"We believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior. How can anyone say we follow a different Jesus?" Latter-day Saints are often hurt by that charge, and they deserve a careful, fair answer.
Short answer: Catholics and Latter-day Saints share real convictions about Jesus: He is the Son of God, the Savior who died for our sins, rose bodily, and will come again. But we give different answers to the deepest question, who He is. Catholics confess Him as the eternal Son, "consubstantial" with the Father, "that is, one only God with him" (CCC 242). Latter-day Saints teach that He is a separate being from the Father and "the firstborn of the spirit children of our Heavenly Father."
Key verses on who Jesus is
- "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1)
- "before Abraham came to be, I AM." (John 8:58)
- "I am the first, I am the last; there is no God but me." (Isaiah 44:6)
- "Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last" (Revelation 1:17)
- "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28)
Scripture quotations are from the New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE), © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
What Catholics Actually Teach
First, the Latter-day Saint view in its own words. "The Living Christ," issued by the Church's First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 2000, testifies: "He was the Great Jehovah of the Old Testament, the Messiah of the New. Under the direction of His Father, He was the creator of the earth." His life "neither began in Bethlehem nor concluded on Calvary. He was the Firstborn of the Father, the Only Begotten Son in the flesh, the Redeemer of the world" (quoted in "Jesus Christ," Topics and Questions). The Church's Guide to the Scriptures explains: "Jesus was the firstborn of the spirit children of our Heavenly Father" ("Firstborn"). Latter-day Saints "acknowledge the Father as the ultimate object of their worship, the Son as Lord and Redeemer," and hold that "each member of the Godhead is a separate being" ("Godhead," Topics and Questions).
The Catholic Church teaches that the Son is "eternally begotten of the Father, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father" (CCC 242). In the Incarnation, "He became truly man while remaining truly God" (CCC 464).
What Catholics do not teach:
- That Latter-day Saints are insincere or do not love Jesus. Their testimony that "Only by His mercy and grace can anyone be saved" is real devotion.
- That we judge anyone's heart or eternal destiny. That belongs to God.
- That we share nothing. Both believe in His atoning death, His bodily resurrection (Luke 24:39), and His return.
The Biblical Case
1. The Son never began
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). When the beginning began, the Word already was. Jesus says, "before Abraham came to be, I AM" (John 8:58). The NABRE note explains that "came to be" is the word used of creation, while "am" is "the one reserved for the Logos." He is not the eldest of many spirit children. He is the only Son, "God, who is at the Father's side" (John 1:18).
2. Jesus is "the first and the last"
In Isaiah the LORD says, "I am the first, I am the last; there is no God but me" (Isaiah 44:6). The risen Jesus takes that title for Himself: "I am the first and the last" (Revelation 1:17). Isaiah's LORD says, "To me every knee shall bend" (Isaiah 45:23); St. Paul applies it to Jesus: "at the name of Jesus every knee should bend" (Philippians 2:10). Latter-day Saints rightly call Jesus Jehovah. But Jehovah says there is no God beside Him, so Jesus cannot be a second divine being next to the Father. (For the Trinity itself, see Do Mormons Believe in the Trinity?)
3. Jesus receives the worship due to God alone
Jesus Himself quotes the law: "The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve" (Matthew 4:10). Yet God commands, "Let all the angels of God worship him" (Hebrews 1:6). Jesus says the Father wills "that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father" (John 5:23). St. Thomas confesses Him: "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28). If the Son were a separate being, worshiping Him beside the Father would break the first commandment. It doesn't, because He is God.
4. Why the difference matters
"Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ" (John 17:3). St. Paul warned of anyone who "preaches another Jesus than the one we preached" (2 Corinthians 11:4). For this reason, in 2001 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith answered "Negative" when asked whether Latter-day Saint baptism is valid (Response to a Dubium). An explanatory article by Fr. Luis Ladaria, S.J. (later Cardinal Prefect of the same Congregation), said: "The words Father, Son and Holy Spirit, have for the Mormons a meaning totally different from the Christian meaning." He added that the decision "obviously does not indicate a judgment on those who are members" of that Church (vatican.va).
