Should Christians Call Mormonism a Cult?
May 24, 2007
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Posted by Ray Fowler
Should Christians call Mormonism a cult? Is the word “cult” a useful term in public speech today? These are some of the questions John Mark Reynolds addresses in his article: On “Cult:” Is the Word Useful in Political Speech? The question is especially important to consider with a Mormon, Governor Mitt Romney, currently running for President.
Reynolds points out that the word “cult” has at least three different meanings associated with it. It can mean either:
- the religious practices of a particular group,
- a group that claims to be Christian but denies orthodox doctrine, or
- a relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister (Oxford American)
The first definition makes no value judgments and could refer to any religion (including the Christian faith). The second definition makes a value judgment as regards the truth claims of a particular group, i.e. whether or not the group aligns with historic Christian teaching. The third definition makes a value judgment as regards the social acceptability of the group.
When Christians speak of Mormonism, Christian Science, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc. as cults, we usually mean the word in the sense of the second definition above. We simply mean that these are groups which claim to be Christian but do not hold to key points of historic Christian doctrine – teachings such as the trinity, the deity of Christ, salvation by faith in Christ alone, or the Bible as our sole authority for faith and practice. These are areas in which Mormons deviate from Christian belief, and so, in this sense of the word, we could properly term Mormonism as a cult.
However, Reynolds argues that when most Americans hear the word, “cult,” they think of the third definition rather than the second. The second definition is more of a technical term with an in-house meaning for Christians. And so when we use the word “cult” in public or political speech, we miscommunicate. We mean the second definition, but our hearers think we mean the third.
Reynold offers the following cautions for our public discourse:
This [third] use of the term “cult” when applied to Mormonism or any other religious group is nothing more than an insult in the popular or political context. Religious insults are particularly ill suited for political discourse in a religiously diverse culture. Even if a traditional Christian explains what they mean, this takes time and still leaves them open to misunderstanding …
Traditional Christians should avoid using the word “cult” in public speech, especially as a description of large, older, stable religious groups such as Mormonism.
I believe Reynolds is absolutely right here. When I have taught on cults in the past, I have tried to be careful to present two definitions for the word cult: a secular definition and a religious definition. Here are the definitions I have used:
- Secular definition: “A group or movement that controls its members through deception, manipulation and isolation from others outside the group.”
- Religious definition: “A religious group that distorts the basic teachings of the Bible and rejects the historic teaching of the Christian church.”
I then try to make it clear that in talking about religious groups that deviate from Christianity we are mainly using the religious definition (although with certain groups the secular definition may also apply).
What are your thoughts on all this? Are you used to referring to Mormonism or other such groups as cults? Do you think it would be wise to limit this terminology to use within the church and to avoid using it in public discourse? Or should Christians abandon the word altogether and find some other term to refer to religious groups that deviate from historic Christianity?
Related post on Mormonism and Christianity:
Related posts on politics:
- Still Leaning Towards Fred
- Mike Huckabee’s Sunday Sermon at Prestonwood
- The Cluster Approach to the GOP Nomination
- The MPR Select a Candidate Quiz
- Memo to Evangelical Leaders on Romney
- Rasmussen Reports Daily Presidential Tracking Poll
- Ravi Zacharias on Electing the Next President
- Rudy, John, Mitt . . . and Fred?
Categories: Current Events, Mormonism, Politics, Theology
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I agree that the use of the word “cult” is misunderstood and confusing, especially to non-Christians. The image it creates is more of a small sect with a controlling and crazed leader. So what would be a more accurate and precise word for a religion like Mormonism that claims to be Christian, but is not accepted as such by orthodox Christianity? Pseudo-Christian? Non-Christian? If there is no preferred alternative, “cult” will continue to be used by default.
It is tricky. We usually just use the word “religion” to describe non-Christian faiths such as Islam, Buddhism or Hinduism. But what Christians have traditionally called “cults” are usually related to Christianity in some way or even claim to be the true Christian faith. I think your suggestion of “pseudo-Christian” is good. Anyone else have some ideas on this?
Well, as a Mormon, it’s offensive to hear my faith referred to as a cult. I feel that people who use this term don’t simply do so b/c they can’t find a more precise definition for a religion that doesn’t define orthodox Christianity.
