Jesus is Jehovah, a separate divine being, Savior and eldest spirit child
LDS Christology identifies Jesus Christ with Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament, who is the firstborn spirit child of Heavenly Father and, through the Atonement, the Savior and Redeemer of all humanity. Jesus is fully divine but as a separate personage from the Father. He was born of Mary through a physical conception involving Heavenly Father and was resurrected with a glorified physical body.
LDS teaching affirms that Jesus performed a real, historical Atonement — suffering in Gethsemane and dying on the cross — that makes resurrection universal and exaltation possible for the faithful. However, LDS Christology differs from Nicene orthodoxy in important ways: Jesus was not co-eternal with the Father in the same ontological sense, and the distinction between Father and Son is absolute, not merely relational.
Key Distinctions
- Natures formula:
- a distinct divine being; first spirit child of the Father; only begotten in the flesh; physically resurrected
- Conciliar affiliation:
- Nicene and Chalcedonian Trinity rejected; restored theology
Scripture References
- Doctrine and Covenants 93:21
- 3 Nephi 11:10-11
- Doctrine and Covenants 76:22-24
Sources
- The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles (2000)
- LDS Gospel Topics: Jesus Christ
- LDS Articles of Faith 1