Objections Answered
(a) "We believe in Christ. Saying 'another Jesus' is unfair."
At its strongest: Latter-day Saints testify that "Jesus is the Living Christ, the immortal Son of God." St. Paul's warning in 2 Corinthians was aimed at false teachers in Corinth, not at them.
Answer: We do not doubt their sincerity, and both sides mean Jesus of Nazareth. The question is whether we describe Him the same way. Latter-day Saints themselves say no: their Church teaches that "The true doctrine of the Godhead was lost in the apostasy" (Godhead), and Joseph Smith reported being told the Christian creeds "were an abomination in his sight" (Joseph Smith—History 1:19). The real question is which description matches Scripture, and Scripture answers it: the Jesus who is "the first and the last," beside whom "there is no God," cannot also be one of many divine beings. Two descriptions that contradict each other cannot both be true of the same Person.
(b) "Colossians calls Jesus 'the firstborn of all creation.'"
At its strongest: The Guide to the Scriptures cites Colossians 1 for Jesus as "the firstborn of the spirit children." St. Paul does write, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation" (Colossians 1:15).
Answer: Read the next verses: "For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible," and "He is before all things" (Colossians 1:16–17). The One through whom all things were created is not one of the things created. In Scripture "firstborn" can mean rank, not birth order. God says of David, the youngest of Jesse's sons (1 Samuel 16:11), "I myself make him the firstborn, Most High over the kings of the earth" (Psalm 89:28). St. Paul gives his own meaning: "He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he himself might be preeminent" (Colossians 1:18).
(c) "Jesus said, 'the Father is greater than I.'"
At its strongest: Jesus said, "the Father is greater than I" (John 14:28), and called the Father "my God" (John 20:17). That sounds like a lesser, separate being.
Answer: Jesus is "true God and true man" (CCC 464). As man, sent by the Father, He truly worships Him and calls Him God. The NABRE note says the Father is greater "because he sent, gave, etc." The Son, "though he was in the form of God," took "the form of a slave" (Philippians 2:6–7). A Son who obeys is not therefore a lesser kind of being. The same Jesus says, "The Father and I are one," and His hearers understood the claim: "You, a man, are making yourself God" (John 10:30, 33).
(d) "Jesus is our Elder Brother."
At its strongest: Latter-day Saints call Jesus our Elder Brother, the firstborn spirit child of the Father. Scripture seems to agree: God predestined us "to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers" (Romans 8:29), and Jesus "is not ashamed to call them 'brothers'" (Hebrews 2:11).
Answer: Catholics gladly call Him our brother, but read how Scripture says He became one. "Since the children share in blood and flesh, he likewise shared in them" (Hebrews 2:14); "he had to become like his brothers in every way" (Hebrews 2:17). He became our brother by the Incarnation, not by a shared spirit birth before the world. And Romans 8:29 speaks of those conformed to His image by grace, the redeemed, not of a family of preexistent spirits. The same letter to the Hebrews that calls us His brothers opens by calling Him God: "Your throne, O God, stands forever and ever," and the One who "established the earth" while "you are the same, and your years will have no end" (Hebrews 1:8, 10–12). Our brother by grace and flesh; our God by nature.