Seriously, who thinks about the precise definition of “cult” when tossing it out upon the Mormons — I doubt that many do.
“Cult” is a word with highly negative connotation that makes people associate the religion with the likes of David Koresh and his Waco Texas compound.
Please don’t refer to my faith as a cult. It’s hurtful and damaging, which I understand is probably why many intentionally use it.
So what should you call it? I don’t know — why is there such a great need among Christians to find some exclusionary way to define a Mormon? It’s seems, in all honesty, to be nothing but religious bigotry…nothing new to the average Mormon, trust me. I’ve heard it all.
I think of myself as a Christian, although I acknowledge that there are pronounced differences in Mormon doctrine and orthodox Christianity. However, I will say that when it comes to the Savior, my Jesus and your Jesus are not that different at all. I’ve read the New Testament (KJV) in it’s entirety, I’ve taken years of dedicated study in the N.T. (in church, in seminary, on my mission to Russia, and in my personal study), and I profess my love and need for Jesus every bit as sincerely and faithfully as other Christians do.
So, why all the effort to cast out Mormons from Christianity? You’ve probably noticed that there are highly divergent teachings among the other Christian faiths, but nobody’s devoting effort to casting out the Methodists, or Lutherans, or Baptists, or the Episcopals, etc…yet all these have their unique belief system and areas of discord.
Again, I just want to stress that my Jesus is your Jesus, and vice versa. I’m doing my best to devote my life to his teachings as best as I know how based on my experience and efforts to follow the Spirit.
Here are some interesting thoughts to those who argue that Mormons aren’t Christians…
LDS.org – New Era Article – Are Mormons Christians?
Jeff – Thank you for weighing in on this. Most people nowadays probably do associate the word “cult” with extreme groups like David Koresh, etc. which is why I think the word is losing its usefulness as a term to describe “a group that claims to be Christian but denies orthodox doctrine.” (second definition above)
All of the Mormons I have known have been pretty normal people with good value systems functioning as productive members of society. So I agree that the word used in the sense of the third definition above would be offensive. And you’re right – most people probably don’t know enough to distinguish between the three different meanings for the word cult – hence this whole post!
However, I don’t think it is religious bigotry to identify those religious groups who claim the name Christian, and yet whose teachings differ from historical Christian teaching. Imagine if a group came along and called themselves Mormons, and yet they changed some of the key teachings of your faith. It would not be religious bigotry for you to say that what they teach is not Mormonism. You would simply be defending the Mormon faith as it was originally delivered.
Yes, there are differences on minor doctrines between the various denominations of the Christian faith, but when it comes to the central affirmations of the faith — such as the Trinity, the deity of Christ, etc. — the major Christian denominations are in agreement with each other.
Why is this an important issue for Christians? As Christians, we have a Scriptural mandate “to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.” (Jude 3) I would like to think that your Jesus is the same as my Jesus, but whenever I share the Christian view of Christ with Mormons, they insist that this view is wrong and that they have a very different view of Jesus than the Christian church. And so I believe it is appropriate to distinguish Mormonism from Christianity.
Thanks again for your comments, and I hope I have been able to present this in a way that is not offensive. It is not my intent to misrepresent your faith or to cause any hurt or damage.
I believe that anyone who believes that Jesus Christ is our one and only savior can and should be called “christian”. Just because our beliefs are different from one another doesn’t mean we don’t strive to live his teachings. Honestly, does it really matter what we give it, as long as we are always trying to be like Him?
C.S. – In one sense, I certainly agree. Perhaps the simplest definition of a Christian is just someone who believes in Jesus Christ, as we see in Acts 16:31 – “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”
Where it gets tricky, though, is when someone believes things about Jesus which are different than what the Bible teaches about Jesus or what Jesus taught about himself. For example, Paul warned against preaching a different Jesus (2 Corinthians 11:4) or teaching a different gospel (Galatians 1:6-9) than he himself had preached.
There are two extremes we should avoid.
