormon, the doctrine and covenants, and the pearl of great price. Can you believe, for instance, that Muhammad is not the prophet and yet still call yourself a Muslim?
The vast majority of Muslims would say you cannot. For Christians, calling yourself a Christian while not believing that God has always existed as the triune Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is just as inconceivable. It might be unpopular to state your belief that a certain religious group is not actually Christian. But it's true. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street with Breakpoint.
Today's Breakpoint was co-authored with Dr. Timothy Padgett. If you're a fan of Breakpoint, please leave us a review wherever you download these podcasts. And for more resources or to share this commentary with others, go to Breakpoint.org. The cultural challenges facing Christians today are not slowing down.
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