Mormon Teachings Upset Some Christians

Disagreement over the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is at the core of conservative Christian worry about a possible Mitt Romney presidency.

Romney, the Republican former governor of Massachusetts, would be the first Mormon president if elected next year.

Mormons believe that authentic Christianity vanished a century after Jesus and was restored only through Joseph Smith, whom Mormons consider a prophet.

Smith revised -- and in his view corrected -- large sections of the Bible in the 19th century, an act of heresy in the eyes of Protestant and Roman Catholic leaders. The Mormon scriptures include the Old and New Testaments, but also include books containing Smith's revelations.

Latter-day Saints counter that they are badly misunderstood and insist their church is indeed Christian.

"Even as we invite one and all to examine closely the marvel of it, there is one thing we would not like anyone to wonder about it -- that is whether or not we are Christians," Jeffrey R. Holland, a member of the church' governing board, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, said at an LDS meeting two months ago in Salt Lake City.

But the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation's largest Protestant group, sends missionaries to Mormon communities to spread "the true Gospel of Jesus Christ." Many other Christian denominations don't recognize Mormon baptism.

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