We should not make Christian faith so exclusive that unless you interpret every detail of the Bible exactly the same way I interpret it, then you are not a Christian. That would be silly. There are many smaller points of doctrine in the Bible where good Christians disagree. There’s nothing wrong with that. We should respect each other’s position and continue studying the Bible to see what God says about these things.
But on the other hand, we should not make Christian faith so inclusive that anyone who claims faith in Jesus, no matter what they believe about Jesus, is automatically considered a Christian.
There are certain core beliefs about Jesus which historic Christianity considers crucial to salvation: that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God who was born as a true human being, that he lived a perfect and sinless life, that he died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin, that he rose bodily from the grave and ascended to heaven, that he lives forevermore exalted to the right hand of God the Father in heaven. If someone says they believe in Jesus, but they don’t believe these essential truths, it would not be accurate to call them a Christian.
What do you think?
Update – I just added a link on this post to another post on the blog that deals with a similar topic. You can check it out here if you like: Beliefnet Debate: Are Mormons Christian?
In thinking about the question about calling Mormonism a cult, I am reminded of the verse in I Peter 3:15. “But in your hearts, set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have, but do this with gentleness and respect.” This tells me my first priority is to make sure that Christ is my Lord and He has my heart. From there, I am to be prepared to speak of the hope I have in Christ, but I am to do so with gentleness and respect. If the word “cult” is generally viewed as a very negative term, now, I would find another word so that my sharing of where I disagreed with Mormons would be gentle and respectful. However, I ought to be prepared to explain where I differed from them, too. 🙂
There is a lot of discussion on Christian talk radio about Mormonism being a cult, Jehovahs witnesses being a cult, Catholics being a cult, etc. The only ones left out I think are evangelical right wing Bush supporting, pro war Christians.
Now if you look at the links of some of these personaliies on radio you;ll find a lot of evidence that they are not what they say they are. In other words, they are hucksters of a Christian message, not necessarily Christians.
And Yeshua Messiah taught us that if we judge, we will be judged “measure for measure”. I think this means if we condemn a person to hell because they follow a diiferent path to God which we find theologically imperfect or in error, then on judgement day, if our beliefs were one iota in error from the true gospel (we sincerely erred in interpreting his message ) then wo unto us if we r judged “measure ofr measure”.
Moreover there is a lot of evidence of intelligence agencies being involved in some of the Christian right wing radio. One commentator promotes an Israeli lecturer that is an active member of the public communications dept. of the Israeli Defense force and is linked to Mossad. the LeHayes and others have received funding from Rev. Moon, that “cult” itself tied to intelligecne agencies. Fox News often called “Christian” is in fact foreign, owned by News Corp., whose largest share holder is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a nation cited by the DOD as a funding source for the killers of our soldiers in Iraq (no matter how you feel about the war, you must want to protect our troops).
I believe the entire public sphere of Christianity has been corrupted by elite money politics and that is why we see so much moral decay in our culture. This and the apparently conflicting theology with original first Christians in Jeruslame following the teachings of the chosen Apostles of our Lord, makes one wonder, perhaps mainstream American Christianity is the real cult, and its not Christian, meaning its not following Christ’s teachings and example.
But I think we all err in interpreting the Bible, we are imperfect in understanding, and no doubt there are many sincere and true followers of Christ in the evnagleicals as well as the Mormons and Catholics. And may G_d in his infinite mercy and grace, lead us to the right path.
ecotheos1 – Thank you for your contribution to this discussion. I guess there will always be some “hucksters” out there who use the name of Christ to further their own agenda. The apostle Paul even spoke about some in his day. “Some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, … out of selfish ambition, not sincerely.” (Philippians 1:15-17)
I agree we need to be careful not judge a person over the smallest theological errors (see four comments up where I talk about avoiding extremes). But the Bible itself says to watch out for false teachers. Paul even told Timothy to “command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer.” (1 Timothy 1:3) So there is some theological error serious enough to warrant censure.
We should not have a judgmental heart towards other people, but we must test all things by God’s word, especially teachings about God and Christ and salvation. “Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22)
I am sorry that much of the Christianity you have seen seems to be corrupted by money and politics. That is not the Christianity with which I am most familiar. Most of the Christians I know live simple lives. They love God and sincerely try to follow Christ and his ways.
