Politics

Rick Warren explains problem in calling Romney a ‘Christian’

Jeff Poor Media Reporter
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Much has been made about Mormonism, now that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney looks to be on his way to the Republican presidential nomination.

But should he win the general election in November, would it be accurate to say that Romney is a Christian president? On Sunday’s “This Week” on ABC, fill-in host Jake Tapper posed the question of Romney’s religion to Rick Warren, the pastor of Saddleback Church.

“Mitt Romney will almost certainly be the Republican nominee and if that happens, which it looks like it will, he’ll be the first member of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be the nominee,” Tapper said. “A lot of evangelicals have been talking about whether or not Mormons are Christians. Are Mormons Christians?”

The “Purpose Driven Life” author was noncommittal, but said that Mormons are often not considered Christians because the LDS church has a different interpretation of the trinity.

“The key sticking point for evangelicals and actually for many is the issue of the trinity,” Warren said. “That’s a historic doctrine of the church — that God is three in one. Not three Gods, one God in father, son and Holy Spirit. Mormonism denies that. That’s a sticking point for a lot of Catholic Christians, evangelical Christians, pentecostal Christians because they don’t believe that. Now, they’ll use the same terminology. But they don’t believe in the historic doctrine of the trinity. And people have tried to make it other issues, but that’s one of the fundamental differences.”

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