“Mormonism is not historic biblical Christianity. It should not be confused with Christianity…Mormonism is a rival worldview. Mormonism has its own claim of authority.” said Mohler.

Evangelical commentator and president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Dr. Albert Mohler Jr. responded to the controversy surrounding Dr. Robert Jeffress’ comments that Mormonismis a “cult” and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is not a Christian.

Instead of describing Mormonism as a cult, Mohler said the religion is a “rival worldview” when compared to Christianity.

“Mormonism is not historic biblical Christianity. It should not be confused with Christianity,” said Mohler Monday in the audio segment, The Briefing, posted on his website. “Mormonism is a rival worldview. Mormonism has its own claim of authority.”

The prominent evangelical leader went on to explain why Mormonism is not part of orthodox Christianity.

“The first thing we need to know about Mormonism in terms of why it is not historic and biblical Christianity is that it claims a necessary revelation after the scripture – coming about 18 centuries after and that’s central to Mormon identity,” Mohler said.

“The more you know about Mormon theology, the more you come to understand its contrast with historic biblical Christianity. The god of Mormonism is not the monotheistic God of the Bible. The role of Jesus Christ in Mormonism, is not the role of the redeemer who then, on the basis of his propitiation for sins, makes possible the justification of sinners by faith, instead it’s a very different understanding – both of the human problem and of the solution.”

The Romney-Mormon controversy was reignited Friday during the Value Voters Summit in Washington, D.C., where Jeffress introduced Texas Governor Rick Perry to the crowd of about 3,000 conservatives gathered to hear the major GOP contenders speak. In an interview with reporters afterward, the Dallas-based Southern Baptist megachurch pastor made comments that questioned the validity of Mormonism to claim it is part of Christianity.

“Rick Perry is a Christian,” Jeffress said. “He’s an evangelical Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ. Mitt Romney’s a good, moral person, but he’s not a Christian. Mormonism is not Christianity. It has always been considered a cult by the mainstream of Christianity.”

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