I think of the woman from my church who came with me to the nursing home today on her day off just to minister to the elderly people there. She didn’t have to come. I am sure she had plenty of chores and errands to run, but she gave of her time freely because of her love for Christ.
Anyways, thank you for stopping by the blog and sharing your thoughts. I can tell you feel deeply about these matters.
Dear Ray Fowler
You make a good point about the majority of Christians who are good sincere people trying to please the Lord in their daily lives through service and piety even if their Christian instiutions are imperfect or even corrupt.
Of course the same may be said about sincere and faithful Mormons and JWs. I think Christians, that is, those who try to follow the ways of YESHUA MESSIAH, what ever their interpretation of his teachings; they share more in common than they do with the materialist carnal individuals in any faith–including Christians.
Thank you for mentioning that, its an important and hopeful thing to keep in mind.
Sharon – Good insights on gentleness and respect from 1 Peter 3. I believe that is such an important passage to apply to discussions about Christ and faith. And yes, we must also be prepared to give an answer as well!
Fowler,
Great description of a Christian (quoted below). As I read through it, I was waiting for the controversial, “I guess a Mormon can’t be a Christian” moment. Yet, I (as a Mormon) whole-heartedly agree with each and every one of these points; these are all doctrinal within the LDS church as well.
I guess this is what I mean when I say that my Jesus and your Jesus aren’t that different. I don’t mean to say that there aren’t some differences, but I think you’ve enumerated many of the key things that define Christ and His mission, and the reality of His exaltation. Indeed, these are the essentials.
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Your post:
But on the other hand, we should not make Christian faith so inclusive that anyone who claims faith in Jesus, no matter what they believe about Jesus, is automatically considered a Christian.
There are certain core beliefs about Jesus which historic Christianity considers crucial to salvation: that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God who was born as a true human being, that he lived a perfect and sinless life, that he died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin, that he rose bodily from the grave and ascended to heaven, that he lives forevermore exalted to the right hand of God the Father in heaven. If someone says they believe in Jesus, but they don’t believe these essential truths, it would not be accurate to call them a Christian.
Ray, forgot to mention…just noticed how fluently you quote the Bible; not forced, like you were trying to find a way to squeeze in the latest verse you read; but targeted, like you knew exactly where to find answers in the scriptures to the questions/comments at hand.
I admire people, such as yourself, that have this kind of dedication to know Jesus Christ through study (and naturally I assume prayer). Your talent is motivating for me, for sure — I get busy as a CPA/auditor with a public accounting firm, but I want to keep learning so the scriptures continue to increasingly act as the guidebook for my thoughts and actions. Takes a lifetime…or more maybe.
Jeff – Thank you for your kind words. I am glad you liked the description of a Christian that I gave in the comments above, and even more glad that you identify with it. However, the differences between what Christians and Mormons believe about God and Jesus are not minor. They are really quite serious. I would refer you once again to the earlier post I cited: Beliefnet Debate: Are Mormons Christian?
As Orson Scott Card, the representative for Mormonism in the debate, said comparing Mormon doctrine with historic Christian doctrine:
“I am also happy to agree with him [Mohler] that when one compares our understanding of the nature of God and Christ, we categorically disagree with almost every statement in the ‘historic creeds and doctrinal affirmations’ he refers to.”
At the bottom line historic Christianity is Trinitarian. Christians believe that God has revealed himself in Scripture as one God in three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That is part of what Christians mean when we say we believe that “Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God who was born as a true human being.”
If you explore that statement carefully, you will find that Christianity means something radically different by it than what Mormonism teaches. Christianity teaches that through the incarnation, Jesus who was fully divine also became fully man without ceasing at the same time to be God. Jesus existed with God in the beginning, he shares God’s attributes, and he receives worship as God. He did not become God at some point in time but has always been divine. He is the one, unique, eternal Son of God. Most Mormons would disagree with these statements. And yet these are some of the very defining teachings of Christianity.
So although there is surface agreement on many doctrinal statements between Christianity and Mormonism, they really are two very different belief systems at heart. I would encourage you, as I would encourage all Christians and Mormons, to search the Scriptures to see what God has said about these matters in his Word.