The Early Church Agrees
- St. Ignatius of Antioch (Letter to the Ephesians 7, 18, c. AD 107): "There is one Physician who is possessed both of flesh and spirit; both made and not made; God existing in flesh." And: "For our God, Jesus Christ, was, according to the appointment of God, conceived in the womb by Mary." (newadvent.org)
- St. Ignatius (Letter to the Magnesians 6, c. AD 107) calls Jesus Christ the One "who was with the Father before the beginning of time, and in the end was revealed." Not the first spirit born in time: before time. (newadvent.org)
- The so-called Second Letter of Clement (ch. 1, 2nd century; not by St. Clement himself): "Brethren, it is fitting that you should think of Jesus Christ as of God — as the Judge of the living and the dead." (newadvent.org)
- St. Irenaeus (Against Heresies I.10.1, c. AD 180): the Church "has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith," including faith "in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation." (newadvent.org) Elsewhere he writes: "But the Son, eternally co-existing with the Father, from of old, yea, from the beginning, always reveals the Father" (Against Heresies II.30.9; newadvent.org).
These witnesses wrote within a century or so of the apostles. None of them knew a Jesus who began as a spirit child. They knew the eternal Son, God existing in flesh.
Conclusion
Latter-day Saints love Jesus, and many live their faith with admirable generosity. That love is exactly why this question matters.
The Jesus of Scripture is not the eldest of God's spirit children. He is the eternal Word, one God with the Father and the Holy Spirit, who became man for us. We invite our Latter-day Saint friends to read John 1 and Isaiah 44 side by side and ask who "the first and the last" really is.
Come home. The first and the last, who made all things and then became one of us, is the Jesus proclaimed and worshiped in the Catholic Church. Christ promised, "upon this rock I will build my church" (Matthew 16:18), and His Church never fell away or disappeared. It is the Catholic Church, governed by the successor of St. Peter and the bishops in communion with him. "It is through Christ's Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained" (CCC 816). We invite you to come and see the Church Christ founded, and to enter her.
Your next step: Come to Mass this Sunday at your local Catholic church. You can find one near you at MassTimes.org. Everyone is welcome; if you're not yet Catholic, pray with us but don't receive Communion yet. When you're ready to become Catholic, call the parish office and ask about OCIA, the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults. They will walk you through every step. Read our guide: How Do I Become Catholic? Not ready yet? Get our free pocket guide below and keep learning.
FAQ
Do Latter-day Saints believe Jesus is divine? Yes. They call Him Jehovah, the Son of God, and the Redeemer. The difference is that they see Him as a being separate from the Father, whom they call "the ultimate object of their worship."
Do Catholics believe Jesus has a body now? Yes. The risen Jesus has a glorified human body: "a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have" (Luke 24:39). He is still "Christ Jesus, himself human" (1 Timothy 2:5).
Does the Catholic Church recognize Latter-day Saint baptism? No. Since 2001 the Church has held it invalid, so a Latter-day Saint who becomes Catholic is baptized. This judges doctrine and sacraments, not personal sincerity.
Sources
Scripture (NABRE, bible.usccb.org): 1 Samuel 16:11; Psalm 89:28; Isaiah 44:6; Isaiah 45:23; Matthew 4:10; Matthew 16:18; Luke 24:39; John 1:1, 18; John 5:23; John 8:58 (with the NABRE note); John 10:30, 33; John 14:28 (with the NABRE note); John 17:3; John 20:17, 28; Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 11:4; Philippians 2:6–7, 10; Colossians 1:15–18; 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 1:6, 8, 10–12; Hebrews 2:11, 14, 17; Revelation 1:17.
Catechism of the Catholic Church (vatican.va): 242; 464; 816.
Church documents (vatican.va): Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Response to a "Dubium" on the validity of baptism conferred by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (June 5, 2001); Luis Ladaria, S.J., "The Question of the Validity of Baptism Conferred in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (L'Osservatore Romano, English ed., August 1, 2001).
Church Fathers (newadvent.org): St. Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Ephesians 7, 18 and Letter to the Magnesians 6; Second Clement 1; St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies I.10.1 and II.30.9.
Latter-day Saint sources (churchofjesuschrist.org): "Jesus Christ," Topics and Questions (quoting "The Living Christ"); "Godhead," Topics and Questions; Guide to the Scriptures, "Firstborn"; Joseph Smith—History 1:19.