Anti-Mormon Claims
Anti-Mormon Claimsjesus is goddeity of christarianjehovah

Do Latter-day Saints Deny That Jesus Is God?

Some Christians say Mormons think Jesus is only a prophet, a created being, or a lesser god — not the Lord of the Old Testament. Is that true?

Bible

They quote this

Bible · John 1:1, 14

KJV + NRSVUE

They quote ‘the Word was God’ as if we deny it. We do not.

King James Version

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

NRSVUE

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

How we read it

We read John 1:1 the way John wrote it: the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Book of Mormon calls Him the Eternal God (2 Nephi 26:12). The fight is whether “God” must mean the later one-essence formula. John is saying who Jesus is, not reciting Constantinople.

The Bible answers

Bible · John 8:58

KJV + NRSVUE

King James Version

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

NRSVUE

Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.’

Bible · Titus 2:13

KJV + NRSVUE

King James Version

Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

NRSVUE

while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon answers

2 Nephi 26:12

Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God.

And as I spake concerning the convincing of the Jews, that Jesus is the very Christ, it must needs be that the Gentiles be convinced also that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God;

Mosiah 3:5, 8

The Book of Mormon calls Him the Lord Omnipotent who shall come down.

The Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men… And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning.

Also restored

Doctrine and Covenants 19:1

I am Alpha and Omega, Christ the Lord; yea, even I am he, the beginning and the end, the Redeemer of the world.

Ancient witnesses

Dead Sea Scrolls and related extra-biblical texts that illuminate the same pattern the Restoration restores.

Septuagint Kyrios; 1 Enoch’s Son of Man; Philippians 2’s name above every name

Greek-speaking Jews already said Kyrios for the divine name. The New Testament then heaps Kyrios on Jesus. 1 Enoch’s Son of Man sits on the throne of glory.

Calling Jesus God while distinguishing Him from the Father is the Bible’s two-powers problem, not a Mormon invention. We solve it the apostolic way: the Father is the Most High; the Son is Jehovah who appears, creates, covenants, and redeems; they are one in will, glory, and worship.

Faithful answers

Scripture Central

Jesus the Eternal God

Scripture Central

The Book of Mormon is more explicit than many evangelical tracts: Jesus is the Eternal God, the Lord Omnipotent, the God of Israel, slain for the world. The Doctrine and Covenants has Him speak as Jehovah who was slain. We are not Arians. We are not Muslims. We are not ‘Jesus-was-just-a-teacher’ liberals. We refuse only the later claim that Father and Son are one undivided, unembodied essence. That refusal is not a denial of His deity. It is a defense of the Jesus Thomas handled and called ‘My Lord and my God.’

2 Nephi 26:12 is not a low Christology. ‘Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God’ is as high as English gets.

  • John 1: the Word was with God and was God. Restoration teaching keeps both halves: distinction and deity.
  • John 8:58: Jesus takes the divine name. We do not walk that back.
  • Mosiah 3 and 2 Nephi 26 will not let anyone say we think He is ‘just a prophet.’
  • If your only allowed sentence is the Athanasian Creed, you will hear our Godhead as denial. If your Bible is John, Acts 7, and 1 Corinthians 8:6, you will hear it as the New Testament.
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Suggested videos

Faithful voices only. Most of these are independent — not official Church productions unless marked as such.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

What Mormons Believe about the Godhead | Now You Know

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Thoughtful Faith

What Christians WON’T Tell You About The Trinity

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Let's Talk w/ Hayden Carroll

A Protestant Critiqued My View of God… Is He Right?

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Further reading

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