Thanks once again for your dialogue. I appreciate the respectful tone you bring to this discussion.
Ray~ after reading the exchanges above, I notice that your sole support for your arguments about the nature of Jesus is the “Historic Christian doctrine.” I believe that you mean the Apostolic Creeds. But, what about the “primitive church;” the one Jesus established as described in the gospels of the New Testament; the one that predated the Nicene councils? If Jesus is the father, the son and the Holy Ghost, did he mislead the people at his baptism by causing his voice to come down from the heavens above to declare: “behold, this is my son in whom I am well-pleased?” Why would he do that? What did Stephan see when he reported seeing Jesus standing at the right-hand side of god? (Reported in “The Acts of the Apostles” in the New Testament.) If god has no body, parts or passions, why did Jesus resurrect his body? Why did he later ascend bodily into heaven after the resurrection? What did he do with his resurrected body? I could go on and on; however, the lesson we should learn, I believe, is that while Mormons believe Jesus had, and still has, a divinely resurrected body and evangelicals believe that he has somehow become something else which is hard to define, that difference is not ground to say one is Christian while the other is not. The part about “saved by grace,” is a little different. But, I have to ask, why is it bad if Mormons do good works because they believe they will be judged, for good or for bad, to some extent, by their works? What if they are right? How would it be bad if more people believed that god has some consequence in mind for good and for bad acts? Why does that difference drive evangelicals to make distinctions and to place pejorative labels on Mormons? I also notice that you did not describe any doctrinal basis for declaring Jehovah Witnesses to also be non-Christian. Could the motive for this whole exercise of “defining which organization is not a real Christian church” really be something other than worrying about the salvation of those who you define as non-Christians?
Robert – Thank you for taking the time to comment. When I use the term “historic Christian doctrine” above, I am referring not so much to the creeds, but to those teachings of and about Jesus in the Bible that the Christian church has historically believed. This would include both the primitive church predating the councils as well as the early church that formulated the creeds. I believe the creeds do a good job of capturing the teachings of Jesus we find in the New Testament. But the creeds are not authoritative; the New Testament is. The only reason the creeds speak of the Deity of Christ and the Trinity is because these things are first found in the New Testament Scriptures.
Now let me address a number of your specific concerns.
1) “If Jesus is the father, the son and the Holy Ghost, did he mislead the people at his baptism …”
Neither the New Testament nor the creeds teach that Jesus is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches that God is one God but three persons. Jesus is one in substance with the Father, but he is not the same person. So Jesus is not the Father or the Holy Spirit. Rather, he is the Son – a separate person within the God-head.
2) “What did Stephan see when he reported seeing Jesus standing at the right-hand side of god?”
He saw Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, in his post-resurrection body at the right-hand side of God the Father. We also see this in the book of Revelation. Jesus rose from the dead in his human body, ascended to heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God – the place of highest honor and majesty.
3) “If god has no body, parts or passions, why did Jesus resurrect his body? Why did he later ascend bodily into heaven after the resurrection? What did he do with his resurrected body?”
You are correct that the Bible teaches that God is a spirit and therefore has no body. However, the Bible also teaches that God the Son took on flesh and became an actual human being. (John 1:14) Jesus came in a body to live a perfect life and then died in that body as a sacrifice for our sins. He rose in that body to show his victory over sin and death and to prepare the way for our resurrection.
4) “while Mormons believe Jesus had, and still has, a divinely resurrected body and evangelicals believe that he has somehow become something else which is hard to define, that difference is not ground to say one is Christian while the other is not.”
Actually, evangelicals do believe that Jesus had and still has a divinely resurrected body. As far as whether Mormons are Christian or not, Mormons themselves distinguish their teachings from what Christians have historically believed. If a certain group does not believe Christian doctrine, should that group call themselves Christian? Or should we change the definition of Christian? But then what would we call people who do believe Christian doctrine? 🙂
5) “why is it bad if Mormons do good works because they believe they will be judged, for good or for bad, to some extent, by their works?”
The Bible teaches that God will judge our works, but that salvation is by grace. So, yes it does matter how we live, and yes there are consequences for good and bad acts, but if we are trusting our good works to save us, then we are no longer trusting God’s grace through Jesus Christ. Once again the Bible says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
6) “I also notice that you did not describe any doctrinal basis for declaring Jehovah Witnesses to also be non-Christian. Could the motive for this whole exercise of “defining which organization is not a real Christian church” really be something other than worrying about the salvation of those who you define as non-Christians?”
Christians have traditionally used the word “cult” to describe “a group that claims to be Christian but denies orthodox doctrine.” This would apply to Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Science and a number of other groups that claim to be Christian but do not hold to Christian beliefs. The original purpose of this post was to question whether Christians should continue to use the word “cult” in this way, especially where the word has different meanings to people. The reason Mormonism was highlighted is because Mitt Romney was running for president at the time and so Mormonism was in the spotlight.
Whew! I hope that answers some of your questions. If not, feel free to ask again or ask some more. Either way, thanks for stopping by and commenting!
I am grateful for the full knowledge the gospel of Jesus Christ. As a Latter Day Saint, we accept and have a full understanding of all scripture, not that limmited to a collection of books by the Catholic church. We believe in all, let me repeat, all the prophets and deciples teachings in the Bible. We do not pick and choose which scritures to believe or ingnore. Case and point, by Grace ye are saved, through faith, and not of yourselves, lest any man boast. This is truth. I can not work my way to heaven and expect to be saved without the grace of Jesus Christ. It would take a fool to believe that, and yet Paul encountered just that. Now what about the part ” through faith”, do we discount the scripture, faith without works is dead, or the others just after this that explain works are needed to prove faith? What about the prophets whos writings dont appear, or were removed from the bible? Dead sea scrolls, many others recently uncovered. Why do we seem to be the only church fully embracing these as scripture? Could it be, the more that is uncovered, the more orthodox Christainity needs tweaking, and the firmer the foundation the true church becomes? The living church is alive on the earth today, with apostles, bishops, teachers and a Prophet, guilding the same work Christ set apart when he walked the earth. The church was restored by none other then Jesus Christ. There are no missing pieces in the gospel, we have it in its entirty. We know exactly where we came from, where we are going, how long we have been on this journey, and ALL the reasons we are here, and how we can return to live with our Father, and his son someday.
We in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the Mormons as we are lovingly called, believe all Christian churches have pieces of the gospel. We dont refer to any of them as ” CULTS”. They are teaching the gospel as best to their understanding. We know the gospel in full. We know that all Christians, as long as they dont turn their hearts away from the Father or Son, will all make it to Heaven one day. We will all be there, together. We are all brothers and sisters of the same god, why would he want some to make it, and not others. He loves each one of us, as you love your child, so he loves each and every one. Jesus taught he would leave the flock to seek out the one that was lost. Any Christain faith that teaches any other teaching then this does not know their Father in Heaven nor understand his purpouses. His work and his Glory, is to eventually bring us all home. We have left his presence, his home for a while to “grow up”. To learn what it is like to be out of his presence. He gives us our freedom to choose our path, his most important gift is that freedom to choose for ourselves. As we experience hardships, our hearts turn to him. We all have different experiences, but thats the beauty, we are all individuals, with different needs when it comes to growth. This is why we are not to judge one another. Pick a Christian Faith, grow with it. When you are ready for more truth, seek it out. When you want the complete gospel of Jesus Christ, with no holes, in its entirety, as he taught it as he walked the earth, and as he now directs it, seek out a Mormon Missionary. My son is currently in the Philippines, teaching those seeking the truth. We are blessed daily by his service. We miss him, but his greatest desire is to serve those wonderful people, and serve the lord. God bless you all on your journey here. Remember to pray always, he will lead you where he wants you to go, just open your heart and listen 🙂
Darren – I think you are confusing several issues. Christians do not discount works as an evidence of faith. We believe that we are saved by faith in Christ alone and this faith will evidence itself in good works. We do not believe the extra books that Mormons hold to are Scripture. Mormon teaching contradicts certain truths which the actual Scriptures clearly proclaim: such as the trinity, the deity of Christ, Jesus’ unique relationship with God the Father, and salvation by grace alone, not by works lest any man boast.